Pranav D Saraiya
Class of 2007
 


 


Tell us a little about your family background/ history. How has it influenced you?
I come from a middle-class Gujarati business family. I grew up in Mumbai with my 2 sisters. My fascination with Entrepreneurship & Investing has probably to do with my Gujarati gene.

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/ special projects).
I feel grateful for where I am today, part of the founding team of Serviceberry Technologies – a company that is arguably the best in India in its area of work. Serviceberry has been widely recognized by our clients across geographies and by Hewlett Packard (HP), our technology partner. HP has adjudged us “The Best Implementation Partner” for 3 years in a row. We now serve clients in AMS, EMEA and APJ.
Personally, I count being able to spend quality time with my son, Vir, an achievement. I can tell that there are a lot of teachable moments on either side :)
 
Tell us about your profile prior to attending ISB and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression.
Pre-ISB: I’ve lived & grown in the Sales & Business Development function since the beginning of my work life. Starting with selling automated process valves at my first job, I sold IT solutions & services before studying at ISB.
Post-ISB: Post ISB, I joined NIIT as a Team Leader for an Intrapreneurial venture at their Shanghai office. I worked there for a little over a year before moving back to Mumbai to partake in an entrepreneurial journey called Serviceberry, the one that I am still enjoying.

How do you think your time at ISB has contributed to your career and personal growth?
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. The time at ISB gave me the belief that I could do work that counts even in an environment where people are much brighter than I am.
I am also thankful to ISB for the wonderful lifelong friends I made there.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
There are many reasons for joy in my current position. To name a few; opportunity to be an entrepreneur, ability to set own goals / agenda, multi-functional work content, responsibility to provide people growth & challenging work & so on. The most enjoyable thing perhaps would be the ability to design the future of Serviceberry.

Briefly describe a typical day at work, in a way that illuminates the kind of challenges and opportunities your role involves.
My typical day revolves around the following functions:
• Sales Management: Guide the sales team, remove hurdles in their productivity / success, demand management
• Finance: manage cash flow, working capital & debtors, keep track of company performance across geographies, see patterns & suggest / make corrections, capital allocation decisions, expense management
• Strategy & Relationship Management: Make decisions under uncertainty, execute strategy, manage relationship with key OEM partners at senior levels

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Are there any trends that you can identify?
The new trends in our area are Social, Mobility, Analytics, Cloud & Big Data. These are pretty disruptive forces and have profound implications for the future of the IT industry itself and the industries it serves.

What was the main highlight or most memorable aspect of your programme at the ISB?
Getting the ISB Torch Bearer Award was a proud moment. Besides, I was part of teams that won at various competitions, the notable one being the competition at IIM, Kozhikode. My team presented a plan to promote inclusive growth in India using a combination of Technology & Entrepreneurship. The plan was recommended to the PMO as the best plan for rural India and was forwarded to the Planning Commission.

If you could offer a word of advice to the current class at ISB, what would it be?
My suggestion is to keep things simple. We learn various tools at ISB and we should use them appropriately. We should be watchful of hubris and strive to become learning machines.

How do you feel you can contribute to ISB?
As alums, it’s upon us to enhance the ISB brand through our performance & conduct. As we go along, time and monetary contributions are some of the options.


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