A Stanford student attending the service remembered Prof. Motwani as one of his favourite teachers. He said: "He was the most unassuming person. He always had time for his students. I last met him after the semester ended and discussed my study. He was so knowledgeable and yet he was a student at heart, always wanting to learn new things. We will miss him. A lot."

Not only was Motwani an early investor in Google and PayPal Inc, he also served as special advisor to Sequoia Capital and, informally, for many other start-ups and venture firms. As an angel investor, he backed companies such as Aster Data Systems Inc, CastTV Inc, Jaxtr Inc, and StumbleUpon Inc, in addition to several others that were acquired.

A start-up entrepreneur from Silicon Valley, present at the condolence ceremony, said she was devastated to hear about the tragedy. "The news has really hit Silicon Valley hard. I last met Rajeev a couple of weeks ago at his house to discuss a project. He used to work out in the gym, and looked perfectly healthy. If only he knew how to swim. It's shocking to imagine he is no more," she said.

Motwani's neighbour said: "This is a very difficult time for his family. This was so unexpected. People have so many good memories of him. He was genuinely helpful and touched so many lives."

Several people in the industry paid tribute to Motwani. At a conference on Friday, angel investor Ron Conway took the stage and requested a one-minute silence as a tribute to Motwani.