Siamak Taghaddos

Siamak Taghaddos (born August 29, 1981) is an Iranian-American entrepreneur known as the co-founder and CEO of virtual phone system provider Grasshopper and the supporting founder of National Entrepreneurs' Day.

Life & Career

Taghaddos was born in Tehran, Iran and emigrated to Boston Massachusetts in 1986. At the age of 16, while attending high school, Taghaddos founded PagerWholesale.com to provide pagers to students online. He later sold the company for an undisclosed amount. In 2000 he founded GotVMail Communications while attending Babson College in Wellesley Massachusetts. In 2003 Taghaddos and his business partner launched a new telecommunications company under the same brand GotVMail which was rebranded to Grasshopper in 2007. Taghaddos is also the co-founder of Chargify, a subscription billing application.

Awards and Highlights

In 2005 BusinessWeek named Taghaddos as one of top 5 entrepreneurs under 25.

In 2006 CNN featured Taghaddos as part of the series “Young People Who Rock”, Entrepreneur Magazine featured him as a young power player, and the Boston Business Journal named in one of 40 Under 40 business leaders.

In 2007 Taghaddos became one of the youngest CEOs to be named to the Inc. 500, Inc. Magazine’s list of 500 fastest-growing private companies in America and American Venture Magazine named him one of 40 under 40 young entrepreneurial leaders. He was also named by the United States Small Business Administration the Massachusetts Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

In 2010 Taghaddos started a campaign to President Barack Obama to a create National Entrepreneurs' Day on November 19. On November 15, 2010, the President officially recognized National Entrepreneurs' Day through a Presidential Proclamation.

In 2011 Inc. Magazine named Taghaddos to its annual 30 Under 30 top young entrepreneurs list.

Taghaddos has also been featured in several books including Young Upstarts by Donna Fenn, Entrepreneurship by William D. Bygrave and Andrew Zacharakis, Plugged in: the Generation Y guide to thriving at work by Tamara J. Erickson and Small Business Management: Launching and Growing Entrepreneurial Ventures by Justin G. Longencker.

Education

Taghaddos graduated Babson College in Wellesley, MA, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in entrepreneurship and marketing. While at Babson, he won the 2003 Business Plan Competition, and received both the 2003 Outstanding Student in Entrepreneurial Activities Award, as well as the 2002 Student Business of the Year Award.