Pereira, who co-founded the highly successful US-based computer networkingfirm Yago Systems, offers Goans a blueprint for financial success in SiliconValley. "I hope that as more computer technology shows up in Goa and as moreyoung Goans get exposed to the web and cyberspace, the next generation willget excited by this revolutionary technology and as a result, focus more oncomputers and cyberspace," he told India Abroad News Service in aninterview.

Pereira, whose family hails from the Navelim and Carmona village in southernGoa, went to the US to do his graduation in engineering. "Once I got tocollege and started studying computer engineering, I was hooked. The restjust fell into place," says Pereira, who began his working career in thebooming US economy of the '90s.

After taking up jobs at Kalpana Systems and Cisco Systems, he ventured outon his own. He started Yago Systems in Silicon Valley with two Indiancolleagues in 1996. "Yago Systems was founded in September 1996 by myselfand two others Indians (Piyush Patel and Nilesh Shah). The goal was todevelop extremely cost-effective wire-speed switches and routers for largecompanies and the Internet backbone," he explains.

Yago Systems was named by Network World as one of the top "Ten Companies toWatch" for 1998, while Data Communications named the company as one of "TheTop 25 Hot Startups" in 1997. Pereira was chief technical officer and vicepresident for engineering in Yago.

Starting the company had been a big risk. "Our field of computer networkingis highly competitive and the chance of failure for small startup companiesis extremely high, mostly because the market is dominated by large vendorslike Cisco, 3Com, Bay Networks and Cabletron," he says.

Yago was then sold to Cabletron for $240 million in 1998. Pereira iscurrently chief operating officer of Cabletron. Pereira says in SiliconValley, the number of Goans in high technology is very small compared to thetotal number of Indians. "As far as I know, I may be one of the first Goanswho has successfully done a Silicon Valley startup," he said.

With the internet and wireless boom, almost everyone has the opportunity tosucceed, he said.

Many companies, more than 20 per cent of which are Indian owned, are takingadvantage of the shifting economy and capitalising on the opportunitiesavailable, he said. He said Goans, who have traditionally preferred servicejobs "are not used to taking these risks" but need to do so if they want thefinancial rewards. The traditional service jobs are comfortable but do notcome with big payoffs, he said.

--(India Abroad News Service)