Semil Shah

Semil Shah (born January 27, 1977) is a technology investor, startup adviser, and media personality. He is the founder of Haystack, a tech investment firm notable for being an early investor in such companies as Instacart and Doordash. He is a venture adviser to GGV Capital and Bullpen Capital, and also serves on the advisory boards for StrictlyVC and The Alpha Network.

As a writer, Shah has contributed to TechCrunch as a weekly columnist, and as the creator of one of their video series. The series, In the Studio, featured interviews with leaders in the fields of technology, startups, and investment. Past notable guests on the show include David Sze, Peter Fenton, and AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant. From 2009 to 2010, Shah was also a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.

Shah was listed as one of the 55 Unknown Rock Stars In Tech by tech venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and has served as a commentator on Bloomberg TV.

Life and career

Entrepreneur

Shah graduated from Harvard University with a Masters in Economic Development and Strategy in 2008. In 2009, Shah began his entrepreneurial career when he helped found MegaCell Therapeutics, a life sciences company in Boston.

Shah

Shah (Šâh or Şah) (/ˈʃɑː/; Persian: شاه‎‎, [ʃɒːh], "king") is a title given to the emperors/kings and lords of Iran (historically also known as Persia). It was also adopted by the kings of Shirvan (a historical Iranian region in Transcaucasia) namely the Shirvanshahs, the rulers and offspring of the Ottoman Empire (termed there as Şeh), the Bengal Sultanate, as well as in Georgia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In Iran (Persia and Greater Persia) the title was continuously used; rather than King in the European sense, each Persian ruler regarded himself as the Šâhanšâh (King of Kings) or Emperor of the Persian Empire. The word descends from Old Persian Xšâyathiya "king", which (for reasons of historical phonology) must be a borrowing from Median, and is derived from the same root as Avestan xšaΘra-, "power" and "command", corresponding to Sanskrit (Old Indic) kṣatra- (same meaning), from which kṣatriya-, "warrior", is derived. The full, Old Persian title of the Achaemenid rulers of the First Persian Empire was Xšâyathiya Xšâyathiyânâm or Šâhe Šâhân, "King of Kings" or "Emperor". This word is commonly confused with the unrelated and distinct Indian surname Shah, which is derived from the Sanskrit Sadhu/Sahu (meaning gentleman ).

Ukrainian shah

Shah (Ukrainian: шаг) was the name of several currencies used in Ukraine. The name derives from shilling via shelyag (sheleg; Russian: шеляг, шелег; Polish: szeląg). The forms shahy (шаги, for 2 to 4) and shahiv (шагiв, for five or more) are declensional plurals of the noun used in denominations, for example, 2 shahy, 20 shahiv.

17th-19th centuries

The term "shah" was the Ukrainian name of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's silver coin of 17th-18th centuries with face value of 3 grosz, coined since 1528, especially during the times of Sigismund III Vasa. Later, the name was transferred to the Russian copper coin of 2 kopecks. Since 1839 when silver money counting was reinstated in the Russian Empire, the term shah was transferred to the silver ½ kopeck. This term for the kopeck was in use until 1917.

Early 20th century

In 1917, banknotes were introduced in the newly independent Ukraine. These were denominated in shah, hryvnia and karbovanets, with 100 shahiv = 1 hryvnia and 2 hryvni = 1 karbovanets.

Shah (surname)

This Indo-Nepalese surname "Shah" is commonly mistaken with the Persian "Shah" meaning "King".

It is derived from Sanskrit Sadhu (meaning gentleman).

The surname like various other Indian surnames was also adopted by various other people. The Shah surname is adopted by the trade communities (The Banias/ Vanias) in Rajasthan and Gujarat states. Banias include the Jains and the Vaishnavas. It was widely used by the Jains even outside of Gujarat and Rajasthan, for example in Delhi/Haryana (see Nattal Sahu), Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (see Sahu Jain) and Maharashtra.

The Hindi word 'Shahukara' meaning a banker, is derived from Sahu (Sanskrit "Sadhu") and kar (Sanskrit meaning doer). It means different and does not reflect the nature of the surname which means "King".

Shah, a different last name, derived from the Persian word "Shah", is a surname found among the Iranian peoples of Central Asia, Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan.

History

The oldest history dates back to the Shah dynasty of Ancient Nepal. This Indo-Nepalese surname "Shah" is mistakenly is derived from the Persian "Shah" meaning "King".