Leaving India with an engineering degree from IIT Delhi and a pocketful of dreams, Jyoti Bansal faced an unexpected American reality: his H1-B visa barred him from starting his own company. This regulatory hurdle set the stage for a remarkable, decade-spanning journey that would eventually see him join the elite ranks of billionaires, as detailed in a recent Forbes interview.
The H1-B Hurdle and the Seven-Year Grind
At just 21 years old, Bansal arrived in California with minimal funds and maximum ambition. His dream of immediate entrepreneurship was stalled by U.S. immigration rules tied to the H1-B visa. This forced him to work as an engineer for seven years at three different small enterprise tech firms, each of which sponsored his work visa. This period was a necessary prelude, a time of learning and waiting for the crucial document that would unlock his entrepreneurial destiny: the green card.
After this seven-year wait, Bansal finally secured his green card. This was the turning point, the long-awaited permission to follow his passion. He wasted no time and, in 2008, founded AppDynamics. The company created a troubleshooting platform that helped engineers at complex websites like Netflix minimize costly technical downtimes.
Building, Scaling, and a $3.7 Billion Exit
The path with AppDynamics was not without its initial rejections, but Bansal persevered. He scaled the company over more than a decade through six fundraising rounds. When AppDynamics began generating over $200 million in revenue, he planned an initial public offering (IPO). However, in a strategic shift, he instead sold the company to tech giant Cisco for a staggering $3.7 billion, a deal that catapulted his personal wealth into the hundreds of millions.
Reflecting on this journey, Bansal emphasized commitment to Forbes: “I strongly believe to build a company, you have to spend a lot of time on it. Ten years at least.”
Retirement Boredom and the Birth of a Unicorn
After the monumental sale, Bansal attempted to retire but quickly found it unfulfilling. After half a year of travel, the Rajasthan-born entrepreneur realized his true enjoyment came from building companies. This led to the founding of his next venture, Harness, an AI-powered software delivery platform.
Harness recently raised $240 million in a funding round led by investors like Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Institutional Venture Partners, and Menlo Ventures. This round valued the company at an impressive $5.5 billion. With Bansal holding an estimated 30% stake in Harness, this valuation effectively cemented his status as a billionaire.
According to Forbes, Jyoti Bansal's net worth is now approximately $2.3 billion, a fortune built from the sale of AppDynamics and his significant stake in the high-flying Harness. His story remains a powerful testament to resilience, strategic patience, and the relentless drive of an immigrant entrepreneur who turned visa limitations into a multi-billion dollar legacy.
