Born in Tehran, Iran, his family came to the US in 1976, but when his father returned a few years later he was hunted as an enemy of the state during the Iranian Revolution. His dad escaped back to the US where he worked as a cab driver while studying for a PhD.
Pishevar got into tech in the dotcom era, did well, and moved on to bigger and bigger successes.
Today he runs VC firm SherpaVentures, and is a cofounder of Hyperloop Technologies. Between his investments as a VC and his personal angel investments, he's had a stake in a huge list of startups including Klout, Parse, TaskRabbit, Tumblr, Warby Parker, Washio and, of course, Uber.
But he still remembers those early, scary days with his parents after leaving Iran. He just did a little tweet storm to tell the world to never give up on their dreams.
Giving up on a dream is a form of death. Keep giving oxygen to your dreams. Don't quit. Ever.
I remember driving a courier car w/ no change of clothes for 3 days after my first startup failed & I had become a single dad.Never gave up.
- Shervin Pishevar (@shervin) May 19, 2016I remember driving around in my dad's DC taxi and cleaning hotel rooms with my mom. Learned to never give up or forget where I'm from.
- Shervin Pishevar (@shervin) May 19, 2016I remember bombs falling in Tehran with my mom holding me in the doorway. She taught me to conquer my fear and never give up hope.
- Shervin Pishevar (@shervin) May 19, 2016I find incredible inspiration in founders who have persevered through hardship and built the thick skin to make it through thick and thin.
- Shervin Pishevar (@shervin) May 19, 2016Part of generation of 1m Iranian boys who sacrificed themselves to fight Saddam.Walked across mines to clear way.I was lucky to escape to US
People ask why I work so hard, how I raise my kids by myself. I point to my parents supreme sacrifice & I'm embarrassed I haven't done more.
- Shervin Pishevar (@shervin) May 19, 2016Children of immigrants have special guilt born out of giving back to our parents & their sacrifice.Nothing we do is enough to pay it forward
- Shervin Pishevar (@shervin) May 19, 2016