Previous Occupation: Technology Entrepreneur (Techbrix Software)
Present Occupation: Technology Entrepreneur(Infruid Labs)
Sector: Technology
Work Experience: 14 years
Interests – Professional/ Personal:

Professional: Technology startups
Personal: Travel  

Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
I was born and brought up in Vizag. My father, before his retirement, was managing the electrical department of a captive power plant of a ferro-alloys group. My mother is a homemaker. Gayathri, my wife, is an HR professional, who is on a break. We live with our two children in Hyderabad.

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/ special projects)
Living my dream of serial entrepreneurship has been both challenging and fulfilling. The journey itself has been an experience, with a few milestones along the way. A couple of the major ones are: exiting successfully from my first start-up and developing a patent-pending Social TV platform in my second start-up.

Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression.
I had been a technology entrepreneur pre-ISB and have continued being a technology entrepreneur after ISB. However, my approach to start-up management has changed for the better due to my experiences at ISB. Most importantly, my experiences (both intra- and extramural) at ISB have equipped me with the tools and frameworks to understand and appreciate different functions of a business, such as Finance, New Product Development and Sales. ISB has helped me develop analytical frameworks to put business challenges in their right perspective. Whether it is a simple framework such as MR=MC or whether they are more complex valuation methodologies such as DCF or Comparable Analysis, my experience at ISB has equipped me to run a business effectively.

Describe your fondest memory of ISB.
Many fond memories remain from the time spent with my study group and section mates. If I have to pick one out of all these experiences, it would be this: As part of the Senior Executive Club, we organised Kargil Diwas at ISB for the first time. This was a unique and unforgettable experience for me.

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?
My stint at ISB made me better at time management. I have become more efficient at using my time.

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
There were two takeaways: The ISB alumni network and on-campus learning that equipped me with effective business decision making skills.

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

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
The highlight was being able to build lasting relationships with most of my class.

Word of advice for the current class?
Manage your time effectively. There are two things you should definitely do: learn and network.

What was your favourite course/ class at ISB and why?
It’s difficult to pick any one over the other, but if I have to, I would choose “Competitive Strategy” and “Advanced Transaction Analysis and Modelling.”

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.
There was no single person as such but I have learnt a lot from every faculty and each student in my batch.

What are the areas in which you can contribute to ISB?
I would like to help in any way I can. I could share my experiences with start-ups to help ISBians who turn entrepreneurs understand the challenges of being on their own and help them better prepare to improve their start-ups’ chances of survival.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
The challenges of start-up survival.

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can see?
Big data is playing a strategic role in business decision making, and more companies are turning to past data to develop actionable intelligence. Even though the idea of Business Analytics isn't new, its application on such a large scale is a new trend and we will see more and more businesses apply Data Mining to develop a sustainable competitive advantage.

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