Payam’s story is the story of resilience; the story of escaping Iran as a Baha’i, fearing for his life as a teenager, coming to the US without any money and winning. This is the story of many immigrants, and what has made Miami, Miami.
From washing cars to studying coding, Payam Zamani then created the first online car buying service Autoweb.com in 1994, and in a short 5 years, he made it from zero to IPO with a market cap of $1.2 billion.
If within 5 years without any resources he has done such, imagine what 25 years since then has brought out for the world. Imagine the impact.
Payam is a spiritual man, a man of Baha’i faith. They are harshly persecuted under the Islamic regime in Iran, and they are literally withheld from basic human rights. In Iran, minorities are having tougher times, and Baha’is are at the very end of the spectrum. They cannot go to school to limit their literacy, yet they have an underground education system, even underground universities. My friend Nima got his bachelor’s degree from one of those universities and told me how their professors were prosecuted for simply teaching. Sara and I have so many Baha’i friends who told us their personal horror stories. You don’t want to be a Baha’i. In small community of our Baha’i friends, one gentleman was locked in his office in his small factory in Iran in the 1980s, and the factory and he were set on fire. Half of his body is still burned. Yet they are people of peace, the loveliest people. They have the most beautiful beliefs, unlike every other religion. Payam is a man of peace and respect, a positive man.
I’m excited to meet him for the first time after four years of seeing his positive impact. Payam will be stopping in Miami on his book tour this Friday.
I’d like to invite you to join Payam’s book signing this Friday (RSVP REQUIRED: link in comments). Although we haven’t organized the event, Sara, and I and a few Miami AI Club members will be there to support the cause.
hashtag#spiritualenterprise
hashtag#crossingtheborder
