Like many people in Austin, I had heard of Bijoy Goswami long before I had the chance to meet and get to know him personally. He was referred to me by numerous smart and connected people in our community who share a certain belief that he is one our brightest, rising stars. When I utimately had the opportunity to meet Bijoy, I quickly understood why he has so many friends and admirers.
Bijoy is very representative of the excellence we have in abundance among the creative class of Austin and a true leader in finding innovative ways to adapt to the new economic models of the 21st Century. He is one of only a handful of people that I would openly try to convince to seek elected office in Austin. Because of his tremendous communications and organizational skills, his global perspective, love of Austin, and a knowledge and skill set that is equal to or greater than that of the leadership of any community, Bijoy would be a great choice to take us forward.
I encourage you to check out Bijoy’s website to get a visual into his amazing thoughts and actions. Born in Bangalore, India, he lived in Taiwan and Hong Kong before moving to the US and attending Stanford where he studied Computer Science, Economics, History and inter-disciplinary honors in Science, Technology and Society. He also spent a term at Oxford. In 1995 he moved to Austin, TX, to join a software startup and cofounded Aviri software in April 2000. In 2003, he began in earnest, his work as a model-builder, bootstrapper and evangelist.
As it is so nicely described in his IA09 bio, Bijoy “expresses and communicates his models through books, music, film, community, and websites. The process also deepens his understanding of the models and how to effectively convey them. Collaboration is at the heart of this process and he has been very lucky in finding extraordinary partners. Their expertise combines with the model, and through multiple iterations, a unique creation results. Some of these include Bootstrap Austin, The Human Fabric and Mystic Cab.”
A great biograhy, like Bijoy’s, can tell you a lot about the person being described. As Bijoy’s quickly makes clear, he is very intelligent, successful in most things that he attempts, and very focused on a career that he is deeply passionate about. What is really engaging about Bijoy is his “real life” persona. Frankly it is always a pleasure for me to know someone who is at the same time highly intellectual, and still so grounded and comfortable in his or her own skin that treating others according to the golden rule is effortless and even visibly enjoyable. Bijoy can be the smartest person in the room and easily make everyone else around comfortable to be in that same room.
I’ve had the chance to be around Bijoy Goswami and see all of these qualities in him. A very real benefit of the Interactive Austin 09 conference earlier and now the Austin Interactive Initiative will be the added opportunities for all of us to work with and learn from Bijoy Goswami.