A Private Dealmaker The stylish CFO of Hambrecht & Quist Asia Pacific
(H&Q), one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the Asia
Pacific region, likes to downplay her gender but not her Indian genes.
Pretty much the successful NRI professional, Purvi Gandhi, 31, who
was born in Surat but is based in San Francisco, takes her job very very
seriously. As H&Q's finance chief, Gandhi has overseen investments in
over 250 companies in the region, through 16 funds, comprising a managed
capital of $1.6 billion. Her latest deal was in providing expansion
capital to At India, the business value accelerator, kick-started by
another go-getting Indian, Ramesh Vangal. Says Gandhi, a Berkeley finance
graduate, who earned her stripes at a Wall Street brokerage firm,
follow-ed by a stint at consulting major Deloitte & Touche before
signing on at H&Q in 1996: ''I joined at a time when the Valley had
started humming. So, finding the tech focus was not really difficult. But
I had to learn a lot on the job.'' What's the secret of her success? The
ability to execute a vision, a willingness to work really hard and, of
course, her Gujarati roots that helps her drive a good bargain. ''As an
Indian, I also bring in a lot of cultural sensitivity, a factor that helps
in striking deals with Valley entrepreneurs, many of whom are Indians. But
some of them balk at dealing with a woman CFO,'' quips Gandhi. Some things
never change...
An Emissary Of Spirits Whiskey runs in his blood, in more
ways than one! Ian Stothard, the brand ambassador for Perth
(Scotland)-based Highland Distilleries, owners of the 'Famous Grouse'
blended Scotch brand, has been in this business for 30 years. Having
shifted from an operational job, Stothard now tours the company's major
markets, educating and familiarising both retailers and consumers about
the finer points of his company's various brands-MacAllan single malt and
Highland Park, besides, the Grouse. Sounds like fun? Then listen to this:
when he's not holding forth on whiskey, he packs in some golf, rugby and
fishing. Says Stothard, 49, who has spent six years in India on one of his
earlier assignments: ''It is an exciting country and a promising market. I
have always loved coming here.'' You could raise a toast to that...
More Fizz At The Top She should uncork the bubbly, or at
least, Pepsi. Earlier this month, when beverages major PepsiCo snagged
consumer products company Quaker Oats in a stock-swap deal, it named Indra
Nooyi, its CFO and corporate America's highest-ranking Indian woman
executive, as the President of the merged entity. For Nooyi, who was among
the 50 most powerful professional women in the US listed by Fortune last
October, it is another feather in her already brimming cap. In her new
role, Nooyi will handle corporate staff functions like human resources and
communications, along with her CFO responsibilities of overseeing finance,
strategic planning, and M&A. Says the Yale graduate and a mother of
two, who, before joining Pepsi in 1994, worked at blue-blooded firms like
the Boston Consulting Group, Motorola, and ABB: ''Women just have to be a
little better at their jobs to succeed.'' That done, the 44 year-old Nooyi,
still finds time for extensive reading, regular poojas, and strumming her
guitar...
Not A-Verse To Poetry
A new economy millionaire with a passion for poetry? Well, Ravi Desai,
the young founder of the net-based financial news service thestreet.com,
spends part of his time doling out largesse to poetry programmes at
colleges, including a $2 million grant for the University of Washington's
poetry programme. Why poetry? Because Desai had tried his hand at writing
verse, before he surfed the dotcom wave. But he travelled other roads
before getting on to the dotcom bandwagon, having worked with Bain &
Company, Philips Electronics, and Scient, earlier. Desai, 30, is now the
CEO of Boom Consultants, a wireless solutions company belonging to the
valley-based Formulasys Group, which has set up its Indian base in Pune.
Says Desai: ''We chose Pune as it is an emerging wireless and technology
centre." Poetry's loss, technology's gain, maybe.
The stylish CFO of Hambrecht & Quist Asia Pacific
(H&Q), one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the Asia
Pacific region, likes to downplay her gender but not her Indian genes.
Pretty much the successful NRI professional, Purvi Gandhi, 31, who
was born in Surat but is based in San Francisco, takes her job very very
seriously. As H&Q's finance chief, Gandhi has overseen investments in
over 250 companies in the region, through 16 funds, comprising a managed
capital of $1.6 billion. Her latest deal was in providing expansion
capital to At India, the business value accelerator, kick-started by
another go-getting Indian, Ramesh Vangal. Says Gandhi, a Berkeley finance
graduate, who earned her stripes at a Wall Street brokerage firm,
follow-ed by a stint at consulting major Deloitte & Touche before
signing on at H&Q in 1996: ''I joined at a time when the Valley had
started humming. So, finding the tech focus was not really difficult. But
I had to learn a lot on the job.'' What's the secret of her success? The
ability to execute a vision, a willingness to work really hard and, of
course, her Gujarati roots that helps her drive a good bargain. ''As an
Indian, I also bring in a lot of cultural sensitivity, a factor that helps
in striking deals with Valley entrepreneurs, many of whom are Indians. But
some of them balk at dealing with a woman CFO,'' quips Gandhi. Some things
never change...
Whiskey runs in his blood, in more
ways than one! Ian Stothard, the brand ambassador for Perth
(Scotland)-based Highland Distilleries, owners of the 'Famous Grouse'
blended Scotch brand, has been in this business for 30 years. Having
shifted from an operational job, Stothard now tours the company's major
markets, educating and familiarising both retailers and consumers about
the finer points of his company's various brands-MacAllan single malt and
Highland Park, besides, the Grouse. Sounds like fun? Then listen to this:
when he's not holding forth on whiskey, he packs in some golf, rugby and
fishing. Says Stothard, 49, who has spent six years in India on one of his
earlier assignments: ''It is an exciting country and a promising market. I
have always loved coming here.'' You could raise a toast to that...
She should uncork the bubbly, or at
least, Pepsi. Earlier this month, when beverages major PepsiCo snagged
consumer products company Quaker Oats in a stock-swap deal, it named Indra
Nooyi, its CFO and corporate America's highest-ranking Indian woman
executive, as the President of the merged entity. For Nooyi, who was among
the 50 most powerful professional women in the US listed by Fortune last
October, it is another feather in her already brimming cap. In her new
role, Nooyi will handle corporate staff functions like human resources and
communications, along with her CFO responsibilities of overseeing finance,
strategic planning, and M&A. Says the Yale graduate and a mother of
two, who, before joining Pepsi in 1994, worked at blue-blooded firms like
the Boston Consulting Group, Motorola, and ABB: ''Women just have to be a
little better at their jobs to succeed.'' That done, the 44 year-old Nooyi,
still finds time for extensive reading, regular poojas, and strumming her
guitar...
A new economy millionaire with a passion for poetry? Well, Ravi Desai,
the young founder of the net-based financial news service thestreet.com,
spends part of his time doling out largesse to poetry programmes at
colleges, including a $2 million grant for the University of Washington's
poetry programme. Why poetry? Because Desai had tried his hand at writing
verse, before he surfed the dotcom wave. But he travelled other roads
before getting on to the dotcom bandwagon, having worked with Bain &
Company, Philips Electronics, and Scient, earlier. Desai, 30, is now the
CEO of Boom Consultants, a wireless solutions company belonging to the
valley-based Formulasys Group, which has set up its Indian base in Pune.
Says Desai: ''We chose Pune as it is an emerging wireless and technology
centre." Poetry's loss, technology's gain, maybe.
