"Some people like to garden or golf. I’m interested in technology."
To Ravi, venture is all about the journey: growth and change, learning and improving. Whether he’s helping founders realize their full potential or hiring new partners who will push the firm forward, this mindset infuses everything he does.
“If you want to have a successful company, there are lots of personal transitions you have to go through,” he says.
It’s a mindset that was hardwired into him at a young age. The son of an Indian immigrant and a Brooklyn-born mother, he lived in four different states and on three different continents before turning 18. This, he says, allowed him to interact with diverse personalities and experience the world from different perspectives.
“It’s made me more open to change, new ideas, and new people.”
But it’s only one of the elements that have contributed to his success. A founding member of the firm, Ravi has dedicated his life to hard work and hard tech. At Stanford, he earned a BS in electrical engineering, a BA in economics, and an MBA. And before entering venture capital, he ran a product management group at Silicon Graphics, worked in management consulting at Booz Allen, and worked as a software engineer for BDIS, a Silicon Valley biotech instrument manufacturer.
“Some people like to garden or golf,” he says. “I’m interested in technology. If I could choose any career I wanted, I’d be doing what I do now.”
Since 1999, he’s focused primarily on enterprise IT, mobility, and Internet and cloud-based services and applications, helping more than a dozen companies to acquisition and five to IPO. True to his character, however, he’s recently taken interest in the consumer side of the firm, supporting companies like Cheddar.
Says Ravi: “I’m always open to reinventing myself.”