Feng Deng

Feng Deng did not just dream of being an entrepreneur, he dreamed of being a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

Deng has achieved his dream. He is the co-founder, vice president and member of the board at NetScreen Technologies, a Sunnyvalebased public company with 500 employees, specializing in Internet security systems. He knows precisely when the dream started.

“It was 1986 in Beijing. I was 22 years old and a senior at Tsing Hua, the MIT of China, when I read the Chinese translation of ‘The Fire in the Valley,’” he says. “It was all about Silicon Valley, and from then on I wanted to build my own business.”

After graduating from Tsing Hua, Deng worked in China for several years before coming to America in 1990 to pursue his PhD. He and his future wife, Hu Birong, came to Los Angeles, where Deng won a scholarship to USC, while Hu attended UCLA to study biology. She now works as an engineer for Agilent.

“USC is a very good school, and I was excited to see it ranked number eight in the last U.S. News & World Report poll,” he says. “I liked the campus, the architecture of the buildings, and I miss it.”

Deng received his master’s degree, completed his doctoral coursework and had taken the PhD screening exam, when through a friend he received a job offer from Intel, a Silicon Valley company for which he still has immense respect. The temptation was too great and he left USC.

He held a variety of technical positions with Intel, helping design and develop several generations of microprocessor and chip-set products. In 1997, he and his partner Yan Ke founded NetScreen. Before founding the company, Deng explains how the two generated “tons of ideas” in brainstorming sessions, including a plan for a multimedia gateway.

“I can’t remember why we dropped it, but someone else did the same thing and they were acquired by Cisco,” he says.

NetScreen is now a leading developer of purpose-built, integrated security systems, and network traffic management firmware and software. The firm has a very broad line of products that integrate key security features such as firewall, virtual private networks (private networks that use public network infrastructure), and denial of service attack protection.

Selling directly and through resellers to large enterprises and telecommunications service providers, revenue has risen from $8 million in 1999, to $40 million in 2000, to $97 million in 2001, and is projected to be $150 million in 2002. This past June, Deng and Ke, who is vice president and chief architect at NetScreen, received Ernst & Young’s 2002 Northern California Technology Entrepreneur of the Year award.

“Success doesn’t come from one or two people with a good idea.More important is the stellar team that it takes to execute the good idea,” Deng says. “I feel very proud of the whole team here.”

Deng says he now has three main roles in his company. He is one of the founders, and thus responsible for the company’s culture. As vice president, he is the senior manager in charge of research and development with about 150 engineers reporting to him. And finally, he has fiduciary duties as a member of the company’s board.

Deng advises engineering students to pay attention to all of the details they learn in their courses. “First you need the dream. Then you have to work hard, always working toward it. Most days, I have to go back to the books and the things I learned at USC,” he says. Those days are long. Deng estimates he has worked ten hour-days, six-and-half days a week for the past five years.“My only regret is not having more time to spend with my wife and fiveyear- old son Alec.”

Only rarely does he catch some of a Trojan football game on television. In his two years at USC, he and his wife attended a single game, a USC/UCLA struggle. They sat with the Bruin section. “I had to keep my mouth shut,” he says laughing.

Knowing how busy Deng’s life is, Dean Nikias is pleased to have recently met him, and enjoyed the opportunity to speak with him about the bright future of the School.

“Reconnecting with alumni like Deng is the best part of my job. Individuals like him serve as powerful role models for students and other alumni of the school.”