Indian Entrepreneurs: The Green Berets of Georgia’s IT Pt. 1

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to use the Internet and he won’t bother you for weeks.”

How’s that for a new age twist to old adages? The Information Technology industry is not only changing the rules of the game, but also the whole environment in which the game is being played. IT is pretty serious business these days, and the Indian Americans are at its forefront. There was a time when Indian immigrants had to face a daunting amount of time and hurdles in order to land on the shores of Lady Liberty; today the Indian passport holder with technical prowess is welcomed with open arms and expedited processes.

The Indian icons of technology and entrepreneurship such as Kanwal Rekhi, K.B.Chandrasekhar, Sabeer Bhatia, and “the man with the golden touch” as he was tagged by Forbes magazine, Vinod Khosla, have put the Indian American community way ahead in the IT race. The bay area in California where the golden boys of the high tech game make their home, is now routinely being referred to as Silicon Raj. “In Silicon Valley, every high-tech company you stop by, you smell the aroma of curry. The Indian entrepreneurs have taken over,” says R.K. Sehgal, Georgia’s Commissioner of Trade and Tourism, and fellow Indian American. He continues, “And there are amazing success stories in Atlanta too. I think Pundit Nehru in some way, sowed seeds for such a trend by approving the formation of the (Indian Institutes of technology), knowing well that technology would be ruling the world one day. All over the United States, hundreds of Indian companies founded and run by Indian entrepreneurs are mushrooming with amazing alacrity. Earlier on, the Indians would start a company and then hire an American CEO to manage it, but now the shoe is on the other foot and several Indians have been invited by American run companies to head them.

While Silicon Valley still remains the hot spot for the high-tech industry, Atlanta has emerged as a great success story from the mid 90s with many high profile companies moving a big chunk of their business here. The 1996 Olympics and Hartsfield airport have made “Hotlanta” a happening place, and last month Atlanta also made it to the top 10 cities for venture capital investing. More than 3000 high tech companies have now made Atlanta their home, and some have deliberately chosen the city over the bay area .With a current Governor, who is technically inclined and thinks the world of Indian Americans, Atlanta has indeed become a technology Mecca of the southeast

Here is a look at the industry’s leaders, dynamic entrepreneurs, and stories of their struggles and success and the outlook about the future of IT in Georgia.

JAY CHAUDHURY

Jay Chaudhry’s claim to fame came from his debut enterprise, called Secure IT, a security consulting company. Since then, he has built and funded a number of successful IT businesses in Georgia, and is also the founder of the Atlanta chapter of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs). A keen perception of market needs has helped Jay fill a niche in all of his ventures. “I consider (Jay Chaudhury) a brilliant marketer and competent businessman,” says Tom Noonan. Founder and CEO, ISS.

Brad Hammond, President Yahoo Net Road Show, adds “Georgia is fortunate to have him (Chaudhury) because not only has he created a lot of jobs in the state, he has created a lot of wealth. He is a man with great focus and a sound vision, and indeed has the golden touch.”

Jay Chaudhry’s climb to the top is as inspiring a story as you can come across. The son of a simple farmer in a small district of Una, about two hours from Chandigarh, Jay began his early education sitting under a tree in his village. He ended up on the US shores to pursue further studies at the University of Cincinnati. It was while working at a summer job that top management of a start-up company spotted him, and hired him full time after he graduated. “It was an interesting experience to work for a start up. In a small company there is no place for politics or racism,” says Jay. “A little later, they started taking me to demonstrations on pre-sales support, since I knew the system inside out and could help them if they hit a snag. It was here I realized that I liked sales and marketing better than just sitting in front the computer, managing a team of programmers. So I went back to school and got my MBA in marketing.”

Jay soon joined IBM, as one of the few outsiders hired for the job (Big Blue preferred to appoint from within the company for their pre-sales department).

“IBM was a great learning experience. The first thing I learnt there was the fact that, contrary to my belief, I really did not know how to sell. The IBM training, resources and presentation were brilliant and my technical background stood me in good stead. In a couple of months I learnt everything about their systems, more so than even their systems specialists. I took all kind of complicated IBM systems, streamlined them, created a simple message, and it was well received. I realized that marketing was such a tremendously creative job, and if you could create an easy to understand message

it would benefit so many people. Learning is my hobby and I have always wanted to teach, but since I did not get the opportunity this was my way of fulfilling that urge.”

“I learnt a lot at IBM, but left them to join NCR, who were looking for a director of marketing. That was an amazing experience. I had 45-50 countries under me, and I would visit 10-15 countries every quarter. It taught me to be sensitive to the needs of other countries, and learn about their culture. Soon however NCR was acquired by AT&T, and one of the executives left and took me to Unisys with him, to handle their

sales and marketing. It was here for the first time that I saw the real corporate world, the in-house fierce competition and the politics. Meanwhile, it was always at the back of

my mind to start my own company. It was finally in late 1996, when Internet was taking off, that (wife) Jyoti and I seriously began to consider starting a company of our own.” It was Jyoti who encouraged him to take the plunge. “I told him, you keep talking about it, just go ahead and do it.” “I think the older you get and the higher you go up the food chain, the tighter the golden handcuffs get, so Jyoti and I got serious and said let’s do it now,” says Jay.

Jyoti adds, “I was on maternity leave at that time, and we both quit our jobs and put all our savings on the line. I had had this rosy vision of working out of home and taking care of my two kids. Little did I realize how much work it was. I often carried work home, and so many things were new to us, payroll, and the legalities and so on. Since we had limited finance, we could not outsource anything. I learnt so much, it was amazing. We even got the kids involved, when we were doing direct-marketing. They stuffed envelopes with brochures designed by Jay and me. It was a lot of work and its amazing how time flew by. Now of course I can do anything with my eyes closed.”

As the Chaudhrys started looking at the market they checked out several options. “At first I was tempted to get into data warehousing services, but I soon realized a lot of people were already doing it. Then we looked at consulting services and there too, a lot of companies were established already. The third area that we narrowed down was Internet security services. A friend of mine, Jay Johnson who had worked with me at Unisys and had dabbled in security services joined me. We realized that in 1996 internet had indeed come to stay, and internet security was beginning to hit the front page news. There was no dominance, so, we jumped in. Jyoti quit her job in mid November 1996 and I in January 1997.”

“People who do start-ups on a part-time basis never succeed. You have to burn your bridges behind you and stop looking back,” says Jay. “I was nervous, but I decided not to seek venture funding. Jyoti and I have a very simple life style, and we had made some wise investments, so we put all that in to the company. Jyoti adds, “It was scary because we did not really know how much money we will eventually need, but we said if we don’t succeed then we were not meant to be in business, and we can always go back and find another job.” “That’s right,” agrees Jay. “We moved in to the security services area in spite of not knowing much about it to get the `first mover’ advantage.

“We had been talking to several companies to get into a partnership with us. If they could provide us some leads, we would help them with implementation to close the deal. Both Jay Johnson and I were good in sales, so that helped us. We set a target of $30,000 for our first month sales, and actually made about $35,000.The whole plan called for revenue of million dollars in the first year. We made five million in the first year.”

Secure IT as the company was called was later acquired by VeriSign and the stock stands currently at 1 billion dollars. Jay stayed on for another 15 months after the merger, before starting his next venture. “The seventy-eighty employees who were left became millionaires with this merger. A lot of SUVs started showing up in the parking lot,” laughs Jay, “and when I left they actually gave me a plaque which said “Thank you for securing our future.” It was very satisfying to see that I had made a difference.”

In early 1999, with one major success story under his belt, Jay sought out Kanwal Rekhi of TiE, (The Indus Entrepreneurs) to seek his advice on what he should do next. Rekhi who founded TiE, a hugely successful IT entrepreneur himself, has dedicated his time towards encouraging and consulting new start-ups by Indian entrepreneurs. TiE is a network of entrepreneurs and professionals that dedicate their experience and expertise to new start-ups. Jay got involved with Rekhi to form the Atlanta chapter of TiE. They invited Sabeer Bhatia to inaugurate the Atlanta chapter in March 1999, and Jay Choudhury was asked to become President. “We now have about 550 members and it has been a very satisfying experience,” says Jay.

“It was through TiE that I met Sanjoy Malik my partner in my next venture called Air Web. Sanjoy and I had been in Atlanta for a while but had never met prior to that. We met in the summer of 1999. After a fair amount of research decided to create a wireless platform which could support serious applications and enable its customers to reach all of their wireless users regardless of network, carrier or wireless device. In late July AIR2 Web was launched. Sanjoy became the CEO and I took over as Chairman. I helped put together a good management team. Since my role was that of coach, I next started wondering what I should do in the evenings,” Jay laughs.

“So I started delving in to the area of e-commerce. I decided that no one was targeting the mid-tier segment in this area. With this in mind I approached Ariba, a leading provider of intranet and internet based b2b e-commerce solutions, to team up with me and create a mid-tier ASP (Applications Services Provider). I knew no one at Ariba and they said that they were growing fast and being chased by 60-70 top notch companies. “We don’t have the time to waste on a start up and you don’t even have a company yet.”

So I said to them, “In all due respect, Ariba is still the new kid on the block and you are getting all the key deals. Why is that so?’ They answered because we have created the best focus and the best solutions. I said I have the same focus. Moreover, with the track record I have I can reach out to the mid tier market and make it a success. All I’m asking for is partnership support. They agreed. Then I turned to people who had done E procurement and hired a great team of dozen key people and ‘CoreHarbor” was launched in January 2000.”

CoreHarbor which offers b2b (business to business) e-commerce application services has nabbed several other leading companies as partners, namely Arthur Andersen, Checkpoint Software, Hewlett Packard, Internet Security Systems, to name a few. Jay has also launched E-launchpad, an incubator with Palaniwamy Rajan, and they stick to mentoring and bringing real work expertise to the companies they take on. “We stick to three, four companies at a time instead of a large group as others tend to do,” says Jay.

So how is he giving back to the community?

“I’m involved with my village in Una. The little village school I went to has now become a high school but with not enough rooms. I have taken the responsibility of building more rooms and providing better facilities, and I’m also focusing on a college project to start computer science courses in Una.”

What does he think of the city of Atlanta and the impact of IT in the state of Georgia?

“I love Atlanta. The city has come a long way since the past few years. I did consider the Silicon Valley. I like to go there to visit, but everything is so high speed and cut throat.

There may be a lot more money but Atlanta is a better city to do business in. In fact in the past two years it seems every one in the Silicon Valley wants to start a business, no one wants to work for you! In Atlanta we still need a few more high profile success stories for it to really be a city in the top 5. The talent is there. Atlanta is a very vibrant city right now.”

So what makes him the super success that he is? “I think it is his optimistic spirit. He is also very focused,” says Jyoti. “Once he decides on his goal, no matter what, he will get there.” Jay adds “You know I am not part of any big boys club. People say its very important to be a part of that, learn to play golf and network, network, network. Well, I have played golf only twice in my life and found it to be extremely boring. There is only so much networking you can do. I would prefer to spend that time with my children and family. I knew no VCs in Atlanta when I started Secure IT but it did well.

“I think it’s really my passion for learning, and my willingness to work hard. I know the

market very well. I read a lot and have a better, broader and deeper picture of technology and business than most CEOs of companies. Of course the element of luck also plays a part. There were some decisions that we had a hard time making, which eventually turned out to be the right ones. They were so close, they could have gone either way. At the same time, I think the harder you work the luckier you get.”

ANIL KHATOD

The same philosophy has landed Anil Khatod at the top of the fiber-optics giant,

Nortel Networks. Khatod is the President of Global Internet Relations department, as well as the Chief Strategy Officer at Nortel and been instrumental in turning the company around. Courted frequently by venture capitalists like golden boy Vinod Khosla himself, Anil is one of the top notch Indian Americans in his field of expertise. He shared his experiences and views over lunch at the country club.

“The growth in information technology has been amazing. When I first came to the US in 1980 to work for a company, I raised venture capital for the manufacturing of liquid crystal displays and semiconductor modules. At that time Indians in the tech industry were few; and one raising venture funding was virtually unheard of. It is really refreshing to see that over the last 10 years or so there has been a massive shift in the way Indians are perceived. Their technical wizardry and entrepreneurial spirit has made a great impact in India and United States. In fact nearly half of the start up companies in the Silicon Valley are by Indians. In fact when I talk to my VC friends, many joke that if there is a start up looking for funding, and if in the top 5 people there is no Indian on their team, there is a big question mark about the validity of that start up!! The Indian Americans have shown great vision, great execution skills and their success has created an impact in India too, because I really see the software and technology industry to ultimately be the savior of the country.”

Did he also face the stereo type of Indians being seen predominantly as technocrats?

“You have raised a very interesting point. I started managing people in the US about 20 years ago, and yes, Indians were indeed perceived as great engineers and technocrats and not necessarily great managers. I saw very few Indians in management. Since the past 5 years or so however that perception has changed completely. Still, as an Indian you had to be ahead of your peers to achieve the same ratio of success, but I have never accepted the idea that somehow I could be at a disadvantage just because I was an Indian. You cannot make excuses for not being successful. Career wise, about five years ago I put some fundamental principles geared towards my own development and following those principles has really accelerated my career. Firstly, I realized I needed to be a visionary and have the ability to move people within or outside the company. I also needed to be a good public speaker, to be able to handle media and a large segment of people and hold their attention. Thirdly, I wanted to be able to connect with the customers at all levels especially the top executive level on a one-on one basis. I also wanted to have the ability to understand technology and transform that knowledge into an application. I wanted to be an alliance builder and have the ability to connect people from different walks of life with common goals. I wanted to make sure I could execute on ideas, that I was perceived as responsible and reliable. I also ensured that I had a very strong personal network outside Nortel.”

How does he see the city of Atlanta as far as IT is concerned and the impact it has had on the way Indian Americans are perceived?

“Atlanta is now pretty much ranked in the top six technology mega centers in North America. Silicon valley is of course number one. There is a big difference between the two cities, for several reasons. Atlanta is growing very rapidly and I was in fact on a mission to Canada with Governor Roy Barnes. He is so much into technology and so committed to bringing automation into schools and to the government. He is also very supportive of entrepreneurs. What is also great is to see the positive influence R.K Sehgal, our Commissioner of Trade and Tourism has been on Governor Barnes. Mr. Sehgal is really committed to seeing the Indian community and the state of Georgia being a success. In fact my conversations with governor Barnes indicate that he is of the firm belief that Indian Americans have a lot to contribute to Georgia.”

“I see the Indian American community continuing to make a deep impact on US economy with their achievements. There has been such a shift in the attitude of the younger generations because of this recognition that the Indian community has received. I see it in my two sons Sumit and Sahil who are 14 and 10. I find they are so much more proud and confident of their heritage because of the respectability the Indian community has earned as an intellectual and entrepreneurial and wealthy community.”

His opinion on venture capitalism and how will it impact Indo-US economy?

“I have had the opportunity both to join as a partner as well as to lead a start up company by one of the venture capitalists. I have a very positive outlook about it. The success in entrepreneurship in North America, particularly in the US, is driven by availability of capital. A great idea has no place to go without the availability of money. A VC process allows availability of that money albeit at a cost. Venture capitalism is what separates US from the rest of the world. Now we are beginning to see the same phenomena developing in other parts of the world but particularly so in India. Most VCs who have made a lot of money are now looking at opportunities to give back to India. They are providing funds to start a number of new initiatives. The bureaucratic set up has also become a lot better. Indian leaders have to realize that the ultimate success of a country depends totally on information technology development and they have seen prosperity in their software industry as a result. We are beginning to see a shift in Indian policies which are beginning to be more friendly. Of course China is still way ahead of India because of their excellent infrastructure and the focus to maintain it.

We have seen China adding 2 million wireless cellular subscribers a year and creating 8 to l million phone lines every year. India is still far behind. We have the infrastructure, the capita and the entrepreneurs. It’s the politicians who have to be more IT savvy.” Says Anil.

SHANKAR SUBRAMANIAN

“It is still a land of red tape,” says Subramanian Shankar, referring to India. Shankar owns American Megatrends Inc, maker of bios (basic input-output systems) and other systems for computers. The company was in the top 50 companies in Georgia with estimated revenue of 150 to 249 million. Shankar says he has struggled for the past five years to open an office in Madras, his way of giving back to the community. “We have been in India since the past five years. In Tamil Nadu you still have to go through a lot of red tape. People openly ask for bribes and say you are an American company, you should be able to pay. I’m from Tamil Nadu and that was my way of paying back so I have persisted, but I can easily see how another person who goes through all this would not want to waste time and invest there.”

Subramanian Shankar came to USA in 1985 when he was in-between jobs. “A friend of mine asked me to come to USA and start a company with him. So I came here. It was tough. I had no credit history, not much cash, and because I had no credit history, I could not even buy a car. My friend did give me some money but that was about it. Eventually though, it was at a exhibition where I had put a booth, that I was discovered by Dell and offered a project. I invited a couple of my friends who used to work for me in India, and worked for Dell for 6-7 months. At the end of the contract we finally had some money, and our design consulting company took off. We went to Taiwan and got some more product designs.”

Shankar, who is thought of as a role model by young entrepreneurs and remains amazingly humble and low key, comments on how far Indian Americans have come in the field of Information technology. “It was so difficult to find a job in USA. A few years ago when I was 37 years old, mid 30s was considered an awkward age for employers. I had therefore no choice but to start my own business. It was so difficult to get funding, in spite of having a sound business plan and presentation. We succeeded because we had a great team, and even after that investors came up with such absurd offers. So this recognition and the ease with which funding is available is good to see, and was long time in the coming. It’s great to see so many Indian entrepreneurs in the lime light.”

RAJAN PALANISWAMY

“Raj has had tremendous impact as a leader within the Atlanta hi-tech community by taking ideas and vision and creating a strategy and successfully executing on them. Raj has been very involved within the Indian American community by building many bridges and contacts and fostering a strong sense of community. He has been very active in bringing other hi-tech leading Indian American speakers from around the country to the Atlanta area to share their wisdom and impacting the community with new cutting edge concepts and ideas. Raj has played as a role model for helping guide other Indian Americans’ into the fast changing IT field.” Chris Klaus, President and CTO, ISS.

Chris Klaus was talking about the 30 year old whiz kid from Bangalore, Palaniswamy Rajan, or Raj as he is popularly known. Raj hails from a business family in Bangalore and says as far as he can remember, he always wanted to be a businessman. He came to USA to pursue further studies at Florida Institute of technology. With a Masters in computer science, under his belt he came to Atlanta, as a consultant for GE Information Services before the entrepreneurial bug bit him, and from the age of 26, he started churning out successful companies with the ease of a seasoned businessman. Charming, and down to earth, with a disarming smile, he juggles his lap top and questions aimed at him, with ease.

“I guess I always had business in my blood. Since I came from a business family, I learnt a lot of lessons early on.” He said that the most important lesson he learnt from his businessman father was “You can never have enough good relationships. Everything in life whether on a professional level or on a personal level is about dealing with people and building those relationships.” Raj launched his first company Emerald Systems at 26. “Emerald systems were a consulting company, and I knew the demand was there, so I built my practice around that. My secret for success was simply this: you have to make sure there are enough people willing to buy what you are trying to sell! “My second company was executive recruiting, staffing and human resources. The market was there and I had already built my relationships also by then. It was not easy to get funding and with my first company I was totally bootstrapped.” Raj’s third company Vertical One’ specialized in personalized Internet content consolidation where customers could access all their sites by using one password. It was later sold to “S1” and Raj took stock options which until recently were worth close to one billion dollars. His most recent venture is E-launchpad an incubator for start up companies.

So does he feel more acceptability in the American business world in the new millennium?

“There are still some acceptability problems, but since Indian Americans have come on very strong, there is no reason for that distinction to persist. I do see the young breed to be extremely knowledgeable with a lot of business savvy, more assimilated to the community, more computer literate and they take entrepreneurship to a different level. I do feel though that the generation after us may get a little too comfortable. They have the skills, but because they have not had to rough it out they may be more easy going. Once you are doing business you cannot afford to take it easy. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

What makes a successful company?

“The ability to keep up with the changing market. The best companies create new product lines to survive. Those who don’t, go under. Even firmly established companies have gone out of business or merged with other companies because they were not able to digress. It is only companies that can come up with multiple product lines that survive.

Has he made any mistakes?

Absolutely, but I look at it this way, unless you try you will never learn. There are however bad mistakes where you knew the stuff but executed it poorly. Then there are the good mistakes, where you did your best and yet did not foresee the problem. At least that good mistake will teach you how to go about things the second time around!”

Why Isn’t a whiz kid like him in Silicon Valley?

“Silicon Valley indeed has a concentration of very smart people and a lot of things are happening there in terms of entrepreneurship, just as in New York where a lot of financial stuff goes on. However, that kind of saturation affects the standard of living. Atlanta on the other hand has a much more balanced environment for different industries. No single industry dominates. If you have the right idea, and want to meet good people, Atlanta is the place to be. With TIE we have brought good people together. Sure Silicon Valley has a lot more entrepreneurs and mass. Atlanta has taken a lot of strides but still has not hit the critical mass of venture capitalists”.

C. N. MADHUSUDAN

“It is interesting how we changed over the years, and what we have become today,” says C.N Madhusudan, President of Strategic Alliances for NIIT, India’s leading institute of technology training which has now firmly established itself in the US as well. Madhusudan, the man who put the company on the US map, was fascinated by the idea of bringing computers and people together as MIT has been doing.

“NIIT’s focus was on education, so this very concept of education for profit was not appreciated. It took a while to get over that hump. We were not competing with educational institutions, but with social situations. We knew we could not compete with the top business, medical and engineering schools , so we were catering to those who were interested in a practical, applications oriented training. We said if you don’t have a job after graduating, come to us. We will guarantee you a set of skills that will land you a job right away.”

“The first two years were a big struggle but by the third year we did get a fair amount of recognition. We had initially tied up with an American company which was a large producer of training material., but somehow it did not fit well into our learning environment. The approach as well as the accent was different. For example Cobol in USA implied main frame computers, in India they meant microprocessors. So we finally created our own methodology and that enabled every student to receive the same quality of education and learning experience for any location he or she chose. In fact that is what allowed us to franchise. We started training management teams in big corporations that usually didn’t have much exposure to information technology. By doing this we also got in to strategic planning for critical information systems for these companies on request, and then helped them implement it as well. So we finally ended up with two kinds of businesses; education and training, and consulting and software development.”

“We were already dong a fair amount of work with the university of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and they said that they would give credit points for our courses and that was a sign for us that we were on to something good. Still India was such a huge market for us and we had not covered all of India yet, so at that point we were not even considering a foray in to the US market. At the end of the 1980s and early 90s however, India went through a major foreign exchange crisis, and the clear message was,” either you export or you perish”. That was the point where we decided to focus on the US and the South East Asian markets. The US because it was the Mecca of technology, and the south East Asian market because it was so easy to cover from India.”

“I moved to Atlanta in 1991 to see what we could do here. Our first customer was IBM in the education business. I had been out of India for the first time and as I struggled to get the basic operation started, I was in for quite a cultural transition. I had to lease an office, get a telephone line. Accent was the biggest problem. I couldn’t understand a word of what the southerners said and they could not understand a word of what I said, including my name! “People didn’t know us here and all I did was make cold calls. We didn’t have money to outsource marketing. But by 1992 we were settled in and had acquired a number of good clients like Intel, Sears out of Canada ,Lexmark, but each time it was a steep learning experience. Our clients considered even the language we would write, parochial. We actually had to ship a professor from Ann Arbor to teach us to write in American English.”

What has made NIIT the success it has become?

“Well, I think it’s the focus. We started with two type of businesses, the applications software as well as the instructional software. Today we are one of the biggest players in the arena of instructional software. On the applications software side, we have primarily focused on client server applications and both these practices are doing very well.”

How has NIIT given back to the community?

“There have been several initiatives, some at the local level here with participating and supporting in community projects like IPN, GIACC, cultural events, charity events. In Delhi we are working with the Indian Institute of Technology, and The R&D center has been relocated in IIT. There is a lot of sharing of resources. One of our groups has been working to create software for physically challenged individuals. One of the recent projects has been to teach illiterate children.

What are his thoughts regarding future of Indian Americans in IT in the state of Georgia and In India?

“I think Georgia is coming up well. There have been so many successful IPOs by Indian Americans that you are proud to say you are an Indian American company, or even that you have an offshore branch in India. Earlier you often wondered if outsourcing work to India may be taken as a liability, because cheap labor may be equated to poor quality. Not any more; success breeds success and the strides the Indian community has taken in these past years in Atlanta and elsewhere has been tremendous. In fact Indians are ahead of China and Russia because of the language problem as well as a traditional model of working that is not suited to the new business model. In India the business model has always been there. In fact even one of our biggest challenges is to go to these communist bloc countries and teach them business using skills which were always controlled by the state. We have really jumped the biggest hurdle of acceptability and I see only brighter and better things in the future.”

SANJOY MALIK

“Sanjoy Malik has made a significant contribution to IT in Atlanta. Sanjoy has been involved with three strong IT related companies- Sales Technologies, Synchrologic, and Air2 Web. Sanjoy is a founder of both Synchrologic and Air2Web. Sanjoy is able to make significant contributions due to the fact that he is a very strong technologist and an astute businessman. That combination is the basis for strong companies.” Lloyd Solomon, Quellan Corp.

“I think the great thing about this country is that you get tremendous opportunities to be what you want to be,” says Sanjoy Malik, who heads air2web, a mobile internet provider. “When I came here 10 years ago, there was a little bit of bias, not necessarily against Indians but there was an established way of doing things. I would hate to say that the system looked at Indians only as technocrats, but you did get cornered into a niche, if you were an Indian. The revolution in the late 1980s and 90s changed that perception to a new belief that technologists were also excellent managers sometimes and able to run companies very well. Still in 1995 when I started my first company Synchrologic in Atlanta, funding was not easy, but we did manage to get a lot of VCs together, and some of them were investing in a technology company for the first time.”

His comments on the Georgia IT environment?

“Atlanta is growing fast and it is only a matter of time before it is considered at the top. The Indian Americans in Georgia are in a very comfortable position. Personally Atlanta has been very good to me. I have been able to build a couple of businesses and hopefully I will be able to continuously give back in terms of job opportunities and growth. The previous Governor and the current one have contributed a lot towards creating business and being involved in it, and Indians have also been recognized for their achievements. TiE has come a long way since we started it 2 1/2 years ago. People have benefited tremendously through networking, being mentored, and just by getting inspired, getting the confidence that they can achieve whatever it is they set out to do.”

DEEPAK RAGHAVAN

“Deepak is one of my closest advisors, and sounding board, on people, business or technology issues. He understands them all with great clarity. He brings a very balanced perspective and has the ability to remain unemotional about business issues and give clear and focused advice. He has made a tremendous difference both to Manhattan Associates and the Indian community. I don’t like to categorize people in brackets but the Indian community in Atlanta is a strong community and ready to face the challenges in any field and deliver. There have been so many technology companies founded by them, and their cultural heritage and natural inclination to work hard will hold them in good stead.”- Richard Hadrill, President and CEO, Manhattan Associates.

“I have worked with Deepak since 1998 as a Board member for Manhattan Associates. Deepak is not only a founder of Manhattan Associates, but also remains a guiding technology visionary for the company. Deepak has led Manhattan Associates from a start-up to the leading company in b2b commerce supply chain management. His vision, persistence and insight have provided Manhattan Associates with the ability to lead this market.” – Tom Noonan, Founder and CEO, ISS

“I think I have a pretty open and level headed outlook towards life. What you see is what you get”, says Deepak Raghavan, the effervescent and livewire co-founder of Manhattan Associates and currently their master strategist. “My work is my pleasure, apart from my family. I tell all the people who work with me, if you are not enthusiastic about coming here, then may be you shouldn’t.” A graduate of IIT Delhi, Deepak worked for Infosys in India before coming to Wisconsin in 1987. He fit right in. “I know people talk about trying to fit in. Maybe it’s my cosmopolitan upbringing or my general attitude, but thankfully I never felt that way. It’s all about how you treat people and how they treat you in return.”

Talking about his entrepreneurial experience and the IT environment in Georgia, Deepak says, “In the 1980s and even in the early 1 990s, there was this perception that Indians were extremely brilliant, smart and hard working people, great technicians but not great businessman. I have also pretty much moved up from the technical side and started Manhattan Associates with 3 other partners in 1990. I was only 23 and fortunately my parents were supportive, which pleasantly surprised me. Besides, I had nothing to lose. I was not putting my life savings on the line, and if it failed and I was going to give it my best shot, I could always get a job. If nothing else it would give me some good experience.

“We decided that we were going to create a software company that would bring expertise and the best customer service any one could get. We didn’t want happy customers, we wanted ecstatic customers. We were very strict about whom we brought in to the company, but once they got in we were very open and relaxed with them and encouraged participation and feed back. We stayed in California for the first five years and then moved to Atlanta in 1995. It speaks volumes about our company that out of the 32 employees we had, 30 moved to Atlanta with us. We liked L.A. but when the business started growing and most of our clients were in the east coast we felt it was time to move.

Atlanta attracted us for several reasons. The airport was a primary consideration. Our consultants travel a lot, and we looked at Georgia Tech and liked what we saw. In fact we have been one of the top recruiters from Georgia Tech. Atlanta is a logistic hub, for business, has good schools, great weather, low cost of living and it does not have any natural barriers to stop its growth.”

“When we moved here there were no VC companies, and not much attention was being given to technology. Now it’s a totally different story. Atlanta is now being circled on the map as a growing technical hub for the country, so our timing was perfect. Atlanta has been growing very well since then. TiE PILOT and GIACC are doing great, companies are thriving, and Indian Americans have changed their image from being not just technocrats but great businessmen., and the business and wealth they have created has made them a force to be reckoned with in the mainstream. President Clinton acknowledged our contribution and I’m sure President Bush will continue the trend. This is something I’d like to see happen but won’t actively participate to bring about because I don’t like politics.

“That is why I really like the concept of TiE. It’s all about business, its neither political nor religious. I have worked hard and been fortunate enough to be successful, and TiE gives me the opportunity to give back by helping others to reach their goals. I was one of the founding members of TiE and have been mentoring from the beginning. I look at the company and see if they have good execution abilities. A good idea with a poor execution will fail, but a moderate idea with excellent execution is bound to succeed, because the better you execute the better the idea looks. Of course what separates the winners from the losers, is perseverance, a commitment to overcome all obstacles and a total belief in your product.

What has been the reason behind the phenomenal success of Manhattan Associates?

“I think we had such a clear vision of what we were and where we were going. We changed the market from horizontal to vertical. We provide solutions to companies when they interact with each other. We filled in the gaps and now we are utilizing the Internet to substitute inventory with information. We were also very competent. We were charging a fraction of what our competitors were charging and some of them had been in business for 10 years, and we were making profits while they were losing money. We eventually over took our competition.”

“After a pretty smooth time from 1990 to 1999, our rise was meteoric. We went public in 1998, remarkably without any capital from outside. Suddenly we went from 170 to 570 employees; we made two acquisitions; the growth was so wild and for the first time we let the number of employees overtake the number of incoming businesses. Our first stumble came last year. Our stock stumbled from 27 to 3, and we finally put our heads together, as we had always done to see what was best for the company. We decided to bring in a new CEO, and a new team. I took all the product development under me. The transition and changes were initially difficult but now we are okay. I have worn different hats, and if you asked me which the hat I was happiest wearing was, my answer would be the one I am wearing now. For me my designation is not important. What is important is my contribution and trying to make a difference.”