Entries tagged 'technology'
What Microsoft taught Zoosk.com founder about entrepreneurship
Former ‘Softie in Question: Shayan Zadeh
Former Microsoft role: Program Manager and Software Development Engineer
Current role: Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Zoosk
People eat up the romanticized story that entrepreneurs are just talented folks with a great idea and the rest takes care of itself (we’ve all seen The Social Network, right?). That said, that vast majority of entrepreneurs build a solid foundation of industry knowledge before striking out on their own.
Shayan Zadeh has lived his own fairytale entrepreneur story: from a kid in the Iranian countryside to becoming the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Zoosk, the largest social dating service with over 50 million members worldwide. But it was not a straight shot from tech student to tech stardom.
Shayan shrewdly started his career at Microsoft, where he learned not only how to create a successful company, but how to run that company once he got it off the ground.
Microspotting recently had a date with Shayan to hear about his past relationship with Microsoft and understand why – although they are no longer together - they had such good chemistry.
How did you get the idea to start Zoosk?
I was actually working for a social media market research startup and we created a flirting application as a promotional tool. It turned out that application was a huge success. The demand was amazing. Suddenly, I was in the online dating business and Zoosk was born.
And what made you think that you could take on the big guys like Match.com in what appeared to be a saturated market?
Those other sites were for relatively older people looking for committed relationships. If you did not end up getting married, the experience could be seen as a failure. We were aiming for something lighter. Zoosk is about meeting other people without all of the pressure. It’s about flirting and having fun.
And it worked. We blew by the others and are now the biggest dating site in the world with over 50 million users. Zoosk is in 60 different countries in 25 different languages.Winners named for Microsoft Next global video competition
Whether utilizing Azure to ease the devastation caused by floods or collaborating across international borders to make music with Windows Live, people are
doing amazing things with Microsoft technology.
Launched in February 2011, Microsoft Next is a competition for our global employees to submit 3-minute videos showing how Microsoft people and technology are helping individuals and communities around the world.
Today, we have the honor of announcing the Top 30 winners of Microsoft Next submissions. See the amazing videos and an introduction from Jean-Philippe Courtois, President of Microsoft International, here.The next Bill Gates: Microsoft hosts a new generation of tech talent
Technology always looks toward the future. And much of that future will be formed in the minds of those who have yet to even enter the technology industry. Therefore, we recently hosted two special events - GOLDEN TICKET and EXPERIENCE MICROSOFT - for exceptional college-aged engineers from across the country.GOLDEN TICKET is a red-carpet visit to our Redmond campus for extraordinary college sophomores and juniors. We select the top national Computer Science & Computer Engineering students as recommended by professors. EXPERIENCE MICROSOFT is a similar program, but for outstanding freshman, underrepresented in the tech industry (women, minorities and individuals with disabilities).
Chasing inspiration: from Imagine Cup to Microsoft
The ‘Softies in question: Ed Donahue and Ashley Myers
The job titles:
Ed: Academic Developer Evangelist
Ashley: SDET, SharePoint Service Experiences
Ed Donahue and Ashley Myers (Tech)cellent Adventure started when they met as undergrad computer science students at DePauw University and competed together in two Imagine Cups (’09 and ’10). Their team, MangoBunnies, made it all the way to the US Finals – not once, but twice.These two dynamic, young technologists are now both employees of Microsoft with Ashley on the Redmond main campus and Ed holding down her own home office in Washington, D.C.
Microspotting caught up with the two to get the inside scoop on Imagine Cup and life at Microsoft.
First off, I’ve gotta ask: where’d the name MangoBunnies come from?
Ed: It’s ridiculously simple, actually. I thought, mangos are delicious and bunnies are adorable, so, how about MangoBunnies?Even though your team has a warm and fuzzy name, I hear that you took on some very serious world issues at Imagine Cup. Tell us about your team projects.
Ed: In ‘09, we made Computer Assisted Medication Regimen Adherence, or CAMRA. It reminds HIV/AIDS patients when to take their medication. Keeping patients above a 90% medication adherence rate helps to avoid drug-resistant virus mutation.Ashley: And in 2010, we made the Light Alert app, which notifies women on their smart phone when they are in an area that has a history of sexual assault.
What are some of the challenges from those Imagine Cup projects that have served you well in the tech industry or specifically at Microsoft?
Ed: I had to make a 20-minute presentation on the CAMRA project, but I’d never spoken that long in public before. I was really nervous. I attended a seminar at Imagine Cup on how to make a presentation, and ended up going back to the hotel that night and making a lot of edits to the speech. The next day: I nailed my presentation.That success gave me a lot of confidence moving forward and now I’m an Academic Evangelist so I get in front of crowds and have to make presentations at the drop of a hat.
Ashley: I was the lead developer for MangoBunnies, so my experience was a little different, but Imagine Cup was a great bridge for me from academic thinking to industry thinking.
Building an open-ended project taught me the importance of a long-term business plan and helped me to understand how all of the pieces fit together.
What would you say makes Imagine Cup different from other tech competitions?
Ed: At the core, it’s a student tech competition hosted by Microsoft. But, what makes it different from other exam-oriented competitions is that it’s about thinking outside of the box and building a complete end-to-end project.Ashley: I’d say Imagine Cup is really about inspiration. It's not a Microsoft recruiting event and doesn't even feel like a competition. It asks students to try to solve the world’s toughest problems and it’s a place to incubate ideas and get feedback from CEOs, CTOs and more.
Did you always have your eye on a role at Microsoft?
Ashley: No. I was always planning to have a career in my hometown in Indiana. It wasn’t until Imagine Cup and all of its related conferences that I started to meet so many Microsoft employees. They were from all different areas of the company, but everyone was passionate about what they were doing. The excitement was contagious.Ed: For me, I came to understand that I had two career passions: I love sharing ideas with people, but I also love coding and building things. The evangelist role at Microsoft was the perfect marriage of my passions.
Competing in Imagine Cup seems like quite an inspiring experience. What’s it like now that you are actually working at Microsoft?
Ed: I love it here. I’m also really passionate about “women in technology” and “technology in the classroom.” Microsoft is so supportive of those initiatives.I ask different Microsoft teams for back-up on projects and the answer is always “Let’s do it.” They understand that it’s not just about a product or even about Microsoft, but about the future of the technology industry and how technology can change people’s lives. They’re always looking 3, 5 or 10 years ahead.
And are you two involved with the Imagine Cup this year – from the other side?
Ed: The academic evangelists are supporting the US Finals. So, I’m already busy with a lot of different aspects of it.Ashley: I’m super excited because I have the opportunity to be a judge for the US finals. And again, as the whole Imagine Cup is really like a dialogue between the students and other professionals, I know that I will come away from it having learned a lot more too.
Any plans for new MangoBunnies projects?
Ed: Not yet. I’m really involved with Microsoft and outreach work right now like DigiGirlz.Ashley: Yeah, I’m working on Teaching Kids Programming and IGNITE!
Ed: Maybe when I’m next in the Pacific Northwest, I’ll have to proctor some of Ashley’s classes. It’ll be a MangoBunnies mini-reunion.
Learn more from (and about) Ed and Ashley at “Ed & Ashley’s 5 Minute Show” vlog.
Learn how a career at Microsoft can impact others
Impact is a word that we use a lot at Microsoft. But how does someone define impact in the work they do? Watch our video of Stephen who discusses how the variety of products he’s worked on at the company directly affects the people in his life - from the online features used by his friends to email used by his parents!Innovate both technology and your own career at Microsoft
Watch our video of Elie, a Software Development Engineer in Test with Bing Mobile.
After a while at Microsoft, Elie wanted to “try new things and explore new areas.” She says, “Microsoft is very flexible in team changes and you can develop your career by exploring different products and teams.” She now works on the cutting edge of mobile augmented reality.
3 tips to make it to the big leagues
Dear JobsBlog:
I'm only 13, but eventually I want to do something with technology, probably with Microsoft or Apple. How can I prepare myself? For example, pro athletes at an early age train to prepare themselves, so what can I do?- Techie in Training
Dear Techie:First I want to congratulate you on knowing what you want to do with your career this early on. As with any aspiring athlete or engineer, there are few things you want to do to grow your skills appropriately and ensure this is what you want to do.1. Follow the industry: Aspiring basketball players would likely read up on their favorite athlete, coach, and team and follow the latest news, blogs and stats from the sport.Can I fulfill my creative passions with a career at Microsoft?
Hi, I'm Marie Watkins, a new JobsBlogger, and I'm so excited to be part of this! Ever heard of DigiGirlz?
DigiGirlz offers technology programs to get high school girls hands-on with technology, to connect them with Microsoft employees and to help dispel stereotypes about working in the high-tech industry. I recently worked with the DigiGirlz team in Southern California when they held events in San Diego and in Orange County.
At DigiGirlz, I had the opportunity to talk 1-on-1 with many of the teens and I found that there was a common tension permeating the conversations. One girl expressed this eloquently when she told me about the balance she is trying to find between her mom (the artist) and her dad (the computer scientist). Both parents are trying to get her to go into their disciplines. The teen is artsy, but loves technology, and is trying to live up to both of her parents' expectations. She also called it an "anxiety" and, after hearing from her and the others I spoke with, it seemed like many of the girls were struggling with the same art vs. science conflict when considering what they want to do for a career. Their anxiety was rooted in the fear they wouldn't have a "good job" (high pay, high prestige) if they follow their passion.
