Dirk Gates

Dirk Gates brings a breadth and depth of networking and wireless experience to Tarana as President. He was a founder, CEO, and Chairman of Xircom, Inc., the creator of the mobile networking market, and a pioneer in wireless networking with the creation of the first mobile WLAN product line, NetWeaver. Dirk led Xircom through its IPO and ultimately to a $2B valuation, and eventual acquisition by Intel. Dirk’s second start-up, Xirrus, Inc., was the leader in high-performance enterprise Wi-Fi, offering cloud-managed solutions that delivered 2x the range, 4x the coverage, and 8x the bandwidth while using 75% fewer devices. As CEO and then Executive Chairman, he grew Xirrus to a $100M/year run rate, after which it was acquired by Riverbed Technologies. He has been issued 32 patents in networking and wireless technologies and was a recipient of Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Los Angeles Region. Dirk graduated Summa Cum Laude from both Pepperdine University, with a Master of Business Administration, as well as from California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.