My Professional Journey

My professional journey began at English Electric as an Assistant Engineer and from then, facing challenges with focus and sincerity has been the hallmark of my career. Being a firm believer in the law of constraints, I create new challenges even when things are going smooth. While failures lead to experience, success creates the confidence to take more risks; and this experience and confidence gave me the impetus to step into entrepreneurship in 1994.

The growth of the entrepreneurial network led to meeting different groups of people with varied business interests. I understood the constraints, challenges and opportunities of various businesses as I was an avid listener with an open mind. In addition to the ability to think through and provide solutions, I developed the art of articulating an experience based narrative to communicate to a larger audience.

How did Angel Investing Happen

The entrepreneurial journey was not a smooth ride and the lessons learnt from the hardships and failure led to the belief that there should be more than one business interest for risk mitigation. Later, I realized that the success of an entrepreneur is limited to one organization and cannot be replicated as a similar model to all ventures – in short, managing multiple interests will not lead to success in all enterprises. This constraint took me to the zone of angel investing – and the learning grew multifold from then.

How These Shaped Me

It is interesting to look back and note how my early professional experience and the potential to identify opportunities culminated in making me a professional entrepreneur. The urge to be different from the crowd helped in making a difference personally, in my organization, and with the people around me. The key skills that has helped me in this journey is my open-mindedness to change, awareness of the external environment, sensing the challenges even before they become one, and looking for constant signals in the competitive and customer environment. These skills become the drivers & give directions to become successful.