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Chun and Elkins:
Sharing their startup success
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| Jon
Chun and Katherine Elkins, who now live in Menlo Park, had
their first son, Beckett Elkins Chun, in January. “The
career tentacles pulled us down here,” Chun says, “but
we miss Berkeley and its unique community.” |
Jon Chun (B.S.’89 EECS) launched his startup company SafeWeb
in March 2000, just as the tech boom started to fizzle. But his
range of skills, solid business plan, and the doggedness he says
he acquired during his years at Berkeley Engineering helped him
rise above the Silicon Valley statistics.
“I couldn’t have done this without Berkeley,”
Chun says. “I got my degree here and so did one of our company
cofounders. This is where I met my wife. So I feel a personal
indebtedness.”
Chun and his wife Katherine Elkins (Ph.D.’02 Comp. Lit.)
have established an endowment to provide need-based scholarships,
beginning in 2006, to College of Engineering undergraduates in
EECS or those doing projects for CITRIS, the Center for Information
Technology Research in the Interest of Society.
Chun paid his own way through college, with the help of the Financial
Aid Office and several scholarships, and recognizes the critical
role of scholarships and fellowships in attracting top-notch students
to Berkeley. Elkins, who recently joined the faculty at Kenyon
College in Gambier, Ohio, also feels strongly attached to Berkeley
and its role in her career success.
“There have to be public institutions and flagship programs
to support world-class research,” Chun says, explaining
his loyalty. Two years spent in Japan, he adds, gave him a strong
sense of giri, obligation to one’s school or community.
Chun and two business partners started SafeWeb in a Berkeley rental
they called “the geek house,” developing their product
and building venture capital. The result—a VPN (virtual
private network) appliance that reduces the cost and complexity
of securing corporate resources for remote access—was acquired
last October by Symantec Corporation, a world leader in Internet
security, for $26 million.
“There was a thrill-seeking aspect to the startup,”
Chun says. “I did everything, from the technical side to
training, sales, and writing the patent.” After the acquisition,
he and his colleagues spent three months adapting the SafeWeb
product as a standalone for sale through Symantec, where he is
now director of development for the clientless VPN gateway.
Chun went to UCLA summer school directly after high school in
Dubuque, Iowa. While visiting Berkeley that summer, he decided
to move to California to gain residency, work, and apply to Berkeley
Engineering.
“I never expected anyone to hand anything to me, and that
gives you a strong drive,” Chun says. “Berkeley opened
a new world of personal and professional opportunities, and the
College in particular is a challenging and competitive place,
a great preparation for the startup experience.”
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FOREFRONT takes you into the
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of California, Berkeley.
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