We want more growth, more customers, a larger solution footprint. I think thats when I felt that we were onto something. Alejandro: Even though you didnt want to be a professional accountant, Im sure that having a good grasp on the numbers has made a difference for you. Alejandro: Then, all of a sudden, the idea of perhaps starting your own business starts to become more tangible and have more color. There are plenty of examples where skills-based immigration has done wonders for this country. Ellen Milligan , Donal Griffin and Karin Matussek 7 October, 2020 08:42 am IST A: This country is a country of immigrants. He was a pioneer and how he went to Congress and convinced them that they should rescue this American icon (Chrysler). Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Sanjay Shah: It got me a chance to be on the shop floor and to see how things are built and put together. So General Motors in Canada was willing to wager a bet on me. : Sanjay, in terms of the early employees that you got, those were engineers, or what were some of these people because you were saying that this was . Fortunately, I had a view from the inside as well, having been one of the earliest employees of SAP. The idea was to write the software to address some functions that were not adequately addressed in ERP Systems. I love Chicago and this property provided me the vantage point to take in the city. : Okay. Lets just say that. A dark tale about the nature of stories themselves. Alejandro: Got it. Thats what helped us make the call with the partner we chose. Must Read: Roman Rittweger On Starting His Business At 52 And Raising $100 Million To Disrupt The Health Insurance Industry. Thats something that I believe has sold people as well that I always wake up every day worrying about what is it that I need to learn more, and not bask in the success of what I have learned and what Ive achieved. Alejandro: Then after this, you join probably one of the companies that has had the major and probably the biggest impact on you as an employee and also as a founder SAP. A:While I'm all for folks working these jobs, where otherwise those jobs would not be done, the question is, are those people then contributing their fair share to the economy in terms of taxes? : The biggest bump in the journey has been this whole Cloud Revolution that customers no longer want to buy software and then run it themselves in their IT shops. That has been the biggest bump. Thats how I was able to bootstrap. What kind of teams do you need? Thats what explains our existence and our success. That really has helped us grow because we started out with SAP North America first. Are you on Twitter or any other platforms? Sanjay brings a high level of passion, energy and skills to address complex business processes for global organizations. If you engineer good products and show value, then customers will come your way. Do you believe that Im working on something that has a great potential? Private equity, which is more how do you help accelerate growth, which was more our case. He held positions at high-profile companies including PricewaterhouseCoopers and General Motors before moving to Germany to work for software giant SAP. The whole business paradigm has changed as I described. So what kind of challenges were you guys dealing with? Theres always some business to be had with on-prem software, but were also getting more aggressive and investing heavily to grow our business in the Cloud as they say; to sell our software as a subscription. Under Sanjay's leadership, Vistex has grown into a global organization dedicated to transforming how businesses across multiple industries bring their products and services to market by taking control of mission-critical I think the industry pivoted that way about somewhere between planning on your perspective five to seven years ago, and the entire industry has pivoted toward Software as a Service. Why did you decide to come to the U.S. because I believe it was business school? Sanjay Shah '89 MBAtech entrepreneur, founder, CEO, and chief architect of international enterprise software giant, Vistexjoins us on this episode of Lehigh University's College of Business ilLUminate podcast. A few weeks ago, the Indian-American CEO of Vistex donated $5 million to his alma mater, Lehigh University, in Pennsylvania, from where he completed his MBA 25 years ago. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was originally published in the collection Little Black Book of Stories. : Again, finding the cheerleaders for you is a huge challenge. Sanjay Shah MD is a pain management physician at SEPA Pain Spine in Horsham Langhorne and Chalfont Pennsylvania. Everybodys journey is unique, and everybodys circumstances are unique. Sanjay, thank you so much for being on the DealMakers show today. That has served us well. The average being 2 1/2. SAP was then making a foray into the U.S., into North America. There is no one path to success. : Yeah. I wanted to get some operational experience and work on the operational side of things, operation supply chain, different terms. : I was there for roughly two and a half years. They decided to hire me, but they said, The only position we have open for you in Operations is in Canada. I said, Ill take it.. We dont have venture funding or angel funding to go launch ourselves in a big fashion to let the world know that were out there. How are you even going to sell it? Alejandro: Wow! Alejandro: What have you learned about growth, Sanjay? Then we also have professional services to implement our software. It's just some people came in a lot earlier than others. If you like the show, make sure that you hit that subscribe button. Alejandro: Very nice. Sanjay Shah is the founder and CEO of Vistex which is an enterprise software company, providing solutions to drive customer growth and partner relations. Sanjay Shah: No, Im not, but I plan to soon. So in having a degree in finance and having work experience in accounting is not exactly something that would draw potential employers for an operations position. Because it was bootstrapped, because we felt we had a well-engineered product, decided to get into a strategic partnership to help take it to market. Sanjay Shah: What have I learned about myself? Our customers tend to be larger companies, so perhaps we sold to one division, and then another division comes across, another geography for the company comes along. Thats the degree I had. The company was bootstrapped to $250 million in revenue without outside investment. : Then, all of a sudden, the idea of perhaps starting your own business starts to become more tangible and have more color. Then PricewaterhouseCoopers. Shah was born in 1970 in Marylebone, London. Alejandro: All right, Sanjay. What does the future look like for Vistex? We provide the technology that helps customers take their products and services to the marketplace. You need to find cheerleaders in an organization such as SAP if you want to rely on them to be your go-to-market partner. My advice is, dont follow any advice. : No, Im not, but I plan to soon. Sanjay Shah, of South Barrington, is the founder and CEO of Vistex, a software company based in Hoffman Estates. "We are delighted to welcome the highly talented team to Vistex, and to bring their intellectual property into our portfolio," said Sanjay Shah, Vistex Founder and CEO. We were able to get into new industries and even upsell to our existing customers. : Of course. I got an MBA in finance. . : Absolutely. When I decided to sever my ties with SAP, my wife was six-months pregnant with our second child. : In this case, you guys were bootstrapping. For more than 20 years, Sanjay Shah has led the company, a pioneer in transforming how organizations take their products and services to the marketplace through trade, channel and vendor programs, pricing, performance incentives and rights & royalties. That was a very marketable resource. You have these ideas and visions of growth, and then there is reality unless youre exceptionally fortunate. This is pretty cool. Thats how I ended up working for them. Alejandro: And you went to Canada. It's very unique, not just in Chicago or in the U.S., but probably unique in the whole world in terms of how it's laid out. As a business owner that helps you, serves you, and it never hurts to be fluent with numbers. You and your wife are aligned. How about if I move to the U.S. and develop it by myself, and if it works, you help me take it to market? So Im an entrepreneur by accident because if they had said, Yes, you can develop it even while youre in the U.S. I probably might still be with SAP. Sanjay Shah: Correct. But there was fun in that challenge as well. Photo: Antonie Robertson/The National. Sanjay Shah: Yeah. Sanjay Shah (born September 11, 1970 in London) is a Dubai-based British businessman. Sanjay Shah is a former Kenyan national. Not funding for everything, but it was an atypical path. He funnelled his wealth into property across London, Hong Kong, Dubai and Tokyo, Shah said, amassing a portfolio that he put at about 70 million pounds. Chicago filmmaker Jennifer Reeder looks at the awards season nominees so far where did all the women go? So then what happens after you make the decision. Sanjay Shah, the unemployed trader who's now worth $700 million but is wanted for 'fraud' Sanjay Shah and Solo Capital Partners LLP are central figures in the Danish Cum-Ex scandal that helped investors to rapidly sell shares and claim multiple refunds on dividend taxes. Perhaps it should be neither, and I should do what Sanjay said would work better. They would help us build and scale our cloud business and yet be comfortable being a minority investor. I believe that if anything, you should know that you should always learn to learn. Earlier on, I thought I knew how everything was supposed to work, and I had the recipe and the solutions to all of the companys problems. You shouldnt necessarily follow somebodys footsteps, but just take inspiration and then chart your own path. Sanjay Shah: Again, finding the cheerleaders for you is a huge challenge. And I lasted a full six months and decided that I didnt want to be a professional accountant. How Chicago area home values compare by ZIP code, Have camera, will travel: A Chicago taxi driver took pictures of his passengers for years. Alejandro: Alrighty. Theyve been around for many years, a very notable firm in the Valley, and a lot of successes to their name. London's High Court had previously dismissed a claim by Skat, Denmark's tax authority, to hear the case in the UK on the grounds it was . On the one hand, you can say those jobs wouldn't be filled, but then is it fair to the other person who's also doing the job that's legal, that has to pay their share? I believe that if anything, you should know that you should always learn to learn. That has been the biggest bump. : So, she was a little consumed. Alejandro: So for the people that are listening . Alejandro: You scaled this up to 250 million before you accepted external financing, so how was that process? What does the future look like for Vistex? : Of course, at General Motors, we were one of the first companies to use whats called MRP, material requirements planning. : Our first challenge was when the dotcom crash came up. It is important that we strike a partnership with a very large player that can give you a tremendous amount of reach into the marketplace globally, and SAP was a natural partner for us because they have thousands and thousands of feet on the street. Anything you wanted. Sanjay Shah Vistex is the biggest Chicago-area software company you've likely never heard of. Most high-end penthouses in large cities tend to be multiple stories. : I think the advice I would give to my younger self is, dont follow any advice. But I quickly realized that confidence is good; over-confidence is not so good. Growth is hard, [laughter] to say the least. If you want me to help you with your fundraising, just book a call. And I lasted a full six months and decided that I didnt want to be a professional accountant. Its long. Then we also have professional services to implement our software. Sanjay Shah: It wasnt the money or the capital. So in your case and in your journey because in entrepreneurship, theres no such thing as a straight line. So I decided to explore. : What was essentially the idea so that people listening get it? Its also massively matrixed. Then from what I hear, it seems it was more you build it; you build something great and something that people would like to use, and then theyre going to come. Sanjay Shah: Its interesting. Alejandro: Very cool. WASHINGTON, DC: Sanjay Shah, 46, the founder and CEO of Vistex, a computer software company, has bought the most expensive condominium in Chicago's real estate history, a penthouse on the 89 th . Would you mind expanding a bit more on that, Sanjay? I think weve just begun to scratch the surface of how our products and solutions can help customers and help our customers succeed even more. So without further ado, Id like to welcome our guest today to the show. : Wonderful. So something struck me and I said, Well, I cant do it here. Some of it was just this level of fierce independence we wanted to have that I think we can pull this off because what we did during the day was highly marketable. You spend time in classrooms learning about things, but spending time on the shop floor learning how actually products are put together, how they are transported, how the logistics work in terms of the distribution networks of large companies. Start Free People Search A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Directory of Profiled Business People: Sanjay Shah Sgrignuoli, Philip - Shahait, Mohammed > Shah, Ruskinarxon - Shah, Sayad > Shah, Sanit - Shah, Sanjaykumar > Shah, Sanjay 1-25 of 525 Contacts 1 There are so many constituencies both from a product standpoint, from a technology standpoint, and from a go-to-market standpoint. Kapoor was a contestant in the Indian reality show 'Bigg Boss' in 2011. 1. RECOMMENDED FOR YOU The party's over for tech startups A fiber-optic network now links Argonne. Facebook gives people the power to. And if you got any value either from this episode or from the show itself, share it with a friend. But there are a lot of players out there. Then there is annual maintenance tied with it. I look forward to seeing the final product. A free inside look at Vistex salary trends based on 203 salaries wages for 130 jobs at Vistex. Yes, he owns a business software company, Vistex Inc ., which is estimated to be approaching $200 million in annual revenue. That helped definitely. Growth is hard, [laughter] to say the least. The Vistex management team includes Sanjay Shah (Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Architect), Christopher Cutro (Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Success), and Arun Roy (Chief Financial Officer) . : Very cool. An Indian immigrant, Sanjay Shah bootstrap story began when he left Mumbai, India to attend Lehigh Universitys business school, earning his MBA in 1989 at the age of 21. But the reality now is different. So again, working with SAP, such a gigantic organization has its set of challenges, and there have been several lessons learned. Brazil, South Africa, all countries in Western Europe, Asia, etc. Because it was bootstrapped, because we felt we had a well-engineered product, decided to get into a strategic partnership to help take it to market. Under Sanjay's leadership, Vistex has grown into a global organization dedicated to transforming how businesses across multiple industries bring their products and services to market by taking control of mission-critical processes. We go in as explorers, not as conquerors because we know that the right kind of input is very critical to the engineering of a product. Alejandro: What was essentially the idea so that people listening get it? You shouldnt necessarily follow somebodys footsteps, but just take inspiration and then chart your own path. : So here you are in 1999. It turns out that it was a great time to liquidate my stock options because I did that in 99, just before the big crash following. Sanjay Shah left SAP to establish an entirely new category of enterprise software known as Go-to-Market programs designed to help businesses solve complex business problems. Sanjay Shah: Correct. Once you have built a platform already, how do you accelerate growth versus venture capital is, Do you believe in my potential? Alejandro: Very cool. Thats quite a significant amount of employees. Perhaps they will also appreciate it. We were able to get into new industries and even upsell to our existing customers. Fortunately, I had a view from the inside as well, having been one of the earliest employees of SAP. All of my family and extended family lived in a one-mile radius. We license our software. [Q&A: Beam Suntory CEO rides whiskey boom at home and abroad ], [Q&A: FCB Chicago ad agency CEO says big ideas still work on little screens ], [Q&A: Shinola looks to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., and stakes a claim in Chicago ]. The companies'. What worked for one person may not necessarily work for you. I think that has been a bit of a challenge for us having built a business on licensing software and all the follow-on revenue that comes as a result of that has been a bit of a bump for us. Sanjay Shah's Gift Combines Vision and Execution. : Yeah, exactly. : Thats interesting because you have, obviously, the school of thought of you sell it, and then you figure out how to build it and deliver. Sanjay Shah saw a void in the ERP market. Sanjay Shah: Thats a good question. You hear all these nightmare stories of startups that are doing very well, but theyre not able to project or manage the cash flows and their budgets accordingly. Right after Pricewaterhouse, you went to General Motors. So I was introduced to software quite early on. Sanjay Shah: Thank you. VISTEX CEO AND FOUNDER SANJAY SHAH. : What was your biggest learning or lesson from working with them? Walk us through some of those days. We were looking for a partner that has the chops, that has the history and the stripes to help us with our cloud journey. Shah bought the 14,000-square-foot penthouse for $17 million and in 2017 is working to build out the space. I didnt want to give up much equity. The number of players has increased, and the customers buying skills have increased tremendously. We have people all over the globe, Vistex employs all over the globe and selling in virtually every geography. When we say we listen, listening not just to our employees who are the closest to our customers and have the best product ideas, but also to our customers. In the 1980s and 1990s, he teamed up with Asrani and Kader Khan as the comical team in over 100 films. Then thats how we came to learn of SAP. Fast-forward to today. Recently the company raised $65 million from Accel-KKR. : I would love to say that I came up with this fantastic idea, and I had this great vision, and so on, but the reality is that I was a company loyalist. Sanjay Shah: Business Profiles | ZoomInfo.com Reach your target accounts. Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More. I also went to college right there, and my college also happened to be a mile away from where I lived. That is more than a fulltime job in and of itself. What were the immediate steps to bring this to life? I think getting the firsthand experience was critical. Shah continues to lead the organization that helps global titans such as Apple, Walmart, 3M, Viacom, Intel, and Bayer improve revenue and margins. The whole business paradigm has changed as I described. You know, sometimes you discover your true passion, and you don't always realize it and recognize it, but something hits you when it does happen. An entrepreneur cant say, Yeah, Im also on a double-duty and be able to sell into the enterprise. Dipen Shah Rajesh Chaganti #Vistex #SAP #Agro Liked by Dipen Shah https://lnkd.in/d4m_Ui2N Very proud of my wife Gayatri Raman, helping take Clearwater Analytics public. Sanjay Shah is a tech entrepreneur, Founder, CEO & Chief Architect of Vistex, making sure it all adds up for our customers. Sanjay Shah, founder and CEO of Vistex, is photographed Dec. 8, 2014 in the penthouse atop the Trump International Hotel and Tower he owns. They might not have been born here, but they were raised here and they are very productive. As we would bootstrap, I think it was important I realized that having because we are not spending as much on sales and marketing. Sanjay Shah Founder, CEO and Chief Architect Vistex Inc.2300 Barrington Road, Hoffman Estates, IL 60169www.vistex.com Industry: Technology Annual sales: $250 million Number of employees:. Alejandro: Of course. Sanjay Shah: The venture guys will probably come on in the very early stages, maybe in years 0 to 5, I would say. Were going to be learning a lot about building, scaling companies, and also about financing and then venture capitalist versus private equity firms, and also about building super-strategic relationships with larger players. But even despite that, there are enough challenges when youre working with an organization the size of SAP. Alejandro: Wonderful. . So I grew up in a very close family both literally and figuratively. What kind of (software) programs are you going to run? Going back to what you were saying that you were bootstrapping this and doing a couple more shifts that you used to do, at what point do you say, Now, I can finally jump on this fulltime? About the nature of stories themselves up with Asrani and Kader Khan as comical... Most high-end penthouses in large cities tend to be a professional accountant we were able get! 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