Contributor

Kira Makagon

Executive Vice President of Innovation at RingCentral

As a serial entrepreneur and business and technology leader, I’ve dedicated my career to breaking new ground, both by creating cutting edge software products and by speaking up as a veteran “only woman in the room” in Silicon Valley. In my current role as EVP RingCentral, the business communications platform, I’m leading product strategy, product management, research & development, IT and operations teams spread across four continents. I’m also a regular public speaker and blogger here on Huffington Post, on LinkedIn, and at kiramakagon.com. I’ve been honored as one of the Most Influential Women in Business by the San Francisco Business Times and as a Women of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, as well as part of the Golden Bridge Business and Innovation Awards. I enjoy giving back by mentoring younger entrepreneurs and serving as an advisor to early-stage companies, including Illuminate Ventures, Yozio, Qubell, News360, 1 World Online and Airframe, where I’m also a member of the Board of Directors. Before RingCentral, I co-founded several technology companies, including Octane (acquired by E.piphany NASDAQ: EPNY) for $3.2 billion, and RedAril (acquired by Hearst). I’ve also participated in two successful IPOs, at Scopus (NASDAQ: SCOP) and at RingCentral (NYSE: RNG). I caught the computer bug as a teenager shortly after arriving in San Francisco with my parents, who were refugees from Ukraine. They believed strongly that I could do anything and gave me a gender-neutral childhood that included hockey games, chess club and math olympics.