“I am sorry for this mistake. It shouldn’t have happened.” This is the first sentence I ever spoke to Manav Garg.
I suppose this sentence could be valid today in 2024 as well. Manav has been a companion in my journey for almost the past two decades. I should know Manav well and this post should have been published years ago, if not more. But Manav is, well, Manav. He has an astute mind for business and is probably one of the best salespeople in this country, he’s generous with his time and alcohol but he’s still difficult to decode.
From the day I decided to launch this series, I’ve been wondering how I would tackle Manav. And I think, I now have it.
Let’s go back to when I was called Manav. It was 2007 and I was at Nasscom where we had conceptualised an initiative called Emerge 50 to spot emerging companies. This was a list of 50 fast-growing companies, and Eka Software was one of them. To help others discover these companies, we decided to organize an event. A colleague of mine, at the time, had made an error where he spelt Eka Software incorrectly and allocated Manav to the wrong slot and session. As soon as we realised that a human error had crept in, we sprung into action and I made the call.
Manav, for his part, even though slightly frustrated, was amused and understood that mistakes happen. His talk was a success and that was that.
I made it a point to attend the event, and while Manav spoke, I saw a spark. He could see beyond the horizon. Manav has a talent for recognizing trends early. I believe that Manav is the embodiment of the Hindi phrase, “Udti chidiya ke par gin lena.” (It translates to “Being extremely perceptive and sharp”.)
Fast forward to 2016, I was at iSPIRT and Manav was invited to give a talk. By now, Manav had evolved too. This young man from Moga, Punjab, was slick, fashionable and very bright. He knew how to command a room and speak boldly without fear.
I realised then that Manav could play a role in building a collective that would work with founders and help them grow. It’s almost as if Manav read my thoughts and started F6 soon after. He had curated a collective of six founders who would gather on a stage and share anecdotes from their professional and personal lives. These events were captivating. I could see younger and first-time founders, who were still trying to build their startups attending these events and absorbing all the information put out before them. They were hungry to hear from Manav.
So when SaaSBoomi started to come together, Manav’s experience of hosting these very successful events gave us the energy that we needed.
The role Manav has played at SaaSBoomi is nuanced, deep, and complex. Manav’s fingerprints exist across SaaSBoomi and listing his contribution will take me days, thousands of words and we will all run out of energy and time.
But I’ll list a few, just the headlines, to highlight Manv’s importance to us.
- As a founding member of SaaSBoomi, Manav was not just present at conception but he helped us formalise the process. When I was taking over as CEO of our collective, Manav helped us set up corporate governance guardrails and formalise the structure.
- Our big report, in collaboration with McKinsey, was Manav’s idea.
- Nudging us to look at a US corridor was also Manav’s idea.
- His deep network across the ecosystem has helped open doors from Microsoft to Amazon.
But all of this is Manav the CEO, Manav the founder, Manav the operator. But what about Manav the person?
I’ve said this ad nauseam, I shirk the limelight. Manav recognises that but over time, he has nudged me to start embracing moments where I step out and tolerate the spotlight. He has insisted that for people to be able to trust and relate to SaaSBoomi, they have to be able to see me. Against all my instincts, I agree with him. But it’s his paternal nature towards me that truly warms my heart.
I am a simple man. I like Indian food (be it from the North, South, East, or West), it’s my favorite cuisine and the only one I truly understand. You park me at a table in a Japanese or Mexican restaurant and I am all at sea. Manav knows this and whenever we’re at one of these places, he makes it a point to lean over and recommend what he knows I will like. Be it sushi or chilli. Manav hasn’t gone wrong once.
I am sorry it took me so long to write this Manav. You should know, that I hold everything you’ve told me through the years close to my heart.
Pay It FWD spotlights passionate individuals who've shaped SaaSBoomi as volunteers from the ground up. These stories capture the human spirit driving India's transformation into a product nation - we'll bring you a lot more stories from the volunteer community.
