Sabeer Bhatia
Encyclopedia
Sabeer Bhatia is an Indian American
entrepreneur
who co-founded the Hotmail
email service and Jaxtr
.
in 1968. He grew up in Bangalore and had his early education at The Bishop's School in Pune
, then St. Joseph's Boys' High School
in Bangalore
. For a short-time he was a student at the Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), Pilani and in 1988 he went to US on a Caltech Transfer scholarship to get a bachelor's degree at the California Institute of Technology
. He earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University
.
After graduation, Sabeer briefly worked for Apple Computers as a hardware engineer and Firepower Systems Inc. While working there he was amazed at the fact that he could access any software on the internet via a web browser. He, along with his colleague Jack Smith, set up Hotmail
on July 4th 1996.
Today, Hotmail remains the world's largest e-mail provider with over 369 million registered users. As President and CEO of, he guided Hotmail's rapid rise to industry leadership and its eventual acquisition by Microsoft
in 1998. Bhatia worked at Microsoft for a little over a year after the Hotmail acquisition and in April 1999, he left Microsoft to start another venture, Arzoo Inc, an e-commerce firm.
Bhatia's success has earned him widespread acclaim; The venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson named him 'Entrepreneur of the Year 1997', MIT chose him as one of 100 young innovators who are expected to have the greatest impact on technology and awarded 'TR100', San Jose Mercury News and POV magazine selected him as one of the ten most successful entrepreneurs of 1998 and Upside magazine's list of top trend setters in the New Economy named him 'Elite 100'.
Bhatia has recently started a free messaging service called JaxtrSMS. He said that JaxtrSMS, would do "to SMS what Hotmail did for e-mail". Claiming it to be a disruptive technology, he says that the operators will loose revenue on the reduction in number of SMSes on their network but will benefit from the data plan that the user has to buy.
Indian American
Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestral roots lie in India. The U.S. Census Bureau popularized the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Indigenous peoples of the Americas who are commonly referred to as American Indians.-The term: Indian:...
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...
who co-founded the Hotmail
Hotmail
Windows Live Hotmail, formerly known as MSN Hotmail and commonly referred to simply as Hotmail, is a free web-based email service operated by Microsoft as part of its Windows Live group. It was founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith and launched in July 1996 as "HoTMaiL". It was one of the first...
email service and Jaxtr
Jaxtr
Jaxtr is a social communications company that melds together global calling, SMS, and social networking. Founded by Phillip Mobin and Touraj Parang in October 2005, jaxtr uses Voice over Internet Protocol to offer competitive rates as well as free international and long distance calling...
.
Background
Sabeer Bhatia was born in ChandigarhChandigarh
Chandigarh is a union territory of India that serves as the capital of two states, Haryana and Punjab. The name Chandigarh translates as "The Fort of Chandi". The name is from an ancient temple called Chandi Mandir, devoted to the Hindu goddess Chandi, in the city...
in 1968. He grew up in Bangalore and had his early education at The Bishop's School in Pune
Pune
Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
, then St. Joseph's Boys' High School
St. Joseph's Boys' High School
St. Joseph's Boys' High School located on Museum Road in Bangalore, Karnataka, India is a boys' school. The history of the institution is given in the book "Faith and Toil" by Christopher Rego, an alumnus of the school...
in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. For a short-time he was a student at the Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), Pilani and in 1988 he went to US on a Caltech Transfer scholarship to get a bachelor's degree at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
. He earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
After graduation, Sabeer briefly worked for Apple Computers as a hardware engineer and Firepower Systems Inc. While working there he was amazed at the fact that he could access any software on the internet via a web browser. He, along with his colleague Jack Smith, set up Hotmail
Hotmail
Windows Live Hotmail, formerly known as MSN Hotmail and commonly referred to simply as Hotmail, is a free web-based email service operated by Microsoft as part of its Windows Live group. It was founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith and launched in July 1996 as "HoTMaiL". It was one of the first...
on July 4th 1996.
Today, Hotmail remains the world's largest e-mail provider with over 369 million registered users. As President and CEO of, he guided Hotmail's rapid rise to industry leadership and its eventual acquisition 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...
in 1998. Bhatia worked at Microsoft for a little over a year after the Hotmail acquisition and in April 1999, he left Microsoft to start another venture, Arzoo Inc, an e-commerce firm.
Bhatia's success has earned him widespread acclaim; The venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson named him 'Entrepreneur of the Year 1997', MIT chose him as one of 100 young innovators who are expected to have the greatest impact on technology and awarded 'TR100', San Jose Mercury News and POV magazine selected him as one of the ten most successful entrepreneurs of 1998 and Upside magazine's list of top trend setters in the New Economy named him 'Elite 100'.
Bhatia has recently started a free messaging service called JaxtrSMS. He said that JaxtrSMS, would do "to SMS what Hotmail did for e-mail". Claiming it to be a disruptive technology, he says that the operators will loose revenue on the reduction in number of SMSes on their network but will benefit from the data plan that the user has to buy.