These days, you’ll find Safi Qureshey at an office in the shadow of the Irvine Spectrum building that used to house his AST Research Inc.
AST, co-founded and ran by Qureshey, is long gone. Chip maker Broadcom Corp. now calls the former AST campus home. But those who know Qureshey say he’s still working as hard as he did building AST, and later, trying to save the doomed computer maker.
“Talk about retiring. I have never seen a man work so hard,” said Wendy Goodall, assistant to Qureshey for the past 12 years.
Qureshey no longer talks about making fast computers and servers, the way he did in his AST days. Now, as chief executive of venture capital firm and accelerator Irvine Ventures, he talks about nurturing new companies and helping them through difficult times. “Since early 1997, what I have been doing is getting involved with a variety of early-stage companies in Southern California,” Qureshey said.
So far, Qureshey said he has invested about $10 million of his own money through Irvine Ventures. He declines to say how much the firm has under management, but Qureshey has five partners who’ve also brought in money.
Qureshey hit a home run early on: the first company Irvine Ventures backed was San Francisco-based NextCard Inc., a credit card issuer that advertises and markets online. NextCard, which went public in early 1999, was among the first companies to offer instant online credit approvals. Despite the dot-com crash, NextCard counted a market value of nearly $500 million as of last week.
When Qureshey invested in NextCard, the company was a startup with just a handful of workers.
“It is very satisfying to see the company grow from five people when I got involved to 850 people with offices in Phoenix and San Francisco,” he said.
A native of Pakistan, Qureshey is spearheading nine technology startups where he serves either as a director, chairman or chief executive. He’s also invested in another 12 or so California companies.
“The companies approach me, not just for the money, but for much more direct involvement,like being on their board, guiding them, directing them,” Qureshey said.
Qureshey’s investments range from companies making Internet radios and chips to a newspaper for Pakistanis in the U.S. and Canada.
One company, Irvine-based Awaz Networks Inc., is developing products for sending voice and faxes as blocks of data on packet-switched networks. The company is looking to launch products this year. Qureshey is chairman and chief executive of Awaz, which has 120 people working in Pakistan.
“Each of the companies in which we have invested is unique,” Qureshey said. “Awaz Networks is addressing a very large market. We are very confident about the company.”
Other Irvine Ventures investments include: chip designer ConnectCom Microsystems Inc.; Internet radio maker AudioRamp.com; car-buying site CarPrices.com; business software maker Nexgenix Inc.; and 3D mapping company Sacor Technologies Inc.
Irvine Ventures also has made a series of passive investments in companies such as Internet search engine Ask Jeeves Inc., University Access Inc., an online learning company, and chip designer Cradle Technologies Inc.
Qureshey also sits on the board of two public companies: NextCard and Santa Ana-based Powerwave Technologies Inc.
While at AST, Qureshey oversaw marketing, finance and administration. Investing in startups is a different experience, he said.
“Working through other people is a big transition for me,” Qureshey said. “At AST we were driving it. It is different to be an adviser, a mentor, a board member or an investor.”
Unlike most venture capitalists, Qureshey doesn’t brag about his home runs or how much money he has made in his newfound passion. He would rather talk about his mistakes and failures.
“I have learned a lot of lessons from the exuberance to the disappointments of the many Internet-related companies,” Qureshey said. “I have made some big mistakes there.”
Besides financing, Qureshey said what he brings to the table is his experience, both good and bad.
“The value that we are able to bring to a company is more from our disappointments and failures than from our successes,” he said. “The stories of success are covered much more in the press than those of failures. You have a good marketing team, a good product and financial backing and you are successful. But from disappointments you learn a lot more.”
New companies face a more challenging time with the changing economy, Qureshey said.
“Companies will have to learn how you deal with product failures,” he said. “Each company has to demonstrate their business model and profitability.”
Qureshey, who once headed OC’s largest tech company at AST, is actively involved in business circles. He is the president of the Southern California chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs, a network of professionals, mostly immigrants from India and Pakistan,that supports entrepreneurs here and abroad. He also is on the Overseas Advisory Board in Pakistan.
“So far my experience has been very satisfying,” he said. n
