‘Beating The Odds To Construct Indian Telecom Merchandise’

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From a boarding faculty in Raipur to doing pioneering work on the world’s first Verilog simulator, laying the groundwork for electronics product improvement in India, and constructing an organization valued at over ₹200 billion, Sanjay Nayak’s journey rivals the drama of a Bollywood movie, with its many twists and turns. EFY’s Yashasvini Razdan traces this outstanding story of resilience and optimism, starting within the city of Raipur, the place all of it started.

The fifth of the Nayak kids and the primary son of a state authorities engineer and a conventional homemaker, Sanjay Nayak grew up in Madhya Pradesh. In an upper-middle-class family that positioned nice significance on training, Sanjay’s father apprehensive in regards to the impact of frequent transfers on his kids’s education. To keep away from fixed adjustments, he enrolled Sanjay in Rajkumar Faculty, a boarding faculty in Raipur, when he reached fifth grade. “He was constructing dams, which meant we regularly lived in areas with restricted infrastructure,” recollects Sanjay.

Eight years on the boarding faculty fostered Sanjay’s independence and excellence in each lecturers and extracurricular actions, whereas additionally shaping his appreciation for household. The lengthy months with restricted contact along with his elder sisters or youthful brother heightened the worth of household relationships every time he returned dwelling throughout holidays.

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“Boarding faculty, with alternatives for extracurricular actions like debates and intensive sports activities services, taught me early on to be unbiased and well-rounded,” he shares.

Sports activities caught with him all through his life and the teachings he learnt on the sphere influenced his profession. “I’ve been an avid sports activities particular person all my life, enjoying cricket, tennis, and now golf. Most sports activities are group sports activities, the place you win collectively. Sports activities additionally educate you that you simply win some and lose some. You may have an important day someday and a foul day the subsequent, however you begin once more with hope and purpose to enhance. Sports activities gives a improbable perspective on life and beneficial classes that you simply gained’t be taught anyplace else,” he declares. Later, Sanjay made it a precedence to make sure sports activities performed a central position in his kids’s lives.

The gold medal of an nearly IITian

A nonchalant all-rounder, younger Sanjay was poised to enter the subsequent stage of life along with his sights set on the IITs. Nonetheless, life had different plans. As a consequence of a mix-up, he arrived an hour late for the second paper of the IIT examination, which impacted his total efficiency regardless of a robust exhibiting within the first paper. “Though I did effectively within the first paper, it affected my total efficiency. Nonetheless, I bought into different institutes and finally went to Birla Institute of Expertise (BIT) in Ranchi,” he says.

This setback didn’t deter Sanjay. Decided to benefit from his scenario, he discovered that with effort, he might excel. “Within the first semester at BIT, I realised that with some effort, I might excel,” he says. Weapons, swords, gangs, fights—Bihar within the early 80s was fairly turbulent after the JP motion, however for Sanjay, lecturers and sports activities stored him going. “It was just like the Wild West the place you noticed and skilled issues that toughened you up—nothing in life might scare me after that. Regardless of the chaos, the educational surroundings was supportive, and the entire expertise at BIT was very holistic, combining lecturers with sports activities and different actions,” he recollects with a secret smile.

By the point he graduated, he was the gold medallist of the institute, having achieved the very best marks throughout all branches by a big margin. This expertise strengthened his confidence in the truth that he might excel wherever he was, “even when I didn’t get into IIT,” he shares.

As an alternative of choosing a traditional job, Sanjay sought broader horizons and pursued an MS in pc engineering at North Carolina State College, Raleigh. Adapting to a brand new cultural and tutorial surroundings, he confronted preliminary challenges however step by step gained expertise and confidence. “I figured that I needed to be taught so much in a short while. To try this I wanted to make good selections, optimise my time, and plan my research, to enter most data within the least time. I managed to crack the time administration code and was capable of sort out new challenges, determine issues out independently and excel academically,” he shares. Years later, it was a pleasing shock for Sanjay when North Carolina State College determined to induct him into their ECE Corridor of Fame in 2018.

Attributing his success to his late father, Shiv Shankar Nayak, a really vivid and achieved man for his era, Sanjay acknowledges that he supported him in all his selections. “Within the 80s, if somebody in your loved ones labored a authorities job, the household might push you in the identical path. Nonetheless, I wished to go to the US, and my father supported me in that call. He was my first position mannequin,” he shares.

Excellence will not be innate, however absorbed and learnt, until it turns into a behavior. For Sanjay, absorbing this behavior got here from watching his father’s consideration to element. “My dad was captivated with all the pieces he did. His handwriting was nearly like calligraphy. He wrote fantastically, even for mundane duties, like making a purchasing checklist, demonstrating a tradition of excellence. Whether or not it was practising yoga or his occupation, he excelled at all the pieces,” he recollects fondly.

Sanjay grew to move on this heirloom to his kids. “They all the time attempt to do their greatest and set excessive requirements for themselves,” he states proudly.

The three Vs—Verilog, VHDL, VLSI

Life after school for a lot of entails exact decision-making, numerous ifs and buts, hits and misses. For Sanjay, life put him in the suitable place, on the proper time, and he used that to his benefit to do the suitable issues, by no means lacking to excel in a possibility that knocked his door.

After finishing his post-graduation in 1987, he joined a startup, Gateway Design Automation (GDA), in Boston with lower than 20 individuals. “Folks discuss startups in 2024, I began my profession from a startup in 1987!” he exclaims.

This group at GDA was the identical group that had invented the primary language on this planet that may enable {hardware} to be described in software program—Verilog. GDA opened its Verilog language to IEEE, making it trade’s first {hardware} description language normal. For 2 years, Sanjay labored on creating the Verilog simulator with the group. Across the identical time the Protection Superior Analysis Tasks Company (DARPA) within the US had began creating VHDL as a language and Sanjay labored on creating one of many world’s first VHDL simulators.

“The primary seven years in my profession, from 1987 to 1995, concerned engaged on cutting-edge applied sciences in electronics design and automation (EDA), which was a dawn trade then. Gateway Design Automation was acquired by Cadence in 1989 for $80 million, which was a really massive deal at the moment,” he recounts.

He went on to maneuver to India and helped within the institution of Gateway Design Automation in India, which later grew to become Cadence Design Programs in Noida/Delhi, the second of the one two firms concerned in deep tech product improvement in India, together with Texas Devices in Bengaluru in the course of the 1980’s.

“It was a time when the exhaustive coursework of digital design automation and VLSI didn’t exist in most IITs or different faculties. We ended up serving to arrange coursework at IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi to coach college students on this area, and labored with different academic institutes to offer them the newest traits in semiconductors and EDA. We additionally had coaching programs and engaged on tasks with school,” he recollects.

The household man

Together with laying the foundational stones of the electronics ecosystem, Sanjay began constructing a life with Anju, in 1989. “I’ve been very fortunate to have her as my spouse. To help my ambitions and goals, she selected to be a homemaker, all her life, regardless of having a masters’ in economics,” he shares. The couple has two sons—Shravan and Anmol—who are actually 31 and 29. Each have adopted within the footsteps of their father and brought up engineering as a occupation.

Rising up, Sanjay’s mom, a conventional homemaker, made certain that her kids had been instilled with religious values. “My mom all the time stored the household collectively and instilled robust values in us.” Leaning on the identical values, Sanjay all the time made household his precedence.

After a short stint of two years within the US from 1995-1997, Sanjay determined to maneuver again to India in 1997 and based Viewlogic India, which was later acquired by Synopsys India, the place he served because the managing director. The very first thing he did after transferring to Bengaluru was to purchase a home in Koramangala, close to the native membership to realize entry to tennis, swimming, and all types of sports activities. “Sports activities as a life-style was instilled proper from the beginning, and I wished my children to undertake it as effectively. Each morning, I’d stroll to the membership to play tennis, and my children used all of the membership services as effectively,” he shares.

Happy with his boarding faculty heritage, Sanjay wished his kids to realize the identical publicity as he did and made it some extent to journey extensively collectively. A strict vegetarian, a life-style handed down from his dad and mom, Sanjay and his household take pleasure in varied international cuisines, his favorite being Italian and Thai.

“Regardless of being in a startup and having a really intense job with numerous enterprise journey, I don’t assume there was ever an occasion when my kids wished me to be with them, and I wasn’t there. All of it boils all the way down to prioritisation and environment friendly time administration,” he says.

For Sanjay, parenting has been much less about giving directions and extra about setting an instance. “I’ve allow them to observe and be taught from expertise, as a result of actions communicate louder than phrases. Youngsters emulate what they see and internalise the worth system round them with none lectures,” he says.

Controlling the controllables

From a boy who couldn’t get into IIT, to an trade chief who helped design the electronics curriculum for IITs and different main engineering establishments in India, Sanjay Nayak has not simply created an instance for his kids, but in addition each engineer who aspires to tackle the world.

Be it unconventional selections like starting his profession in a startup within the US as an alternative of any massive MNC, or coming again to India after finding out within the US, to leaving his cush job as MD at Synopsys to leap again into the startup life—Sanjay Nayak has by no means mentioned no to a problem.

“I used to be very snug at Synopsys however, in some way, I used to be craving journey and felt that I wanted to do one thing alone to totally realise my potential. I wished to do one thing path breaking that would set an instance for constructing a deep-tech product firm from India. The startup life was beckoning me. That’s once I met my second position mannequin, Dr Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande, a profitable serial entrepreneur,” he recounts as his eyes gentle up with admiration on mentioning his identify.

Sanjay met Dr Deshpande by means of a mutual acquaintance and got here to know that after the profitable IPO of Sycamore Networks, the latter wished to construct one thing in India. “Chatting with him was like speaking to a legend, since at that cut-off date, he was the richest Indian on this planet! I expressed my want to start out a brand new enterprise and change into an entrepreneur like him. Regardless of my lack of telecom gear expertise, he assured me we might determine it out,” he says, the smile by no means sporting off from his face.

For somebody who had spent 13 years in digital design automation, Sanjay noticed potential within the telecommunications sector and determined to enterprise into it. “Regardless of not figuring out the sphere, I used to be assured I might determine it out,” he says. The boldness, together with help from Dr Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande, propelled him to arrange Tejas Networks in 2000 alongside along with his two co-founders Arnob Roy and Dr Kumar Sivarajan.

The startup confronted quite a few challenges. Product improvement in India was unprecedented, funding by VCs in product startups was tough, and prospects resembling BSNL had been sceptical, since they felt safer shopping for from established overseas gear suppliers. Regardless of these challenges, Tejas Networks efficiently raised US$100 million of VC funding, constructed world-class optical networking merchandise and noticed exponential monetary development from inception until 2007 and was readying for IPO. The corporate confronted their first headwinds when the monetary markets froze after the 2007-2008 monetary disaster and its IPO plans had been shelved. To make issues worse, competitors from the state-backed Chinese language firms, who undercut costs, was brutal. This was adopted by a sequence of sudden exterior challenges that pushed the corporate to the wall. Its largest worldwide buyer Nortel filed for chapter in 2009, the 2G rip-off in India in 2010 froze the shopping for of all telecom gear, and a pure calamity—cyclone ‘Thane’ in 2012—submerged their manufacturing facility situated in Pondicherry below six metres of water.

Sanjay pauses to take a breath whereas recalling each hurdle after which with a solemn smile says, “From a peak of `6 billion in 2006, our revenues plummeted to `2 billion by 2012-2013. But, we stored our heads down, preserved money, and continued to spend money on R&D, even when it appeared insane.”

One would assume that the cyclone was the ultimate blow, however can be improper. Sanjay goes on, “We moved to a brand new workplace on the way in which to Digital Metropolis in Bengaluru, occupying three flooring in a multi-storied constructing. Three months later, one other workplace in the identical constructing caught fireplace and shortly the entire constructing, together with our places of work and R&D labs, was ablaze. I simply stood there questioning, what else might go improper NOW!”

For anybody else, this is able to have been the top, however for Sanjay, who knew tips on how to discover the silver lining behind each cloud, this couldn’t be the top. “I’m not saying I didn’t really feel drained, low, or pissed off. After all, I did, however I had two issues—the help of my household and my group, and a very good evening’s sleep. Each morning, I awoke and reminded myself that for each drawback there’s a resolution,” he shares.

Being a pacesetter, Sanjay by no means misplaced hope and helped rebuild the group’s confidence. He and his co-founders ensured that no junior workers’ salaries had been reduce, whereas the senior executives took wage cuts. “The infrastructure might be rebuilt however the group members and their data had been priceless, and we did all the pieces we might to maintain the group intact. Other than a six-day delay after the fireplace, all salaries had been issued on time,” he states proudly. “We managed to salvage some gear from the fireplace. We additionally needed to battle to get our claims from the insurance coverage firm, since there weren’t many related precedents of insurance coverage claims of broken high-tech gear,” he provides.

Sanjay took on the position of preserving the group motivated, along with his infectious optimism, and finally overcame the obstacles to develop revenues and income, and reignited the dream to take the corporate public. Tejas Networks launched an IPO in 2017, making it the primary deep-tech electronics product firm within the nation to go public. Immediately Tejas Networks is valued at over `200 billion. Its merchandise are deployed in all telecom networks in India, and throughout greater than 75 nations globally.

Regardless of these wins, Sanjay’s want to make a world-renowned product improvement firm nonetheless felt incomplete. He realised that to make Tejas a world chief, the corporate wanted an even bigger steadiness sheet and a stronger model to increase its worldwide enterprise. So, when Tata Sons approached Tejas in 2021, to make a strategic funding and take a controlling stake, Sanjay noticed the chance to fulfil his dream and make Tejas Networks a legacy product improvement firm, with a world footprint. Sanjay and some senior executives labored with Tata Sons in confidence and pulled off this deal inside three weeks of shaking fingers.

“I really feel joyful that I bought a number of alternatives to work and develop innovative applied sciences throughout my profession,” he says however cautions towards the sudden challenges. “It’s about controlling the controllables. If you do one thing about your scenario, there’s a way of accomplishment. You declare little victories, and people successes offer you energy. The following day, you’re higher off than you had been yesterday,” he explains.

After serving because the founding MD and CEO for 23 eventful years, and securing an order guide of practically `100 billion, Sanjay felt that it was time to move the baton to the Tatas, who would make sure the success and development of the corporate for a number of years to come back. He had set an instance that an Indian electronics product improvement firm from India might tackle international behemoths and be effectively poised for long-term success. The problem that he had undertaken was now resolved and he determined to step down from his position to take sail by means of an even bigger problem—to assist construct an electronics product nation.

Aboard a brand new problem

In 2008, the Prime Minister fashioned a activity drive which set the agenda for the ESDM (electronics system design and manufacturing) trade to formulate the Nationwide Electronics Coverage and the Semiconductor Coverage. The duty drive, which was the primary to coin the time period ESDM, included names resembling Dr Ajay Chowdhry, Dr Ajay Kumar (then Joint Secretary, later Defence Secretary), and Sanjay Nayak, amongst others. “We coined the time period ESDM to emphasize the mixing of {hardware}, software program, methods, design, and manufacturing,” he recollects. The group projected that by 2020, imports of electronics would surpass these of oil, which certainly got here true, galvanising the federal government and trade to deal with home electronics manufacturing, design, and manufacturing.

In 2024, Sanjay joined a activity drive with Dr Ajai Chaudhary, Dr Satya Gupta and others to create a blueprint for making India an electronics product nation. This activity drive has proposed an funding of `44,000 crores (roughly $5 billion) for this effort, and lots of particular suggestions, primarily based on a practitioner’s perspective on the challenges and alternatives for India to develop world-class product firms.

Even with all his achievements, by no means as soon as does Sanjay take credit score, all all through narrating his story in third particular person. “Fixing any massive drawback will not be one thing one can do alone. I’ve been privileged that at each level in my profession, I used to be surrounded by mentors from whom I discovered so much. I used to be additionally surrounded by my colleagues and co-founders, who’re excellent individuals, and we all the time complemented one another in no matter we did,” he shares.

Sanjay’s life has been dominated by the ideas he imbibed on the sports activities area. “An important sports activities particular person by no means offers up after a foul day. They all the time come again with the hope of doing higher. This optimism has been a energy in my profession,” he states.

Just like the protagonist of his favorite film Anand, Sanjay’s optimism will not be unique to realism. As an alternative, it’s a fireplace that burns vivid, preserving him and his group heat in the course of the storm. Sanjay believes “Optimism is important for an entrepreneur. It retains you motivated and joyful.”

Sanjay’s co-founders and mentors proceed to be amazed by his optimism, noting that they’ve but to come across anybody extra hopeful. For Sanjay Nayak, there may be all the time a path ahead, and his journey stands as a testomony to resilience, dedication, and the enduring energy of optimism.