Kamram Elahian started his life over on April Fools Day, 1992 -- the day he was fired from the company that he had created. Even back then, when he was just 38 years old, Elahian was adept at new beginnings. At the age of 18, he left his native Iran for the United States. He remade himself again at 27, chucking a career at Hewlett-Packard to lead a software startup called CAE Systems Inc. Three years later, Elahian cofounder his second startup, Cirrus Logic Inc. The company went public in 1989 and eventually achieved a multibillion-dollar valuation.

As he helped steer Cirrus through its IPO, Elahian and his cofounders secretly mapped out another startup, Momenta Corp. Momenta promised to be his biggest success. But he learned that in the all-or-nothing world of fresh starts, failure is inevitable -- and invaluable.

Now 47, Elahian still isn't finished making fresh starts. He is chairman of 10 Silicon Valley organizations and one venture-capital fund, Global Catalyst Partners. He didn't fall victim to the dotcom crash because he failed first and he failed smart. When dotcom mania was at its height, he kept his head.

The world is Elahian's stage. His various business cards are printed in Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic as well as in English. His travel schedule keeps him in perpetual motion. But in his office in Redwood Shores, California he is almost preternaturally calm. And he is unflinching as he recalls the failure that gave him a shot at a more meaningful success. In the early 1990s, pen-based computing was the Next Big Thing. As chairman, president, and CEO of Momenta, Elahian was at the vanguard. The company's pyramid-shaped computer, which could recognize a user's handwriting, made the cover of 20 magazines.

There was just one problem. No one bothered to build a market for pen-based computers. In three years, Momenta burned through $40 million. That's pocket change by dotcom standards, but back then it was real money. For a while at least, Elahian held the Valley's title for burning the most capital in the shortest period of time. Momenta was a monumental flop.

Still, Elahian was unprepared for the sight that greeted him when he walked into work on April 1, 1992. Momenta's board -- his board -- was holding a meeting. He was not invited. In fact, the board had just voted to oust him.

Months after he was fired, Elahian realized that his most spectacular failure was his most precious gift. It toughened him for even greater risk taking -- in his life as well as in his career. Failure steeled him to eventually launch six Internet and telecommunications startups from 1993 to 1999. Failure propelled him to start Global Catalyst. And failure spurred him to embark on his most audacious mission: to wire every school in developing countries and countries in conflict -- including Bulgaria, Cambodia, and Israel -- for the Internet. But none of that was apparent on the day he was fired. "I put three years of my life into that company," he says. "I felt like I'd lost my child. I went numb."

More to the point, Elahian went into deep denial. The next morning, he dressed for work, grabbed his briefcase, and headed for the door. His wife called out, "Where do you think you're going?" Only then did it hit him. His tenure as CEO was over. He would have to build something entirely new.