Many people have considered changing careers in the recent hard economic times but some people like Vishwas Godbole change careers because it is something they choose or want to do, not because they are forced to. Much of Vishwas Godbole’s career was spent as an electrical engineer in the United States, first in Ohio and then in California.

“I first attended school in India. I graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai in 1968. I then completed by Master’s in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1970,” says Vishwas Godbole. After he graduated with his Master’s degree he was hired to work as a design engineer in Ohio. He remained in Ohio until 1977.

“In 1977 I moved to Santa Clara, California where I was hired as a Senior Applications Engineer at American Microsystems, Inc. I later became Vice President of Systems Engineering at Sierra Semiconductor Corp in San Jose and in 1997, worked for Hybrid Networks, Inc. as the Vice President of Engineering,” recalls Vishwas Godbole. In 1986 Vishwas Godbole started Navin Systems, his own business in which he developed several products using his communications systems knowledge. First such product was a low cost small business PBX specifically designed for developing countries like India. He licensed the product to an Indian company. This was followed by data/fax modem microcode which he licensed to Rockwell Semiconductor. He then developed a Quicktest series of modem testers to facilitate automated testing of data/fax modems. The next innovative product/service he developed was an internet based voice messaging system, he called “Navinmail”. By 1999 he had the prototype functional. He demonstrated it to well known Silicon Valley investor Dr. Suhas Patil who saw the potential in the idea and encouraged Vishwas to form a startup company. It is then Vishwas Godbole took the first steps as an entrepreneur to be the founder and CEO of Navin Communications, Inc. “I was proud to finally achieve my goal of a startup venture”.

In 2001 Vishwas Godbole made yet another transition from engineering to finance. He formed Opulent Strategies, LLC, an investment management company. The company is licensed in the state of California as an Investment Adviser. In 2003 he started Opulent Fund, a hedge fund.

While working hard as an engineer and a business owner, Vishwas Godbole was also working on his passion for music. He composed music that would be professionally recorded in India for the 1999 opening ceremonies of the Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal programs. “I composed the music for the 1999 opening ceremonies and then the 2007 opening ceremonies in Seattle,” says Vishwas Godbole.

Vishwas Godbole didn’t end his work as a music composer or producer in 2007. Instead, he continued to grow his career in music. Vishwas Godbole has composed several published music albums, jingles, and the musical score used in the Bollywood movie Dr. Ravi and Mr. Hyde released in 2012. “I’m glad I branched out into different fields of work, it has allowed me to experience many new things,” says Vishwas Godbole.