DEVREV - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Executive Chairman, ThoughtSpot
They say software is eating the world. I feel software without the yin-yang of AI and design will have very little impact in improving broken customer relationships. And without the developers, we can't keep throwing enough managers and dashboards at the problem of customer churn. We need to bring creators out of the back office.
"Growing up quotations have had a great impact on shaping my character and perspective."
My father often quoted "Honesty, is the best policy" and "Sab padhenge, tab badhenge" (which roughly translates to "We will grow, only if everyone is educated"). I took both of these to heart and have been mentoring students ever since my high school days.
A lot of my inspiration on engineering comes from my grandfather who was a civil engineer himself. His favourite quotes were - "A stitch in time saves nine" (in current connotation - fixing technical debt before it blows out of proportion) and "Footprints on the sands of time" (building something which makes a long lasting impact in this world, a legacy you leave behind !)
As I started to form more independent view of the world I realised that, I thrive on trust and enjoy being able to utilise all of my skills at work - engineering, communication, people, design-rather than limiting myself to what is expected of a role. DevRev was an opportunity which gave me those wings and I decided to join the flock, no questions asked.
"I am seeking for the bridge which leans from the visible to the invisible through reality."
Software engineering happened to me by fate. Born in the 80s in India, I followed the engineering route and my cousins to America to seek a better life, like most in my generation. As an immigrant student, '09 was a bad time to graduate and launch a career in the post-recession world. After being an intern for more than a year, I had finally started a permanent position at RSA, The security division of EMC as a software engineer in the SIEM team. My job was to collect, parse and model log data from all kinds of servers, routers, gateways, firewalls, etc. This was by no means a dream job compared to Google and Microsoft at that time, but I was grateful for the opportunity. Despite an unreasonable number of roommates, sub-par pay, and a second-hand car that could give in any minute, I felt that things were finally looking up. Then, in a near Forrest Gumpish incident on a cold fateful morning, I found myself caught in the middle of a landmark story that changed my life. Here it goes !!
I swerved my mean machine- '98 Nissan Altima through a Dunkin to get my usual morning hit of double sugar double cream with coffee and a Boston cream donut; I knew I was already late for yet another day at work. Sporting my freebie backpack, I rolled into the proud corner that I shared with three other techies. "Anindya, can I see you in my office" - my Manager called out. As I walked into his office, my usual cheerful boss had a grim look on his face. As he looked towards his window - he said, "There is a project I want you to work on. Please keep it to yourself, but there is an ongoing investigation of a possible data breach in our servers. You will work closely with the Security Operations Center team to assist in forensics." He then walked me across the bridge to the adjacent building where the Security Operations Center was housed. What I saw there was straight from a Hollywood movie - Huge television screens and scores of "analysts" sifting through data as if in a NASA control room. Little did I know that the "boring" log analysis product I worked on was the foundation of this bustling operation. I was introduced to the analysts who looked exhausted as if they had not slept for days. I got a seat at the war room and started working with them.
The analysts used my product day in and out, and as customers had a lot of questions around the inner workings and features. Sitting with them and seeing them use the product, I felt proud of my work, and suddenly the "Why" of my 8-10 hours daily had a higher purpose. I also realized that the way we designed the product was very different from the way analysts used it; most of our assumptions were not correct. I worked closely with the analysts and learned a lot from them. Then, RSA publicly disclosed the breach even though some thought it was suicidal for a security vendor to be hacked. As Art(RSA President)put it, "Trust was the bedrock of our business," and we had to be very transparent with our customers. Very soon, Google and others also disclosed their breaches in what seemed to be a series of sophisticated nation-state attacks. In fact, the demand for our product rose significantly, and the learnings from the breach were productized and sold to many of our customers, and I had a front seat to all this action.
Today data breaches are commonplace, and the SIEM market has ballooned into a multi-billion dollar Security Analytics industry. I was lucky to be a small part of that story. But, I am happy I crossed the bridge to the other side where my customers were on that fateful day. It changed my life!
"I believe in destiny "
I believe in destiny and the power of propitious timing. "There's a perfect timing to everything, trust the delays, he's got you". As a child I was passionate about sports, badminton being my first love I would say. When that didn't work out well I wanted to study in one of the finest tech universities in India and explore! Design for me happened by fate. Soon enough I realised how interesting it is and there, I embarked on my journey to learn design and problem solving only to realise there's no going back. As I matured and did a couple of internships, I realised how much I love product thinking and design to think of anything else as a career option.
For most of the time in last 3 years, I have dreamt of building world class products and begin on a Zero to One journey. When I got to know about DevRev, it was a no-brainer and thought this is the one in a lifetime opportunity to imagine, dream and build everything that I have always wanted to. I want to be a great designer and DevRev just seems the right opportunity to learn and grow! Looking forward to work with the amazing DevRevelers.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, NASSCOM Foundation
The developers in India, like their counterparts globally, is full of energy, and wants to be merchants and entrepreneurs, immensely curious about who they write code for. As an early investor, I will be incredibly proud to help create global SaaS unicorns with DevRev's maker-user platform.
Job Titles:
- What Does It Mean to Lead a Good Life
Job Titles:
- Professor, Harvard Business School
The key to value creation in business (as in everything else) is empathy. DevRev's transformative approach leverages data, design, and AI to apply this insight where it matters most: towards eliminating the social distance between makers and users. It is a business model that situates the core drivers of value - developers & revenue generating customers - at the center of everything, not just in rhetoric, but in practice.
Job Titles:
- Product and Business Helper, Doordash
I believe that talent is global and not confined to a specific city or region. I believe that talent is diverse across every dimension that defines us as humans. I believe the best leaders are able to bring together global, diverse teams and inspire them to become a team that's greater than the sum of the parts, and to do their best work. DevRev is one such place that brings all of these together and I am incredibly excited to be part of this journey.
Job Titles:
- Design Partner and Adjunct Lecturer
Designing something that genuinely changes peoples' lives in meaningful ways requires having a deep empathy for users. Combine this with data and the ability to communicate with your end users in real time, and now you have a compelling product and customer experience. This is the core of DevRev thinking.
Job Titles:
- Founder & Managing Director, Stone Bridge Ventures
Product-Led Growth (PLG) will be the de facto business model for SaaS this decade. DevRev shows the way of how to build a delightful product that is inherently "internet-led" from the get-go. It shines light on a whole new process of building and driving customer experiences.
"I've always dreamed of building a design team that's like a family owned craft workshop."
Having a bunch of stellar designers doesn't always mean you will automatically have a stellar design team. I've seen many outstanding designers through my career from Frog to Nutanix to Airbnb and one thing that has been consistently true is that designers can be weird untamed creatures. We have so many unique ideas and want our work to be the best of the best. And, sometimes there are just too many chefs in the kitchen.
Job Titles:
- Chief People Officer, PhonePe
India is becoming a powerhouse of SaaS developers, and they're quite customer-aware and jugaad-savvy. I want DevRev to create happy developers, and more importantly, cater to an increasingly diverse talent pool that is building code and growing businesses. Having engaged with the team at DevRev over the last few months, I am floored by their passion to solve a complex problem simply and at scale.
"Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt."
I find myself motivated by the dirt. To create lasting value, to build something larger than one's own contributions, you must venture into unpaved territory. This is where I find inspiration; inspiration to learn new skills, inspiration to build new products, and inspiration to connect with people with similar aspirations.
Before getting my Masters, I spent a Summer in Alaska as a commercial salmon set-netter in one of the world's most sustainable fisheries (#ProtectBristolBay). Here I gained a new found appreciation for teamwork and what it takes to build trust. Working with an amazing group of individuals from around the world and sharing in the grueling 20+ hour / 7 days a week efforts that it takes to safely succeed in one of the world's harshest terrains, taught me how a motivated team can produce tremendous value.
The people and culture brought me to DevRev and convinced me that this is the right team to create a new technology category. The near decade I've spent in Enterprise Software has given me the opportunity to innovate across machine learning, voice, and collaboration applications, but the future of this industry is still an unpaved path. I believe it will require an even larger emphasis on Design, AI, and end user empathy. Those key tenants are what excite me about DevRev's Vision.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Mayfield Fund
Technology decisions are moving from a Return on Investment model to the Rise of the Individual, the new "ROI" model. DevRev addresses the fundamental question of how to empower and elevate the future individual developer - to become truly business-focused - as conscious entrepreneurs who connect their work to revenue, end users, and markets.
"The more I read, the more I acquire, the more certain I am that I know nothing, and the more motivated I get to repeat this cycle."
I've always been a fan of curiosity, and find joy in learning things. I've a zeal for improving myself and making myself better everyday. The idea of building something that enhances the lives of people has always fascinated me, and I strive to walk on that road.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and CEO, Clumio
Business model. Business model. Business model. That's what I learned from the Nutanix transition, and burn the midnight oil on at Clumio. There was on-prem and now there's the cloud. For Clumio to be a next-generation company, I look forward to how my developers lean in on all things PLG.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder, Palo Alto Networks
Engineers and developers are constantly seeking meaningful connections to users of their products. It is my strong belief that to build more effective solutions, critical need exists for mechanisms that break silos between creators and the users. I look forward to DevRev's maker-consumer APIs and social experiences in how they bring these passionate, connected creators closer to their users.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Lightspeed Ventures
Dheeraj and I spent a whole decade building a new category that brought such delight to Nutanix customers, and eventually to its shareholders who participated in the massive business model shift to subscription. I am looking forward to this empty canvas of DevRev, in how it canonicalizes yet another business model: PLG.
PLG has taught us how developers and code are at the center of customer experience. Seeing developers in action - in the way they operate, support, and grow our customer base - is immensely satisfying. I look forward to the bold vision of DevRev and its APIs in helping our makers become true merchants of SaaS.
"I love tinkering with things"
I was born and raised in a small town called Mzuzu in Malawi. My early days defined the individual I am today. I went to boarding school at an early age. It was challenging, but extremely pivotal in moulding me as an individual. There was hazing and bullying. Home was a long ways out; nowhere to run. We had to manage our school supplies to keep us going till the end of the quarter, and on top of that we had to keep good grades in class. Through it all, I really learned how to thrive and survive.
After secondary school, I was set to go study Business Administration and Accounting at the University of Malawi - easy route to making a good living in Malawi. But that was not my passion. I loved tinkering with things. Physics fascinated me. Mathematics fascinated me. Planes fascinated me! I so badly wanted to study avionics and aeronautics, and universities in Malawi did not offer that.
A lot of developers today start their days by looking at the list of issues and bug fixes and thinking about which ones to tackle first. Often, the code they end up writing or modifying has little or no significance to how customers use the product and features. DevRev's bold, yet simple vision to bring the developers closer to the customers is one of those groundbreaking ideas we feel will affect every single company in the future.