From the founder of an e-discovery firm to restaurateurs, foreign-born business owners explain how they have made it in America.
KAMRAN POURZANJANI
Founder and CEO, Bestcovery.com; formerly co-founder and CEO, PriceGrabber.com
Kamran Pourzanjani came to the United States from Tehran, Iran, when he was 16. He wanted to attend one of this country’s reputable universities – at least that’s what he told his parents.
“I think I really wanted to experience the excitement of America, and all the frills that went with it for a 16-year-old boy, like rock and roll, glitter, girls and independence,” Pourzanjani recalled.
There’s little doubt Pourzanjani has made the most of his opportunity. He first stepped off a plane at JFK International Airport on Aug. 24, 1976. To date, Pourzanjani has started two L.A.-area companies, one of which was sold for almost $500 million.
It’s been an experience that’s uniquely American, Pourzanjani said.
“America, more than any other society, loves winners and encourages you to succeed,” he said. “It starts with a unique culture of openness to new ideas and views, the belief that things can and should improve, and perhaps most importantly, the optimism that everything is possible.”
After earning his undergraduate and graduate degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado, Pourzanjani co-founded comparison shopping site PriceGrabber.com LLC in 1999 in Los Angeles.
Starting out with just $1.5 million in angel funding, Pourzanjani and his colleagues built PriceGrabber into one of the leading sites in the Internet consumer services sector. In 2005, the company was acquired by information services firm Experian PLC for $485 million.
Pourzanjani remained at PriceGrabber until 2007, when he left to start Bestcovery.com, an L.A.-based site that recommends products to consumers, where he currently serves as chief executive. He also sits on the boards of local Internet startups LegalZoom.com and Oversee.net.
He acknowledges the challenges of life in the American business community. Competition is intense and it’s a litigious world.
Nevertheless, Pourzanjani said he’s glad he started his companies here rather than in another country.
What surprises him most? It’s that he looks around and sees so many other successful immigrant entrepreneurs like himself.
“Many technology and Internet companies, including my competitors, were started by immigrant entrepreneurs,” he said. “It speaks to how open and welcoming we are as a society.”
He’s embraced his new country and feels it has embraced him in return. When he first arrived in the United States, Pourzanjani said, he planned to one day return to Tehran. Would he now?
“No,” he said. “America is definitely home.”
