Bill Gates Hails Naveen Jain the Better Man
What does it take for the most prominent figure in the technological realm to concede to another as the better man? As a July 17, 1995 article by Nicholas Petreley in InfoWorld which compared Microsoft’s legend Bill Gates and rising star Naveen Jain, the latter emerged as the smarter visionary.
Many have written of how the Intelius founder and present Chief Executive Officer made his way from his birthplace in New Delhi India. Naveen Jain ventured in the late 70s to the United States where he began a new life working for the New Jersey-based Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys). After a series of successful projects, he joined the ranks of Microsoft’s elite in 1989 as a project manager. He handled a number of high profile products that were critical to the advancement of the company: Windows 95, Windows NT and MS-DOS.
Somewhere along the way, Naveen Jain reflected that the job might not be for him in the long run; he wanted to work for himself to explore his full potential. When he made a milestone decision to leave Microsoft in 1996, he established the Internet directory service, content and services provider for portals and other websites, InfoSpace.com (NASDAQ: INSP). He is guided by his business philosophy, “Always do what’s right for the customer. Always do what the market demands. The only way to do this is to control your own destiny.”
From this initial venture, he created another brilliant idea – Intelius. As an authoritative figure in the information commerce industry, the company has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. Under its dynamic leader, Intelius has built a reputation in philanthropy as well. One of the 25 Biggest Corporate Philanthropists in the Puget Sound Area, it has given over $210,000 to over 12 charities across the nation.
