Vanu Bose Found Ways to Bring Cellphone Service to Unserved Areas
Son of stereo-equipment tycoon was hitting his stride after a rocky star
James R. Hagert
Nov. 17, 2017 WSJ
Vanu Bose could have coasted into the stereo-equipment company founded by his father, Amar. Instead, while working on his doctoral degree in engineering and computer science in 1998, he set up his own company to exploit new technology for cellular communications.
After a wobbly start, his Vanu Inc. has been gaining traction as a supplier of solar-powered equipment used to bring cellular service to underserved areas including Rwanda and dead zones in the mountains of Vermont. He hoped eventually to connect “the final billion” people with zero or unreliable cell service.
“If we can make this network profitable (in Rwanda), we can probably make it work anywhere,” he said in an interview with the Boston Business Journal last year. His company is expanding its network of base stations in Rwanda and aims to expand into other African countries. It already supplies technology to cellphone service providers in India, Ghana and other places.
After Hurricane Maria knocked out cell service in Puerto Rico in September, the company donated base stations to help restore connections there. “That makes it all worthwhile, right there,” Dr. Bose said in a radio interview last month.
On Nov. 11, he died of a pulmonary embolism at age 52.
Dr. Bose was known for charisma and for celebrating milestones with style. In 1995, he learned that his friends Andrew and Susan Beard had been too busy to make plans for their first wedding anniversary. “This outraged Vanu, and he wouldn’t stand for it,” said Mr. Beard, now chief operating officer of the company. While the Beards were at work, Dr. Vanu went to their apartment, prepared gazpacho and other delicacies, set out candles and unplugged the phone.
Vanu Gopal Bose was born April 29, 1965, in Boston and grew up in Wayland, Mass. His father, Amar, was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who made a fortune with his Bose Corp. His paternal grandfather, Noni Bose, who fought against British rule in India, fled to the U.S. in 1920.
Vanu Bose grew up in a home with an indoor pool and sometimes leapt into it from a balcony one flight above. As a boy, he was already an insider at MIT, attending summer programs or watching his famous dad play badminton. He later earned his bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees at MIT.
Part of his graduate research involved skin patches as alternatives to needles or pills for delivery of medication, and he pondered a career in medical technology. He spent two years working with Project Orbis, providing eye care in impoverished countries. He also thought about an academic career but then turned down a chance to apply for a faculty job, saying he wanted to start a company.
In an interview with an MIT publication, he recalled thinking, “Oh my God, what have I done? I just pushed myself off the cliff.”
While setting up the company, he got into a dispute with MIT over how much it would have to pay for licensing technology developed by his team at the university. Amid a bitter struggle with the university in 1999, he told The Wall Street Journal: “MIT is like my second home. I love this place. But right now I don’t plan to donate a cent.”
The two sides eventually compromised, and Dr. Bose became an honored alumnus and member of MIT’s board of trustees.
Vanu Inc. was founded to develop and find markets for technology allowing cellphone transmission equipment to be upgraded through changes in software rather than more expensive installations of new hardware. Selling that technology to cellphone service providers proved difficult.
For a time, it was unclear the company had a viable business model. Even so, “Vanu was an incredibly optimistic person,” said John Guttag, an MIT professor who was one of his thesis advisers. “I don’t think he ever felt they couldn’t figure it out.”
The company, which has raised about $35 million of venture capital, finally began focusing on customers in areas neglected by the major cell providers.
Rather than relying on cellphone towers, Vanu provides base stations that stand only about 30 feet off the ground and can cost as little as $5,000 to $10,000. The Lexington, Mass.-based company has about 65 employees. Dr. Bose had no plans to take the company public, partly because he wanted to pursue a long-term strategy.
Survivors include his wife, Judith, their daughter Kamala, his mother and a sister.
Dr. Bose recalled suffering through “enforced violin lessons” as a boy. His daughter, Kamala, was a more eager violin student, and he took up the instrument anew to play it with her. They were due to play at a recital together the day he died.
Son of stereo-equipment tycoon was hitting his stride after a rocky star
James R. Hagert
Nov. 17, 2017 WSJ
Vanu Bose could have coasted into the stereo-equipment company founded by his father, Amar. Instead, while working on his doctoral degree in engineering and computer science in 1998, he set up his own company to exploit new technology for cellular communications.
After a wobbly start, his Vanu Inc. has been gaining traction as a supplier of solar-powered equipment used to bring cellular service to underserved areas including Rwanda and dead zones in the mountains of Vermont. He hoped eventually to connect “the final billion” people with zero or unreliable cell service.
“If we can make this network profitable (in Rwanda), we can probably make it work anywhere,” he said in an interview with the Boston Business Journal last year. His company is expanding its network of base stations in Rwanda and aims to expand into other African countries. It already supplies technology to cellphone service providers in India, Ghana and other places.
After Hurricane Maria knocked out cell service in Puerto Rico in September, the company donated base stations to help restore connections there. “That makes it all worthwhile, right there,” Dr. Bose said in a radio interview last month.
On Nov. 11, he died of a pulmonary embolism at age 52.
Dr. Bose was known for charisma and for celebrating milestones with style. In 1995, he learned that his friends Andrew and Susan Beard had been too busy to make plans for their first wedding anniversary. “This outraged Vanu, and he wouldn’t stand for it,” said Mr. Beard, now chief operating officer of the company. While the Beards were at work, Dr. Vanu went to their apartment, prepared gazpacho and other delicacies, set out candles and unplugged the phone.
Vanu Gopal Bose was born April 29, 1965, in Boston and grew up in Wayland, Mass. His father, Amar, was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who made a fortune with his Bose Corp. His paternal grandfather, Noni Bose, who fought against British rule in India, fled to the U.S. in 1920.
Vanu Bose grew up in a home with an indoor pool and sometimes leapt into it from a balcony one flight above. As a boy, he was already an insider at MIT, attending summer programs or watching his famous dad play badminton. He later earned his bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees at MIT.
Part of his graduate research involved skin patches as alternatives to needles or pills for delivery of medication, and he pondered a career in medical technology. He spent two years working with Project Orbis, providing eye care in impoverished countries. He also thought about an academic career but then turned down a chance to apply for a faculty job, saying he wanted to start a company.
In an interview with an MIT publication, he recalled thinking, “Oh my God, what have I done? I just pushed myself off the cliff.”
While setting up the company, he got into a dispute with MIT over how much it would have to pay for licensing technology developed by his team at the university. Amid a bitter struggle with the university in 1999, he told The Wall Street Journal: “MIT is like my second home. I love this place. But right now I don’t plan to donate a cent.”
The two sides eventually compromised, and Dr. Bose became an honored alumnus and member of MIT’s board of trustees.
Vanu Inc. was founded to develop and find markets for technology allowing cellphone transmission equipment to be upgraded through changes in software rather than more expensive installations of new hardware. Selling that technology to cellphone service providers proved difficult.
For a time, it was unclear the company had a viable business model. Even so, “Vanu was an incredibly optimistic person,” said John Guttag, an MIT professor who was one of his thesis advisers. “I don’t think he ever felt they couldn’t figure it out.”
The company, which has raised about $35 million of venture capital, finally began focusing on customers in areas neglected by the major cell providers.
Rather than relying on cellphone towers, Vanu provides base stations that stand only about 30 feet off the ground and can cost as little as $5,000 to $10,000. The Lexington, Mass.-based company has about 65 employees. Dr. Bose had no plans to take the company public, partly because he wanted to pursue a long-term strategy.
Survivors include his wife, Judith, their daughter Kamala, his mother and a sister.
Dr. Bose recalled suffering through “enforced violin lessons” as a boy. His daughter, Kamala, was a more eager violin student, and he took up the instrument anew to play it with her. They were due to play at a recital together the day he died.
