Sabeer Bhatia

Sabeer Bhatia is an Indian-American entrepreneur and co-founder of Hotmail, one of the first web-based email services. He earned a Bachelor's degree from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. In 1996, Bhatia and Jack Smith co-founded Hotmail, which quickly became a popular email platform due to its free and accessible web-based format. Microsoft acquired Hotmail in 1997 for an estimated $400 million, making Bhatia a prominent figure in Silicon Valley.

Following Hotmail's success, Bhatia continued to be involved in various technology ventures and startup initiatives, contributing to the growth and development of the internet industry. Hotmail got its name from the idea of incorporating HTML (HyperText Markup Language), the language used to create web pages, into the brand. In its early days, Sabeer Bhatia faced some challenges in selling Hotmail due to a misunderstanding about its nature. According to Bhatia, some potential investors initially mistook Hotmail for a male entertainment company. This confusion arose because the name 'Hotmail' sounded similar to the idea of 'hot males' leading to a misconception about the business's nature.