Some excerpts:
What prompted you to take up both the roles - of being a professor at Kellogg as well as CEO of Mascon - simultaneously?
I had completed my graduation in Chemistry in India before taking up MS in industrial and system engineering in US. I also completed research work and was granted PhD in chemical engineering and completed by MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

I started teaching at Kellogg in 1995 because I enjoy teaching and think that there should be knowledge sharing of industry and academics to keep both of them in sync with new developments and practices.

I practice what I preach, and I preach what I practice. It is as simple as that. I consider my business school experience extremely valuable and like to share it with budding professionals.

You had worked for companies like Procter and Gamble and EDS. What made you start your own business and How did Mascon come into existence?
After working for 13 years for other companies, I wanted to do something on my own. In 1995, I with my other two friends had taken over the control of a Sam Pitroda-promoted company called Martek Holding Inc in US. We started the management consultancy and software development projects.

Later, we bought the assets of a Chennai-based company, Mascon Technical Services for $24 million. We have been dealing with the company for a long time for outsorurcing software development in India. In the process, the assets of the company were transferred into Assan Finance and Leasing Ltd, a company which was owned by Me. Assan was also renamed as Mascon Global Limited. Accordingly, the name of the US company was also changed to Mascon Information Technologies Ltd.

How come Mascon Global is a listed company?
As Assan was a listed company, Mascon Global has also become a listed company. The company presently has a share capital of Rs 20 crore with 2 crore shares. The company earned a revenue of Rs 60 crore during its first fiscal of nine months (April 99 to December 99). The company is expected to achieve a revenue of Rs 300 crore this year ending December 31, 2000.

Mascon group has been acquiring companies in US lately. What are these companies and what are future acquisition plans of Mascon?
Mascon completed three major acquisitions - SynergySoft, based in Ilionis, Ponderosa Technologies, based in Nebraska and International Software Consulting, based in New Jersey. These acquisitions were made to get the access to the clients in different markets.

There are a few other acquisitions in the pipeline. One of the companies is based in West Coast and operate in CRM space having consulting experience in CRM products like Siebel and Clarify etc. The other is a New York-based firm having presence in merchant banking software development and one is an Indian company, having significant presence in European market.

How much investment do you plan to make in these acquisitions?
Our business model is very different. We do not write outright cheques for the consideration amount to the promoters. Under the agreement, the existing management continues to control the company and runs the business using Mascon brand and with the support of Mascon facilities and resources. The 75 per cent of the consideration amount is distributed into 36 months to be given to the management and the rest 25 per cent is marked as risk money which is given only if they exceed the business targets. We do not earmark any fixed amount for such activities - it happens as a natural process in business.

You have just concluded making your future business plans and strategies for the next financial year. What are the plans of the Mascon group for future organic growth?
Our aim is to move beyond consulting and to become a full-service provider where we are providing not only strategies but also solutions. We are enhancing the offshore development facilities in India by setting up a software development campus.

The company has formed a new division Mascon Communication Technologies for incubating some select technologies in telecommunication using 3G technologies.

How do you plan to finance your next year's business plans?
The company is closing a Rs 100 crore private placement by the end of this month to take care of the working capital requirements of the company. Moreover, the company plans to raise funds to the tune of $150 million from international market through ADR or GDRs.

What time will you go to the market?
We would wait for the market situation to improve in technology stocks. And if the situation does not improves in near future, our strategy would be to keep the company in a standard upward curve rather then working on a accelerated growth. And, in that case, the company would not need any more funds.