Pari, Vijay and Vamsi were three friends growing up in Chennai, who shared a common dream. They wanted to be entrepreneurs. ?We knew we wouldn?t like to work for someone else. The plan was to work in some companies for a while and then start our own thing,? says Pari Natarajan, who is today the CEO of Zinnov Management Consulting, a rising technology consulting firm.
Zinnov was born in year 2002 after the three friends pooled in with their savings. The dream was to establish a word class Indian consulting firm. ?As it happens with any start-up, the beginning was tough. We had to scale many hurdles. The biggest challenge was our lack of experience. Our prospective clients were not convinced initially. That?s when we decided to back ourselves with enormous research and data. We have come a long way since then, and we have some of the biggest companies in the world as our clients.?
As a son of a doctor, his childhood ambition was to follow his father?s footsteps. But he couldn?t crack the medical entrance exam, and turned towards engineering. ?My elder siblings were into the medical line, so it was okay for me to be different.?
After passing out, he moved to the US to pursue his masters in industrial engineering. The passion to become an entrepreneur remained, but then he had to first start somewhere. He joined a start-up in the US, but before long he got bored. ?I wanted to get back to India. That was around the time I read APJ Abdul Kalam?s book ?Wings of Fire?. The book inspired me to come back to India and start something.?
As luck would have it, his boss wanted him to go back and start the company?s India operations and Pari was only too happy. ?I rushed back. I knew India offered tremendous opportunities and knew this was my moment. I had also met management guru CK Prahalad in the meantime, and he too inspired me. And once we started Zinnov, we never looked back. We never doubted our success. Even my wife never asked me whether I could do what I was dreaming of. There was never any doubt in anyone?s mind.?
?Over the last nine years, Zinnov Management Consulting has provided advisory services to its clients through a combination of intensive research, analytical modeling and strategic consulting,? he says proudly. The company has come to be known for thought leadership, value showcase and market creation.
?I realised early that there was no point in servicing small clients. They had a similar cycle to that of ours, and there would only be one project to attend to at a time. Today the bigger clients recognise our value. But it has taken a whole lot of hard work.? This year has been a year of change, with management reshuffle at a number of IT companies. Pari puts it down to something interesting. ?What has worked so far in the industry will not work from now on. The new leaders will have to take the game forward.?
Pari says many of the top Indian IT firms are yet to learn to play the global game. Referring to their performances in China and Japan, he says Indian IT firms have not been able to put together strong, top notch leaders in China, for instance. That?s why they are struggling. ?In a country like Japan, trust is what counts. And that takes years.? He does not have too many interests outside work, and just sticks to reading. ?I work on Saturday too. If I start playing golf or something on Sundays, then I?ll have trouble at home!?
He now wants to take Zinnov to the next level. ?I want it to become the best consultancy to come out of India. We have just begun. All of us at Zinnov realises that we have only scraped the surface. There?s a long way to go. I also hope that there is a better angel network in the country. If a company worth R20 crore can write out a small cheque for a start-up, that can go a long way. That?s what happened in the Bay Area. Hope India can replicate that.?