Personal Information
Previous Occupation: VP, Sales - ManageMySpa.com (Cloud Management software for services based businesses)
Present Occupation: Chief Marketing Officer, 135 Tech Labs
Sector: Mobile Consumer Technology
Work Experience: 8 years
Interests – Professional/Personal:
Personal: Playing cricket, music and theatre.
Professional: Technology, Marketing and Mobile Commerce.

Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
I've been married to Neha for six years and we have a three-and-a-half-year-old son, Daksh. Neha works for Microsoft. Daksh works in testing (as in testing my patience, and he does a thorough job of it!).

My parents are retired. My father served in the Air Force as a pilot and my mother was a teacher for 30 years. My elder brother is a pilot and is commanding an Air Force Unit in Western India. My sister is married to an Army officer who is also commanding a unit in Northern India. I was not allowed to join the Air Force despite having cleared the NDA exam since my parents wanted at least one of their children to be in the corporate world. Goodbye job security, hello stress!

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/ special projects)
In 2008, I received the Citizen Journalist Award for my work on improving traffic in Hyderabad through the “Free the Left Lane” project. I was also one of the 30 nominees for the MTV Youth Icon 2008 Awards in India for the same project. In cricket, while at ISB, I was the highest run scorer in the 2010-11 season for ISB and followed that up with three back-to-back centuries in T20 when I joined CA Technologies after ISB.

I've attempted two startups of my own, one of which came close to getting VC funding from a top international fund. At CA Technologies, I was given the “Above and Beyond” award for my work with our partners. At one of my previous companies, I was awarded the “Power of One” award for improving customer satisfaction among our Japanese customers and helping close about US$500,000 in additional revenue.

Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB including your career progression.
Pre-ISB, I was working for a company called SumTotal Systems, which is the global market leader in Human Capital Management software. In the six years I spent there, I worked across different functions such as Development, Support, Sales and Marketing. Post ISB, I joined CA Technologies in their Energy and Sustainability organisation to create global go-to-market plans with services partners. I successfully led engagements with the top Indian services companies and built a multi-million dollar sales pipeline.

I later quit CA and joined a startup in the Cloud SaaS space in November as their head of sales. However, I found a more interesting opportunity in the burgeoning mobile space with an early stage startup called 135 Tech Labs and joined them as CMO. One of the founders is my classmate from ISB, Apoorv Kakkeri.

Describe your fondest memory at ISB
There are many to choose from, but ISL would rank among my top three memories. Building and running a professional sports franchise, getting sponsors on board, and getting on-field and off-field strategies right were the highlights of ISL. The fact that I bought the first ever ISL franchise added to the thrill.

In your personal life, how have you changed post ISB? Do you see yourself doing something differently because you went to ISB? What has left a lasting impression?
I now do the Porter 5 forces analysis for every personal decision I make - like when and where I should get a haircut. On a serious note, ISB has made my thought process deeper. The quality of my analysis has improved, if I can put it that way. 

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
135 Tech Labs, my current company, is indicative of ISB's contribution. The whole reason I joined ISB was to get access to interesting career opportunities and roles from a long-term perspective. My classmate from ISB started 135 Tech Labs and reached out to me because he thought I could add value to the startup. I'm now heading Sales and Marketing for an exciting startup in the mobile space purely because I was at ISB.

If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
Opportunity.

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
ISB has given me a lot of good friends - friends that I can always count on for advice and help, both personal and professional.

Word of advice for the current class?
Think of where you want to be five years from now and then work towards that. Everything, including the electives you take and the job interviews you sit for, will then make sense to you. If you're not sure of where you want to be, then it doesn't matter what route you take to get there.

What was your favourite course/class at ISB and why?
Competitive Strategy with Professor Prashant Kale: A brilliant professor and great case studies made this my favourite core term course.

Managing Strategic Partnerships with Professors Saikat Chaudhuri and MB Sarkar: I really liked how Professor Chaudhuri brought out the finer details of a case study that one might miss at first glance.

Was there anyone during your time at ISB who acted as a mentor for you? Tell us a little about this relationship and why it was valuable.
I had no mentors, but many of my peers gave me good advice at different times. Whether it was my core term study group that helped me understand some difficult concepts or other folks who helped during placements, there was always someone who was ready to help.

What are the areas that you can contribute in to ISB?
Housekeeping? Mowing the lawn? No? Well, I do work with a lot of students on CV reviews and mock interviews, and I will continue doing that. I could also help with admission interviews.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
I like the challenge of creating something new, testing the market out and building a scalable business.

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can see?
The mobile space itself is very new and evolving rapidly. Smartphone usage in India is growing exponentially and this growth represents a great market for startups. India has always been a follower of technology trends that trickle down from the West, but the mobile space could be one area where India could bring out products that are adopted in the West and not vice versa.

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