Naveen Jain, Seattle Serial-Preneur
Seattle is a technology hub, a vibrant city conducive for business and entrepreneurship. It is home to several serial entrepreneurs or “serial-preneurs,” those entrepreneurs who have the special skill of creating numerous successful business ventures.
Naveen Jain is one of Seattle’s serial-preneurs, having founded not one but two successful online ventures so far. He founded and led these companies to success through hard work, technical expertise, and business acumen.
Born and raised in India, Naveen Jain left his native country through a business exchange program to the US, where he began exploring the success formula. He earlier recalled that he arrived in the US with only $10 in his pocket, but was driven and determined to succeed, willing to work in order to achieve what he came for.
Because of his impressive credentials, including a B.S. degree in Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from St. Xavier’s School of Management, he was became a part of Microsoft Corporation and earned the opportunity to learn from his role model, Bill Gates. He served as project manager for seven years, developing software and applications such as the OS/2 platform, Windows NT and the Microsoft Network.
After a productive career at Microsoft, he dared to dream and left the Gates’ company in 1996 to form his own company called InfoSpace, an Internet content provider. His days at InfoSpace were busy and productive, earning him the recognition as one of America’s Richest People with a fortune worth $2.2 billion.
In 2003, he co-founded Intelius, Inc., an information commerce company that provides intelligence services to people and consumers while empowering them to make wiser decisions. As its CEO and president, Naveen Jain has led Intelius to great leaps in terms of financial performance and innovation. It posted a 1566.27 percent growth from its six years of operations. Intellius has also come up with breakthrough products such as IDWatch, recognized as the Consumer Product of the Year at the 2005 WSA Annual Industry Achievement Awards.
