October 27, 2021 / Podcast Episode

Episode 10: Soodeh Farokhi

Interview with: Soodeh Farokhi. 
VP Product at NAKISA, Canada. 
Formerly: Founder and CTO of C2RO (Canada), Founder of Service-Oriented Enterprise Architecture Institute (Iran). PhD from Vienna (Austria). Immigrant from Iran.
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Episode Guide

In this Episode with Soodeh Farokhi: Engineering University class in Iran are 70% women – 30% men, but in Vienna she was only woman in class of 60! Founding a startup in Iran. Founding a startup in Canada. Experience and advice as one of few women entrepreneurs in Iran and Canada. How to communicate to VCs that you are expecting a baby. How much does a PhD help in being a better entrepreneur (spoiler: it does!)? Building “muscle” to assuage the feeling of being under-represented. Deciding to NOT migrate to US. Advice on impostor syndrome, And much more!

  • mm.ss: Segment Info (Index)
  • 0.00: Voices in this episode
  • 1.43: Biography
  • Act 1: 4.39: Early interests in Math and Science in Iran, 1990s and 2000s.
    • 4.39: Brother as a friend and role model
    • 6.20: Engineers and Doctors (Medicine) are in high demand in Iran
    • 7.43: Was there tinkering and experiments opportunities for Math/Physics, or mostly books?
  • Act 2: 8.56: School and Education system in Iran, 1990s and 2000s
    • 8.56: Each grade in Iran schools was a lot more intense than corresponding grades in Canada/North America.
    • 11.06: In Iran, English was mostly written, but not spoken!
  • Act 3: 15.06: First experiences with computers and programming languages, Preparing for University entrance exam “Konkour”, in 2003
    • 17.05: More about Konkour, the super-competitive entrance exam to state universities in Iran (1.5 Million students write it!). A celebrity for ranking at the top of the women students in the exam in her city.
    • 19.28 : Choice of major and university depends on your rank in the exam
    • 21.42: Preparing for the entrance exam?
  • Act 4: 24.02: Fraction of women in University Engineering programs – 70% women, and only 30% men!
    • “Computer Engineering is considered to be more female friendly”
    • 26.21: Where did fellow women students end up? (Surprise! Most women had careers in software engineering! And many left Iran.)
  • Act 5: 28.30: First entrepreneurial company in Iran, at age 27, late 2000s.
    • Four friends and a Professor as an angel investor. “I pushed myself out of my comfort zone”. “This is the first time I felt I’m entrepreneur at heart.”
  • Act 6: 35.31: Thinking of and Decision to Leave Iran. When Ahmedinejad got elected the second time in 2009. “Although everything was very good… we started to think of going abroad… even though the company was doing very well, … and we had a beautiful life in Iran.” I didn’t want to leave” “The sense of belonging to your own country was very dominant for me.”
    • 38.35: Why migrate to Europe (and not USA)?
    • “My father was emotionally dependent on me…”
  • Act 7: 40.39: Leaving Iran for Vienna, 2012
    • 41.16: Hardest things to adapt in Vienna: Winter and Currency (Tomatoes for 2 Euros!).
    • “The only woman in the class in Europe (and I came from Iran)”
    • 44.33: Did the feeling of being one of the few women go away?
      • “I built the muscle to see it as a benefit… being unique”. “Old grey haired white male” “Your language, skin, accent, doesn’t matter… as long as you have impact.” “Become the role model if you cannot find a role model.”
    • 45.51: “Your language, skin, accent, doesn’t matter… as long as you have impact.” “Become the role model if you cannot find a role model.”
  • Act 8: 47.18: PhD Student in Vienna Institute of Technology, 2013-2016
    • 47.18: Starting PhD with an entrepreneurial mindset 
    • 49.18: Finishing PhD – what options did she consider?
      • “Going back to Iran was out.”  Her father letting her go. “Speed of life and progress in Europe was a bit slower than our desire”. US was not an option as there is no guarantee of being able to return.
  • Act 9: 52.11: Canada Entrepreneurship, Iran vs. Canada, Diversity
    • 52.24: Contrasting entrepreneurial experience in Canada vs. Iran
    • 55.26: In the incubator, were other entrepreneurs also immigrants? “Canada is very diverse.” 
    • 57.08: Recruiting diverse employees is challenging.
  • Act 10: 1.02.08: Retrospectives, Perspectives
    • 1.02.08: Dealing with Impostor Syndrome.
      • “Awareness is important” “Lean In” “Go with people who empower you, and remove people from your network who de-power you.” “Any successful male or female… Jeff Bezos or Ellen… they are all human.”
    • 1.05.34: How women can have both a family and a successful career!
      • “Have an empowered plan… there will be no panic for the VCs”
      • 1.10.00: “We need to be agents… we should not be passive as women. We need to have an impact. We need to talk about it. We overcame many challenges, and why are we not sharing it with others.”
    • 1.10.53: Did the PhD help her be a better entrepreneur?
      • “(PhD taught me) The best entrepreneurs can handle uncertainty, presenting/selling/telling a story, handle social and diverse aspects.”
    • 1.16.38: Would growing up in Canada or EU have been different than growing up in Iran?
      • “I wouldn’t change … I’m happy I built the muscles to get here.”
      • “I’m technology savvy but I’m not a nerd”
About the Narrator in this Episode
  • Soodeh Farokhi (LinkedIn), VP Product at NAKISA
    • Areas: Networking, AI, Robotics, Computer Vision, Cloud Computing.
    • Select Awards: Top 750 digital innovators worldwide from DataBird journal, 2018; Innovator transforming the AI Video Analytics industry by SAP, 2021.
  • Soodeh Farokhi’s Immigration Journey
    • 1980s: Born in Iran
    • 2008: Bachelors Degree, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
    • 2011: Masters Degree, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
    • During her Masters, founded tech startup Service-Oriented Enterprise Architecture Institute
    • 2013: Immigrated from Iran to Austria, for PhD
    • 2016: PhD in Computer Science from Technische Universität Wien (Vienna Institute of Technology)
    • 2016: Immigrated from Austria to Canada to start her company C2RO in an incubator. C2RO received over $6M in equity and non-equity money, and has 23 employees, and still growing. Soodeh served as outward-facing Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of C2RO 2016-2021.
    • 2021: Started as VP Product at NAKISA
Links
Upcoming Episodes

This is the second episode of a 4-episode segment featuring prominent and distinguished Entrepreneurial+Academic Computer Scientists all of whom immigrated from Middle East.

We also recommend you listen to the Lead Episode for Middle East Entrepreneurs (Episode 9). Stay tuned for the upcoming full interview with Fadel Adib, MIT Professor (Episode 11), and a bonus Episode 12.

Previously on this podcast:

  • Credits
    • Music Credits for Podcast
    • The caption picture at top of page is of Mount Denali in Alaska, the tallest mountain peak in North America. Pic taken by Indy Gupta. 
The Immigrant Computer Scientists Podcast is available for free on your favorite devices & apps: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and many more!
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indygupta Written by:

Professor of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign