Frustrated, some struck out on their own, only to meet the same prejudice from venture capitalists. That's where Sabeer Bhatia, the founder of HotMail, met his mentor, Farouk Arjani, who introduced him to his first venture-capital contacts. TiE isn't just inspirational. More than 1,000 entrepreneurs learn startup fundamentals at annual conferences. Patil and Rekhi each meet with five or six young companies weekly.
Mentors invest in their proteges.
Charity it' s not. Bhatia, like other TiE beneficiaries, has now advised and invested in eight other Indian-led companies. Patil, who's Indian, has become close friends with Safi Qureshey, founder of AST Research Inc., a Pakistani. D.C. London and Vancouver are next. Now TiE is going to India, setting up chapters in Bombay, New Delhi, and Bangalore.