HELEN Keller, the embodiment of courage and everything beautiful about the human spirit, once said, "There are none so blind as those without vision."

I had never really thought about what this meant until I was dealt a harsh blow with Momenta. My long sabbatical after that experience was indeed a blessing in disguise. It forced me to articulate my vision — what did I want to achieve in life? What could I do that would bring value not only to me, but also others around me? Searching for answers, I traveled widely. And what struck me most during my travels was that amidst all the natural beauty around us, amidst the remarkable artistic, technological, and economic achievements of mankind, there is still so much conflict. Conflict over territory, over economic dominance, over religion, and even over differences in culture.

I began to wonder, what would it take to achieve lasting peace? I believe that to create peace, we must first study the cause of war. Historically, human needs have either been satisfied by trade or war. At its most fundamental level, when people are denied the opportunity to trade and interact with each other, they go to war to acquire what they want. Insulated societies become breeding grounds for suspicion, fear, and dogmatic beliefs. This creates discontent, often at a subconscious level, which manifests itself in conflict.

As we study the evolution of civilized society, we find that the first organized social unit was a village. Within a village, people bartered goods amongst themselves to fulfill their needs. But, one village would often clash with another because they could not trade with each other. Then the wheel was invented, allowing easier interaction between villages and promoting trade. The economic benefit of trade brought these villages together to form cities, with sophisticated channels of distribution, a new medium of exchange — the coin, a common tax system, and laws governing civic behavior. But still, there was no peace between cities.

The steam engine was the next catalyst for trade and commerce. With it, it became easier for people living in distant places to intermingle, over land or across the oceans, so cities overcame their fears and came together to create countries. Within a country, there was peace and prosperity, promoted in no small measure by organized trade. But the conflict continued as countries fought each other to grow their trade boundaries.

Once again technological innovations, such as telegraphs, telephones, locomotives, and even airplanes, bridged the gap between nations, and we saw the first signs of global trade. History teaches us that regions that defined themselves as nation states rather than city states — Great Britain, France, Portugal, Spain — were the ones that advanced the most and were able to extend their sphere of influence, colonizing fragmented city states like 
India and Africa.

Today, we have created trade blocks, such as the ASEAN, APEC, European Union, NAFTA and many more. We also have political blocks such as NATO, and the United Nations. Yet, the conflict continues. Is war more intrinsic to human nature than peace? I cannot believe or accept that.

In this evolution of modern civilization, we have experienced World War I and World War II. What comes next? This was the question I was asked while addressing a group of entrepreneurs in Sophia, France. (The government of France had invited me to attend their celebration of the creation of the 1000^th company in France.) My answer was, why not the World Wide Web?

The World Wide Web can truly allow us to view the world as one, cohesive entity. With borderless, global trade, and unrestricted communication, the world can become our village. By viewing the world as one, we can ensure that one part of the world does not die of starvation while another throws away food because they have a surplus.

This is my vision — the creation of the World Wide Web is the key to promoting world trade and peace.

How do I apply this vision to my life? Through three fundamental principles that determine what kinds of companies I create or invest in:

• Creating technologies that bring people together
• Creating global companies with activities in many different countries
• Creating global public benefit organizations to improve education and increase tolerance

Let me explain.

New technologies that enhance the mobility of information or people, bring people together culturally and promote trade. Applying this principle, I have co-founded:

• NeoMagic, which makes a chip for laptops
• PlanetWeb, which brings the Internet to masses through a low cost video game device that everybody has access to
• Centillium, which increases the bandwidth for telecommunications
• Actelis, which increases the bandwidth for communication through a system approach
• Cahoots, that allows people to collaborate and interact over the Internet
• KangarooNet, which enables people to manage the knowledge they have and share it easily with other people, allowing people worldwide to come together as affinity groups.

When you create global companies with activities in many countries, participants from every country have a vested interest, a stake, in seeing these companies succeed. The desire to mutually profit makes them partners rather than rivals. Applying this principle, we have created Global Catalyst Partners (GCP).

• GCP I was a $50 million fund with operations in the U.S. Israel, Singapore, Japan and India
• GCP II is $150 million fund, and with this we have expanded our activities to Germany, France, Scandinavian countries and China…

With the success of these organizations, I turned my attention to the third principle — creating global foundations to improve education and increase tolerance. The success of entrepreneurial activity must lead to the greater good of society. So, we have promoted:

• Schools Online (hyperlink), which brings connectivity to schools around the world by establishing and maintaining Internet Learning Centers at each school
• Global Catalyst Foundation, which seeks to improve peoples’ lives through the effective application of information technologies. The Foundation supports innovative projects worldwide to improve education, alleviate poverty, promote social tolerance and celebrate diversity
• Science and Arts Foundation which empowers the youth in Iran through the use of Internet technologies

I have learned that as long as I never lose sight of what it is I want to achieve in the larger context of world peace, I am able to help create successful, enduring companies. That is a very satisfying experience.

Of course, business, just as life, is never a smooth curve. Failure can come as quickly, and more unexpectedly, as success. But true success is management of failure. Every time you hit a bad patch you must be able turn your fortunes around. That’s why it’s important to be always prepared for failure and build strong teams. To be a successful entrepreneur, venture capitalist or philanthropist, you must bring together people who know there will be problems, love to solve problems, 
and can work well as a team.