The harsh social and economic circumstances in which he grew up did not stop him from making his mark in the worlds of the internet and business after developing

Hotmail, the email service that helped make life easier for millions of people around the world.

How did Indian Muslim entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia get his start, and what chance encounter led him to imagine a website for exchanging personal, private

messages for free? What humanitarian and social values inspired Bhatia to use his wealth to serve the people of his homeland?

Sabeer Bhatia was born in 1968 in the Indian region of “Bangalore,” where extreme poverty and difficult living conditions affected not only families, but also

the entire country.

Sabeer studied technology at the “Birla” Institute, then traveled to continue his studies in electrical engineering at the “Caltech” Institute in Pasadena, California,

He then transferred to Stanford University.

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Working at Apple

Bhatia gained extensive experience, which qualified him to work at Apple for a year. He then moved to a company specializing in chipset design

and electronic circuits.

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مشروعه الخاص

Bhatia didn’t want to continue working for someone else; he had what it takes to venture into the world of Entrepreneurship—so he decided to launch his own business.

Together with his friend, “Jack Smith,” Bhatia considered creating personal web pages containing a database of users—something that was

new at the time.

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The idea for email takes shape

As the two friends worked through the project, they realized they needed a way to communicate with each other and exchange information through short, private messages, away from

internal corporate networks that lacked privacy.

The two friends therefore decided to shift the project’s focus to creating a free email service that would let people exchange private messages over the internet,

with revenue generated solely from advertising.

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Finance

Because the idea of email seemed highly promising, the two friends had little trouble securing $300,000 in initial funding from

Draper Fisher.

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إطلاق Hotmail

On July 4, 1996, Hotmail was officially launched, attracting huge interest from people across all walks of life, who rushed to create accounts

on the new website.

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The $400 million deal

Within a year of Hotmail’s launch, it had surpassed ten million users, prompting Bill Gates, then chairman of Microsoft,

to buy it for $400 million.

Bhatia agreed to sell the website in exchange for a position as an expert at Microsoft, where he would work on its development. He stayed with the company for a year.

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إنجازات أخرى

Later, Bhatia created Arzoo, a website designed to make online shopping safer, as well as a blogging platform that could be used from anywhere.

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تكريم “باتيا”

After Hotmail succeeded in offering an innovative, private, fast, and free personal service that could be activated anytime, anywhere, Bhatia received awards from

numerous magazines, websites, and technology experts.

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Welcoming world leaders

Bhatia also became so famous and wealthy that Bill Clinton, former President of the United States, and Jacques Chirac, former President of France,

as well as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then Prime Minister of India, welcomed him.

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Social Responsibility

Bhatia, who had struggled with poverty in his early years, did not keep the millions of dollars he earned from founding Hotmail to himself. Instead, he recognized his responsibility

He was committed to the community and had a generous, giving spirit. He devoted part of his wealth to building numerous institutes in his country to help students who could not afford to

continue their education.

Bhatia also founded a business incubator to support young people and empower them to start their own ventures.

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دروس مُستفادة

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Determination is the foundation of success:

Bhatia showed no signs that he would one day achieve great success. But he proved that a person’s future is shaped less by their circumstances than by their

willpower, perseverance, and resolve.

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Flexibility in Thinking and Execution:

When Bhatia considered starting his own venture, his idea was simply to create online customer databases. However, some personal needs

—which arose while he was building the project—led him to a deeper and more valuable idea: email.

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A Good Project Attracts Funding:

Bhatia had no trouble persuading investors to fund his new project, thanks to its clear goals, viability, and importance to millions of users

around the world. As a result, he secured $300 million in initial funding.

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روح العطاء:

Only successful people recognize their responsibility to society: sharing their knowledge and wealth to benefit humanity and help it advance.