Ronald Weissman talks Armenia’s tech sector and friendship with Steve Jobs

Last month Silicon Valley UNLEASHED: Inside Tech’s Greatest Minds event, organized by HIVE Seed Fund, took place in Tumo Center for Creative Technologies in Yerevan.

Itel.am talked to Ronald Weissman, President of Band of Angels, one of the oldest seed investments companies in Silicon Valley, who came to Armenia specifically for the event.

- You are rather familiar with Armenian tech sector. In your opinion, what are the neglected directions of Armenian tech sector that people should work on?

- I came here last November too, to co-hold a seminar on how to present a business plan to the investors with Roger Strauch. In general, I have been working with Armenian companies in Silicon Valley for a long time. I would say that I know a few things about the Armenian tech sector, but I am no expert.

Human capital in Armenia is phenomenal. I visited hundreds of education institutes in the US and Europe in the course of my career. But there are only a few places in the world like Tumo, for example. Your students are very good at mathematics, chess, and are rather tech-savvy.

However, Armenia has an infrastructure problem, which isn’t characteristic only for Armenia. The same is true for other small but smart countries, like Chile. The problem is that Armenian market is very small. I would like the regional market to be larger. Some measures can be taken, for instance, to co-create a market 5 times the size of Armenia with Georgia, Iran and Russia in order to invest capital and facilitate trade.

- How would you define Armenian tech sector’s representation in Silicon Valley?

- This question doesn’t have a general answer. Silicon Valley has a very open environment. Armenian entrepreneurs feel quite well there and have the advantage of the Diaspora. There is a so-called natural network. Can this network become more powerful and promising? Yes, it can.

I would suggest creating an information service, where the Armenians from Diaspora can learn about tech opportunities that work in Armenia or in the Armenian communities. I know many Armenians and I tell them about Armenia’s tech potential, and they want to get involved.

For instance, the Russians hold an annual conference with more than 1000 participants in Silicon Valley. Norway, Finland and Denmark are called Silicon Vikings and organize many large conferences. It is important to build bridges between Armenia and Silicon Valley, New York and other tech centers.

In this regard HyeTech event in San Francisco was very important, but more should be done.

- What is the dark side of Silicon Valley that Armenian startups should know beforehand?

- Don’t take everyone’s word for it.

They need to visit other regions of the US. I often say that Palo Alto is not the real world, everyone there has the newest devices and talks about the latest tech trends. It is not the same in other American cities – technology is not a priority in people’s lives.

- You worked with Steve Jobs for 10 years. Did he ever talk to you about his foster family, particularly his foster mother Clara Hagopian?

- Steve adored his parents, but he was a very reserved man.

I remember there was a private event once and Steve was being interviewed for a TV channel. The journalist was warned to ask about anything but the family. However, they still asked Steve about his family, and Steve just got up and left.

Perhaps it was a psychological issue, because adopted children fear to be abandoned by the foster family the same way as the biological. I know one thing – Steve Jobs protected his family and kept them private. I found out that Steve was adopted by an Armenian woman when I read his autobiography.

- They also say that Jobs could speak Armenian.

- Maybe he learned it from his mother, but he never told me anything about it. Steve was very close friends with Avie (Avadis) Tevanian. He was Senior Vice President of Software Engineering of Apple (in 1997-2003), then Chief Software Technology Officer (in 2003-2006). He and Richard Rashid created the Mach microkernel, which later became the base for NeXT operating system and Mac OS X. Tevanian is considered one of the chief developers of Mac OS X operating system.

Narine Daneghyan talked to Ronald Weissman