Najdorf Capital CEO Chad Salinas Interview at 2004 Linux World Conference & Expo

Chad Salinas, CEO of early-stage venture capital firm Najdorf Capital, interviewed at 2004 Linux World Conference.

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 16, 2004 --Chad Salinas, CEO of early-stage venture capital firm Najdorf Capital, interviewed at 2004 Linux World Conference.

LW : In your new role as Managing Director of an early stage venture capital firm are you seeing many potential Linux software startups?

Chad Salinas : While NYC has experienced a dearth of startup opportunities in general, the Silicon Valley has provided us with enough nascent software developers to look at.

LW : Are these startups predominantly pre-revenue?

Chad Salinas : Unfortunately, most are still small, but we are looking to help these smaller software firms get traction with the corporate buyers here on the East Coast.

LW : But are these software products ready for prime-time and the rigors of corporate acceptance?

Chad Salinas : A succession of firms have their roots in academia and have amassed a following there which gives them some instant credibility. Then you see these products getting empirical testing amongst the early technology adopters in corporations.

LW : How have you helped firms make this transition from academia to the corporate world?

Chad Salinas : After I finished my MBA in Finance at NYU, I decided to get back to my software development roots. For the last year and half, simultaneous with running the venture firm, I have been working on my Masters in Computer Science at Harvard University. This has provided me with both contacts and experience. I now help small software development firms set expectations with clients especially with regard to deadlines.

LW: How exactly do you achieve this?

Chad Salinas : Firstly, most of the software developers don't have the contacts in the Fortune 500 IT departments, so I make those introductions. Secondly, the developers are so eager to be speaking with corporate buyers who dont mind partnering on an immature product that the developers often end up promising the world. I gently guide them towards making smaller promises that they can keep and build the relationship over time.

LW : Does it ever bother you to see these young entrepreneurs making the same mistakes you may not have made when you were in their position?

Chad Salinas : Firstly, I never considered myself a CEO, I was more a student of how to be a good CEO. I made every mistake an entrepreneur could possibly make. After weathering the sustained adversity of running a business for 10 years, you learn to roll with the punches. Entrepreneurs are passionate, intelligent, resilient people, but all people make mistakes. As a venture capitalist, as opposed to an operator, you just have to make suggestions and take comfort that you bet on a person who can adapt.

LW : Do you miss being an operator?

Chad Salinas : I do. Sometimes I whip myself into a frenzy behind getting market penetration with a new product and outflanking the new competitors. I miss obsessing about an idea all weekend and then springing it on my developers Monday morning. Of course out-executing other competitors is a favorite past time that you dont get running a finance firm.

LW : Do you think you will ever go back into an operational role?

Chad Salinas : For now, I am content to run the venture firm. Najdorf has been asked by several entrepreneurs to provide more investment banking advisory services. I guess if the right opportunity came along, I would definitely consider it.

LW : So, have you found any potential Linux software companies at this conference?

Chad Salinas : I am talking to a few. First, I am staying with applications I am familiar with: e-mail and network security. Having co-developed the first e-mail gateway for Hewlett Packard back in 1989, I have witnessed the evolution of e-mail and its concomitant security issues. A large market exists amongst Fortune 500 firms that just cannot afford to single source the O/S anymore.

LW : Thanks so much for the quick interview, any parting thoughts?

Chad Salinas : I am actively seeking to invest in IMAP, e-mail, and VPN clients in the Linux space, so if you know of firms, feel free to send them my way.

About Najdorf Capital

Founded in 2002, Najdorf Capital is an early-stage technology investment firm targeting the wireless communications, networking, Internet infrastructure and related software sectors. Network security and messaging entrepreneur, Chad Salinas founded Najdorf Capital with the intent to catalyze new ventures.
For more information, visit www.najdorf.com.