Siddhant Bhansali
Class of 2007






Tell us a little about your family background/ history. How has it influenced you?
On my father’s side, I come from a family of lawyers, but I had no interest in pursuing that as a profession. For me, it was computer science since early childhood, but that didn’t stop me from picking up a legal acumen through active conversations at the dining table!
On my mother’s side, I come from a family of very eminent physicists and educators, which has inculcated a deep sense of love for the sciences that continues to this day.

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/ special projects).
On the professional front, we did a project for the UN and the Government of India which was widely appreciated. Such a project had never been attempted anywhere else in the world and that product is used to formulate certain international trade laws for India.
A subsequent engagement with OIFC (Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre, a PPP between the Government of India and CII) led to the creation of a website to clarify FDI/FII investment regulations into India. Interestingly, it was also formulated into a book that was released by the former PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
On the personal front, I’ve travelled off the beaten path to a few different countries such as Egypt, Mexico and Chile. Spending significant time in those countries has contributed richly to my knowledge and understanding of different cultures, as well as built a richer international network of connections.

Tell us about your profile prior to attending ISB and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression.
I did my undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). I worked for several years in Microsoft on key products such as Outlook Express, Internet Explorer and Windows Core.
After ISB, I joined HT Media in Delhi where I helped them setup a new venture in the online space. They needed people with rich knowledge and experience on the internet side.
Subsequent to that, I did those projects for the Government of India as mentioned earlier, but also setup and operated Indian offices for two American companies, working in the capacity of CTO and India Head.
For the past 2-3 years, I’ve been actively involved within the startup ecosystem and have mentored over 60-70 startups across the fields of ecommerce, education, sports, travel, events, ticketing, manufacturing and logistics, to name a few!
I’ve also been involved with a co-working space and startup accelerator known as 91springboard. These guys are poised for massive growth within India and I have been helping them in their journey.

How do you think your time at ISB has contributed to your career and personal growth?
Besides the knowledge that we all “learnt”, what I feel I really absorbed was the deep, structured, analytical thinking process. The case-study based approach really reinforced that, and exposure to research based decision making opened newer ways of understanding problems and attempting to solve them.
It is perhaps telling of the influence that ISB has had on me that I’m at the initial stages of working on academic papers in the field of entrepreneurship within India!

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
I’ve been actively working with a broad range of startups and helping them solve anything from deep challenges across a wide range of issues to practical, day-to-day matters.
All this leads to a constant broadening of my horizons, and the exposure to the youthful energy and deep passion that startups have, keeps me very energized!

Briefly describe a typical day at work, in a way that illuminates the kind of challenges and opportunities your role involves.
On one day, I was working with a company which is trying to launch India’s first privately owned space rockets to put satellites in low earth orbit (LEO) and in the evening I was working with another company trying to sort out how to fix urban transportation challenges in Gurgaon!
In-between, I was interacting with youngsters who were part of a hardware hackathon meetup and helping them ideate on how to commercialize their products!
Interestingly, no two days are ever the same, and weekends happen to be the busiest time for me. Kind of like how ISB used to be!

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Are there any trends that you can identify?
Change is a perpetual part of any ecosystem and startups typically are the harbingers of that. Some of these startups are going to shake up the dominant players in a completely unexpected way, similar to how Clayton Christensen predicts in his book, "The Innovator's Dilemma".

What was the main highlight or most memorable aspect of your programme at the ISB?
I think I am hard-pressed to choose one aspect from so many - the education, faculty, student body, networking opportunities, infrastructure facilities, library, helpful admin staff, amazing domestic staff, and of course, the beautiful campus!

If you could offer a word of advice to the current class at ISB, what would it be?
I would suggest that everyone should figure out where their passion or interests lie and try pursuing something within that. Life is too short to do uninteresting things.
I work every day of the week, because no day is “work” for me. I enjoy every single day of my life.

How do you feel you can contribute to ISB?
I would love to engage with the WCED and see how I can contribute to their efforts.
But I feel we should also have a larger goal of helping those who have not had the privilege of receiving such an education and peer network that we have received at the ISB. I would love to be part of those initiatives as well.