SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Twenty-five years ago Steven T. Kirsch built a better mouse. Now he believes he has found a way to create a better trap--for spam, not mice--if he has enough time to finish his project.
An MIT-trained engineer, Kirsch was frustrated by the quality of the first computer mice in 1982, so he set out to improve them by incorporating an optical sensor.
Since then he has started four companies, all based on his frustrations with existing products or services. He has made forays into word processing document design, accelerating the Web, and in 1997 Infoseek, his search engine company, was the third ranking company in Web search. In many ways Kirsch, who is 50 years old, has come to exemplify what distinguishes Silicon Valley--a blend of engineering skills with persistent entrepreneurship.
Along the way he has amassed a personal fortune of about $230 million, a success that has permitted him and his wife to become significant philanthropists in Silicon Valley by contributing more than $75 million to the United Way campaign and other causes through his foundation.
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