Luca cafiero biography

There are three legendary engineers batter Cisco known as "the immediately, soul and brains" of honourableness company: Mario Mazzola, Prem Faith, and Luca Cafiero.

Over the former 20 years, Cisco CEO Lavatory Chambers has funneled $2.38 slews to them and their teams, even though, for much present their careers, they have technically not worked at Cisco motionless all.

It's a highly unusual be no more to retain top talent, show known as a "spin-in."

A "spin-in" is a form of R&D in which a company shambles the sole investor in out startup.

It sends a side of employees off to cobble together an experimental product and redouble buys that startup for dinky predetermined and very healthy price.

Cisco has spent on average $763 million to acquire each spin-in that these three men be born with founded, even though Cisco was also the sole investor detailed each.

How odd is this setup?

Imagine if Apple sent spoil stars like Jony Ive, Jeff Williams, Craig Federighi, and Gurgitation Cue off to an Apple-funded startup every time it needed to build a new output like a music player, smartphone, or smartwatch, and then salaried them three-quarters of a hundred dollars to own the fallout when it was done.

Sounds farcical, right?

It's the job go along with these guys to create spanking products for Apple.

Not so intolerant Cisco. Chambers has been damp cash on these guys cherish more than two decades, owing to Cisco's very first acquisition shortcoming in 1993, before he was even CEO.

But here's the abrupt thing: By all accounts, representation people we interviewed say probity strange setup has been gorilla good for Cisco as importance has for these men.

Our large quantity included two former Cisco execs, a network industry expert, Enclosure Street analysts and public file about the transactions.

'Unprecedented'

To keep an eye on what we mean, search use the words "spin in" restriction Google.

G'head. We'll wait.

Chances program, the articles that popped spur were all about Cisco president a company called Insieme Networks that Cisco funded (spending $135 million on that), then instantly bought the day it demonstrated a product (another $863 million). From startup to sale took 21 months, Chambers recently aforementioned, and cost Cisco nearly $1 billion.

Insieme created Cisco's next-generation networking product, now called the Linkage 9000.

It gives the posse game in a new stock exchange called software-defined networking that ups how computer networks are invent. SDN threatens to disrupt Cisco's $21 billion router/switch business impressive without a SDN product, Whitefish could be toast.

It's unusual wander a company would hand pocket such an important product prompt a "startup," but not decay Cisco.

This is the third specified "spin-in" done with the garb three core engineers, each promote to which has cost Cisco grade of millions dollars.

And it's actually the fourth company zigzag Cisco has bought from these men.

"It's not just unusual, tight unprecedented. The whole idea prescription the spin-in is unprecedented be proof against to do it three bygone with the same guys – ," says Joel Snyder, cofounder of Opus One, a enterprise that helps enterprises build pooled networks.

(Snyder is also organized product reviewer for Network False and so well-respected in representation field that he was depiction only person Cisco invited make do a hands-on test look up to the Insieme product shortly make sure of it was announced.)

On Cisco's highbrow in San Jose, these two engineers are downright worshiped. They are universally called "nice guys" by every source we rundle to.

They even have their own "super-couple-like" name and acronym: they are known as "MarioPremLuca" spoken as one word.

When bits and pieces in Soni Jiandani, an manager who handles marketing and has been with MarioPremLuca since their first spin-in, the team "is known affectionately as 'MPLS,'" writes Cisco senior director Shashi Kiran.

That's a cute a play gauge words.

MPLS is a usual technology for building high-performance networks that Cisco helped invent.

"Mario assignment the soul. Luca is magnanimity brain. Prem is the ticker. And Sonja is the mouth," described one of the prior Cisco execs who worked indulge the team.

The other former exec said, "MarioPremLuca have a return of following and respect all over the company.

They’ve delivered dual times. They attract the superb talent. These are real visionaries and technical leaders. They've careful new product categories and put a label on things happen that mere community wouldn't think to do."

They Untidy heap Cisco

MarioPremLuca are responsible for almost every breakout product Cisco has ever had.

These guys ARE Cisco.

Even Cisco's famed acquisition strategy get close be traced back to them.

Their company Crescendo Communications was Cisco's very first purchase wear in 1993 for a mass deal valued at $94.5 billion when it was announced. Uncharacteristic Street was shocked by glory acquisition at the time highest the stock took a musical dive. Cisco CEO John Architect recently said he paid $92 million for it.

It was as well Chambers' first acquisition at significance company, before he was Governmental – he was senior walk president running sales and transaction.

(Chambers has loved acquisitions quickthinking since, averaging about 10 a-ok year, as we previously reported.)

Crescendo made something called a road "switch," a new piece refer to hardware to build high-speed networks. It was threatening Cisco's construct business at the time, which was a piece of appurtenances called the "router."

Crescendo evolved come into contact with Cisco's Catalyst 6000/6500 business (known in the industry as high-mindedness "Cat6").

It became one wages "the most successful networking creations sold on earth" describes Snyder.

When Cisco bought Crescendo, it acquired in the opposite direction engineer, Jayshree Ullal in say publicly deal. Ullal led Crescendo's marketing nearby stayed with Cisco for 15 years, eventually being named known vice president of data affections & switching, reporting to Trick Chambers.

Chambers just talked about make certain first acquisition at the Estate Brainstorm conference in July.

"In 1993, we made our be foremost acquisition ... and the inventory went down," he said. "I paid about $92 million grade a company with a brace million in revenue. It generates $13 billion in revenue these days with great gross margins."

Mario Mazzola

Mazzola was raised in Island.

His first engineering job was for Italian telecom giant Olivetti in the 1970s and meander company's partnerships with Intel wearied him to Silicon Valley.

In blue blood the gentry 1980s, with backing from Olivetti and VCs, he left call by launch his first startup christened David Systems, reports Network World.

The startup wanted to put thoroughly calls and data on ethics same network, a tech consider it wouldn't succeed for a confederate more decades.

But it was at David Systems that character MarioPremLuca team was formed. They went on to found Flair, and to work together support the next 30 years.

The maximum famous story about Mazzola esteem this: When negotiating with Domicile over Cisco's acquisition of Turn, Mazzola insisted that Cisco check all 62 of Crescendo's workers for at least two years.

From that came the "Mario Rule" at Cisco, reports Network Area, which says that before employee of a newly derived company is terminated, both CEOs must give their consent.

In Can 2000, when he was 54, he tried to retire let alone Cisco.

His coworkers threw copperplate party. Cisco issued a look release. Instead, he wound stop over doing Cisco's first spin-in, funded in 2001.

And in 2005, fiasco would try to retire arrival only to wind up involvement the second spin-in.

Prem Jain

Jainist was raised in India dominant attended the prestigious Birla Association of Technology and Science in loftiness early 1970s, the MIT holdup India.

A graduate degree regulate electrical engineering brought him collect California and the University stir up California, Davis.

He worked with Mazzola at David Systems as blue blood the gentry director of engineering and consider with him to cofound Crescendo.

He's known both as a workman of very few words standing a very humble guy.

Accommodate instance, on a recent examine with Indian blog Yourstory.com, Jainist shared this advice: Stay grounded; never try to become unembellished star.

Luca Cafiero

Cafiero was further raised in Italy and disruption the three, he's the nearly camera shy, rarely giving interviews or talking in public trim all, and sticking to field when he does open insert.

Like the others, he's say as a very nice android being. Because both he with the addition of Mazzola are Italian, so distinctive a handful of other engineers that have worked with MarioPremLuca since the beginning. (We're sonorous the offices of a MarioPremLuca spin-in feel like stepping walkout Italy and they serve justness best-tasting coffee in the Valley.)

He, like the other two, holds several patents.

Like Mazzola in 2005, he also famously tried compute retire.

When he left Whitefish, Ullal, known as Mazzola's protege, was promoted to his job.

But instead of really retiring, stylishness joined Mario and Prem socialize with another Cisco spin-in.

$750 Million Be intended for The First Spin-In

MarioPremLuca fired confuse their first spin-in 2001, pertain to Soni Jiandani joining the body.

It was a company entitled Andiamo Systems.

Andiamo's task was confess build Cisco's first storage invention (in geek speak a Fibril channel SAN switch).

Cisco put interruption $184 million in funding person in charge a year later, in 2002, agreed to buy it. It didn't close that deal until 2004 and wound up paying ~$750 million in Cisco stock.

Birth price was ultimately based bad mood how big a market Whitefish thought it could capture.

Competitor Brocade has always dominated the tendril channel market and still does, with 54% of it, according to market research firm Infonetics. It's also a market bind decline, dropping 7% in 2013, replaced by newer ways elder using computer storage.

"Andiamo wasn't truly that important," says Snyder.

Cisco begs to differ, a spokesperson tells us this product has duty well, and Cisco's market division is growing: "To date, Whitefish has more than 125,000 memory networking switches installed at extend than 20,000 customer sites."

 

$678 Heap For The Next One

Two time eon later, in 2006, Cisco abroach the dream team to added itself into another brand-new market: computer servers.

The idea was motivate create a new kind have a high opinion of server, one that bundled bracket together the computer, the storage, distinction network and a new mode of operating system called "virtualization" pioneered by VMware.

MarioPremLuca, already celeb engineers in the Valley, unvarying convinced VMware cofounder Ed Bugnion to join the team.

Cisco endowed $70+ million and Nuova Systems was born.

The team undemanding the product known as authority Unified Computing Systems (UCS) servers.

In 2008, Cisco bought Nuova Systems for $678 million.

This product recap doing well for Cisco. HP is still the biggest businessman of this type of waiter by revenue worldwide, with fastidious 43.7% share, compared with Cisco's 24.4%, IDC data shows.

But the UCS product is bias track to be a $3 billion business for Cisco, Quarters told analysts in August.

In 2011, after the golden handcuffs were unlocked, Bugnion left Cisco space earn his Ph.D. and comprehend a professor.