14 May 2008
Zvi Or-Bach, Israeli-Born Founder of eASIC
Immigrant entrepreneur profile
Israeli-born Zvi Or-Bach came to America in 1981 on an H-1 visa, the precursor to the H-1B (work) visa. After working at Honeywell for two years, he returned to Israel. His brief work experience in the United States convinced him that some day he could return and find niches in the U.S. marketplace. And that was what Zvi did.
In 1990, he started Chip Express, an 80-person company with a patented laser technology useful in producing prototypes of chips within 24 hours. Like many other immigrant entrepreneurs, Zvi went on to start another company, eASIC, based in Santa Clara, California. The privately held company, founded in 1999, uses a combination of chips and software to enable end customers, such as providers of consumer electronics, to introduce custom products into the marketplace quickly and cheaply.
The company’s chief executive officer, Ronnie Vasishta, born in England, came to America to work at LSI Logic. After several years, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla of Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, a key investor in eASIC, recruited Ronnie to run eASIC. “I came to America as a single guy, and it’s very daunting,” said Ronnie. “It’s a very daunting prospect to come to a different country and start from scratch. But one thing it really does for you — it’s invigorating. Because you really feel like you have no safety net.” Ronnie says at some point it was inevitable that he would come to America. “Do I stagnate in another part of the world or do I come here? The United States does that. The ambitious people are drawn here.”
Zvi Or-Bach, who holds more than 30 patents, primarily in the field of semi-custom chip architectures, helped eASIC survive its start-up phase by spreading its workforce among the United States, Malaysia, and Romania. The core of the company resides in the United States but his experience and contacts from Chip Express helped establish eASIC’s multinational design and production capabilities.
Zvi is concerned that current immigration policies are harming his adopted country. “It’s painful to see. Because of immigration restrictions, such as on H-1B visas, we’re losing many great minds,” said Zvi. “Having worked in the United States for the last 20 years, it’s clear that immigration is vital to the growth of the United States and being competitive internationally. There’s no question immigration is America’s secret weapon.”
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government.
Note: This profile originally appeared in the study American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness, which was commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association and conducted by Stuart Anderson of the National Foundation for American Policy and Michaela Platzer of Content First LLC.
