Reza Malekzadeh (entrepreneur)
Encyclopedia
Reza Malekzadeh is a San Francisco-based software executive
and entrepreneur
of French
nationality, noted for his active role in the development of virtualization leader VMware
and several entrepreneurial ventures. Most recently, he has joined Sequoia Capital
and Accel Partners
funded software startup Nimbula
as its VP of Marketing.
and raised in France
where he graduated from leading Business School HEC
class of 1995. He moved to Silicon Valley and started his career at software startup NetCarta as Product Manager for the flagship product WebMapper. NetCarta was acquired by Microsoft
. He then joined the Softway Group in San Francisco and simultaneously launched his first entrepreneurial venture: with friend Gregoire Gentil he formed Pilot Plus, a software company delivering products on the then nascent Palm Pilot platform. Pilot Plus released the ToDo Plus and Memo Plus applications, which rapidly became top sellers on the leading Palm Pilot e-commerce site, PalmPilotGear. Gentil and Malekzadeh sold Pilot Plus to Hands High Software in 1998.
Reza Malekzadeh then joined VMware
, co-founded by Mendel Rosenblum
, Diane Greene
and Edouard Bugnion
. He was the first non engineer employed by the company and served as its Director of Marketing. As such, he was instrumental in launching the company in February 1999 at the DEMO Conference
organized by Chris Shipley
. He also served as one of the primary spokespeople for the company throughout its early years.
Reza Malekzadeh left VMware in late 2003 and, again with friend Gregoire Gentil, started a new venture, Twingo Systems
. Twingo Systems was a leading provider of desktop security solutions for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The company was first launched at the DEMO conference
(DEMOMobile) in 2003 and its first customer was Sygate. Twingo Systems was acquired by Cisco Systems
on March 12, 2004. Both Gentil and Malekzadeh joined Cisco in the Security Technology Group.
Reza Malekzadeh left Cisco
in 2005 to join software startup Akimbi Systems
, funded by Partech International
, Mayfield Fund
and Hummer Winblad
as its Vice President for International. In that role, he drove significant international growth, including sales, marketing and channel operations.
VMware
acquired Akimbi in 2006. Following that acquisition, Reza Malekzadeh re-joined VMware
as its Senior Director for Products and Marketing in EMEA. In that role, he was responsible for all of the company's marketing operations in Europe Middle East and Africa, including its annual user conference VMWorld. Reza Malekzadeh's leadership allowed the conference to draw a record number of attendees in 2009 despite the economic crisis and travel restrictions that most companies had put in place. He left VMware in the summer of 2009.
Reza Malekzadeh was an official blogger on the VMware
corporate website and spoke at various conferences around the world including Gartner and VMworld
.
Reza Malekzadeh is co-author of several software patents:
Senior management
Senior management, executive management, or management team is generally a team of individuals at the highest level of organizational management who have the day-to-day responsibilities of managing a company or corporation, they hold specific executive powers conferred onto them with and by...
and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
of French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
nationality, noted for his active role in the development of virtualization leader VMware
VMware
VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
and several entrepreneurial ventures. Most recently, he has joined Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is a Californian venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. The Wall Street Journal has called Sequoia Capital "one of the highest-caliber venture firms", and noted that it is "one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture-capital firms"...
and Accel Partners
Accel Partners
Accel Partners is a global venture and growth equity firm funding companies from inception through the growth stage.The firm is based in Palo Alto, California with major offices in Bangalore, Beijing, London, and Shanghai....
funded software startup Nimbula
Nimbula
Nimbula is a startup backed by Sequoia Capital and Accel Partners based out of Mountain View. The company was founded by Chris Pinkham and Willem Van Biljon who led the team that created Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud . Nimbula develops cloud orchestration software for the implementation of public...
as its VP of Marketing.
Career
Reza Malekzadeh was born in IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and raised in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where he graduated from leading Business School HEC
HEC School of Management
HEC Paris or École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris is one of the foremost business schools in France and in Europe. It was created in 1881 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the model of French Grandes Ecoles and has progressively become one of the most selective graduate...
class of 1995. He moved to Silicon Valley and started his career at software startup NetCarta as Product Manager for the flagship product WebMapper. NetCarta was acquired by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. He then joined the Softway Group in San Francisco and simultaneously launched his first entrepreneurial venture: with friend Gregoire Gentil he formed Pilot Plus, a software company delivering products on the then nascent Palm Pilot platform. Pilot Plus released the ToDo Plus and Memo Plus applications, which rapidly became top sellers on the leading Palm Pilot e-commerce site, PalmPilotGear. Gentil and Malekzadeh sold Pilot Plus to Hands High Software in 1998.
Reza Malekzadeh then joined VMware
VMware
VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
, co-founded by Mendel Rosenblum
Mendel Rosenblum
Mendel Rosenblum is an associate professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, and one of the co-founders of VMware. Since 2008 he is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery "for contributions to reinventing virtual machines", and had previously received the ACM SIGOPS Mark...
, Diane Greene
Diane Greene
Diane Greene was a founder of VMware and the CEO from 1998 to 2008.Greene, Mendel Rosenblum, Scott Devine, Edward Wang and Edouard Bugnion founded VMware in 1998....
and Edouard Bugnion
Edouard Bugnion
Edouard Bugnion was raised in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.Bugnion graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering from ETH Zurich in 1994 and a master's degree from Stanford University in 1996. He was one of the five founders of VMware in 1998 and was the chief architect until 2004. He had been a...
. He was the first non engineer employed by the company and served as its Director of Marketing. As such, he was instrumental in launching the company in February 1999 at the DEMO Conference
DEMO conference
The DEMO conference is a technology conference that focuses on showcasing new products from both entrepreneurs and established companies. It is held by IDG....
organized by Chris Shipley
Chris Shipley
Chris Shipley is a writer, analyst, commentator, and strategist, and has tracked the technology industry for more than 25 years....
. He also served as one of the primary spokespeople for the company throughout its early years.
Reza Malekzadeh left VMware in late 2003 and, again with friend Gregoire Gentil, started a new venture, Twingo Systems
Twingo Systems
Twingo Systems is a computer security company based in the United States. Twingo Systems was a leading provider of desktop security solutions for Secure Socket Layer Virtual Private Networks...
. Twingo Systems was a leading provider of desktop security solutions for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The company was first launched at the DEMO conference
DEMO conference
The DEMO conference is a technology conference that focuses on showcasing new products from both entrepreneurs and established companies. It is held by IDG....
(DEMOMobile) in 2003 and its first customer was Sygate. Twingo Systems was acquired by Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
on March 12, 2004. Both Gentil and Malekzadeh joined Cisco in the Security Technology Group.
Reza Malekzadeh left Cisco
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
in 2005 to join software startup Akimbi Systems
Virtual lab automation
Virtual Lab Automation refers to a category of software solutions to automate IT labs using virtualization technology. Virtual Lab Automation solutions are available as on-premise packaged software or as a cloud service.-History:...
, funded by Partech International
Partech International
Founded in 1982, Partech International is an investment company specializing in international venture capital with offices in the US and in Europe....
, Mayfield Fund
Mayfield Fund
Mayfield Fund is one of the oldest venture capital firms in the US, focusing on early-stage to growth-stage investments in information technology companies with a focus on enterprise software, Internet consumer & media services, and communications....
and Hummer Winblad
Ann Winblad
Ann L. Winblad is a partner of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners.-Early years:Ann L. Winblad was born on November 1, 1950 in Red Wing, Minnesota...
as its Vice President for International. In that role, he drove significant international growth, including sales, marketing and channel operations.
VMware
VMware
VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
acquired Akimbi in 2006. Following that acquisition, Reza Malekzadeh re-joined VMware
VMware
VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
as its Senior Director for Products and Marketing in EMEA. In that role, he was responsible for all of the company's marketing operations in Europe Middle East and Africa, including its annual user conference VMWorld. Reza Malekzadeh's leadership allowed the conference to draw a record number of attendees in 2009 despite the economic crisis and travel restrictions that most companies had put in place. He left VMware in the summer of 2009.
Reza Malekzadeh was an official blogger on the VMware
VMware
VMware, Inc. is a company providing virtualization software founded in 1998 and based in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2004, and operates as a separate software subsidiary ....
corporate website and spoke at various conferences around the world including Gartner and VMworld
VMworld
VMworld is an annual conference for IT professionals, focusing on virtual server environments, put on by VMware. It is the largest virtualization-specific event. It has been held in San Diego, California in 2004; Las Vegas, Nevada in 2005, 2008, and 2011; Los Angeles, California in 2006; and San...
.
Reza Malekzadeh is co-author of several software patents:
- Gentil; Gregoire Alexandre (Mountain View, CA), Malekzadeh; Alireza (Mountain View, CA), Number 7,162,628, Method, system, apparatus, and program product for temporary personalization of a computer terminal
- Gentil; Gregoire Alexandre (Palo Alto, CA), Malekzadeh; Alireza (Palo Alto, CA), NumberD/169,541, Portable electronic storage device