Manoj is a co-founder of Caydre and SCIP. He became CEO of Waterbase Ltd. in 1990, a company he listed on the Mumbai Stock Exchange. He was until recently CSO for Apparel, a retail company in Dubai (2013-2018). He was Executive Director of Dubai SME, a Government organization that catalyzes entrepreneurship (2005-2013). Manoj is a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Delhi, an MBA from IIM, Bangalore, and a DBA from Case Western Reserve University, USA.
Didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do. Dabbled in everything – sports, theatre, and art. Drifted into engineering.
Delhi Public School,Wandered into design engineering consulting. Didn’t want to work in a factory. Didn’t want to go for an MBA.
Mechanical Engineering Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India, class of 77Went back to school 5 years after engineering graduation. Post-graduation had options to do PhD in US. Instead went to world of practice.
MBA Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India, class of 84Returned to grad school 20 years after MBA and having 2 five year stints as CEO of 2 companies.
DBA, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, class of 2004Conceptualized, designed and managed project implementation of material handling and ash disposal systems of utilities. Sensed an ability to grasp large complex systems.
1977 - 81Got a top down view of the 3rd largest Indian business group. Focused on business development and acquisitions.
1984 - 89At 33 became CEO of a startup Aquaculture Company. Did an IPO on Mumbai Stock exchange.
1990 - 95Reached Dubai to head a $140m retail and distribution company. Learnt a new industry. Diversified and scaled a running business. Understood the importance of customer choice in making (or breaking) a business in a pennies industry.
1996 - 2001Back to graduate school to reinvent myself. Taught capstone strategy course. Learnt more than I taught.
2001 - 2005Started an Executive Education company based on the reinvention I experienced when I returned to grad school.
2005 - continuingOperated the Government of Dubai’s entrepreneur development organization. Ran an incubator and funding program.
2005 - 2013Experienced entrepreneurship to help entrepreneurs; established a Chocolate Café in Bangalore.
2006 - 2008Focus was strategy preparation & execution, platforms (IT and logistics) for scale-up and mindset change.
2013 – 2018SCIP, Caydre and Strategically
2019 -