BRAIN
DRAIN
possible place for my situation.”
In the fall of 2010, Darash
founded Regpack, which sells
software that helps organizations
with online registrations and payments. Darash calls it a “complex e-commerce solution.” The
company’s clients include groups
who run camps, sports leagues,
seminars and conferences. In the
beginning, Darash hired two programmers off Craigslist and deposited $100,000 of his money in
a bank account. The three worked
in an office furnished with mismatched Ikea tables and typed
computer code late into the night,
stopping only to eat takeout or
play card games.
Their initial efforts were a disaster. The software didn’t work.
Customers complained about losing data. But they fixed the bugs,
and now, Regpack has found a
measure of success. It has more
than 200 clients and is adding 15
to 20 new ones each week. It recently raised $1.9 million in funding from investors. This quarter, it
will earn about $250,000, Darash
said. The company is not yet profitable, but by the end of next year,
he predicts it will make between
$10 million and $12 million.
The offices of RegPack are lo-
HUFFINGTON
11.11.12
cated on the 10th floor of the
Phelan building, named after a
local politician whose father was
an Irish immigrant. In one room,
eight salespeople, phones cradled
against their ears, assist customers. In another, seven programmers wearing t-shirts, jeans, and
oversized headphones type line
after line of code. A banner on the
wall features a computer-drawn
cartoon of a blonde-haired woman
in a blue pantsuit. She is carrying documents and extending her
arm toward the company’s slogan:
“Regpack, the SMART online registration software.”
The company’s employees show
how Silicon Valley has come to rely
on immigrant talent. One programmer is from China. Three others
are from India. Darash’s assistant
is also from Israel. Except for one,
they have all become U.S. citizens.
Every Friday afternoon, they sit
in a circle and discuss what they
accomplished that week while
sipping wine and beer from plastic cups. Account managers discuss new clients they pursued.
Programmers talk about software
bugs they fixed and new features
they launched. “How cool is
that?” Darash says after one of
them speaks. “That is totally awesome!” he says after another.
“I’ve seen a big change in him
since he built this company,” says