2001 Fredericton Encaenia - Ceremony C
Deshpande, Gururaj
Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
Orator: Patterson, Stephen E.
Citation:
ENCAENIA, MAY, 2001
GURURAJ DESHPANDE
to be Doctor of Science
He is widely known today as "Desh," a simple nickname that belies the fact that Gururaj Deshpande is one of the world's leading entrepreneurs in the field of optical networking technology. Desh Deshpande was born in India, where his father was a labour commissioner. In 1973, he completed his B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, and his success convinced him that he wanted to do graduate work and teach. He chose the electrical engineering program at the University of New Brunswick. His interest, even then, was in the cutting-edge technology of waveguides. Under the supervision of Dr. Eugene Lewis, who still teaches here, he completed a thesis demonstrating that elliptical dielectric tube waveguides were every bit as efficient as those that were circular, while they were considerably more flexible to use.
More simply, Desh Deshpande's early work here revealed his fascination with the enormous potential of fiber optics. He went on from UNB to complete his PhD in Data Communications at Queen's University and he taught there briefly before deciding to apply his ideas in industry. He joined the Codex Corporation, a subsidiary of Motorola, where he held a number of managerial positions. Perhaps his most important lesson learned in these years was that, if you have a dream, you have to get out on your own. Success goes to the risk-takers who are not afraid to pursue their hunches. In 1987, he took the first big step by founding Corel Networks, a partnership that developed networking devices. While the company succeeded, the partnership suffered stresses and strains, and he made the hardest decision of his career, to leave. In 1990, he and a single partner, Dan Smith, co-founded Cascade Communications. They were two men with a dream to become big players in the development of the Internet. Within four years, nearly 72 percent of Internet traffic was running through Cascade's switches. By year six, what had begun as a two-person start-up company had 900 employees with revenues of $500 million. Desh and his partner sold Cascade in 1997 for $3.7 billion.
By this point, Desh Deshpande was more than a success story, he was rapidly becoming a legend in his own time. His guiding principle was speed: if you have a big idea, you don't sit around waiting for someone else to prove that it can work. In fact, if you wait for the proof, someone else will already have cashed in on it. On this principle, he and his partner Smith started yet another company, Sycamore Networks Inc., believing that where companies had already networked internally to serve company functions, their next step would be to network with their customers. For this they would need bandwidth of the sort only the most advanced fiber optics could provide. Sycamore was founded to build an optic-networking device that would use waves of light to deliver vast volumes of voice, data and Internet traffic through fiber optic cable. Before it had shipped its first product, Sycamore became a publicly traded company, anticipating that its stock would be accepted in the market at around $30. On its first day of trading, the price leaped to $270, catapulting its founding partners, who each held about 20% of the stock, into the stratosphere of entrepreneurial success. In a single day, the company's market capitalization was $14.2 billion.
What is amazing in Desh Deshpande's story is the speed of his accomplishment. When he started Cascade, he started with a dream but no money. Today, Forbes Magazine places him among the top entrepreneurs in the world. With characteristic modesty, he attributes his success to others. He believes that both Cascade and Sycamore succeeded because of the teams he assembled. Hire the best people you can find, and then act on their advice, is the formula that has driven his dazzling progress. Yet there is obviously something more. Desh Deshpande is a technical visionary who anticipates market demand, and tries to meet that demand before anyone else does. Is it genius? According to him, it is the opposite: "Basically, to be an entrepreneur," he recently said, "you have to be a little crazy." But this is typical of his self-effacing style. He claims little personal credit for his achievement, yet it is obvious that a supple intelligence, confidence in his ideas, and a drive to get there first are the hallmarks of this remarkable businessman. They love him in Massachusetts where Sycamore is building a campus to house its hundreds of employees. They love him in India, where he has emerged as the most successful entrepreneur in the nation's history.
Today in honouring one of our most successful graduates, we at UNB feel enormous pride that one stepping stone in Desh Deshpande's remarkable career was provided by our graduate program in electrical engineering.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3
GURURAJ DESHPANDE
to be Doctor of Science
He is widely known today as "Desh," a simple nickname that belies the fact that Gururaj Deshpande is one of the world's leading entrepreneurs in the field of optical networking technology. Desh Deshpande was born in India, where his father was a labour commissioner. In 1973, he completed his B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, and his success convinced him that he wanted to do graduate work and teach. He chose the electrical engineering program at the University of New Brunswick. His interest, even then, was in the cutting-edge technology of waveguides. Under the supervision of Dr. Eugene Lewis, who still teaches here, he completed a thesis demonstrating that elliptical dielectric tube waveguides were every bit as efficient as those that were circular, while they were considerably more flexible to use.
More simply, Desh Deshpande's early work here revealed his fascination with the enormous potential of fiber optics. He went on from UNB to complete his PhD in Data Communications at Queen's University and he taught there briefly before deciding to apply his ideas in industry. He joined the Codex Corporation, a subsidiary of Motorola, where he held a number of managerial positions. Perhaps his most important lesson learned in these years was that, if you have a dream, you have to get out on your own. Success goes to the risk-takers who are not afraid to pursue their hunches. In 1987, he took the first big step by founding Corel Networks, a partnership that developed networking devices. While the company succeeded, the partnership suffered stresses and strains, and he made the hardest decision of his career, to leave. In 1990, he and a single partner, Dan Smith, co-founded Cascade Communications. They were two men with a dream to become big players in the development of the Internet. Within four years, nearly 72 percent of Internet traffic was running through Cascade's switches. By year six, what had begun as a two-person start-up company had 900 employees with revenues of $500 million. Desh and his partner sold Cascade in 1997 for $3.7 billion.
By this point, Desh Deshpande was more than a success story, he was rapidly becoming a legend in his own time. His guiding principle was speed: if you have a big idea, you don't sit around waiting for someone else to prove that it can work. In fact, if you wait for the proof, someone else will already have cashed in on it. On this principle, he and his partner Smith started yet another company, Sycamore Networks Inc., believing that where companies had already networked internally to serve company functions, their next step would be to network with their customers. For this they would need bandwidth of the sort only the most advanced fiber optics could provide. Sycamore was founded to build an optic-networking device that would use waves of light to deliver vast volumes of voice, data and Internet traffic through fiber optic cable. Before it had shipped its first product, Sycamore became a publicly traded company, anticipating that its stock would be accepted in the market at around $30. On its first day of trading, the price leaped to $270, catapulting its founding partners, who each held about 20% of the stock, into the stratosphere of entrepreneurial success. In a single day, the company's market capitalization was $14.2 billion.
What is amazing in Desh Deshpande's story is the speed of his accomplishment. When he started Cascade, he started with a dream but no money. Today, Forbes Magazine places him among the top entrepreneurs in the world. With characteristic modesty, he attributes his success to others. He believes that both Cascade and Sycamore succeeded because of the teams he assembled. Hire the best people you can find, and then act on their advice, is the formula that has driven his dazzling progress. Yet there is obviously something more. Desh Deshpande is a technical visionary who anticipates market demand, and tries to meet that demand before anyone else does. Is it genius? According to him, it is the opposite: "Basically, to be an entrepreneur," he recently said, "you have to be a little crazy." But this is typical of his self-effacing style. He claims little personal credit for his achievement, yet it is obvious that a supple intelligence, confidence in his ideas, and a drive to get there first are the hallmarks of this remarkable businessman. They love him in Massachusetts where Sycamore is building a campus to house its hundreds of employees. They love him in India, where he has emerged as the most successful entrepreneur in the nation's history.
Today in honouring one of our most successful graduates, we at UNB feel enormous pride that one stepping stone in Desh Deshpande's remarkable career was provided by our graduate program in electrical engineering.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3
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