Jeff Lawrence (entrepreneur)
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Jeff Lawrence | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jeff Lawrence November 14, 1957 |
| Occupation(s) | entrepreneur, technologist, philanthropist |
| Years active | 1980's - present |
Jeff Lawrence (born November 14, 1957) is an entrepreneur, technologist and philanthropist.
Early life
Jeff was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was Ray Lawrence and his mother was Grace Lawrence. He lived in New York, New York briefly and grew up in Van Nuys, California and Studio City, California. He was very interested in science and technology as a child. Jeff received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1979.
Business
After graduating from UCLA Jeff joined Amdahl Corporation's Communications Systems Division in 1980. Amdahl had just finished acquiring the privately-held company Tran Telecommunications which became its Communications Systems Division. At Amdahl, Jeff developed software for high performance packet switching systems designed for large enterprise and public data network infrastructures. Amdahl's circuit and packet switching systems were sold to PTT's and enterprises around the world. Some customers for the circuit and packet switching systems included Pacific Bell, SAPO, the Trans-Canada Telephone System and AT&T. The systems were used to build the Pacific Bell, Datapac and SAPONET public data networks as well as portions of AT&T's enterprise network. Jeff left Amdahl just before it moved its Communications Systems Division from Marina Del Rey, California to Richardson, Texas and went to Doelz Networks in 1985.
At Doelz, Jeff developed software and systems for high availability Local Area Network and Wide Area Network products for large enterprise network infrastructures. After the 1987 stock market crash, Doelz Networks experienced financial difficulties and Jeff was laid off in 1988.
Jeff co-founded, with Larisa Chistyakov, Trillium Digital Systems in 1988 and served as its President & CEO until its acquisition by Intel Corporation in 2000. Jeff continued at Intel as the Chief Technology Officer for its Communications Group and left Intel in 2002. Trillium Digital Systems developed and licensed communications software to communications equipment manufacturers building the wireless, Internet, broadband and telephone infrastructure.
Jeff and his wife founded The Lawrence Foundation in 2000 after Trillium's acquisition by Intel. The Lawrence Foundation is a family foundation that makes grants to non-profit environmental, human services, and other causes.
Jeff co-founded, with Lori Mitchell, the Common Grant Application in 2006 and continues to serve as its President. The Common Grant Application offers a Web-based service that serves as a common application to non-profit grantseekers and a grant management system to non-profit grantmakers.
Jeff joined the board of Guidance Software, a provider of computer forensic, eDiscovery and cybersecurity software in 2008 and continues to serve as one of its directors.
Selected articles, publications and presentations
- "Why be an Entrepreneur? What It Takes to Succeed". Keynote. Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, October 2003.
- "From Techie to Tycoon: You don't need an MBA to develop leading edge technology for the marketplace". Panelist. Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, October 2004.
- "Nanotechnology: Science, Innovation, and Opportunity" - Chapter 10. Edited by Lynn Foster. Prentice Hall, 2006.
- "Successful Entrepreneurial Leaders: From Scrappy Founders to Polished Professional Managers". Panelist. Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, October 2009. (Video)
Achievements
- 1997, 1998 - Trillium listed in Inc. 500 for its fast growth as a private company [1]
- 1997 – Co-recipient of the Greater Los Angeles Area Entrepreneur of the Year award [2]
- 2005 – Recipient of the UCLA School of Engineering’s Professional Achievement award [3]
Further reading
- "Roadmap to Entrepreneurial Success". Robert W. Price, AMACOM, 2004.
- "How You Can Become Ma Bell". Karen Kaplan. Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1996.
- "Growing Lean". Douglas Young. Los Angeles Business Journal, December 2, 1996.
- "Network Broker". Communications News. October 1998.
- "Preparation Counts More Than Luck". Juan Hovey. Los Angeles Times, October 6, 1999.
- "It's a Do-It-Yourself Era for Budding Benefactors". Scott Martelle. The Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2002.