Age: 53
Country: Indian
Company & Location:MindTree, Mumbai
Position: CEO and Managing Director
Career Maker: The industry veteran launched MindTree as an omnibus global IT-services provider in 1999, but it had posted only $16 million in annual sales by 2003. "Then we wanted to achieve ten-times growth in a five-year period, and we did," he reports. Now a nearly $300 million player, offering not only IT services but also product-development consulting, Natarajan believes that MindTree is poised to reach $1 billion in revenues by 2014 through organic growth, with some acquisitions.
Professional Trajectory: Instead of enrolling at the University of Illinois on a solar-engineering scholarship, Natarajan went to school in India and then became part of the burgeoning IT culture there by joining Wipro in 1982. He quadrupled the number of employees in its software-services business and, later, launched Wipro's e-commerce division. The first task he took on for MindTree was starting its U.S. operation.
Dual Personality: Having been a successful corporate executive as well as an entrepreneur, Natarajan believes he's better at the latter. "Sometimes I think I should have gone into entrepreneurial mode earlier," he says, "but the opportunities and experiences I got with Wipro prepared me substantively to become a better entrepreneur."
Five-Year Plan: Outside of work, Natarajan said he likes to "try to pick up something new" and "reinvent myself" about every five years. He was a competitive table-tennis player; he started golf several years ago; and, lately, he's taken up photography.
Source: http://bit.ly/doRx2E
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