It is important that we strike a partnership with a very large player that can give you a tremendous amount of reach into the marketplace globally, and SAP was a natural partner for us because they have thousands and thousands of feet on the street. I said to myself, If I work the first shift selling my services, then Ill be able to use that funding to develop what I need to develop on the second and third shift. If youd like to do it, you can do it, but our R&D is in Germany, and youll have to do it here. And I wanted to move back to the U.S. My family wanted to move back to the U.S. For the people that are listening, Sanjay, what is the best way for them to reach out and say hi? So something struck me and I said, Well, I cant do it here. A: I always thought I'd find my place in the corporate world, but then I think I had some revelations about myself. : Very cool. 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. As an R&D leader in the ERP world, Sanjay also knew that this type of solution wasn't on anyone else's roadmap. Alejandro: In this case, you guys were bootstrapping. WLS CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago-based entrepreneur Sanjay Shah, founder and CEO of Vistex, Inc., which is based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., purchased the penthouse of Trump International Hotel and. Sanjay Shah: Its interesting. There are many paths to progress and success. Sanjay Shah Founder, CEO and Chief Architect Vistex Inc.2300 Barrington Road, Hoffman Estates, IL 60169www.vistex.com Industry: Technology Annual sales: $250 million Number of employees:. I was fascinated and intrigued by the software. [Laughter] Be a good listener. We were lucky that in our initial years, our go-to-market partner was SAP, and enterprise software was virtually nascent, and SAP was selling hand over fist. Denmark, which is trying to recoup some 12.7 billion krone ($2 billion), or close to 1% of its gross domestic product, says the entire enterprise was a charade. Sanjay Shah saw a void in the ERP market. 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. Q: You could have built another magnificent property somewhere else. It happens to be associated with the president now it wasnt planned that way, but that doesnt change my mind about finishing the place or eventually spending more time there. Sanjay Shah is an avid licensed pilot, is multi-lingual and holds multiple professional certifications and degrees. : And in terms of enterprise sales, Sanjay, that you were eluding to, what are your biggest takeaways from enterprise sales because its a beast. There are so many different constituencies at SAP to find the right balance to bring all of these together for hem to cheer for you. Sanjay Shah formed the Vistex Foundation, which provides grants to non-profits focusing on health, education and basic needs programming, as well as Vistex Endeavor, an employee-focused charity focused on volunteerism. Everything was very hunky-dory. I was enamored with him and was like, I wonder where he went to school? Shah noted that only a handful of SAP's 20,000 partners achieve Solution Extensions status. The privately held company's annual revenue totals $220 million, according to Shah, who is perhaps better known for his 2014 purchase of the $17 million, 14,000-square-foot penthouse atop the Trump International Hotel and Tower. Alejandro: So for the people that are listening . Tell us, after this presentation then you speak with your wife or with your family, and you still have to think about the idea of going at it. Alejandro: Now, you have them as a strategic partner, so obviously, the relationship is there. Fortunately, I had a view from the inside as well, having been one of the earliest employees of SAP. CEO, and Chief Architect, Sanjay Shah, is the WINNER of the 2019 Ernst & Young (EY) Technology Entrepreneur of the Year Midwest Award. It has 360-degree views of the city. So quite an accomplishment. Thats quite a significant amount of employees. : Okay. And overnight, they literally go belly-up. Fast-forward to today. 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 . We consider ourselves fortunate in having been able to arrive some of that. 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. Sanjay Shah: Of course, at General Motors, we were one of the first companies to use whats called MRP, material requirements planning. : 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 . It was the appetite for companies to spend on enterprise software, which took a nosedive in 2001, 2002 was the first challenge. Oh, he went to Lehigh.. Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Recently the company raised $65 million from Accel-KKR. Dubai: Dubai Police arrested Sanjay Shah, the main suspect in the biggest tax fraud and money laundering case in Denmark. But there are a lot of players out there. 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. We were able to get into new industries and even upsell to our existing customers. I love Chicago and this property provided me the vantage point to take in the city. : Did you recruit other people like talking of bootstrapping and especially in the early days, who were the initial people you got around you to help you out? You shouldnt necessarily follow somebodys footsteps, but just take inspiration and then chart your own path. And I joined in an analyst position, which meant I was able to get close to the shop floor. Perhaps they will also appreciate it. Then we also have professional services to implement our software. But I quickly realized that confidence is good; over-confidence is not so good. Posted on December 3, 2020 by Sanjay Shah: Correct. The number of players has increased, and the customers buying skills have increased tremendously. My true passion was developing software. 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. When the leadership tea. I did not know there are a few folks that work at Vistex (who) are affected by this directly. They might not have been born here, but they were raised here and they are very productive. That was a very marketable resource. Sanjay Shah, founder and CEO of Vistex, is photographed Dec. 8, 2014 in the penthouse atop the Trump International Hotel and Tower he owns. Then slowly over the years expanded to other regions of the globe. Sanjay Shah: Thats a good question. Shah bought the 14,000-square-foot penthouse for. Please subscribe to unlock this content. The first type of software in supply chain that was the first of its kind back then. You cant just shove things down their throat and hope that they use it. : Yeah. You have these ideas and visions of growth, and then there is reality unless youre exceptionally fortunate. : The future is theres more of everything. Photo by Christa Neu. 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? Thats when I decided to expand the hiring for the organization. There is so much out there, and there is so much you can I think you can never rest easy and say, I think Ive learned what I need to learn to be able to be successful. You always have to have a continuous learning mindset. I thought, Wow. Sanjay Shah: Yeah, exactly. My Name is sanjay shah. 1. 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]. I got an MBA in finance. Sanjay Shah: Again, finding the cheerleaders for you is a huge challenge. We have a relatively flat organization. That helped definitely. When we say we listen, listening not just to our employees who are the closest to our customers and have the best product ideas, but also to our customers. For a winning deck, take a look at the pitch deck template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel (see it here) that I recently covered. Perhaps they will also appreciate it. What kind of teams do you need? Its long. Person A said I should do this, and Person B said I should do this. They try to go after high-potential, high-growth, the mature organizations, and we fit the bill on that front. Q: Why would you spend so much money on a penthouse? It's just some people came in a lot earlier than others. Sanjay Shah: Correct. They want to outsource everything and just consume a service. Exactly, especially if you intend to bootstrap, I think you have to have a good accounting streak in you. There is so much out there, and there is so much you can I think you can never rest easy and say, I think Ive learned what I need to learn to be able to be successful. You always have to have a continuous learning mindset. So I hired three or four resources in the year 2000. I also spent time working for SAP at their headquarters in Germany in R&D for a couple of years of my six-year journey with them. What were some of the early days like? 56.8 1.7%. . That is more than a fulltime job in and of itself. You have these ideas and visions of growth, and then there is reality unless youre exceptionally fortunate. Do you believe that Im working on something that has a great potential? Private equity, which is more how do you help accelerate growth, which was more our case. Alejandro: Very nice. And you need professional sales help. So what kind of challenges were you guys dealing with? : The biggest bump in the journey has been this whole Cloud Revolution that customers no longer want to buy software and then run it themselves in their IT shops. : Correct. They would help us build and scale our cloud business and yet be comfortable being a minority investor. He was a pioneer and how he went to Congress and convinced them that they should rescue this American icon (Chrysler). : So this was a private equity financing. How would you differentiate a private equity profile from the venture capital that perhaps the earlier-stage guys that are listening are probably looking at? How about if I move to the U.S. and develop it by myself, and if it works, you help me take it to market? So Im an entrepreneur by accident because if they had said, Yes, you can develop it even while youre in the U.S. I probably might still be with SAP. Sanjay has been instrumental in creating an entirely new category of business software called "Go-to-Market" programs and has charted a visionary path for Vistex that transcends the "business as usual" mindset. What type of product features and functions do you need in order to be successful in the Cloud? : Of course. 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. Q&A: Beam Suntory CEO rides whiskey boom at home and abroad , Q&A: FCB Chicago ad agency CEO says big ideas still work on little screens , Q&A: Shinola looks to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., and stakes a claim in Chicago . : The venture guys will probably come on in the very early stages, maybe in years 0 to 5, I would say. What attracted you to it? Most high-end penthouses in large cities tend to be multiple stories. I was changing my disciplines significantly. Facebook gives people the power to. That helped definitely. What have you learned about yourself as a leader? : Very cool. I think thats when I felt that we were onto something. He held positions at high-profile companies including PricewaterhouseCoopers and General Motors before moving to Germany to work for software giant SAP. Sanjay Shah's Gift Combines Vision and Execution. There are different sources to get money in. /PRNewswire/ -- Sanjay Shah, Founder and CEO of Vistex, Inc., one of the world's leading technology companies, made history today with his purchase of the. Theyre very skilled these days in terms of how they decide what to buy. Thats our vision. It is important that we strike a partnership with a very large player that can give you a tremendous amount of reach into the marketplace globally, and SAP was a natural partner for us because they have thousands and thousands of feet on the street. So those are the challenges. Its also massively matrixed. Sanjay Shah: The future is theres more of everything. Thats what explains our existence and our success. Walk us through some of those days. Sanjay Shah: Thats right. Would you mind expanding a bit more on that, Sanjay? Sep 28, 2020 On June 26, 2012, Trumps sons Donald Jr and Eric were in the Philippines for the groundbreaking of the 150-million (P6.33 billion in 2012) Trump Tower Philippines, a 56-story residential building.. the trump tower is owned by Donald Trump hes a VERY rich dude hes old too Is Liam charmer a billionaire Yes he is and now he is a multi - billionaire. So I was introduced to software quite early on. Q: What about the point of view that many undocumented workers are doing the work no one else will do in this country? Alejandro: Did you recruit other people like talking of bootstrapping and especially in the early days, who were the initial people you got around you to help you out? We were able to land a couple of accounts in the year 2001. : Why did you decide to all of a sudden bring outsiders into the mix? The whole business paradigm has changed as I described. : Wonderful. New video: https://vistex.link/2EQs - SAP's Tom Roberts and Vistex Inc CEO & Founder, Sanjay Shah, discuss today's announcement that #SAP has made a strategic investment in Vistex. In 2019, Sanjay Shah led Vistex to accelerated growth opportunities with its first minority equity investment from Silicon Valley-based Accel-KKR (AKKR), infusing up to $105 million to fuel the companys continued dominance. Sanjay Shah Friday June 3 2022 Edit Shah charged that its steering is in the hands of AIMIM leader Asaduddin. Those are the revenue streams for us. In total, he gets Rs 84.5 thousand per month.) Q: Why do you feel so passionately about immigration policy? There is no one path to success. : I would love to say that I came up with this fantastic idea, and I had this great vision, and so on, but the reality is that I was a company loyalist. In the 1980s and 1990s, he teamed up with Asrani and Kader Khan as the comical team in over 100 films. But you should seek input and feedback from everybody. : In this case, you guys were bootstrapping. I also went to college right there, and my college also happened to be a mile away from where I lived. The idea was for me to start it, and then depending on how it goes, and once I would get my first couple of accounts, then think about bringing on additional folks. 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. Enterprise sales require a lot of persistence and a lot of fortitude to stay in the race for the longer term. Sanjay Shah: Yes. But even despite that, there are enough challenges when youre working with an organization the size of SAP. Lets just say that. What type of product features and functions do you need in order to be successful in the Cloud? Alejandro: You brought this up to 250 million in revenue without taking any type of investors. 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? Sanjay Shah: Some of it was a bit of craziness, I guess. Then there is annual maintenance tied with it. : Wonderful. People used to have only accounting software back then, but MRP was the first-ever software that was used by large companies. They were engineers. : Yes. What have you learned about yourself as a leader? Exactly, especially if you intend to bootstrap, I think you have to have a good accounting streak in you. : Even though you didnt want to be a professional accountant, Im sure that having a good grasp on the numbers has made a difference for you. PHOTO VIA VISTEX. Sanjay Shah '89 presents a symbolic check to Lehigh President John D. Simon '19P and Georgette Chapman Phillips, the Kevin L. and Lisa A. Clayton Dean of the College of Business and Economics. What kind of marketing do you need to be able to sell effectively? Sanjay Shah: Our first challenge was when the dotcom crash came up. Once you have built a platform already, how do you accelerate growth versus venture capital is, Do you believe in my potential? Sanjay Shah: No, Im not, but I plan to soon. Get a custom action plan and all the help that you need to start raising more capital. Walk us through some of those days. SAP was then making a foray into the U.S., into North America. Sanjays approach to building it and letting them come, The fun and challenges of bootstrapping your startup, How to grow yourself as a leader every day, : Alrighty. As a self-made man, Sanjay Shah appreciates the importance of giving back. : Of course, at General Motors, we were one of the first companies to use whats called MRP, material requirements planning. Then thats how we came to learn of SAP. Alejandro: Very cool. Alejandro: All right, Sanjay. I think private equity can offer a lot of operational expertise and a lot of go-to-market expertise. : I think the advice I would give to my younger self is, dont follow any advice. Then thats how we came to learn of SAP. I didnt want to give up much equity. Alejandro: And you went to Canada. How would you differentiate a private equity profile from the venture capital that perhaps the earlier-stage guys that are listening are probably looking at? Alejandro: Got it. Chicago entrepreneur Sanjay Shah owns a business software company, Vistex Inc, which is estimated to be approaching $200 million in annual revenue. I decided to come 10,000 miles away to go to business school. If you want me to help you with your fundraising, just book a call. The first type of software in supply chain that was the first of its kind back then. Then to ensure that they continue to receive value as they expand their portfolio of products. I think private equity can offer a lot of operational expertise and a lot of go-to-market expertise. Of course, thats important because it establishes a benchmark of sorts, but also to provide us with the expertise that we need. I would like to describe it as a bit chaotic, but a very functional democracy. Because it was bootstrapped, because we felt we had a well-engineered product, decided to get into a strategic partnership to help take it to market. So again, working with SAP, such a gigantic organization has its set of challenges, and there have been several lessons learned. How do you build and scale a cloud business? So accounting runs in our blood. : I hired people that had the technical skills to help me write the software. There are many paths to progress and success. xxxx@xxx.com + Full Profile Information + Social Network Profiles . Its also massively matrixed. : Yeah. And in general, when youre bootstrapped, youre going to be very stingy with your marketing budgets and your sales budgets. : What have I learned about growth? Sanjay Shah: We have three distinct revenue streams. I actually presented a couple of ideas to my development management and said that we should enhance SAP to perform these functions, at which point they said, Yeah. How do you guys monetize? We want more growth, more customers, a larger solution footprint. 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. 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. Sanjay Shah: Yes. : I think in 2001, I was able to land our first customers. I am a fervent believer in skills-based immigration. Im not a big social media citizen if you will, but from time to time, I will check LinkedIn. I was able to sell my services and sell my time. Start Free People Search A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Directory of Profiled Business People: Sanjay Shah Sgrignuoli, Philip - Shahait, Mohammed > Shah, Ruskinarxon - Shah, Sayad > Shah, Sanit - Shah, Sanjaykumar > Shah, Sanjay 1-25 of 525 Contacts 1 I think Im a good listener over the years. Thats right. What is private equity? : All right, Sanjay. Sanjay Shah: Its a massive organization. : Yes. Software maker Vistex announced it has raised $65 million in funding from Accel-KKR, a private equity firm based in Silicon Valley. Sanjay Shah: Business Profiles | ZoomInfo.com Reach your target accounts. As we would bootstrap, I think it was important I realized that having because we are not spending as much on sales and marketing. Sanjay Shah left SAP to establish an entirely new category of enterprise software known as Go-to-Market programs designed to help businesses solve complex business problems. Spotlight Directory Sanjay Shah '89 MBA, Founder, CEO & Chief Architect, Vistex, Inc. Sanjay Shah is a tech entrepreneur, Founder, and CEO of enterprise software company Vistex. Sanjay Shah Vistex.com is a company and has headquarters in Hoffman Estates, IL. So those are the challenges. We kicked things off about a month ago. Alejandro Cremades leads the vision and execution for Panthera Advisors as its Co-Founder and. As a business owner that helps you, serves you, and it never hurts to be fluent with numbers. : Yes. Im not a big social media citizen if you will, but from time to time, I will check LinkedIn. Sanjay Shah: I think the next thing Ive learned is always to learn to learn. One is I think I have learned to be a better listener. According to a media portal, the net worth of Boney Kapoor is Rs 153.34 crores. A: Yes, but Chicago is my favorite city in the world and it will always be. : Thats right. Sanjay Shah, the unemployed trader who's now worth $700 million but is wanted for 'fraud' Sanjay Shah and Solo Capital Partners LLP are central figures in the Danish Cum-Ex scandal that helped investors to rapidly sell shares and claim multiple refunds on dividend taxes. : Our first challenge was when the dotcom crash came up. So what kind of challenges were you guys dealing with? : You brought this up to 250 million in revenue without taking any type of investors. Alejandro: Absolutely, and well talk about your bootstrapping experience in just a bit. Indeed. I thought, Wow. Founder and CEO of enterprise software company Vistex to talk about balancing the benefits and harm of technology. So I ended up taking a job at Pricewaterhouse as a staff auditor right after I graduated from grad school. Vistex also sells its applications to customers who aren't SAP customers. Alejandro: Wonderful. So accounting runs in our blood. : What were some of the key ingredients that you were looking for in a partner? Sanjay Shah: The venture guys will probably come on in the very early stages, maybe in years 0 to 5, I would say. Also, remember, if you need any help whether it is with your fundraising efforts or with selling your business, you can reach me at, Roman Rittweger On Starting His Business At 52 And Raising $100 Million To Disrupt The Health Insurance Industry, He Built Turo Into A $1 Billion Business And Now Is Investing In Startups That Make Humanity More Resilient, Shelby Clark On Building Turo Into A $1 Billion Business And Investing In Startups That Make Humanity More Resilient, Important Things To Look For In An Investment Contract, He Sold His Last Company For Millions And Now Raised $38 Million To Identify The Best Sperm With AI And Improve IVF Outcomes, Gurjeet Singh On Selling His Last Company For Millions And Now Raising $37 Million To Identify The Best Sperm With AI And Improve IVF Outcomes. So without further ado, Id like to welcome our guest today to the show. Alejandro: And in terms of enterprise sales, Sanjay, that you were eluding to, what are your biggest takeaways from enterprise sales because its a beast. There are so many different stakeholders. Ellen Milligan , Donal Griffin and Karin Matussek 7 October, 2020 08:42 am IST What does the future look like for Vistex? Because it was bootstrapped, because we felt we had a well-engineered product, decided to get into a strategic partnership to help take it to market. I look forward to seeing the final product. Sanjay Shah: 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. Sanjay Shah Founder, CEO, & Chief Architect at Vistex, Inc. Barrington Hills, Illinois, United States 500 followers 500+ connections Join to connect Vistex, Inc. Company Website Activity In. 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. But I quickly realized that confidence is good; over-confidence is not so good. Do you believe that Im working on something that has a great potential? Private equity, which is more how do you help accelerate growth, which was more our case. (Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune). If you can leave a review as well, that would be fantastic. Thats when I decided to expand the hiring for the organization. Alejandro: Very cool. Maybe I should trust A more than B, so I should do what A said. No. Alejandro: What were some of the key ingredients that you were looking for in a partner? All of my family and extended family lived in a one-mile radius. This is only one story. : So here you are in 1999. : How big was the business when you joined them? Sanjay Shah: I think in 2001, I was able to land our first customers. Have you completed it? They used to call it Platinum Consulting, where we go and help troubled SAP projects across the globe. My advice is, dont follow any advice. Punjab National Bank. Sanjay Shah: I think the advice I would give to my younger self is, dont follow any advice. 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. I was an SAP loyalist. And in general, when youre bootstrapped, youre going to be very stingy with your marketing budgets and your sales budgets. Thats what helped us make the call with the partner we chose. Youve been with SAP for six years. So General Motors in Canada was willing to wager a bet on me. What were some of your biggest takeaways because now, you have your own company, but I think that being able to work with such a massive player and understanding the dynamics and how they worked, Im sure that many of those lessons youve applied to how youve built and scale your own business. Sanjay Shah: I was living in a form of a bubble. Sanjay brings a high level of passion, energy and skills to address complex business processes for global organizations. Alejandro: Alrighty. Lets just say that. Sanjay Shah: Okay. When we say we listen, listening not just to our employees who are the closest to our customers and have the best product ideas, but also to our customers. Why? : Then, all of a sudden, the idea of perhaps starting your own business starts to become more tangible and have more color. I decided to come 10,000 miles away to go to business school. About. What were some of the early days like? That has served us well. Why Canada? Kapoor was a contestant in the Indian reality show 'Bigg Boss' in 2011.