POSITION PLACED: Managing Director

Executive Summary

Silicon Valley-based Model N, Inc., the leading provider of Revenue Management solutions and one of the fastest growing enterprise software companies in the world, desired to create and expand a new engineering center in India at Hyderabad.. Model N felt the urgent need to bring onboard a strong leadership team that could attract the best local talent, set up best practices and build a true product engineering center. To drive this organizational growth, Model N decided to start at the top by hiring a General Manager for the center in Hyderabad.

The General Manager would be responsible for all aspects of the India center, from Product Development, Professional Services and Product Support to Application Support, HR, Finance and Facilities. It was imperative that this hire should have experience in running a global product organization independently, in addition to having local Hyderabad management experience. Impeccable integrity was also a key requirement given the financial responsibilities inherent in such a role.
The key challenge in filling this position was that there were few candidates in India, who had led global engineering reporting to the CEO. A large part of the challenge was a need for local experience and Hyderabad as the work location! AnuPartha played a pivotal role in helping Model N- a high growth enterprise software company – leverage India effectively.

We are pleased to announce that Srikanth Gadamsetty, the candidate we were instrumental in placing is currently the Global VP of Engineering, based out of Hyderabad. We would also like to thank Jack Rinat for being wonderfully supportive and for being a great reference point.

About Model N

Founded in 1999 by seasoned entrepreneurs who had earlier founded NetDynamics, Model N focuses on providing comprehensive Revenue Management solutions for the high-tech and life-science industries. The company has established itself as a market leader in its chosen space of revenue management. Model N manages over $150B in annual revenue for Fortune 500 companies, effectively competing with big players such as Oracle and SAP as well as other best-of-breed niche players. Headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, Model N today was one of the select few independent, pre-IPO stage, privately held enterprise software companies when this assignment was initiated. In 2013 it went public on NASDAQ with a highly a highly successful IPO.

Background

Model N had an existing Build-Operate-Transfer agreement with a third-party IT services provider based in Hyderabad, India. As the engagement matured and stabilized, Model N decided to exercise the “Transfer” option and set up its own subsidiary in Hyderabad, India. Its plan was to take over the existing staff from the service provider and thereafter scale operations by adding high quality people. Therefore Model N felt the urgent need to bring onboard a strong leadership team that could attract the best local talent, set up best practices and build a true product engineering center in Hyderabad. Model N approached Global Executive Talent (AnuPartha) to work as a search partner for finding these critical senior-level professionals.

The Search Challenge – AnuPartha’s Perspective

Anu Parthasarathy

The assignment was done in multiple phases. In the first phase, AnuPartha focused on hiring a General Manager who would be responsible for all aspects of the India center, from Product Development, Professional Services and Product Support to Application Support, HR, Finance and Facilities. Given Model N’s long-term strategy for India, it was imperative that this hire should have experience in running a global product organization independently, in addition to having local Hyderabad management experience. Impeccable integrity was also a key requirement given the financial responsibilities inherent in such a role.

The key challenge in filling this position was that many independent enterprise software firms had been acquired by Oracle and the number of candidates in India who had led global engineering reporting to the CEO were few. Adding to this challenge was a need for local experience and Hyderabad as the work location!

Against this backdrop, we knew we had found “The Right Candidate” when we met Srikanth. Sri had been VP of Product Development for Edgenet, an enterprise software company that catered to the building products industry in the US. He had moved back to Hyderabad to set up Edgenet’s Engineering Center – the ideal combination for the Model N GM role. His seven-year tenure at Edgenet, which spanned the company’s days as a fledgling start-up to its emergence as a high growth company, gave us the confidence that he had the right set of attributes and traits for the role at hand. The rest of the process fell in place quickly as it does when you find the perfect fit, for both the candidate and client are eager to make it happen.

Client's Feedback

Yarden Malka, Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Model N “Global Executive Talent’s professionalism stands out”

I was introduced to Anu Parthasarathy, Chief Executive Officer of AnuPartha, in 2006-2007, when Model N’s plan for an independent entity in India was still on the design table. We spent time with AnuPartha to discuss Model N’s work processes and culture. In 2009, Model N decided to setup independent operations in India. Our leadership team felt the critical need to hire a General Manager to oversee the Indian operations. In addition to other search firms, I also re-established contact with AnuPartha. However, based on our discussions and Anu’s approach to the hiring mandate, we decided to concentrate our efforts and work with AnuPartha exclusively.

I was impressed by AnuPartha’s professionalism and their “value-added partnering” approach. Anu spent time with the leadership team in understanding Model N’s culture, values, vision, work processes and candidate profiling. In addition to her strong understanding of the enterprise software industry, she also knew the pulse of the market. We worked together to articulate some of the stronger aspects of Model N, such as our ability to create a work environment with great people where every employee has a chance to work with high calibre colleagues that one can learn from. She worked with me to put together a comprehensive four-page company and job profile document. She also came up with a list of target companies. Having lived in the US and partnered with multi-national corporations, Anu understood the need for India/US cultural mix and other hiring nuances very well.

Anu not only discussed her assessment of candidates, but also gave her frank comments on the profile-fits. She insisted on detailed feedback on the initial set of candidates presented and streamlined candidate profiles accordingly. Her calibration processes were top-class. Her offer to “soft close” compensation with the selected candidate was also of great help. I truly appreciate ANUPARTHA’s personalized and dedicated approach.

Srikanth Gadamsetty, joined as General Manager, Model N India

“AnuPartha’s personalized approach helped me make the right decision”
Consistency in communication between Anu and the leadership team at Model N demonstrated that she had cultivated a strong relationship with Model N. While most search partners provide one-sided, positive inputs about the company and role, I appreciated Anu’s realistic and balanced view. She also had amazing clarity about the complete interview process. Despite Model N’s leadership team being located in the US and Israel, which meant long drawn-out schedules, AnuPartha sustained my interest levels, coordinated the discussions very well and completed the process in record time. I was impressed by the strong commitment and executive vision around long-term growth in the Indian subsidiary. We began discussions in August 2009 and completed the process in November 2009. I joined Model N in January 2010.
I also had an opportunity to directly work with AnuPartha on the Vice President – Product Development hire. I was impressed by AnuPartha’s diligent, process-driven approach.

The same traits were evident during my interactions as a candidate. Anu spent considerable amount of time in candidate and market profiling. Her USP is the stringent and refined screening process. Model N India offers a challenging work culture which very few product development companies offer in India. Anu was able to highlight this to the candidates along with the overall Model N culture in general. We talked to several high profile candidates who were willing to make a parallel move and join Model N India. Anu was also helpful in effectively setting compensation expectations with prospective candidates and was integral to closing in on the right candidate. It will be a pleasure to work with Anu again.