Stories

Frankie Roohparvar '89 MS (electrical engineering) was the guest speaker at this week’s Lunch with an Entrepreneur. A serial entrepreneur and self-professed “idea guy,” Roohparvar is Executive Chairman at Batteroo, has launched multiple start-ups, holds more than 500 patents, sits on the board of three current start-ups, has a spreadsheet filled with ideas for future projects, and enjoys mentoring fledgling entrepreneurs—encouraging them to “look at things sideways to see problems and solutions in ways other people haven’t noticed.” His current venture is a device that has the potential to extend the life of disposable batteries by up to 8x their normal range. As an upstart in this $15 billion market, his company has been the target of online smear campaigns and industrial espionage, but Roohparvar relishes the challenges, knowing they reap great rewards. “Even in the darkest moments,” he said, “I know that once I get around the problem, I’ll get a lot of experience from it.”