In this episode, I continue my conversation with Presenjit Sarkar, who is a Technologist, Innovator, Disruptor - and  distinguished engineer with Rubrik inc.In his career spanning over 25 years, he has been a researcher, inventor, startup founder among other key roles he has played.I asked Prasenjit, if an entrepreneur should take outside help in building teams and people..The answer to that question and a lot more in the second part of the conversation.Today, he talks about:Taking professional support to build a psychological profile of a new hireThe importance of reaching out to references and understand any challenges the candidates facedHow he finds time to manage multiple things and also stay current on technology, competition etcWhy one should not try to do everything oneself, particularly the founders, rather focus on the core strengthsHis thoughts on data protection and data qualitySome career tips for roles related to data scienceI asked Prasenjit in building teams and people, if an entrepreneur should take outside help..The answer to that question and a lot more in the second part of the conversation.Stay tuned in for the next episode.Prasenjit Sarkar is a Distinguished Engineer at Rubrik responsible for the architecture and development of relational, NoSQL, and Big Data backup and recovery products. He has previously led initiatives to formulate product strategy, deliver industry-leading backup and recovery features, and superior performance at scales of thousands of databases.https://www.linkedin.com/in/psarkar24/On X - @psarkar24

In this episode, Sivaguru is in conversation with Presenjit Sarkar, who is a Technologist, Innovator, Disruptor - and  distinguished engineer with Rubrik inc.In his career spanning over 25 years, he has been a researcher, inventor, startup founder among other key roles he has played.Today, he talks about:His background, growing up years in IndiaDoing his PhD and moving to corporate research, as he is more of a hands on personAfter about 15 years with IBM, as a successful research scientist, left to start a companyGetting enterprise customers and then getting acquired by another companyHaving experience in large, small companies, startups, connected to academiaWorking in storage, big data management, backup and recovery spaceMoving from data protection to data securityThe experience of shifting from academics to corporateHow research focuses on thought leadership, while the priority in corporate is about market leadershipThe pleasures and pains of founding a startupThe feelings when one’s startup is acquired by someone elseAspects of chemistry and work styles that play out in acquisitionsThe need to be pragmatic, accept decisions, adjust and move aheadTips to manage one’s personal stresses and some techniques that have worked for him, particularly during transitionsHis tips for motivating people, and sharing your founder’s vision and excitement with the team that joins youManaging people, their aspirations and expectation, ambitions - is more difficult to manageThe answer to that question and a lot more in the second part of the conversation.Stay tuned in for the next episode.Prasenjit Sarkar is a Distinguished Engineer at Rubrik responsible for the architecture and development of relational, NoSQL, and Big Data backup and recovery products. He has previously led initiatives to formulate product strategy, deliver industry-leading backup and recovery features, and superior performance at scales of thousands of databases.https://www.linkedin.com/in/psarkar24/On X - @psarkar24

In this episode, Gayatri Kalyanaraman has the conversation with Kamala Srinivasan who is a Technologist, Founder & CEO, Upahara, and women in tech influencer.In her career spanning over 25 years, she has been a STEM engineer, fintech developer, women in tech influencer and startup founder among other key roles she has played.Kamala grew up in a home with professors and engineers she recalls how having a clean room with AC blasting made her fascinated with the technology industryKamala shares her experiences of introducing reverse mentoring in India to enable senior people understand the pulse of the young people Started her career in the early 90s in the technology industry and worked in the financial sector Shares her decision making nugget to create a calculated move with the family onboard as well as a clear timeKamala shares that one needs to take care of self be it in your physical and mental stateKamala talks about her experience in fintech companies in India and US and how she found very less women in her age group. This made her take a call in the non-profit organizationKamala talks about creating ethically viable future and gives examples for thatKamala shares how her company is an app in your mobile phone to provide the application to connect people in need with people who would like to give. Her firm Upahara.com provides that service and she wants to share more about the firm in the future She shares some of the her book recommendation and philosophies that has helped her groundKamala shares tips on networking that listeners can help stay connected and learning from othersA technologist and an exec coach with more than 20 years of experience in both nonprofit organizations and technology industries. Kamala’s broad areas of expertise include global technology product delivery and operations, go-to-market strategy, digital transformation, and SAAS in Fintech, retail, legal, and media.Kamala’s expertise in non-profit and philanthropic fields, and in information technology has led her to seek a solution using emerging technology to create a robust platform that serves the needs of both donors and charitable organizations: a personalized, curated, discovery-based interface, connecting organizations and donors without extensive effort on both sides, like Fintech investment management products. www.linkedin.com/in/kamalasrinivasan/ https://twitter.com/Kamalasrini

In this episode, my co-host Gayatri continues her conversation with Dan Balcauski, founder and chief pricing officer at product tranquility, a company that helps high-volume B2B SaaS CEOs define pricing and packaging for new productsGayatri asked him what challenges he faced when he became a consultantDan sharesHow he did a solo backpacking around the world and the transformational experiences he gotHow he had to talk himself away from self-talk that would shoot any ideas for entrepreneurshipWanting to explore a ‘brain for hire’ model, to see if he could sell his expertiseValidating the niche to be in - of SaaS pricing advisoryWhy he did not consider a model of being a fractional product manager role, as a consultantWhat some of the inflexion points in his career have beenHow he has been able to support global clients, remotelyHis advice for young professionals who want to take up product management as a careerDan Balcauski, the founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, dispels B2B SaaS Pricing Illusions.Dan is an expert in helping high-volume B2B SaaS CEOs define pricing and packaging for new products. He has 15 years of experience managing multiple products throughout their life cycles, from start-ups to publicly traded multinationals. A fun fact about him: before founding the company, he took a sabbatical and completed a solo, round-the-world expedition to 21 countries.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balcauski/

In this episode, my co-host Gayatri is in conversation with Dan Balcauski, founder and chief pricing officer at product tranquility, a company that helps high-volume B2B SaaS CEOs define pricing and packaging for new productsIn this conversation he talks aboutHis student days in 1999, the peak dotcom eraGot a job in Austin, TexasGetting into engineering manager role, which included envisioning product roadmapsDeveloping an interest in articulating value of solutions Signing up for an MBA and doing work on pricingSeeing some of the mistakes made by others during mergers and acquisitionsSetting up his company about 4 years agoHow he learns from other experts and booksHis views and recommendations on pricing and inflationThe impact of Covid on pricing patterns in hardware and softwareListen on!Gayatri asked him what challenges he faced when he became a consultantThe answer to that question and a lot more interesting stuff in the next episode.Dan Balcauski, the founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, dispels B2B SaaS Pricing Illusions.Dan is an expert in helping high-volume B2B SaaS CEOs define pricing and packaging for new products. He has 15 years of experience managing multiple products throughout their life cycles, from start-ups to publicly traded multinationals. A fun fact about him: before founding the company, he took a sabbatical and completed a solo, round-the-world expedition to 21 countries.Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balcauski/

I continue my conversation with Shailaja Venkatasubramanyan.In the first part, she talks about how she got into Information systems and her career spanning education and startup sectors. How she balanced professional and personal demands and challenges.How she never hesitated to get into new areas and was always ready to learn.In this part of the conversation Shai talks aboutDifferences in teaching approaches for young adults and childrenHow she likes to learn when she is interested in a topic, and not for grades etcPeople learn best when they are invested in itI bring a lot of enthusiasm, by being funny and a pinch of entertainmentGiving interesting assignments (designing assignments that I would want to do)Also taught a strategy class: lot of case studies, that had a lot of learning valueOne of the aspects to address in teaching is to manage short attention spansHow teamwork is important even in academic coursesTrends and concerns related to Evolving Knowledge managementHer career tipsShailaja "Shai" Venkatsubramanyan is an Associate Professor Emeritus at the School of Information Systems and Technology at San Jose State University (SJSU), where she has taught and researched for over 15 years. She has a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems (MIS) from the University of Arizona, and is a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar and a Master Teacher Award recipient.Shai is passionate about using technology and data to solve real-world problems and to make the world a better place. She has also worked as a General Manager at theCoderSchool, a franchise that teaches coding and programming skills to kids and teens, and as a Knowledge Engineer at Kanisa, a Silicon Valley start-up that developed innovative solutions for online customer service. She has expertise in MIS, data analysis, databases, online customer service, and coding education. She enjoys writing, teaching, and learning about various topics related to MIS and beyond.https://www.linkedin.com/in/shailaja-venkatsubramanyan-b47742

I am in conversation with Shailaja Venkatasubramanyan, who is an Associate Professor Emeritus at the School of Information Systems and Technology at San Jose State University. She is also a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar and a Master Teacher Award recipient.A special note on this episode: during this conversation Shailaja talks about some very personal moments in her life that some may find disturbing or moving.In this conversation, she talks about:Wanting to do science, but was influenced to take up commerceEncouraged by her mother, choosing to study accounting in the USATaking up courses in Information systems and computer scienceBeing encouraged by a professor to take up PhD in information science and getting a PhD in Management Information SystemsFinding herself amidst engineers and how she got over the initial fearsTaking up a teaching job at Tulane University, but leaving that after a year to take up a position with a startup in CaliforniaHow she had to do literally a cross country trip one weekend a month for one more semesterEnjoying the work culture in a startup, till they decided to start a familyMoving to San Jose State university after a first meeting at a StarbucksThe hectic and intense pace of life, juggling work and family, with an incident at home that needed help from the Fire departmentRealizing that it is best to focus on one thing at a timeGoing through a tough phase personally, with family health challengesFacing some unfair situations and harassment at workNot getting an empathetic hearing from seniorsHow all these experiences made her more patientWanting to spend more time with her ailing father, choosing to pause her career and focus on familyFeeling happy about her choices as she has a sense of overall satisfactionHow she was able to find her niche, and differentiate her strengths, particularly when among others with more technical backgroundsAn example was about learning what she needed to know for processing satellite dataShailaja "Shai" Venkatsubramanyan is an Associate Professor Emeritus at the School of Information Systems and Technology at San Jose State University (SJSU), where she has taught and researched for over 15 years. She has a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems (MIS) from the University of Arizona, and is a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar and a Master Teacher Award recipient.Shai is passionate about using technology and data to solve real-world problems and to make the world a better place. She has also worked as a General Manager at theCoderSchool, a franchise that teaches coding and programming skills to kids and teens, and as a Knowledge Engineer at Kanisa, a Silicon Valley start-up that developed innovative solutions for online customer service. She has expertise in MIS, data analysis, databases, online customer service, and coding education. She enjoys writing, teaching, and learning about various topics related to MIS and beyond.https://www.linkedin.com/in/shailaja-venkatsubramanyan-b47742

This is a continuation of the conversation with Kishore Kumar.He talks about how he started his youtube channel and trigger for his interest on astronomy after ending his formal professional careerHe talks about how he prepares , be it scripting, location , photography, tools for animation, java scripts and creativity to produce one episode on his channel.His views on “Time” before and after astronomy in his life.If you want time for something you will find it.His advice or tips on career questionsKishore Kumar is a youtuber with a unique youtube channel called @ahargana. This channel has the singular purpose of explaining the astronomical basis of the Hindu panchanga using custom-built planetary orbital simulations.Kishore was not always a youtuber. In his previous avatar, Kishore was a software professional for over thirty five years playing a variety of roles from programmer to program manager, general manager and vice president in leading companies such as Tata Unisys, Cognizant and Siemens. He has earned a masters degree in computer science from SUNY at Buffalo, USA and a bachelors degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from NIT Trichy. A lifelong self-learner, Kishore has leveraged all his learnings from his education and professional experience in the making of @Ahargana and contrary to appearance, considers it an entirely logical continuation of his life journey.Kishore may be reached at:Email: kishore.kumar@counterpointconsultants.comYoutube: youtube.com/@ahargana LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kishoresridharakumar

Kishore Kumar is a software professional turned youtuber. He shares his career journey with SivaguruStarting career as system engineer later moved to programing on mainframes Moving to the USA and feeling the need of studies did his Masters in computer science . Learning AI way back in 1989 to 1991. How this helped later in his careerHow his career mirrors the Indian software industry which has changed shapes over years. How things changed from convincing the US for jobs to how later their trust on Indians helped increase workflow.Moving from service to product companyHis views on handling ambiguous requirements in old and new software development cyclesInfluencing teams with his systematic approach/processTalks about his personal transition while transitioning professionallyKishore Kumar is a youtuber with a unique youtube channel called @ahargana. This channel has the singular purpose of explaining the astronomical basis of the Hindu panchanga using custom-built planetary orbital simulations.Kishore was not always a youtuber. In his previous avatar, Kishore was a software professional for over thirty five years playing a variety of roles from programmer to program manager, general manager and vice president in leading companies such as Tata Unisys, Cognizant and Siemens. He has earned a masters degree in computer science from SUNY at Buffalo, USA and a bachelors degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from NIT Trichy. A lifelong self-learner, Kishore has leveraged all his learnings from his education and professional experience in the making of @Ahargana and contrary to appearance, considers it an entirely logical continuation of his life journey.Kishore may be reached at:Email: kishore.kumar@counterpointconsultants.comYoutube: youtube.com/@aharganaLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kishoresridharakumar

In the second part of the podcast episode, Gayatri Kalyanaraman is in conversation with Mathan Ramanujam, Product Influencer and Hardware Designer and Director at SiMa.ai, shares his career journeyMathan shares on values on why would you work in a startup - Working for today’s salary or invest in tomorrow’s growth He also shares matching personal believes in the firm and extracting learning from failures and failure in itself Talks about each person needs to think of themselves as an IC irrespective of product or service worldMathan shares his customer to customer philosophy - Ensuring that customer need from marketing to end product launch - Development and productisation and sales & customer desk to the customerPutting onself in the fray in the various roles - shares learning to put oneself in the same role Shares his experience in doing a verification in two different decadesMathan shares how his Contacts have helped in getting Contracts Creating your own psychological safety and how one can create that in the team with 8-15 yearsHow can you build high potential people by building safe environment for failure as well as skill buildingMathan shares how he relates to being system centric and hence able to manage community between hardware and software and thus being successful in the embedded industry Mathan Ramanujam is the director in SIMa.ai. SiMa.ai™ is a machine learning company delivering the industry’s first software-centric purpose-built MLSoC™ platform. Mathan is a front-runner, growing high performance team ground-up! He’s is using his versatile nature and cross-functional experience to to build CoE for Infrastructure IPs for ML SoC, while Challenging himself to learn ML/AI.Mathan has over 27 years of total industry experience with 17+ years of Team responsibilities. Mathan has taken multiple Si from concept to production, specialized in Digital design, with FPGA in the semiconductor industry. Mathan started his career in Atlaz Telecom and moved to the bay area for Arasan Chip Systems Inc.in the role of USB Device, Ethernet controller and XGMII IP development - RTL. Mathan later moved back to India took up team leadership roles in Nokia, Texas Instruments, QualComm, Western Digital and STMicroelectronics. Mathan Ramanujam has done his B.Tech in Bharathidasan University in Electronics and Communication Engineering.  Mathan can be contacted at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathan-ramanujam-4495082/