Artifact Details

Title

Shwed, Gil interivew: Check Point

Catalog Number

102737947

Type

Document

Description

Gil Shwed is an Israeli entrepreneur and founder/CEO of the tremendously successful Internet security company, Check Point Software. In this oral history, Gil recounts the experience and events which led to the founding of Check Point and then describes the hard work, challenges, and innovations which have made this company so successful.

He learned programming by the age of ten and talked his way into attending classes at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem by age 14. Gil gained valuable experience in using computers and early networking while in the Israeli army. He had known for some time that he wanted to start his own company, but he bided his time waiting for just the right time and ideas to come together. At the age of 24, he launched Check Point Software with two friends.

They were able to get seed financing of $250K from another software company in Israel and with careful management of funds and round-the-clock working hours, they were able to bootstrap the company to profitability. Realizing that they would need to penetrate the US market to enjoy the success they were seeking, Shwed took two important steps. First, he invested tremendous effort in making the software easy to install and use, and second, very early on, he negotiated an agreement with Sun and other US-based distributors to sell the product in the US.

Shwed’s story is a textbook case of how to start, fund, and grow a company from startup to a multibillion dollar international corporation. A must-read for any aspiring entrepreneur.

Date

2015-07-28

Contributor

Dennis, Eric, Videographer
Hancock, Marguerite Gong, Interviewer
Shwed, Gil, Interviewee

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Place of Publication

Check Point, San Carlos, CA

Format

PDF

Category

Transcription

Subject

Internet security; Hebrew University; Threat Extraction; OPSEC; Cybersecurity; BRM; Venrock; USVP; Check Point

Collection Title

CHM oral history collection

Series Title

Silicon Valley 360

Credit

Computer History Museum

Lot Number

X7553.2016