I completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from Institute for Integrated earning in Management (IILM, New Delhi) in 1996. Being a risk taker that I am , I chose to join a company called Padmini Multimedia that was establishing India’s first integrated multimedia set up with own development centre, CD manufacturing plant and vast distribution network. I got trained in Product Management and also got exposed to International negotiations for licensing international games for Indian market. Very early in my career I got global exposure through the company’s US operations and participation in overseas meetings in Africa and Middle East. During this stint I realised the potential to get associated with the right people who could train me to reach my larger goals in life.
In 1999 I joined a sports marketing company called Stracon. This was a fairly new company at that time and a pioneer in private sports telecast in India, started by the Ex-Head of Star TV in India. This is where understood how technology could bring in efficiencies in business processes. We automated the scheduling process for advertisements between live sports telecast and reduced the time spent from a week to less than 24 hours for the process and even built in flexibilities that our clients desired. The company soon moved with the times and became an ISP and then moved to be one of the most impactful company in the business of providing International Long Distance (ILD) Telephony in the name of Data Access (India) Limited. I consider the company to be instrumental in reducing the long distance call tariffs in India. I was engaged in the company in various roles and moved with the new businesses the company launched. This is also the place where I got groomed into mid-management position and started leading teams. I also saw the complete business cycle and was exposed to extreme competition and corporate rivalries.
In Jan’05, I was invited to join the telecom team of The Times of India group that was called Times Internet. Under its brand “Indiatimes” the company offered a horizontal content portal as well as mobile content services. I led the Mobile Content business on Voice and worked closely with clients such as Airtel, MTNL, BSNL, Idea and Tata Teleservices. I soon turned the business into a separate profit centre.
By the end of 2005, Google dec
ided to start its sales and business development operations in India and set up its first office in Delhi. I was lucky to be invited to join Google as its first business development lead in India. This was where I got exposed to the power of thinking big and also learnt to fuel dreams with execution. I also learnt the power of Long Tail in business. I soon started working as a business leader for content partnerships in India for Google. When 
Google bought YouTube, I started working on the content partnerships for YouTube with Indian broadcasters, Bollywood, Entertainment networks for powering content on YouTube. I was able to work closely with the Product and Legal teams at corporate levels and launch YouTube in India in 2008, much ahead of its planned schedule. In 2008, I also got bitten by an entrepreneurial bug during this time and was keen to work on concepts related to healthcare or education sector. Since my agreement at Google did not permit me to work on projects outside of Google, I found it ethical to move on.
My relationships established during my overseas visits landed me a management role with an American company called Aryty Inc. to help them strategise their launch in Philippines and also establish the business relationships in India and Middle East. This is the first time I worked on tenders of BSNL and MTNL and won both these contracts apart from the ones with Tata Teleservices, Idea and Airtel. I also opened business opportunities with MasterCard in United Arab Emirates. In 2010 the company got sold at high valuation.
I started working with a company called Buongiorno (currently known as Lumata in India) as their Vice President for Operator Business. I was responsible for the India P&L responsibilities for VAS business with mobile operators in India. I was managing both content, sales and marketing teams and worked closely with the technology team. I was able to grow the business by over 12% in 6 months and also revived a contract that was under cancellation when I joined. This was my shorted stint as this is when I decided to move on to launch my project that I started conceptualising when I left Google.
I started WonderDoctor in 2011. WonderDoctor was a healthcare content site similar to WebMD of USA. I kickstarted the business and built a team that developed content in multi-media (Text, SlideShows, Video, Audio and Graphics). I successfully ran the company until 2016 but then we faced scale up issues and the business intelligence forced me to close the operations.
But, my past roles as business leader, entrepreneurial experience and the passion for healthcare soon got me an exciting and challenging role that aims at building efficiencies in delivering primary healthcare to communities in South Africa. I have joined Cureva, as their Chief Operating Officer, leading business development and execution.
Based on my exposure to Internet and healthcare industry, I feel there is a burning need for people to be able to access healthcare information from someone who is qualified and trusted, and is provided in the manner that it is useful and accessible to all. On my personal time, I work on HealthFAQ a voluntary project that aims to provide trusted healthcare information to people from reputed doctors.
I talk on my experiences as an entrepreneur, my learnings, my suggestions to people who are considering entrepreneurship as a career choice etc. I also coach students and young entrepreneurs on using digital media and mobile for their business.
Click HERE for my Curriculum Vitae