: Its interesting. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune). Youve been with SAP for six years. Those are the revenue streams for us. So lets continue. I was changing my disciplines significantly. Sanjay Shah: We have three distinct revenue streams. : Yes. 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? Interesting. Sanjay Shah Vistex is the biggest Chicago-area software company you've likely never heard of. What type of product features and functions do you need in order to be successful in the Cloud? Shah noted that only a handful of SAP's 20,000 partners achieve Solution Extensions status. Sanjay Shah: Since my consulting business was doing well in Shift 1, I was able to secure some dollars to self-fund my first hires. : Very cool. They try to go after high-potential, high-growth, the mature organizations, and we fit the bill on that front. : So, she was a little consumed. 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. And in general, when youre bootstrapped, youre going to be very stingy with your marketing budgets and your sales budgets. Of course, thats important because it establishes a benchmark of sorts, but also to provide us with the expertise that we need. People used to have only accounting software back then, but MRP was the first-ever software that was used by large companies. : You scaled this up to 250 million before you accepted external financing, so how was that process? VISTEX CEO AND FOUNDER SANJAY SHAH. Alejandro: Of course. This is around $20 million. I did have a word with her, and she thought Id lost my mind because as you can imagine, being one of the first employees of SAP, I had a very good package with them including some stupendous stock options, which I would have to get rid of or liquidate. : There are a lot of people that are on the line that are thinking about venture capital, and angels, and private equity. : It wasnt the money or the capital. Shah bought the 14,000-square-foot penthouse for. Thats when I decided to expand the hiring for the organization. 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. : How big was the business when you joined them? This is pretty cool. Thats how I ended up working for them. They were engineers. Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was originally published in the collection Little Black Book of Stories. When the leadership tea. : It got me a chance to be on the shop floor and to see how things are built and put together. : Okay. We didnt have any salespeople on board, so we were engineers doing all of the selling ourselves. That has served us well. 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. You and your wife are aligned. These are not quick sales. Alejandro: Really interesting here. Sanjay Shah is an avid licensed pilot, is multi-lingual and holds multiple professional certifications and degrees. That helped definitely. : No, Im not, but I plan to soon. I was one of the spearheads of that. 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. : And in terms of enterprise sales, Sanjay, that you were eluding to, what are your biggest takeaways from enterprise sales because its a beast. Then the logical progression was to work in accounting. Q: Why would you spend so much money on a penthouse? I also went to college right there, and my college also happened to be a mile away from where I lived. 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. A: This country is a country of immigrants. Sanjay Shah: Okay. Out of this journey, what would you say has been the bumpiest part of it, and how did you get back up and keep running as a breakthrough from the breakdown of whatever dark days you were dealing with? GALLERY; ABOUT US; CONTACT US; Menu Menu; sanjay shah vistex net worth August 30, 2021 / 0 Comments / in Jumping Ballons / by / 0 Comments / in Jumping Ballons / by 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. If you can leave a review as well, that would be fantastic. 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. Sanjay Shah: We have a very demographic process. Theyve been around for many years, a very notable firm in the Valley, and a lot of successes to their name. Would you mind expanding a bit more on that, Sanjay? 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. Then slowly over the years expanded to other regions of the globe. An entrepreneur cant say, Yeah, Im also on a double-duty and be able to sell into the enterprise. Alejandro: All right, Sanjay. Alejandro: Who were these people that you hired? I guess I'm a small example of that. What attracted you to it? I think getting the firsthand experience was critical. They want to outsource everything and just consume a service. What worked for one person may not necessarily work for you. What were the immediate steps to bring this to life? Sanjay Shah: No, Im not, but I plan to soon. Thats quite a significant amount of employees. Home / Companies / News / Salaries increase for top mutual fund CEOs. Its important to stay grounded and be a good listener. Employees at Boomerang Commerce rate Guru Hariharan higher than employees at Vistex, Inc. rate Sanjay Shah Fast-forward to today. Sanjay Shah: Thank you. Thank you, Alejandro. Its long. My world was within a one-mile radius. I believe that if you engineer great product, and then dovetail or piggyback on top of a huge, successful go-to-market organization like SAP has globally, then that would be the recipe for success. The company was bootstrapped to $250 million in revenue without outside investment. Vistex Hoffman Estates IL 60010, United States Get Sanjay's Email (it's Free) Takes 5 seconds to join, no credit card required. : All right, Sanjay. Alejandro: What was essentially the idea so that people listening get it? Fast-forward to today. 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: To expand on the listening, before we go to the second one, on the listening, how do you, for example, like with employees or when youre going out to fundraise, what is the process of first in-taking the information and then being able to digest and react proactively about it? 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. : Wow! Dubai: Dubai Police arrested Sanjay Shah, the main suspect in the biggest tax fraud and money laundering case in Denmark. So again, working with SAP, such a gigantic organization has its set of challenges, and there have been several lessons learned. Alejandro: Why did you go about bootstrapping rather than perhaps taking a look at financing the operation? 00:00:00 00:37:40. 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. Q: When you bought the property, you said the build-out will take a year to 18 months and cost about $15 million. : Very cool. : Correct. So walk us through the process of how you came up with this idea, and how did you incubate it all the way to fruition? What was going on through your mind? There are so many constituencies both from a product standpoint, from a technology standpoint, and from a go-to-market standpoint. Thats when I decided to expand the hiring for the organization. Thats right. : So originally, Sanjay, you were born in Mumbai, India. Vistex also sells its applications to customers who aren't SAP customers. : What have I learned about growth? But I quickly realized that confidence is good; over-confidence is not so good. Alejandro: How big was the business when you joined them? 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. I wanted to get some operational experience and work on the operational side of things, operation supply chain, different terms. Tell us about this. So our focus is, how can we help our customers succeed even more with our products and offerings? In fact, according to Trump&x27;s most recent . Sanjay, thank you so much for being on the. Im not a big social media citizen if you will, but from time to time, I will check LinkedIn. 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. In 2012, Donald Trump opened a twin tower structure in Turkey under the brand name Trump Towers Istanbul. How was the growth of revenue overtime during those years? For Sanjay Shah, who made headlines for buying the Trump Tower penthouse in a record deal in Chicago in 2014, life has come a full circle. Those are the revenue streams for us. I thought, Wow. 2458 Likes 111 Comments - University of South Carolina uofsc on. Also, remember, if you need any help whether it is with your fundraising efforts or with selling your business, you can reach me at [emailprotected]. It has 360-degree views of the city. so complicated that they baffled even some financial experts led Denmark's tax agency to send nearly $2 billion worth of refunds for taxes that had putatively been . Q: After you graduated college in India, you decided to move to the U.S. for graduate school and to pursue your career. Im not a big social media citizen if you will, but from time to time, I will check LinkedIn. : Really interesting here. Sanjay, thank you so much for being on the DealMakers show today. Oh, he went to Lehigh.. Perhaps it should be neither, and I should do what Sanjay said would work better. Remember to unlock for free the pitch deck template that is being used by founders around the world to raise millions below. I wanted to give up a very small portion of it while drawing on their expertise. Sanjay Shah resides in Chicago, Illinois with his wife and two daughters. His new book is titled Fares, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. 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. Plus it has very high ceilings, anywhere from 16 to 21 feet. Alejandro: Alrighty. : What happened after that was because I was a very marketable resource at SAP, I helped start what is called the highest echelon of professional services at SAP. The first type of software in supply chain that was the first of its kind back then. And you need professional sales help. I think sometimes, even when entrepreneurs reach a certain level of success, they feel that theyve mastered their domain, or they know what they need to do. I think private equity can offer a lot of operational expertise and a lot of go-to-market expertise. Is that right? Then that gave me the funding I needed to do what I wanted to do. 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 . This is pretty cool. Thats how I ended up working for them. : Our first challenge was when the dotcom crash came up. You shouldnt necessarily follow somebodys footsteps, but just take inspiration and then chart your own path. 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. Shah bought the 14,000-square-foot penthouse for $17 million and in 2017 is working to build out the space. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. What was the next thing that youve learned? : The venture guys will probably come on in the very early stages, maybe in years 0 to 5, I would say. Alejandro: 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 . Alejandro: Wow! : Very nice. So I decided to explore. What type of product features and functions do you need in order to be successful in the Cloud? What kind of teams do you need? When you continue to deliver value for your customers, then they see it. Sanjay Shah MD is a pain management physician at SEPA Pain Spine in Horsham Langhorne and Chalfont Pennsylvania. As part of Vistexs corporate social responsibility initiatives. Get Contact Info for All Departments Vistex Org Chart Sanjay Shah Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Architect 6 6 Chicago entrepreneur Sanjay Shah owns a business software company, Vistex Inc, which is estimated to be approaching $200 million in annual revenue. 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. We consider ourselves fortunate in having been able to arrive some of that. Maybe I should trust A more than B, so I should do what A said. No. Alejandro: Very cool. What have you learned about yourself as a leader? Everything was very hunky-dory. Recently the company raised $65 million from Accel-KKR. Chicago tech has its first big funding round of 2019. : Yeah. : Yes. I think Im a good listener over the years. Then thats how we came to learn of SAP. This whole Cloud Revolution, we feel that we are a bit behind in this regard in terms of being out there and being perceived more as a company that can do equally well with our cloud offerings. Alejandro: In this case, you guys were bootstrapping. Thats our vision. Click Here For Sanjay D Shah's Last Known Address 7 Cutters Run, South Barrington, IL 60010 1106 Kingston Ct, Glendale Heights, IL 60139 744 W Bristol St, Elkhart, IN 46514. Alejandro: Sanjay, what is the way that you guys make money with this? Today, we have someone that has done something remarkable, which is bootstrapping from nothing to 250 million. And in general, when youre bootstrapped, youre going to be very stingy with your marketing budgets and your sales budgets. Sanjay Shah: Yeah, exactly. Our youngest just went off to college last month, we are empty-nesters now so there's motivation to finish it out. Shah, a naturalized U.S. citizen, also has spoken out in defense of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, in part because a handful of his employees are immigrants living in the country illegally who were brought here as children and rely on DACA protections to remain in the U.S. When you continue to deliver value for your customers, then they see it. So those are the challenges. Then to ensure that they continue to receive value as they expand their portfolio of products. Sanjay Shah: Correct. : In this case, you guys were bootstrapping. The Founder, CEO and Chief Architect of enterprise software company Vistex, Sanjay Shah is a global businessman who has bootstrapped the company from its conception to its current role as a vital partner to worldwide titans like Apple, Walmart, 3M, Turner, Dell and Bayer. I got an MBA in finance. Sanjay's Email. What was the next thing that youve learned? The company was bootstrapped to $250 million in revenue without outside investment. : To expand on the listening, before we go to the second one, on the listening, how do you, for example, like with employees or when youre going out to fundraise, what is the process of first in-taking the information and then being able to digest and react proactively about it? 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? What does the future look like for Vistex? Exactly, especially if you intend to bootstrap, I think you have to have a good accounting streak in you. Anything you wanted. Alejandro: Very cool. Employees at Vistex, Inc. rate Sanjay Shah higher than employees at Innovative Interfaces rate James Tallman Punjab National Bank. Then there is annual maintenance tied with it. Sanjay Shah, founder and CEO of Vistex, is photographed Dec. 8, 2014 in the penthouse atop the Trump International Hotel and Tower he owns. This whole Cloud Revolution, we feel that we are a bit behind in this regard in terms of being out there and being perceived more as a company that can do equally well with our cloud offerings. So, life was great. This is only one story. Obviously, one step in the wrong direction can be fatal. 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. Q: You could have built another magnificent property somewhere else. But even despite that, there are enough challenges when youre working with an organization the size of SAP. Alejandro: You brought this up to 250 million in revenue without taking any type of investors. But I quickly realized that confidence is good; over-confidence is not so good. If you can leave a review as well, that would be fantastic. 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. : I think the advice I would give to my younger self is, dont follow any advice. Its long. My first two hires are still with me and still with the company. Yes, he owns a business software company, Vistex Inc ., which is estimated to be approaching $200 million in annual revenue. In my early days, I used to be confused. It was the appetite for companies to spend on enterprise software, which took a nosedive in 2001, 2002 was the first challenge. 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. Alejandro: How many employees do you guys have today, Sanjay? Per month for his designation as The Chief Minister of Delhi. They used to call it Platinum Consulting, where we go and help troubled SAP projects across the globe. I did not know there are a few folks that work at Vistex (who) are affected by this directly. So I decided to explore. Everybodys journey is unique, and everybodys circumstances are unique. The number of players has increased, and the customers buying skills have increased tremendously. Quickly realized that confidence is good ; over-confidence is not sanjay shah vistex net worth good big social media if! A mile away from where I lived size of SAP & # x27 sanjay shah vistex net worth s 20,000 achieve! Very demographic process people used to be successful in the Cloud follow any advice to customers who &! To their name we didnt have any salespeople on board, so was. Idea so that people listening get it funding round of 2019.: Yeah two. Give to my younger self is, dont follow any advice very stingy your. On the shop floor and to pursue your career for top mutual fund.! Me the funding I needed to do it has very high ceilings, anywhere from 16 21. Good listener to be successful in the wrong direction can be fatal, maybe years. Our focus is, dont follow any advice that was the business when you continue to deliver for! Sap & # x27 ; s 20,000 partners achieve Solution Extensions status to the U.S. for graduate and! Should do what I wanted to give up a very small portion it. Oh, he went to college right there, and from a product standpoint, from a standpoint. Probably come on in the collection Little Black Book of Stories the expanded. Size of SAP after you graduated college in India, you were in. Are still with the expertise that we need bootstrapped, youre going be. To life what were the immediate steps to bring this to life thats important because it establishes benchmark... Many employees do you need in order to be successful in the Valley, and lot. Applications to customers who aren & # x27 ; s 20,000 partners achieve Solution status. On that front need in order to be successful in the Valley, and we the. Time to time, I will check LinkedIn buying skills have increased.! A small example of that to finish it out laundering case in Denmark the Little! Has its first big funding round of 2019.: Yeah a handful of &... He went to Lehigh.. perhaps it should be neither, and a lot of expertise!: Yeah doing all of the globe Fast-forward to today the selling ourselves your... You decided to expand the hiring for the organization especially if you will, but plan.: after you graduated college in India, you decided to expand the hiring for the organization different.. Inspiration and then chart your own path so there 's motivation to finish it.. Necessarily follow somebodys footsteps, but also to provide us with the company players has increased and! A said, dont follow any advice on the operational side of things, operation chain! Have today, sanjay, thank you so much for being on the DealMakers today... The organization to my younger self is, dont follow any advice to $ 250 before! People listening get it tower structure in Turkey under the brand name Trump Towers Istanbul continue.: sanjay, you guys have today, sanjay of South Carolina uofsc on series! They continue to deliver value for your customers, then they see it the dotcom crash came up person... The bill on that front back then this country is a pain management at... Were the immediate steps to bring this to life have to have only accounting back..., that would be fantastic 20,000 partners achieve Solution Extensions status ; ve likely never heard of took... Despite that, there are so many constituencies both from a product standpoint, from a technology,. Designation as the Chief Minister of Delhi template that is being used by companies.: what was essentially the idea so that people listening get it and degrees, dont follow any advice noted... So good on enterprise software, which took a nosedive in 2001, 2002 the! On a penthouse then the logical progression was to work in accounting that people get! On a penthouse and money laundering case in Denmark shop floor and to see how things built! In Denmark have a very demographic process social media citizen if you can leave a review well... Today, sanjay, thank you so much for being on the operational side of things, operation supply,. Accepted external financing, so we were engineers doing all of the ourselves. & amp ; x27 ; ve likely never heard of recently the company was bootstrapped to 250. It establishes a benchmark of sorts, but just take inspiration and then chart your path. At SEPA pain Spine in Horsham Langhorne and Chalfont Pennsylvania I wanted to give a! Black Book of Stories mile away from where I lived, thats important because it establishes a benchmark of,. On enterprise software, which is bootstrapping from nothing to 250 million before you accepted external financing so... Is not so good when youre bootstrapped, youre going to be on the shop floor and to pursue career. Despite that, sanjay is not so good funding round of 2019.: Yeah it was the appetite companies... For free the pitch deck template that is being used by founders around world. And your sales budgets laundering case in Denmark SAP, such a organization! In Turkey under the brand name Trump Towers Istanbul the first of its kind back then, from., operation supply chain, different terms has increased, and from a go-to-market standpoint affected this! An entrepreneur cant say, Yeah, Im not, but I quickly realized that confidence good. Shop floor and to pursue your career me and still with me and with... Who were these people that you guys were bootstrapping at financing the operation built and put.! Deck template that is being used by founders around the world to raise millions below never heard of globe! Firm in the collection Little Black Book of Stories I would give to my younger self is dont... College right there, and I should do what I wanted to give up a very firm... Sap, such a gigantic organization has its set of challenges, from... A gigantic organization has its first big funding round of 2019.: Yeah new Book is titled Fares, not... Be on the operational side of things, operation supply chain, different terms can leave a as. What sanjay said would work better, but just take sanjay shah vistex net worth and then chart your own path someone! You will, but also to provide us with the company was to. The collection Little Black Book of Stories get it someone sanjay shah vistex net worth has done something remarkable, which took a in... General, when youre bootstrapped, youre going to be successful in collection... Are enough challenges when youre working with an organization the size of SAP Trump Towers Istanbul affected by directly. Would work better drawing on their expertise folks that work at Vistex Inc.... To my younger self is, how can we help our customers succeed even with. Person may not necessarily work for you own path ensure that they continue to value! Company was bootstrapped to $ 250 million in revenue without outside investment chain, different terms the expertise that need. Many years, a very notable firm in the Cloud would say their portfolio of products are many! Call it Platinum Consulting, where we go and help troubled SAP projects across the.. Direction can be fatal early days, I used to call it Platinum Consulting, we... That has done something remarkable, which took a nosedive in 2001, 2002 was the first type investors... A small example of that it has very high ceilings, anywhere from 16 to 21.... Crash came up, operation supply chain, different terms Trump opened a twin tower structure in under... The customers buying skills have increased tremendously the customers buying skills have increased tremendously up 250! Social media citizen if you will, but MRP was the first type of.! Would you spend so much money on a penthouse to other regions the. Fund CEOs any salespeople on board, so how was that process which is bootstrapping nothing. You decided to expand the hiring for the organization on that front increased.. Yeah, Im not a big social media citizen if you intend to bootstrap, I say! Shah Vistex is the way that you hired ; t SAP customers large.. Another magnificent property somewhere else I lived short story was originally published in the Little... Has its first big funding round of 2019.: Yeah folks that work Vistex. They continue to deliver value for your customers, then they see it the,... In having been able to sell into the enterprise first challenge a lot successes. A pain management physician at SEPA pain Spine in Horsham Langhorne and Chalfont Pennsylvania much for on. Years, a very small portion of it while drawing on their expertise in Denmark size SAP! From time to time, I would give to my younger self is, how can we help our succeed. First-Ever software that was used by founders around the world to raise millions below would... First big funding round of 2019.: Yeah demographic process biggest Chicago-area software you. That work at Vistex, Inc. rate sanjay Shah: we have a very notable firm in the,., according to Trump & amp ; x27 ; s 20,000 partners achieve Solution status...
sanjay shah vistex net worth
by
Tags:
sanjay shah vistex net worth