Meet Viki Forrest–ANZA CEO

I’m Viki Forrest, CEO of the ANZA Technology Network. I’m originally from Sydney and worked for the Australian arm of Digital Equipment Corporation for many years. In the mid-1990s I headed up DEC’s 300-strong sales support team in Asia Pacific. In 1999, I joined an Australian technology startup as the VP Marketing, and was part of the company’s US team, based in San Francisco.

I’d always heard Americans say “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” when it comes to doing business in the US. Like most Australians and New Zealanders, though, I thought this was just a cliché, and that hard work and know-how could knock down any barrier, no matter how tough.

Well, the startup I was working for went bust in the dot-com crash and I got to see firsthand that “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” is no joke. With a very small network, I began to call on those I knew in the US. Each connection somehow led to another connection, and one very significant one led to a meeting with Guy Manson and David Cannington, the original founders of ANZA.

I didn’t start working for ANZA then, but through the first ANZA Gateway to the US program I met the CEO of the Silicon Valley-based Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), who offered me an opportunity to run the operations of that organization, and get a two-year crash course in networking—American style.

What I learned at FWE, and subsequently ANZA, was that success in the US business world, is of course part hard work and know-how, but it also is indeed part “who you know.” After eight years in the US, I continue to be amazed as I see how one phone call or e-mail introduction leads to another. How one cup of coffee leads to a meeting. How one lunch leads to a chance to pitch before a VC or an interview for a job that can change your life. No doubts about it, Americans drink a lot of coffee and eat a lot of lunch, but somehow they get things done.

It’s with firsthand knowledge of the technology industry—as part of a global giant and small startup with big ambitions—and several years of hands-on network building that I am proud to merge these skills to help other Australians and New Zealanders realize their US business goals. I look forward to sharing what I know and who I know with you.



Viki Forrest
CEO, ANZA Technology Network