Hotmail co-founder eyes Dubai Ideas Oasis

Hotmail co-founder and Arzoo president Sabeer Bhatia has expressed interest in joining the Dubai government to explore areas of cooperation, especially in the context of the Dubai Ideas Oasis initiative.
"I will look into it. If I can arrange (a meeting), I would love to," he said when asked by Gulf News whether he would meet General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of Defence.
At the opening of the Dubai Internet City, Sheikh Mohammed announced the launch of the Dubai Ideas Oasis, a community of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and the other consultants and service providers needed to convert an idea into a successful business.
"(The DIO) is a great idea because that would encourage entrepreneurship, to get people to finally start thinking of ideas, of leveraging this infrastructure that has developed for this very purpose," Bhatia said.
He added that the new DIC is a great step in developing infrastructure needed to develop the a base for entrepreneurs.
Bhatia, founder of Hotmail, grew up in Bangalore. At the age of 19 he enrolled at the California Institute of Technology and later attended Stanford University graduate school where his schoolmates included Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang.
In 1996 at the age of 27 he started Hotmail with his friend and co-worker Jack Smith with an initial capital of $300,000 from venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
The first free web-based e-mail service skyrocketed, prompting Microsoft to buy the company for $400 million in 1997. Bhatia resigned as Hotmail president and started his new company, Arzoo.com, two months ago to provide technical solutions online for corporations.
"Wherever there is an international or multinational corporation, the place would be ready for something like this. The Middle East, especially, is a centre for excellent individuals who are well-versed with technology to come up and sign on to become experts and then corporations. We'll be happy to provide them with technical solutions online," he said.