SHERVIN PISHEVAR

Shervin Pishevar displayed his knack for financing bold tech ventures early on by raising over $10 million for his startup myWebOS back in 1997 when he was just 23 years old. Since then Pishevar has continued to push the innovation envelope by raising well over $40 million in venture funding for various startups. SGN (Social Gaming Network), the company he founded earlier this year, is already taking the mobile gaming industry in the U.S. by storm with millions of installs on the iPhone and a major presence on Facebook. Pishevar also served as a member of the Technology, Media & Telecommunications policy group that worked to create the Obama Technology & Innovation Plan. With angel investments in leading-edge new companies such as Gowalla, Aardvark, Thread.com, and Kissmetrics, Pishevar, knee deep in the new U.S. corporate culture of transparent business, offers a peek into his approach.

01 JOURNAL: How visible/transparent are you to your professional peers?
PISHEVAR: 100 percent transparent. The currency of business and investing is trust.

02 JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?
PISHEVAR: I thrive on mistakes. When you are living on the razor’s edge of innovation you have to have a thick skin. The key is how fast you iterate, adjust and pivot and how far out your tentacles are sensing the signal noise of market and consumer trends. The greatest lesson I’ve learned is about people and timing. My most recent, biggest mistake was not launching a product sooner than I should have.

03 JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?
PISHEVAR: Great entrepreneurs and angel investors are driven by a core of intuition and instincts informed by logic. So I would say 60/40. If logic was the majority this would be a boring world with cycles of innovation.

04 JOURNAL: When you travel abroad (outside of Japan) what is the most frequent, yet surprising response to your work?
PISHEVAR: Actually, the most frequent and surprising response is the absolute passion and excitement that entrepreneurship and the Silicon Valley way of thinking has inspired around the world. Silicon Valley is an idea that is spreading everywhere virally.

05 JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?
PISHEVAR: Passion. Commitment. Honesty.

06 JOURNAL: How do you take personal responsibility when you get things wrong?
PISHEVAR: Own it. I never shy away from taking responsibility. A leader should always take the responsibility and focus on solutions rather than on blame.

07 JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your current professional position, do you think your ideas and approach would still resonate with those you interact with?
PISHEVAR: Yes. My position has very little to do with it. I believe in people and I focus on finding and inspiring and helping incredible talent achieve their dreams as entrepreneurs. I do that as human being first, not a position.