I learnt: to stretch a shoestring budget to the max, the importance of a satisfied customer, value of a good team, and the fact that starting a company is no joke.’
Approximately one-third of employees in Indian software companies today are women. An increasing number of women enter professional engineering streams such as computer sciences and electronics. With the demand for technical professionals remaining strong in IT (information technology) industry, women will remain valued employees. “But the glass ceiling does exist at the senior management levels,” says Nita Goyal, co-founder and VP of Tavant Technologies.
She should know, as ‘the first woman to have obtained a computer science (CS) degree from any of the Indian Institutes of Technology’, a PhD from Stanford University in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), and a successful entrepreneur.
Goyal is, however, hopeful of better times for women. “I see a change with Indian companies that are beginning to create a better eco-system that supports women at work in terms of availability of quality childcare, creating women forums that allow for mentoring, flexi-time, rehiring, work from home etc,” she says, responding over email to questions from eWorld.
Excerpts from the interview:
How has your journey been thus far, beginning from IIT?
I went from being a student in IIT Kanpur to being a PhD student in CS at Stanford University. Stanford was a humbling and inspiring place where one got to learn with and from the best in the world. After graduating from Stanford I joined Hewlett-Packard (HP) Labs and learned how to apply research skills to real-world problems. The technology developed by our group at HP was spun off as a start-up. This was my first experience as an entrepreneur — participating in everything from finding an office to developing technology and leading an offshore team. By 2000, the start-up fever hit again and Tavant was started. The journey beginning from IIT-K has been exhilarating. I have done research in academia and industry, lived the Silicon Valley experience of starting companies and seen a company grow from five to 1,000-plus employees.
How did your research in artificial intelligence find relevance in your subsequent work?
The PhD had led to my first start-up, Exemplary, as a spinout of my research. Soon after I left Exemplary, I got involved in discussing ideas with a group of executives who had been part of Junglee and we started Tavant in 2000. The key appeal of Tavant was the quality of the team that had come together — people from banking, Internet, enterprise software, consulting, research — who all worked well together. The AI PhD also came in handy in putting together Tavant’s mortgage pricing and optimisation solutions for our financial customers.
You have co-founded two companies. Did being a woman pose any difficulties?
Strangely enough, I never thought about it. Not that it was a piece of cake being one of the few women in a sea of men, but I never let that bother me. And I always found many friends and mentors, a large number of men and women who helped navigate this sea. Focusing on the work at hand rather than the gender has helped me.
Who is the person you most admire?
My mother. I learnt to balance my family, career, and other interests from her. She also taught me to strive and overcome gender barriers.
How do you balance your different roles?
Prioritisation and time management.
What is your advice to wannabe IT professionals among women?
Be yourself, know your strengths and weaknesses, enjoy the labour of work with professionalism, and value yourself as a contributor to society.
On your greatest challenge…
In early-2001, with the down-cycle in the market, Tavant had trouble raising finance and we had a big first customer to deliver to. It ultimately turned out well; the customer was happy and eventually became an investor too. I learnt: to stretch a shoestring budget to the max, the importance of a satisfied customer, value of a good team, and the fact that starting a company is no joke — no one should do it unless they are willing to put in the commitment and hard work needed to see it through the bad times that are almost inevitable in any business.
Does a corporate stint help when launching a start-up?
Yes and no. Just out of school, it is hard to appreciate how markets work and how companies function. Corporate experience definitely helps in that regard. But energy, enthusiasm, fresh ideas, no fear of failure are more important and it is not necessary to spend time in the corporate world for that. Microsoft, Yahoo, Google are outstanding examples of companies sarted by people with not much corporate experience. On the other hand, the combined corporate experience of the initial team at Tavant was a key success factor.
In promoting entrepreneurial spirit, how crucial is a culture that gives space for ‘failure’?
Failure is a critical part of entrepreneurship. For every Google that succeeds, there are hundreds of companies that fail. Often failures teach us more than successes. When failure becomes socially acceptable, innovation blossoms, as people are more willing to risk the unknown. In India, failure is not tolerated quite so well. But I believe there is change afoot, and young people are increasingly comfortable with risk and failure and there are more start-ups now than even a couple of years ago.
Should entrepreneurs be trend-oriented?
Trends are interesting because they capture some market belief and usually either offer new problems to be solved or new ways to solve old problems. However, blind pursuit of trends is what led to the dotcom bust in 2000. Question is not whether a business is following a trend but rather what is the value being created by the company. For example, the Internet has fundamentally changed the way many businesses are done and several large companies have been built on this realisation.
Are current times tough for entrepreneurs in India?
Entrepreneurship is a challenge anytime, anywhere. The Indian economy at the moment provides opportunities in almost every sector, but being an entrepreneur is never easy. However, entrepreneurship has many rewards, such as a sense of personal satisfaction and the thrill of seeing your vision become reality.
It is a myth that the challenge for new entrepreneurs is lack of finance. Actually, the biggest challenge is identifying your customer and the value you can provide them. Further, you need hard work and the ability to stand your ground against overwhelming odds. Of course, you do need money to get started, a team that believes in the idea, and people who are willing to support and guide you - especially your family.
Is the entrepreneurial spirit healthy in India?
The entrepreneurial community is not only vibrant but growing significantly across all sectors. Not only are more people, senior and junior, starting and joining young companies, a lot of venture capital is available to finance them. India does throw up particular barriers for entrepreneurs - poor infrastructure and insufficient ecosystem to support entrepreneurs (mentors, risk-averse family members, inadequate talent). Incubators would help in addressing many of these issues. That said, most of the lessons of entrepreneurship are equally applicable in India. There are numerous forums that promote the understanding of these lessons by enabling India's upcoming entrepreneurs to meet with other successful entrepreneurs and investors. These forums include The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN).
How far can education be tailored to foster entrepreneurship?
Business schools today are incorporating entrepreneurship as part of their programme program. This is a welcome trend but needs to be supplemented with practical experience. Experience of entrepreneurship offers its own education that cannot be replaced by any classroom. Entrepreneurship requires one to wear multiple hats, think on the feet, act with incomplete information (intuition) and learn from failure. Having the flexibility of taking a break from the academic programme program can also be useful. Many US universities allow for it and Silicon Valley is full of entrepreneurs who mixed education with entrepreneurship successfully.
She should know, as ‘the first woman to have obtained a computer science (CS) degree from any of the Indian Institutes of Technology’, a PhD from Stanford University in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), and a successful entrepreneur.
Goyal is, however, hopeful of better times for women. “I see a change with Indian companies that are beginning to create a better eco-system that supports women at work in terms of availability of quality childcare, creating women forums that allow for mentoring, flexi-time, rehiring, work from home etc,” she says, responding over email to questions from eWorld.
Excerpts from the interview:
How has your journey been thus far, beginning from IIT?
I went from being a student in IIT Kanpur to being a PhD student in CS at Stanford University. Stanford was a humbling and inspiring place where one got to learn with and from the best in the world. After graduating from Stanford I joined Hewlett-Packard (HP) Labs and learned how to apply research skills to real-world problems. The technology developed by our group at HP was spun off as a start-up. This was my first experience as an entrepreneur — participating in everything from finding an office to developing technology and leading an offshore team. By 2000, the start-up fever hit again and Tavant was started. The journey beginning from IIT-K has been exhilarating. I have done research in academia and industry, lived the Silicon Valley experience of starting companies and seen a company grow from five to 1,000-plus employees.
How did your research in artificial intelligence find relevance in your subsequent work?
The PhD had led to my first start-up, Exemplary, as a spinout of my research. Soon after I left Exemplary, I got involved in discussing ideas with a group of executives who had been part of Junglee and we started Tavant in 2000. The key appeal of Tavant was the quality of the team that had come together — people from banking, Internet, enterprise software, consulting, research — who all worked well together. The AI PhD also came in handy in putting together Tavant’s mortgage pricing and optimisation solutions for our financial customers.
You have co-founded two companies. Did being a woman pose any difficulties?
Strangely enough, I never thought about it. Not that it was a piece of cake being one of the few women in a sea of men, but I never let that bother me. And I always found many friends and mentors, a large number of men and women who helped navigate this sea. Focusing on the work at hand rather than the gender has helped me.
Who is the person you most admire?
My mother. I learnt to balance my family, career, and other interests from her. She also taught me to strive and overcome gender barriers.
How do you balance your different roles?
Prioritisation and time management.
What is your advice to wannabe IT professionals among women?
Be yourself, know your strengths and weaknesses, enjoy the labour of work with professionalism, and value yourself as a contributor to society.
On your greatest challenge…
In early-2001, with the down-cycle in the market, Tavant had trouble raising finance and we had a big first customer to deliver to. It ultimately turned out well; the customer was happy and eventually became an investor too. I learnt: to stretch a shoestring budget to the max, the importance of a satisfied customer, value of a good team, and the fact that starting a company is no joke — no one should do it unless they are willing to put in the commitment and hard work needed to see it through the bad times that are almost inevitable in any business.
Does a corporate stint help when launching a start-up?
Yes and no. Just out of school, it is hard to appreciate how markets work and how companies function. Corporate experience definitely helps in that regard. But energy, enthusiasm, fresh ideas, no fear of failure are more important and it is not necessary to spend time in the corporate world for that. Microsoft, Yahoo, Google are outstanding examples of companies sarted by people with not much corporate experience. On the other hand, the combined corporate experience of the initial team at Tavant was a key success factor.
In promoting entrepreneurial spirit, how crucial is a culture that gives space for ‘failure’?
Failure is a critical part of entrepreneurship. For every Google that succeeds, there are hundreds of companies that fail. Often failures teach us more than successes. When failure becomes socially acceptable, innovation blossoms, as people are more willing to risk the unknown. In India, failure is not tolerated quite so well. But I believe there is change afoot, and young people are increasingly comfortable with risk and failure and there are more start-ups now than even a couple of years ago.
Should entrepreneurs be trend-oriented?
Trends are interesting because they capture some market belief and usually either offer new problems to be solved or new ways to solve old problems. However, blind pursuit of trends is what led to the dotcom bust in 2000. Question is not whether a business is following a trend but rather what is the value being created by the company. For example, the Internet has fundamentally changed the way many businesses are done and several large companies have been built on this realisation.
Are current times tough for entrepreneurs in India?
Entrepreneurship is a challenge anytime, anywhere. The Indian economy at the moment provides opportunities in almost every sector, but being an entrepreneur is never easy. However, entrepreneurship has many rewards, such as a sense of personal satisfaction and the thrill of seeing your vision become reality.
It is a myth that the challenge for new entrepreneurs is lack of finance. Actually, the biggest challenge is identifying your customer and the value you can provide them. Further, you need hard work and the ability to stand your ground against overwhelming odds. Of course, you do need money to get started, a team that believes in the idea, and people who are willing to support and guide you - especially your family.
Is the entrepreneurial spirit healthy in India?
The entrepreneurial community is not only vibrant but growing significantly across all sectors. Not only are more people, senior and junior, starting and joining young companies, a lot of venture capital is available to finance them. India does throw up particular barriers for entrepreneurs - poor infrastructure and insufficient ecosystem to support entrepreneurs (mentors, risk-averse family members, inadequate talent). Incubators would help in addressing many of these issues. That said, most of the lessons of entrepreneurship are equally applicable in India. There are numerous forums that promote the understanding of these lessons by enabling India's upcoming entrepreneurs to meet with other successful entrepreneurs and investors. These forums include The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN).
How far can education be tailored to foster entrepreneurship?
Business schools today are incorporating entrepreneurship as part of their programme program. This is a welcome trend but needs to be supplemented with practical experience. Experience of entrepreneurship offers its own education that cannot be replaced by any classroom. Entrepreneurship requires one to wear multiple hats, think on the feet, act with incomplete information (intuition) and learn from failure. Having the flexibility of taking a break from the academic programme program can also be useful. Many US universities allow for it and Silicon Valley is full of entrepreneurs who mixed education with entrepreneurship successfully.
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