<h4><b>Introduction</b></h4> <p>Co-founded by Ex-Cleartrip Founder Hrush Bhatt and Sunit S in 2020, Fincent is a unified tool that helps small and mid-size businesses manage everything about their business finances. Fincent exists to make it easier for entrepreneurs to run businesses. The organisation is building a full-stack financial platform for small and mid-sized companies. The platform offers bookkeeping, accounting, tax filing, and payments. Embedded banking and credit are next on the roadmap. </p> <p>The customers get a unified tool to manage everything about their business finances. Fincent's business model is a potent combination of SaaS and fintech revenue. Fincent raised a Series A funding of $6 million from Accel Partners in January 2022. </p> <h4><b>Problem Statement</b></h4> <p>With the vision to create a full-stack financial platform for entrepreneurs, Fincent was looking for a leader from the start-up ecosystem, with prior experience in a B2B organization and who has been with companies during their 0-1 & 1-10 growth journeys. The mandate was for a seasoned techie for the role of Head of Engineering. The senior tech executive would take full ownership of the set challenges and coordinate with multiple leaders. To incorporate a robust tech ecosystem, Fincent approached Purple Quarter to map out and locate the right tech leader for their team. </p> <h4><b>Solution and Execution</b></h4> <p>The Fincent leadership team was crystal clear that their tech team needed someone who had strong technical and interpersonal skills, experience in B2B, SaaS, had actively worked on projects from the ground up, and most importantly, had a proven track record. After a detailed discussion on the mandate and profiling a few tech enthusiasts, a curated list was presented. Team Fincent shortlisted all on the select list, moved forward with two candidates, and eventually, Siva Kumar became the clear front-runner. </p> <p>Siva Kumar was found to be the ideal fit for the tech leader role—one who understands the nuances of scaling in the start-up ecosystem. Siva Kumar is an IIT Bombay alumni with close to 18 years of experience. For most of his career, he has been associated with Slice, Myntra, HackerRank, Oracle, and Microsoft, among others. </p> <p>The process went on smoothly as Siva instantly connected with the founders of Fincent on common grounds, making for a good engagement. He could resonate with the vision and mission of the company and that of the founder. Our proprietary BMM - Behavioural Metrics Model, proved to be the essence of the mandated closure. With the help of BMM, Siva was identified as a Creator-Nurturer combination to best suit Fincent’s nascent stage of scaling a company from 0-1 & 1-10 journey. </p> <h4><b>Looking Forward </b></h4> <p>Purple Quarter successfully identified and bridged the crucial gap, matchmaking the leader and the Fincent management. Adding Siva to the team allows Fincent to further seamlessly integrate technology into its business models as it expands its product lines. We are pleased to have identified Siva as the best candidate for the role of tech leadership, and it is only a matter of time before Siva takes the team to new heights.</p> <p>For more information, please reach out to the <a href="mailto:marketing@purplequarter.com">Marketing Team.</a></p> <!-- wp:file {"id":125812,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Zeta.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --><!-- /wp:file --> <!-- wp:file {"id":125818,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --> <div class="wp-block-file"><object class="wp-block-file__embed" style="width: 100%; height: 200px;" data="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="300" height="150" aria-label="Embed of Hubilo Case Study." data-mce-fragment="1"></object><a id="wp-block-file--media-dfdfcd14-8bbb-458e-884a-6f03f7b459e0" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Fincent-1.pdf">Fincent Case Study</a><a class="wp-block-file__button" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Fincent-1.pdf" download="" aria-describedby="wp-block-file--media-dfdfcd14-8bbb-458e-884a-6f03f7b459e0">Download</a></div>
Read Full Case Study
<p><p><b>Introduction </b><p>Inspirit is a cutting-edge learning platform that is transforming the way science courses are taught across the globe. Utilizing virtual labs, simulations, and virtual reality, Inspirit provides educational institutions with a next-generation platform that offers a comprehensive range of immersive labs and simulations, available on both desktop and VR platforms. With classroom management tools, custom assessment integrations, group or networked lab sessions, and options for curriculum alignment, Inspirit's platform is designed to enhance students' learning experiences. Developed by a team of VR and education researchers from Stanford University, Inspirit's content is designed to engage learners, stimulate high knowledge gain, and promote critical reasoning through their active involvement in virtual environments. September 2022 marked a funding of $7.2 million for the company. </p><p><b>Problem Statement </b></p><p>Founded in 2019, Inspirit was developed as a platform for 3D and VR STEM education that enables users to learn science interactively. Inspirit realized that the digital divide between privileged and marginalized communities threatened to limit access to this innovative approach to learning. To address this issue, Inspirit must create seamless connections between the web and VR and create a no-code solution for teachers to easily create 3D web content and convert it into a VR experience. Hence, Inspirit recognized the need for a capable Head of Engineering (HoE) who could lead a high-performing tech team.<br>Since they worked with UNITY, Inspirit required an experienced, full-stack, hands-on leader with a background in UNITY and the ability to build lean engineering teams. As a Seed Level company with a market in the US, the company needed an exuberant, strong tech leader who could help tide over the tech hurdles smoothly and preferably have experience in other geographies.</p><p><b>Solution and Execution </b></p><p>Following a rigorous evaluation of potential candidates, Purple Quarter identified Abhilash Gopal as the perfect fit for the job. Abhilash's diverse background as a former Microsoft employee, along with his experience working for companies such as Zynga, RentoMojo, and PropertyFinder in MENA, provided him with the necessary skills and experience to excel in the position. His previous work at Zynga exposed him to UNITY and gaming, while his experience at Xbox had given him valuable insights into driver support, making him an excellent cultural match for the company. Additionally, Abhilash's desire to work for an early-stage company where he could build products and teams from scratch made him the perfect choice for Inspirit.</p><p><b>Looking Forward </b></p><p>As Inspirit and its offerings expand, we are looking forward to Abhilash carrying the mantle. Purple Quarter is ecstatic to have accurately profiled Abhilash as a Brahma Leader or a Creator profile fit using the <a href="https://www.purplequarter.com/identify-the-right-tech-leader-with-behavioural-metrics-model-purple-quarter/leadership-advisory/">Behavioural Metrics Model (BMM)</a>. Given Abhilash's robust wealth of knowledge and experience, he will be instrumental in driving the company's growth forward.</p><h3> </h3><p>For more information, please reach out to the <a href="mailto:marketing@purplequarter.com">Marketing Team.</a></p><p> </p><div class="wp-block-file"><object class="wp-block-file__embed" style="width: 100%; height: 200px;" data="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="300" height="150" aria-label="Embed of Hubilo Case Study." data-mce-fragment="1"></object><a id="wp-block-file--media-dfdfcd14-8bbb-458e-884a-6f03f7b459e0" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Inspirit-1.pdf">Inspirit Case Study</a><a class="wp-block-file__button" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Inspirit-1.pdf" download="" aria-describedby="wp-block-file--media-dfdfcd14-8bbb-458e-884a-6f03f7b459e0">Download</a></div></p><!-- wp:file {"id":125818,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --></p>
Read Full Case Study
<p><p><b>Introduction</b><p>Rusk Media is a full-stack GenZ-first digital entertainment company with a premium content studio delivering social & OTT video IPs and a social UGC-gaming platform that was founded in 2019. As of July 2022, the company had a valuation of $35 million and had raised $9.5 million in its last funding round. With an ARR of $9 million, Rusk Media has established itself as a fast-growing, profitable organization. Rusk Media focuses on creating clutter-breaking IPs, games, and an entertainment economy across tech-layered content IPs and social gaming platforms. They distribute branded content across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, utilizing an advertiser-first strategy and producing brand-integrated content that resonates with their target audience of Gen-Z. The company aims to hold the gaming stack and is building an immersive metaverse from the elements of its IPs and games.</p><p><b>Problem Statement </b></p><p>Rusk Media, an early-stage startup in the digital media space, had reached a point where they recognized the need for a dedicated Head of Engineering to lead and scale their engineering team. While the product head had been spearheading the engineering team, the company recognized that their focus should also be tech-oriented, and they needed a qualified person to take on this crucial role.</p><p>In their mandate for a Head of Engineering, Rusk Media sought a young, hands-on full-stack engineer with a proven track record of holistically collaborating with product teams. The ideal candidate was expected to be someone who had witnessed scale in their past experiences and was ready to take on the challenge of helping Rusk Media grow and expand.</p><p>Given that Rusk Media is an early-stage Series A startup, the company emphasized the importance of finding an individual who was not only technically skilled but also innovative, passionate, and able to work in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. The Head of Engineering role was crucial to the company's future success, and Rusk Media was committed to finding a competent individual who could take on the challenge and help shape the future of the company.</p><p><b>Solution and Execution</b></p><p>As a Bespoke Executive Search Firm focussed singularly on Tech Advisory, Purple Quarter was tasked with finding the right leader for Rusk Media. The company was presented with multiple candidates, and after a thorough selection and profiling process, they narrowed it down to Divyanshu Das. An alumnus of BITS Pilani, Divyanshu had extensive experience working as a senior engineering leader at multiple 0-1x startups such as WedMeGood and had a track record of making products from scratch as a hands-on leader, which worked well.</p><p>Moreover, Divyanshu had the right kind of experience working with video content, having previously worked as the CTO at BetterButter, a food video recipe platform. This experience was crucial for Rusk Media, given that they are a branded short video content platform.</p><p>Divyanshu was accurately profiled based on the <a href="https://www.purplequarter.com/identify-the-right-tech-leader-with-behavioural-metrics-model-purple-quarter/leadership-advisory/">Behavioural Metrics Model (BMM)</a> as a Brahma Leader or a Creator profile fit, as he was well-suited to take on the challenge of scaling Rusk Media's engineering team from 0-1x growth. With Divyanshu's experience and leadership skills, Rusk Media is well-positioned to continue its growth trajectory and achieve its goals and vision.</p><p><b>Looking Forward </b></p><p>Purple Quarter's end-to-end, streamlined search process successfully found the right candidate for Rusk Media's Head of Engineering role. Divyanshu’s expertise is expected to scale the growth of Rusk Media’s video content and gaming tech. The company is launching new targeted and visually appealing content and has expanded its offering space. Season 2 of Playground, which is India’s first gaming entertainment show, is now under its belt. Rusk Media is expected to bolster its tech team as it continues to grow its presence in the OTT space.</p><h3> </h3><p>For more information, please reach out to the <a href="mailto:marketing@purplequarter.com">Marketing Team.</a></p><p> </p><div class="wp-block-file"><object class="wp-block-file__embed" style="width: 100%; height: 200px;" data="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="300" height="150" aria-label="Embed of Hubilo Case Study."></object><a id="wp-block-file--media-dfdfcd14-8bbb-458e-884a-6f03f7b459e0" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Rusk-Media.pdf">Rusk Case Study</a><a class="wp-block-file__button" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Rusk-Media.pdf" download="" aria-describedby="wp-block-file--media-dfdfcd14-8bbb-458e-884a-6f03f7b459e0">Download</a></div><p> </p></p><!-- wp:file {"id":125812,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Zeta.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --><!-- /wp:file --><!-- wp:file {"id":125818,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --><!-- /wp:file --></p>
Read Full Case Study
<p><b>Introduction</b></p> <p>Acting as the world’s first Omni Stack for credit cards, Zeta has grown to become a leading developer of the technology stack. Today, it engages with banks and fintech startups, as well as other online consumer platforms. Founded in 2015, Zeta wants to bridge the gap between bank services online and avoid the hassle of going to a bank for multiple services. </p> <p>Founded by Bhavin Turakhia and Ramki Gadapatti, Zeta's first investor Directi funded the company in consecutive rounds in the initial stages. Sodexo has also invested in two rounds but the major funding round came when SoftBank Vision Fund 2 invested $250 Mn in the Series C stage. </p> <p>This round helped Zeta obtain unicorn status with a valuation of $1.5 Bn. Mastercard also invested in the company in a recent round. As of March 2022, the company has received Series C Funding with a total of $350 Mn.</p> <p><b>Problem Statement </b></p> <p>The founders of Zeta had multiple VP of Engineering roles but were looking at hiring more VP of Engineering to head various verticals. The founders were looking for a candidate who had extensive knowledge of product development. They were also interested in a candidate with a blend of founder and technology mindset. </p> <p>The ideal candidate would head an entire vertical for Zeta related to product development. The designated engineering leader would be responsible for managing the teams, translating business strategy into engineering requirements, and focusing on the scalability of the products.</p> <p><b>Solution and Execution</b></p> <p>Purple Quarter found a candidate that would fill in as VP of Engineering, eventually lead a particular vertical of the company, and take up the responsibility of product development. This approach benefitted Zeta as they were looking out for a comparatively less senior role. Following detailed discussions, the management went ahead appointing an engineering Leader in October 2021. </p> <p>It was essential to look for a leader who had product experience and a 360-degree grasp of technology, engineering, product, founding, and people. Zeta was also looking for a candidate well versed in the Indian startup ecosystem who can confidently head an entire segment independently. </p> <p>Leveraging Purple Quarter IP - <a href="https://www.purplequarter.com/identify-the-right-tech-leader-with-behavioural-metrics-model-purple-quarter/leadership-advisory/">Behavioural Metrics Model (BMM)</a>, the best-suited profile was found to be a Nurturer leader. After thorough detailing and mapping across the talent pool, Purple Quarter found seasoned product leader – Narayan Babu suitable for the position. </p> <p>As a product expert with multiple experiences in product verticals and a thought leader with a keenness toward scaling fintech, Narayan proved to be the best match. He has successfully led and managed multiple teams during his tenure and also had founding experience in the past. </p> <p>Previously at Glance, Narayan built deep and cutting-edge mobile teams spanning from AOSP to modern design and automation. He was also responsible for developing highly scalable, cloud-agnostic, and high throughput backend and DevOps teams handling over 100,000 QPS average and daily ETL of over multiple TBs. </p> <p>Narayan was identified as the perfect profile fitment of a nurturer with a tech mindset – an ideal find for leading a vertical at Zeta Suite. He comes with the right organizational-cultural-technology fit. With expertise in technology, engineering background, product know-how, programming, and data science, Narayan is also a people-oriented individual and undoubtedly the right person for the job. </p> <p><b>Looking Forward </b></p> <p>Purple Quarter’s precise and dynamic approach helped map Zeta’s tech leader search. Narayan’s extensive expertise has been supporting the neo-banking platform in scaling its tech offerings with an efficient architecture and organizational growth across verticals. </p> <p>The appointment has benefitted Zeta highly, with the company announcing that its card processing business has grown to 10 Mn+ Cards and 300 Mn+ Transactions per year in 2021. Zeta was also able to expand to different regions such as Germany and Austria. Purple Quarter is pleased to have evaluated Narayan as the best fit for the tech and product leadership role. </p> <h3> </h3> <p>For more information, please reach out to the <a href="mailto:marketing@purplequarter.com">Marketing Team.</a></p> <!-- wp:file {"id":125812,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Zeta.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --> <div class="wp-block-file"><object class="wp-block-file__embed" style="width: 100%; height: 200px;" data="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Zeta.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="300" height="150" aria-label="Embed of Zeta Case study."></object><a id="wp-block-file--media-712cfe1f-d07c-41da-9817-28056ad8209b" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Zeta.pdf">Zeta Case study</a><a class="wp-block-file__button" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Zeta.pdf" download="" aria-describedby="wp-block-file--media-712cfe1f-d07c-41da-9817-28056ad8209b">Download</a></div> <p><!-- /wp:file --> </p>
Read Full Case Study
<p><b>Introduction </b><p>Founded in 2011, E-grocery giant - BigBasket is India’s largest supermarket today. Present across 100+ Indian cities, the TATA Enterprise provides an easy, relaxed way of browsing and shopping for groceries. Users can select and buy products of their choice within the comfort of their homes. As one of the largest e-grocery providers (50,000+ SKUs), BigBasket offers convenient home deliveries on preferred dates and times. In June 2022, BigBasket raised a Series F funding of $45.1M rounding it to $853M in total funding. </p><p><b>Problem Statement </b></p><p>To become a full-tech integrated brand, BigBasket sought a seasoned techie to add to its tech team. The mandate was for a VP of Engineering or Head of Engineering. The leader would oversee building large-scale cloud-based distributed systems and be hands-on with technology and architecture, be agile, and be high on execution. </p><p><b>Solution and Execution </b></p><p>BigBasket is a classic example of a domestic brand that has grown leaps and bounds and thrived. The team was looking for someone with the right cultural fit. BigBasket management wanted a leader who was associated with high growth, branding, scalability, a strategist and most importantly a person with innovative & novel ideas for the company. </p><p>Purple Quarter understood the mandate to the T. After thoughtful brainstorming and profiling of the right fit, Sumit Nigam’s biography was shared with the BigBasket team. Sumit comes with about 25 years of technical and product knowledge. An alumnus of NIT Calicut, Sumit was the erstwhile engineer at Walmart Global Tech. He has been previously associated with brands such as Informatica, Dell EMC and eBay among others. </p><p>Purple Quarter’s Behavioural Metrics Model (BMM) accurately profiled Sumit as a Nurturer; he has a proven record of building projects ground up, managing diverse teams, hands-on experience with building data and has seen scalability. These milestones primarily fit perfectly into the requirements of BigBasket. Sumit’s past role at Walmart revolved around the supply chain which is in the plans of BigBasket’s roadmap. What really worked for the two was the value proposition. Sumit viewed BigBasket as a mature company managed by competent people seeking growth. From their very first conversation, Rakshit (CTPO at BigBasket) and Sumit connected over the company’s vision and shared the same ideologies. </p><p><b>Sumit’s Journey at BigBasket </b></p><p>With Sumit Nigam and other technologies on board, BigBasket expanded its footprints to other cities. They also scaled up the number of stores to expand their reach. Under the leadership of Sumit, the engineering team enhanced the end-consumer experience, increased scalability, and gained a competitive tech edge in the market. After serving the role of VP of Engineering for a year, Sumit moved on from BigBasket to explore newer roles. </p><p> </p><div>For more information, please reach out to the <a href="mailto:marketing@purplequarter.com">Marketing Team.</a></div><div> </div><div class="wp-block-file"><object class="wp-block-file__embed" style="width: 100%; height: 200px;" data="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/BigBasket.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="300" height="150" aria-label="Embed of BigBasket Case Study."></object><a id="wp-block-file--media-ac51ba45-537b-4913-84a2-9375f9ce9436" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/BigBasket.pdf">BigBasket Case Study</a><a class="wp-block-file__button" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/BigBasket.pdf" download="" aria-describedby="wp-block-file--media-ac51ba45-537b-4913-84a2-9375f9ce9436">Download</a></div><p><!-- /wp:file --> </p></p>
Read Full Case Study
<p><p><b>Introduction </b><p>Headquartered in San Francisco and Ahmedabad, India, Hubilo is a global intelligent virtual events platform. Founded in 2015 by Vaibhav Jain and Mayank Agarwal, the company is focused on reimagining marketing landscapes around virtual events and unlocking massive insights for stakeholders including CMOs, event organizers and sponsors to track attendee engagement. With Hubilo, businesses can host virtual events while receiving real-time data and analytics.</p><p><b>Problem Statement</b></p><p>With the vision to create compelling virtual spaces where human connection is celebrated, shared experiences advance, and network intelligence amplifies, Hubilo was on the lookout for a leader with a high-growth mindset and a playbook for engineering structure and processes. A seasoned techie to join the team as the Senior Vice President of Engineering was the mandate. The appointed senior tech executive would be responsible for taking full ownership of the set challenges and coordinating with multiple leaders globally. </p><p><b>Solution and Execution</b></p><p>Placing Sudip Mitra at Hubilo can best be described as fit like a glove. Hubilo was looking for a tech visionary to join their team for some time before approaching Purple Quarter to find the right tech candidate.</p><p>Hubilo’s management team were specific about their search expectations, they wanted a tech leader who was assertive and zealous. The ideal leader should have had hands-on experience and knowledge in B2C as well B2B companies. Scalability and a proven track record of technical excellence were of paramount importance.</p><p>After carefully thinking and matching profiles with the company’s mandate, <a href="https://www.purplequarter.com/virtual-events-platform-hubilo-onboards-sudip-mitra-as-senior-vp-of-engineering/press-release/">Purple Quarter was confident that Sudip Mitra was the best match for the leadership role.</a> Given Sudip came from a gaming background, the connection with Hubilo’s mission and the goal was instant. </p><p>Sudip’s personality aligns perfectly with Hubilo’s mandate; he is a passionate technologist with a proven record of high growth performance. Sudip was the erstwhile engineering leader at Games24x7 before his joining. He has around 13 years of experience building highly scalable, distributed, resilient, cloud-native products from the ground up. In his career trajectory, Sudip was associated with notable brands such as CA Technologies and Cisco taking part in fundamental roles like defining a Dev workflow and hands-on with both low and high-level architecture and design involvements. </p><p>What really stood out in this engagement was the turnaround time - Purple Quarter closed the position within a month of receiving the mandate. Hubilo’s management collectively liked Sudip during their first meeting and interaction, the mandate was completed with Sudip within 3 days of the interview. Although Hubilo was initially looking for a Vice President of Engineering, given Sudip’s experience, technical know-how, knowledge depth and fit, Hubilo appointed him as the Senior Vice President of Engineering. It was clear from the start that Sudip is a creator who is capable of working on projects of all sizes and complexities. </p><p><b>Sudip’s Journey at Hubilo </b></p><p>With Sudip being integrated into Hubilo’s roadmap, the company expanded its revenue operations team. From scaling the engineering team to building Hubilo as a robust platform – Sudip’s 2-year stint at the organization took it to newer heights. </p><h3> </h3><p>For more information, please reach out to the <a href="mailto:marketing@purplequarter.com">Marketing Team.</a></p><div class="wp-block-file"><object class="wp-block-file__embed" style="width: 100%; height: 200px;" data="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="300" height="150" aria-label="Embed of Hubilo Case Study."></object><a id="wp-block-file--media-dfdfcd14-8bbb-458e-884a-6f03f7b459e0" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf">Hubilo Case Study</a><a class="wp-block-file__button" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf" download="" aria-describedby="wp-block-file--media-dfdfcd14-8bbb-458e-884a-6f03f7b459e0">Download</a></div><p><!-- /wp:file --> </p></p><!-- wp:file {"id":125818,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hubilo-1.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --></p>
Read Full Case Study
<p><p><b>Introduction</b><p>Bangalore-headquartered Open Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 2017, Open offers a neo-banking platform that integrates all the tools used by small businesses and integrates it with the business's current account. Today the platform powers more than 2.3 million SMEs and processes over USD 30 billion in annualized transactions. The platform also adds over 100,000 SMEs monthly, making it the fastest-growing SME-focused neo-banking platform globally. Open is backed by leading global investors like IIFL, Temasek, Google, Visa, Tiger Global, Beenext, Recruit Strategic Partners, 3one4 Capital, Speedinvest, Tanglin Venture Partner Advisors, Angellist and Unicorn India Ventures, to name a few. It has raised over USD190 million in funding to date. </p><p>Today, the company has evolved into an end-to-end digital FinTech service provider. Open recently launched embedded finance platform Zwitch which enables fintech and non-fintech companies to launch digital banking services, and BankingStack, a financial OS for financial institutions to launch innovative digital banking solutions. In December 2021, Open acquired consumer neo-banking platform Finin. Open raised its Series C funding back in October 2021 doubling its valuation with the round.</p><p><b>Problem Statement </b></p><p>India’s 100th Unicorn was seeking to hire a tech leader for the position of Vice President of Engineering who would join the tech team in building stronger and integrated services for the end consumers. It was of importance that the candidate was a perfect fit for the organization from a cultural and technology perspective. </p><p><b>Solution and Execution</b></p><p>When Purple Quarter was approached to find a candidate that would fill in the shoes of a tech leader, the team devised a custom approach to locate the best tech-org fitment. Open being a closely knit family-run business rooted in Kerala by founders, Ajeesh and Aneesh were seeking to hire a tech leader for the 1st time in the organization. The management clearly defined the responsibilities for their search. They wanted a techie with a nurturing culture who exhibited excellence in three parameters of exceptional technical know-how, is a people person and has the right aptitude for the org’s cultural fitment. </p><p>It was imperative for Purple Quarter to locate a leader who would easily fit in the organization’s culture. After thoroughly screening the talent pool of candidates, a few profiles were shared with Open. Of the candidates shared with the team, Vijay Sriram was unanimously the preferred choice. He is a seasoned techie, humble, soft-spoken, has hands-on experience in technology, is a strong leader who has attracted the right people and helped them grow in the company and was the best performer in his previous organization. These qualities along with his in-depth knowledge of technology and nurturing attitude make him the ideal candidate. </p><p><b>Open</b></p><p><b>Vijay’s Stint at Open</b></p><p>With deep product and industry knowledge, Vijay served as the VP of Engineering at Open for one and a half years. During his time, he helped Open build and scale various products aligned with their business vision.</p><h3> </h3><p>For more information, please reach out to the <a href="Marketing@purplequarter.com">Marketing Team.</a></p><div class="wp-block-file"><object class="wp-block-file__embed" style="width: 100%; height: 200px;" data="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Open.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="300" height="150" aria-label="Embed of Open Case Study."></object><a id="wp-block-file--media-6d445ec2-60ff-44e3-b6b6-7eaa9884a4f7" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Open.pdf">Open Case Study</a><a class="wp-block-file__button" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Open.pdf" download="" aria-describedby="wp-block-file--media-6d445ec2-60ff-44e3-b6b6-7eaa9884a4f7">Download</a></div><p> </p></p><!-- wp:file {"id":125817,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Open.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --><!-- /wp:file --></p>
Read Full Case Study
<p><b>Introduction</b></p> <p>India’s first full-stack financial solutions company, Razorpay has grown from being a payment gateway to a solutions-driven organisation that boasts an extensive product suite to accept and disburse payments and raise capital and park money. Founded in 2014, Razorpay has grown from being a payment gateway provider to a leading full-stack financial services company with an extensive product suite for businesses to manage their financial infrastructure. The company looks to adopt a holistic approach by integrating technology into the organization’s business processes. </p> <p>Founded by alumni of IIT Roorkee, Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur, Razorpay is the second Indian company to be a part of Silicon Valley’s largest tech accelerator, Y Combinator. Marquee investors such as Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital, TCV, GIC, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, Matrix Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Y Combinator and MasterCard have invested a total of $741.5 Mn through Series A, B, C, D, E & F funding. A few angel investors have also invested in Razorpay’s mission to simplify payments and banking and redefine how finance works in India.</p> <p><b>Problem Statement </b></p> <p>Shashank Kumar, Co-Founder and CTO managed the technology vertical at Razorpay, with the expansion and newer additions to the existing structure, the company was looking for a seasoned techie to join the team as the Senior Vice President of Engineering. As the SVP of Engineering, the designated leader would be responsible for managing the teams, translating business strategy into engineering requirements and focusing on the scalability of the products.</p> <p><b>Solution and Execution</b></p> <p>Purple Quarter with Razorpay devised a custom approach to map and locate the ideal fit for the mandate. Purple Quarter on the mandate took an unconventional approach of finding a candidate that would fill in the shoes of a Chief Technology Officer eventually taking the engineering burden off of Shashank, directing his expertise and leadership role more towards the business. This approach came as a surprise to Razorpay as they were looking out for a comparatively less senior role. Following detailed discussions, the management went ahead with appointing a C-Suite Leader in June 2022. </p> <p>It was essential to look for a leader who has handled large teams in the past, and had a 360-degree experience with technology, engineering, product, program, data science and people. By the profiling of Purple Quarter’s BMM, the best-suited candidate would be a Transformer with the mindset of a Creator. After thorough detailing and mapping of candidates across companies, <a href="https://www.purplequarter.com/razorpay-trusts-purple-quarter-to-onboard-ex-amazon-techie-as-the-cto/press-release/">Purple Quarter helped close the mandate with a seasoned technologist - Murali Brahmadesam</a>. He proved to be the best match for the mandate, he is an expat who has managed 600+ team sizes in his recent stint. The seasoned technologist has successfully led and managed multiple teams during his tenure. At Amazon, Murali built and managed products such as Aurora database engines (MySQL/PostgreSQL) from the ground up. Murali was identified as the perfect profile fitment of a creator with a product mindset - an ideal find for leading tech at Razorpay. He comes with the right organizational-cultural- technology fit. With expertise in technology, engineering background, product know-how, programming, and data science, Murali is also a people-oriented individual. Murali is undoubtedly the right person at the right time. </p> <p><b>Looking Forward </b></p> <p>Purple Quarter identified a role that helped bridge the gap between tech leaders and the tech team by identifying and locating Murali as the Chief Technology Officer for Razorpay. The organization is expanding its product avenues and with Murali on the team, Razorpay is further integrating technology into its business models. Technology and engineering integration are of paramount importance in keeping ahead of the competition. It is only a matter of time before Murali takes the team and the tech vertical of Razorpay to new heights. Purple Quarter is pleased to have rightly believed in Murali being the best fit for the tech-leadership role. </p> <p>For more information, please reach out to the <a href="mailto:marketing@purplequarter.com">Marketing Team.</a></p> <!-- wp:file {"id":125607,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Razorpay.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --> <div class="wp-block-file"><object class="wp-block-file__embed" style="width: 100%; height: 200px;" data="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Razorpay.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="300" height="150" aria-label="Embed of Razorpay."></object><a id="wp-block-file--media-1d8a18c5-24bf-4d32-a144-9aef5c3bea05" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Razorpay.pdf">Razorpay</a><a class="wp-block-file__button" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Razorpay.pdf" download="" aria-describedby="wp-block-file--media-1d8a18c5-24bf-4d32-a144-9aef5c3bea05">Download</a></div> <!-- /wp:file --> <p> </p>
Read Full Case Study
<h4>Introduction</h4> <p>Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Clari is a connected revenue operations platform that uses AI and automation to unlock the data captured in business processes. Clari helps turn strategic goals into superior performance and sales teams into revenue machines. Clari continues to innovate, collaborate, and push the limits to build marketing, sales, and customer success professionals across 170 companies such as Okta, Zoom, Medallia, Adobe, and Atlassian. The company has always envisioned the India office as a development center doubling down on investments to support all the efforts in India to continue innovating in several areas of the product.</p> <h4>Problem Statement</h4> <p>With the vision to make the India team independent and have suitable technical leadership upon execution of new projects alongside leveraging US tech expertise, Clari was on the lookout for a leader experienced in driving the company's technological development roadmap, product layout plan, and engineering practices over the long run. It had been a while since Clari was searching for a leader with extensive experience in Engineering and Data Science roles, as well as an overview of all aspects of business, technology, and data science. Clari sought an entrepreneurial VP of Engineering / Head of Engineering who was passionate about building elite - teams, ideas, architectures, and platforms. Clari needed a leader that would bring a strategic mindset and drive to solve business and technical challenges for the India Engineering team. A tech leader capable of becoming a brand ambassador for the Clari India tech team. The company was primarily seeking a Site Leader for India who would be both a thought leader and a people person.</p> <h4>Solution and Execution</h4> <p>Upon Clari’s role mandate, Purple Quarter dived in to search for an ideal and culturally fit candidate. After carefully drafting the need and precisely profiling the candidates, only the best-fit profiles were shared. Clari has always envisioned the India office as a key development center and is doubling down on investments to support all the efforts in India to continue innovating in several areas of the product. Since Clari was aspiring to have a strong presence in India and expanding the Engineering team at that time, it became difficult to persuade the candidate that the position covered all areas. In addition to numerous discussions regarding Clari's advancement strategy across geographies and the vision for the India team to become independent and with enough technical leadership after talking about multiple data points with Vishy, selling Clari proved to be a challenging endeavor.</p> <p>With years of expertise in the executive search for tech leadership and a consultative approach in furtherance to the requirement, Purple Quarter made an early closure with Vishy Ranganatha. Purple Quarter's tech, talent pool and robust network made the search for Vishy Ranganath effortless. An IIM Madras alumnus, Vishy Ranganathan, was the erstwhile Engineering Leader at Google before his appointment. He has around 27 years of industry experience and hands-on expertise in playing multiple roles from bringing business acumen, lead engineer for various security features, ingestion from data sources, and solving problems at a large scale. In his previous stints, he was associated with Intuit and MindTree and played integral roles like Delivery Manager for multiple US-based customer accounts in strategic direction and future growth entwined with the organization’s tech vision. Purple Quarter was able to drive the candidate.</p> <h4>Looking Forward</h4> <p>Purple Quarter with its specialized tech-centric approach, played a crucial role in closing Clari’s Vice President of Engineering mandate. Even before the Series F funding round, Clari was flourishing. Vishy's deployment in Clari's roadmap suggests the company’s trajectory in a fast-track mode. The organization is expanding its revenue operations team. Clari, the developer of a revenue operations platform, has closed a $225 million Series F round, raising the company's total valuation to more than $2.6 billion. Having just completed a new round of funding that has increased the company's valuation by more than four times in two years, Vishy is now seen expanding the Engineering team by calling out Principal Engineers at Clari. Purple Quarter envisioned Vishy to be the ideal mandate upon Clari’s requirement for a tech leadership search. With Vishy leading the Tech front, Clari is experiencing rapid growth with India team expansion and accelerated operations.</p> <h3> </h3> <p><!-- wp:file {"id":125816,"href":"http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Clari.pdf","displayPreview":true,"previewHeight":200} --></p> <div>For more information, please reach out to the <a href="mailto:marketing@purplequarter.com">Marketing Team.</a></div> <div> </div> <div class="wp-block-file"><object class="wp-block-file__embed" style="width: 100%; height: 200px;" data="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Clari.pdf" type="application/pdf" width="300" height="150" aria-label="Embed of Clari Case Study."></object><a id="wp-block-file--media-48c6e545-2702-423d-864d-1e2828100288" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Clari.pdf">Clari Case Study</a><a class="wp-block-file__button" href="http://www.purplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Clari.pdf" download="" aria-describedby="wp-block-file--media-48c6e545-2702-423d-864d-1e2828100288">Download</a></div> <!-- /wp:file -->
Read Full Case StudyBe the first to access exclusive case studies and insights on leadership hiring and tech trends.