Divya Narendra | |
|---|---|
 Narendra in 2011 | |
| Born | (1982-03-18)March 18, 1982 (age 43) |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (AB) Northwestern University (JD-MBA) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | ConnectU |
| Spouse | Phoebe White |
Divya Narendra (/nəˈrɛndrə/; born March 18, 1982) is an American businessman. He is the CEO and co-founder ofSumZero along with Harvard classmate Aalap Mahadevia. He also co-founded HarvardConnection (later renamedConnectU) withHarvard University classmatesCameron Winklevoss andTyler Winklevoss.
Divya Narendra was born inthe Bronx, New York and raised inBayside, Queens, the eldest son of immigrant doctors fromIndia, Sudhanshu Narendra and Dharamjit Narendra Kumar, ofSands Point, New York.[1][2][3] Narendra graduated fromTownsend Harris High School inKew Gardens Hills, Queens before attendingHarvard University in 2000, from which he graduated inapplied mathematics in 2004.[1][4][5]
SumZero is an investment community founded by Divya Narendra and Aalap Mahadevia.[6]
ConnectU (originallyHarvard Connection) was asocial networking website launched on May 21, 2004,[7] that was founded byHarvard studentsCameron Winklevoss,Tyler Winklevoss, and Narendra in December 2002.[8] Users could add people as friends, send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.[9][10] In November 2003, the Winklevosses and Narendra approachedMark Zuckerberg about joining the HarvardConnection team. Zuckerberg later foundedFacebook, leading to several lawsuits.
On February 6, 2004, the Winklevosses and Narendra first learned of thefacebook.com while reading a press release in the Harvard student newspaperThe Harvard Crimson.[11] According to Victor Gao, who looked at the HarvardConnection code afterward, Zuckerberg had left the HarvardConnection code incomplete and non-functional, with a registration that did not connect with the back-end connections.[10] On February 10, 2004, the Winklevosses and Narendra sent Zuckerberg acease and desist letter.[12] They also asked the Harvard administration to act on what they viewed as a violation of the university’s honor code and student handbook.[13] They lodged a complaint with the Harvard Administrative Board and university presidentLarry Summers; however, both viewed the matter to be outside the university's jurisdiction.[14] PresidentSummers advised the HarvardConnection team to take their matter to the courts.[15]
Narendra is portrayed byMax Minghella inThe Social Network (2010), a film directed byDavid Fincher about the founding of Facebook. Narendra is of Indian ancestry, while Minghella is of Italian and Chinese ancestry. Narendra said that he was "initially surprised" to see himself portrayed by a non-Indian actor but also said that "Max did a good job in pushing the dialogue forward and creating a sense of urgency in what was a very frustrating period."[16]