Did you ever think of making $1 Million gambling?
Well this graduate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) just practically did that. His name is Jon Hirschtick. He is a player and instructor at MIT Blackjack Team. If you are wondering about it, yes that’s the MIT Blackjack Team that is featured in movies 21 and Breaking Vegas.
After working for 10 years and from his Blackjack skills he made $1 Million. Instead of enjoying with all the money he made, he wanted to develop a 3d CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software that is easy to use and affordable to common people.
So he recruited talented engineers and started building CAD software for two years and then released it finally in November 1995 for Windows PC users. The software was so good and quickly rose to popularity. It is none other than “SolidWorks”. Within just two years i.e., in 1997 it was acquired for $310 Million in stock by a European company called “Dassault”, which is famous for its CATIA software. Jon continued to be on board for the next 14 years turning it into a $100 Million revenue company.
After his term at Dassault, he went on to create a new company named “OnShape”, a cloud based CAD software that makes all the intensive processing and rendering on Internet based servers. The users were able to interact with the system via a web browser or iOS/Android apps. The company has a $144 Million funding led by venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz.
He has been awarded numerous awards for his contribution to CAD software. He was also a member of advisory board for MagicLeap.
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