Life sparks in an ashtray - CIOL News Reports

Life sparks in an ashtray

The phoenix effect is as relevant to the world of technology as anywhere, spots CyberMedia News as it sketches the portrait of Shantanu Ghosh, vice president for India Product Operations, Symantec

Pratima Harigunani

Monday, August 11, 2008

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PUNE, INDIA: No one is spared from ending up in ashes. Not even a brilliant idea or a cool technology or a great product in the making. It can happen to anyone. But what matters is rising out of the ashes and learning your lessons well.

And if Shantanu's own experiences and observations are anything to go by, while the worst may seem to be in the burning, the best of course, is in the rising. More so, in the fickle world of technology, where ideas and products keep rising and falling, and then some outstanding ones rising again.

For Shantanu Ghosh, who with about 20 years of experience in Information Technology, Enterprise and Engineering Software, has setup, built and run R&D and Engineering centers for startups, medium and large tech companies.

And now at the helm of Symantec as the vice president for India product operations, the career flight saw the wings of a phoenix first before that of an eagle.

Watching the Phoenix

Ghosh started his career at a time when software was not the cool wave yet.

In the mid 80s, after graduating as an electronics engineer, Ghosh took up firmware when hardware used to be the sophisticated thing.

And from his first stint at a public sector concern, where he was building real time computer systems, he moved on to start-ups like River Run and PenPoint as life brought him in touch with Go Corporation, an illustrious start-up that is still remembered for its pioneering work in Pen-point computers and PDAs.

"Their vision was dramatic and they were confident that these computers would replace the keyboard computers. I was part of the work on a brand-new operating system. IBM too was part of the excitement we were dreaming," says Ghosh.

"Incidentally the Think Pad name was planned for this product line and in many ways it dreamed and made possible features in the early 90s that we see in the iPhone now. We were actually working as the first wave of developers on these really cool devices."

But these brilliant sparks couldn't see the sun. The products couldn't make it to the market for the sheer reason that the market was still not ready for something of this kind.

As Ghosh vividly remembers, "You can't be too late with a cool product, but you can't be too early either." This was not the only product that Ghosh saw and picked the lessons of the 'Phoenix Effect' from.

As an avid techie whose career is dappled with stints with start-ups, Ghosh saw and was part of similar ideas that while they were cool and avant-garde, couldn't take off as planned.

Winpad, an MS product that ultimately became Mobile Windows, Apple Newton etc are some more examples where he observed that one might have the coolest technology or the best people under one's belt but understanding the market is equally important.

"We were working on the coolest software, but incidentally the problem was in the lack of appropriate hardware. You can't just work on a great idea, but you have to give a complete-compelling solution to consumers. Incidentally the Palm Pilot guys were also our contemporaries, who were at that time working on a handwriting engine but they too went out to work on hardware later."

And so Ghosh has learnt that a good idea fails for many reasons much beyond technology and one can pick many sparks out of the ashes of failure. As he wisely points out, a lot many success stories in our industry have been relatively young ones, be it Google or Facebook.

"That's not an accident. One can actually grow in a non-linear fashion versus a linear progression where you think you can extrapolate and grow. But unless one has that appetite of risk and failure as well as the capability of unlearning, success is not a given."

From nimble start-ups to giants

Even at a time when brain drain was catching all the attention, Ghosh chose to stay away from the current and stick to product development.

After North California and another innings at Delhi, life brought him to Pune to handle products on a bigger radius than now for a company that later was bought by Bindview, that in turn, was acquired by Symantec about two years back.

In his previous role, Shantanu headed the Security and Data Management Group in India for Symantec. He joined Symantec two years ago through the BindView acquisition where he was vice president of engineering and responsible for setting up, building and running its largest R&D center in Pune.

So how's it like for a canoe-racer to sail in a ship as big as Symantec. Does he at any time miss the start-up fever?

He lets out a small guffaw as he confesses.

"I thought I would miss that. I was working at a place where I knew everyone by name and I thought coming to a bigger company would make things a little less informal. There were concerns on the pace of work too. In a bigger company, one has to be interdependent on a bunch of people."

He adds: "But as one of my seniors rightly told me, if you want to use technology to create change that touches people, it's possible only in a bigger company. That's where change is actually happening. Symantec, for instance, touches so many people daily by its sheer scale."

The guy who chose to stick with products and who loves codes to the hilt, is today exploring his other side that was latent to even him - managing people. So what's tougher- codes or people?

"When I was initially offered the role that would encompass people as well as technology, I did not take it. It was after six months that I took it up. And managing high-calibre, creative people, in a team-focused environment is not an easy job, but it gives as much kick as anything else," he answers.

"I do not code, but in the role I am, I have to oversee and keep abreast of technology. When you can't do something well, be it codes or people, anything is tough. People of course are more complex and as I realize, no MBA degree can teach you how to manage brilliant minds together."

A gadget freak with no iPhone, a disappointed foodie

There's other side to this VP at Symantec. This techie, who was equally enchanted with the lateral world and was about to become an architect at one point, loves gadgets, food and traveling as avidly as he loves his work.

His proud piece now is a Wii Ninetendo, a gadget he is absolutely in love with. "I don't own an iPhone yet because the only way I can pick one is by hacking it and that would be the last thing a Symantec guy should do, right," he shares in a light vein.

A big fan of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and a big reader of CK Prahalad and Tom Peters, Ghosh, is all sport as he shows the other side of globalization.

"As an avid foodie, I really envy the travelers who could savor the real local taste and stuff. Nowadays, when you can get Oriental food in the US with equal ease, there's not much to explore."

Disappointed but not yet defeated, the wanderlust takes on time and again, be it a North Indian kabab or the latest Cambodian experiment, or a new country. Ghosh loves history and so has inclination for places with a rich story. And next on his wish list is Israel.

"I am not sure if that would work to be a convincing family vacation though," he jokes.

Talking of family, he counts parenthood as one of his major turning points in life.

"You can read about it, hear about it, but experiencing it is an altogether different feeling."

So, his five-year old daughter, Nandini is truly his biggest stress buster and the new boss in his life whom he has to explain his frequent and extensive travel schedules.

For sure, it would be an equally exciting and enriching tale for her, as she listens to the long distance Ghosh has traveled so far.

From a phoenix to an eagle, after all, is quite a flight.

©CyberMedia News

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