Vivek Kopparthi
Co-founder / CEO
NeoLight
Phoenix, AZ USA
“Focus. There are several things you can do with your life, but don’t get derailed looking at all the shiny objects. Focus on what you want to do and go execute it.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationVivek Kopparthi
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
I was raised by a middle-class family in India; our life revolved around our business making money.
I was a curious kid, and I’d sometimes offer my parents suggestions for how to make more money.
After completing an engineering degree in India, I decided to move to the U.S. for grad school.
I chose ASU for its highly ranked supply chain management program—what I thought I wanted to do.
While at ASU, my roommate had the idea to build a better treatment for jaundiced infants.
We pitched our idea to an ASU entrepreneurship program; they gave us the seed funding for NeoLight.
We developed a successful treatment for jaundice and are now working on a treatment for hypothermia.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Doctorate
Career
Co-founder / CEO
I make empathy-driven, best-in-class technologies that treat preventable conditions in infants.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Engineering
Entrepreneurship
Problem Solving
Day to Day
Every day is different: I wear a suit to work every day, but working at a startup means that once I get to work, I might be meeting with investors, or I might be cleaning desks and making coffee.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
The first thing you have to do is learn how to be an entrepreneur. You have to study those who went before you and study their methods, then choose what kind of startup you want to create and learn exactly how to do that.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Peers:
"Why aren’t you working for a big company, making a six-figure salary like the rest of your classmates?"
