Still Innovating in Networking: A10 CEO Lee Chen (Part 1)

Lee Chen is the CEO of A10 Networks, which he founded in 2004 with a focus on innovation, networking and security. He previously held senior positions at Apple, Convergent, and InSync. Additionally, he was a co-founder at Foundry Networks and Centillion Networks. He has a BS in Electrophysics from National Chiao-Tung University, Taiwan and a M.S.E.E. from San Jose State.

SM: Take us back to where you come from. Where did you grow up, what was your family environment, where does your story begin?

LC: I came from Taiwan about 29 years ago. I am from a fairly big family by today’s standards. My family had eight kids. It was a very fair balance as well; girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, and boy! It seems to be that way generation after generation. Almost all of my brothers and sisters have the same pattern. I guess that makes us a perfectly balanced family.

I was in the middle. My parents were from China and moved to Taiwan during the war. I grew up living in very poor conditions based on today’s standards, yet all I can remember from my childhood years are having fun. I played all the time. I am very lucky I was in a system that only depended on exams. Based on US standards, I probably would not have passed. I never studied very much during my school days, but I was always very good at passing the big exam. I went to a fairly decent school by our standards.

I was fortunate that I was able to go to one of the best electronics colleges in Taiwan. After I graduated I came to the US in 1979. I immigrated to the US, so I had been on the waiting list. When I arrived I knew very little English and immediately got a job.

SM: What kind of job did you get?

LC: At the time it was with one of the top five computer companies in the world called Control Data. I think today’s equivalent is IBM. Back then I think we were just a department of IBM. It was a very big company and we used all IBM mainframes. They treated me reasonably well, and they also sent me to school.

I decided to go to San Jose State and got my masters degree in electrical engineering. The company paid all of the tuition. Maybe it is because I had such a big family that I had fighting instincts, but I have always worked pretty hard. I had a full-time job while I was a full-time student. I would work until 5 or 6 PM and then go to night school. Even though I was going to night school, I was able to finish school in the same amount of time as a full-time student would finish it.

I immediately decided that since I had been working for two and a half years that I had to chart my future path. I enjoyed the technology but I knew that my personality did not fit a big company. I made a decision at that time to start looking for work at a startup.

This segment is part 1 in the series : Still Innovating in Networking: A10 CEO Lee Chen
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