Challenges and Prospects for Dynamic Entrepreneurship in Iran’s Transition to Democracy

A conversation with prominent Iranian-American business leaders Faraj Aalaei, Siavash Alamouti, Fay Arjomandi, Afsaneh Beschloss, Hamid Moghadam, and Shane Tedjarati about the role of dynamic entrepreneurship, the role of women in the future economy, and the impact of the Iranian diaspora on the transition to a future democratic Iran. The conference was moderated by Dr. Abbas Milani and held April 21, 2023 at Stanford University. *Click captions for Persian translation captions.

Part of the Iranian Studies series "Prospects and Challenges for Transition to Democracy in Iran": https://iranian-studies.stanford.edu/initiatives/series-prospects-and-challenges-transition-democracy-iran

SPEAKERS:

Faraj Aalaei, an Iranian American immigrant and a 40-year veteran of the communications industry, is currently the Founding Managing Partner at Candou Ventures. As an entrepreneur Mr. Aalaei has raised several hundred million dollars for his semiconductor companies from private and public investors, executed several M&A deals and as CEO taken two previous start-ups, Centillium and Aquantia through IPO. Mr. Aalaei holds an honorary degree of doctor of engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology where he also received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, MSEE from University of Massachusetts, and MBA from University of New Hampshire.

Siavash Alamouti is a world-renowned business leader, scientist, engineer, visionary, and entrepreneur. He is currently the Executive Chairman of the Board at mimik in Oakland, California. Mr. Alamouti was awarded the prestigious 2022 Marconi Prize (also known as the Nobel Prize in Communications), past recipients include Vint Cerf and Tim Burner Lee (known as fathers of Internet), Sergey Brin and Larry Page, founders of Google. In addition to his technology contributions focused on improving digital inclusion and digital equity, he has been a political activist from his high school days. He was expelled from Sharif University in 1980 after the so called “Islamic cultural revolution,” escaped the country as a political refugee and has been an activist for refugee, women and LGBTQ+ rights, secularism, freedom, and democracy.

Fay Arjomandi is the founder and CEO of mimik, the pioneering hybrid edge cloud (HEC) company. She has held c-level positions in several enterprises in telecom, digital health, software, and augmented reality. She is also a serial entrepreneur, investor, advisor, author, and advocate for women in tech and equality. Ms. Arjomandi graduated from Concordia University in electrical engineering where she was named the Alumna of the Year in 2018. Ms. Arjomandi is passionate about social impact, philanthropy, digital inclusion, and equity.

Afsaneh Beschloss is an economist and leader in the private, public, and multilateral sectors who has focused her career on harnessing the power of sustainable finance to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. A pioneer in climate policy and investments, she has found new ways to implement sustainability and inclusion into global finance for three decades. Currently, Ms. Beschloss is the founder and CEO of RockCreek, one of the world’s largest diverse-owned investment firms. Ms. Beschloss holds an MPhil (Honors) in Economics from the University of Oxford, where she taught international trade and economic development.

Hamid Moghadam is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Prologis, the global leader in logistics real estate and a member of the S&P 100. He is a Trustee Emeritus of Stanford University and currently serves on the boards of Stanford Management Company (former Chair), Stanford Health Care and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, he is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and in 2013, the overall U.S. winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award. In its latest ranking, Harvard Business Review voted him as the #17 Best Performing CEO in the world. He holds BS and MS degrees in Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Stanford.

Shane Tedjarati is the founder, chairman and CEO of the Tribridge Group. Mr. Tedjarati was retired president and CEO of the Global High Growth Regions in Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) in 2021. Mr. Tedjarati studied mathematics and computer science at McGill University, Canada; earned an MBA at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom and completed the Executive Program in e-Commerce at the Wharton School of Management at the University of Pennsylvania.

MODERATOR:

Abbas Milani is the director of the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies at Stanford University, an Adjunct Professor, and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. His expertise is U.S.-Iran relations as well as Iranian cultural, political, and security issues. Milani is the author of numerous books in Persian and English. He has published more than 200 essays and book reviews in journals and papers.

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