Bobby Yazdani Explained

Bobby Yazdani
Birth Name:Babak Yazdani
Citizenship:American
Alma Mater:University of California, Berkeley
Occupation:Founder & Managing Partner of Cota Capital Founder & Managing Partner of Signatures Capital
Organization:Cota Capital
Known For:Entrepreneur & Venture Capital
Website:Cota CapitalSignatures Capital

Babak "Bobby" Yazdani (born 1963)[1] is an Iranian-American entrepreneur and investor specializing in early-stage, private U.S.-based modern enterprise technology companies.

In 1997, he founded Saba Software, a provider of Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions. He took the company public in 2000.[2] Yazdani founded Signatures Capital in 2006 and co-founded investment firm Cota Capital in 2014, where he serves as a Partner.[3] [4]

Yazdani was ranked #1 out of 2000 angel investors in a 2014 report by CB Insights as having the most successful track record for investing in companies that received follow-on funding.[5]

Yazdani began investing in 1989 and is an early investor in companies such as Google, Dropbox, Klout, Salesforce and Uber.[6]

Early life and education

Yazdani was born in Tehran to a middle-class family. He left Iran in 1980 for the United Kingdom, where he completed his high-school education. Yazdani moved to the United States at age 19 and graduated with a B.A. in Applied Mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley.[7] [8]

Career

Oracle

From 1988 to 1997, Yazdani held various senior management positions at Oracle Corporation.

Saba Software

Yazdani founded Saba Software in 1997 and took the company public in 2000. He was identified as an industry pioneer in creating the Human Capital Management category.[9] Under his leadership, Saba acquired THINQ Learning Solutions in May 2005,[10] Centra Software in 2006[11] [12] and Pedagogue Solutions and Comartis in June 2011.[13] Yazdani stepped down as CEO in 2013 when Saba was acquired by Vector Capital.[14] The following year, Yazdani agreed to an SEC-negotiated claw back of $2.5 million in bonuses. Yazdani was not charged with any wrongdoing.[15] In February 2020, Saba was acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand for $1.3 billion.[16]

Signatures Capital

In 2006, Yazdani founded Signatures Capital, which serves as his family office and focuses on early stage investments.[17] [18] Yazdani’s first investment was in medical technology company Masimo, for which he provided capital but also wrote software to improve the accuracy of Masimo’s early neonatal pulse oximeters. According to the Huffington Post, Yazdani has invested in more than 100 companies in the technology sector via Signature Capital. Through Signatures Capital investments, Yazdani invested, among others, in Dropbox, Google,[19] Uber, Masimo,[20] Nextbio (acquired by Illumina),[21] [22] SoundHound,[23] Salesforce,[24] Clever Sense (acquired by Google),[25] [26] Greensmith Energy (acquired by Wartsila),[27] [28] Baarzo (acquired by Google),[29] [30] Bina Technologies (acquired by Roche)[31] [32] and Checkr.[33]

Cota Capital

In 2014, Yazdani co-founded Cota Capital, a technology investment firm that partners with technology companies to help them grow and develop "the opportunity for improving lives."[34] [35] Since its inception, the firm has invested in numerous private and public technology companies, including Berkeley Lights,[36] Capella Space,[37] Cloud Lending (acquired by Q2 Holdings),[38] Tubi (acquired by FoxCorp),[39] Gusto (formerly ZenPayroll),[40] Mission Bio[41] and Movandi,[42] OpenGov, ParkourSC[43] and Truebill (acquired by Rocket Companies),[44] [45] and Rhombus Systems.[46]

Philanthropy

Bobby Yazdani is a founding member of the Persian Tech Entrepreneurs network and a member of The Reset Foundation.[47] He also underwrote the Signatures Innovation Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, between 2015 and 2019, which supported "data science projects with commercial promise."

In 2022, Yazdani and other members of the Iranian-American community established the American Legacy Fund, an endowment program meant to support the development of youth soccer in the United States.[48] He serves on the board of trustees of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and he is a supporter of the Maryam Mirzakhani Endowed Professorship, created in honor of the late Fields medalist.[49] [50]

Cota Impact Fund

The Cota Impact Fund provides grants to a number of philanthropic institutions, such as the International Red Cross, the World Central Kitchen and UNICEF.[51]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Babak "Bobby" Yazdani: Bridging Abstract Thought and Entrepreneurship. Memarian. Jahandad. 2017-07-12. Huffington Post. en-US. 2018-09-24.
  2. Web site: Saba soars in IPO . 2022-06-13 . CNET . en.
  3. Web site: Signatures Capital . E27.
  4. Web site: Cota Capital - Founded in 2014, Cota Capital is a California-based investment firm that partners with entrepreneurs to build disruptive businesses. Startup Ranking . 2022-06-13 . StartupRanking . en-US.
  5. Web site: June 21, 2014 . We Analyzed 2000 Angel Investors. Here are the Top 1%. . CB Insights . January 9, 2015.
  6. Web site: 7 March 2018 . Bobby Yazdani - the Founder of Cota Capital on Investing in + Advising Entrepreneurs .
  7. Web site: D'Monte . Leslie . 2012-02-10 . Bobby Yazdani Think of us as a private social network for business . 2022-06-14 . mint . en.
  8. News: D'Monte . Leslie . 2012-02-10 . Bobby Yazdani Think of us as a private social network for business . en . mint . 2022-06-14.
  9. Web site: Wang . R. "Ray" . Executive Profiles: Disruptive Tech Leaders In Social Business -- Bobby Yazdani, Saba . 2022-06-15 . Forbes . en.
  10. Web site: 13 December 2007 . Growing through challenges at Saba . 2022-06-15 . Silicon Valley Business Journal.
  11. Web site: October 6, 2005 . Saba Software to acquire Centra for $60M . Boston Business Journal . January 9, 2015.
  12. Web site: Saba Software to acquire Centra for $60M . 2022-06-15 . Silicon Valley Business Journal.
  13. Web site: Saba Software acquires Comartis Group . 2022-06-15 . VISCHER . en.
  14. News: 2015-02-10 . Saba Software to be taken private by Vector Capital . en . Reuters . 2022-06-15.
  15. News: 2014-09-24 . U.S. SEC claws back Saba Software ex-CEO's pay over fraud . en . Reuters . 2022-06-15.
  16. Web site: Patrick . Thibodeau . 13 May 2020 . In February 2020, Saba was acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand for . TechTarget.
  17. Web site: Webinar - Who is an Entrepreneur? . 2022-06-15 . Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick . en.
  18. Web site: 2017-11-13 . AI can be a force for good too, says veteran investor Bobby Yazdani . 2022-06-20 . Australian Financial Review . en.
  19. Web site: July 15, 2014 . FundersClub's New "Partnerships" Let You Start A Venture Capital Fund Or Invest In One . TechCrunch . January 9, 2015.
  20. Web site: November 6, 2014 . Masimo: 25th Anniversary Report — P. 20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150113050852/http://www.masimo.fr/pdf/home/Annual_Report_OUS_2013.pdf . January 13, 2015 . Masimo . January 9, 2015.
  21. Web site: NextBio on AngelList . January 9, 2015.
  22. Web site: Levin . Jennifer . 2013-10-31 . Illumina Signs Agreement to Acquire NextBio, Leader in Analyzing and Aggregating Complex Genomic Data . 2022-06-17 . Fierce Biotech . en.
  23. Web site: SoundHound on AngelList . January 9, 2015.
  24. Web site: Barret . Victoria . Best Stories Of The Decade: "Silicon Valley's Hottest VC Is a Rug Dealer" . 2022-06-17 . Forbes . en.
  25. Web site: Google Acquires Clever Sense, Creator Of Local Recommendations App Alfred . 2022-06-17 . TechCrunch . en-US.
  26. Web site: Bobby Yazdani on Angel Investors . Angel.co.
  27. Web site: Greensmith Energy Company Profile: Acquisition & Investors PitchBook . 2022-06-20 . pitchbook.com . en.
  28. Web site: Wartsila to Acquire Greensmith for Energy Storage Software . 2022-06-20 . www.greentechmedia.com.
  29. Web site: Baarzo Company Profile: Acquisition & Investors PitchBook . 2022-06-17 . pitchbook.com . en.
  30. Web site: Drake . Sarah . June 23, 2014 . Google buys video search startup Baarzo, report says . 2022-06-17 . Silicon Valley Business Journal.
  31. Web site: Ward . Lisa . March 21, 2013 . The Funded: BINA Technologies . 2022-06-17 . Silicon Valley Business Journal.
  32. Web site: 2014-12-20 . Roche acquires Bina Technologies and enters the genomic informatics market . 2022-06-17 . Fierce Biotech . en.
  33. Web site: Checkr Venture Capital and Private Equity Financings . 2022-06-17 . www.vcnewsdaily.com.
  34. Web site: Peisner . David . 2018-10-23 . Dara Khosrowshahi and 39 other Iranians who power Silicon Valley . 2022-06-17 . Fast Company . en-US.
  35. Web site: Glassman . James . 2022-04-20 . It's Time to Move Beyond ESG When Picking Stocks RealClearMarkets . 2022-06-17 . www.realclearmarkets.com . en.
  36. News: Mack . Heather . 2018-10-15 . Berkeley Lights Raises $95 Million to Speed Cell-Therapy Drug Discovery . en-US . Wall Street Journal . 2022-06-17 . 0099-9660.
  37. Web site: 2022-04-25 . Capella raises $97 million to expand radar constellation . 2022-06-17 . SpaceNews . en-US.
  38. Web site: 2017-02-23 . Cloud Lending Closed Latest Financing Round Led By Cota Capital: Global Expansion Continues - Crowdfund Insider . 2022-06-17 . www.crowdfundinsider.com . en-US.
  39. Web site: Tubi TV Grabs $6 Million From MGM, Lionsgate And Others For Its Free, Ad-Supported Streaming Service . 2022-06-20 . TechCrunch . 19 November 2015 . en-US.
  40. Web site: 2016-06-23 . 2016 IPO Prospects: Gusto Expands Beyond Payroll Processing . 2022-06-17 . Sramana Mitra . en-US.
  41. Web site: FinSMEs . 2018-12-13 . Mission Bio Raises $30M in Series B Funding . 2022-06-17 . FinSMEs . en-US.
  42. Web site: FinSMEs . 2020-04-16 . Movandi Raises $27M in Series C Funding . 2022-06-17 . FinSMEs . en-US.
  43. Web site: Follow the Money: Single-Cell Analysis, Spatial Biology, Drug-Resistant Infection Treatments, 3D Genomics . 2022-06-17 . Pubs - Bio-IT World . en.
  44. Web site: Truebill raises seed funding to help you cancel unwanted subscriptions . 2022-06-17 . TechCrunch . 22 March 2016 . en-US.
  45. Web site: Rocket Companies buys Truebill for $1.275B . 2022-06-17 . TechCrunch . 20 December 2021 . en-US.
  46. Web site: Systems . Rhombus . Rhombus Systems Raises $10M Series A to Help Organizations Create Safer Spaces . 2022-06-20 . www.prnewswire.com . en.
  47. Web site: Bobby Yazdani . 2022-06-20 . Water Innovation Advisors . en-US.
  48. Web site: U.S. Soccer American Legacy Fund . 2022-06-20 . U.S. Soccer Development Fund . en-US.
  49. Web site: Board of Trustees . Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.
  50. Web site: Personal Profile of Bobby Yazdani . Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.
  51. Web site: Impact . 2022-06-20 . Cota Capital . en-US.

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