A Billionaire On A Bicycle: Meet The Rs 9,000 Crore Company Founder Sridhar Vembu
Sridhar Vembu, born in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, showed remarkable academic talent from a young age. He ranked 27th in the highly competitive IIT JEE, studied at IIT Madras, and later at Princeton University. Vembu began his career as a wireless engineer at Qualcomm in 1994, where he was on a promising path.
Sridhar Vembu's Entrepreneurial Journey
In the mid-90s, Vembu's entrepreneurial spirit led him to leave his well-paying job at Qualcomm. His brothers had already started a software company in Chennai, and a friend from IIT Madras had a draft for networking software. Seeing an opportunity, Vembu founded AdventNet in 1996 to sell software to telecom providers. Their first product, Web NMS, was a digital operations management tool that even outshined HP at a US tech fair.
Rapid Growth and Initial Success
By 1998, AdventNet had achieved sales of 6 crores, and with Vembu as CEO, the company continued to thrive. In 2000, securing Cisco as their first major client pushed their sales to 50 crores. Despite an investor offering to invest 50 crores at a valuation of 700 crores, Vembu, committed to long-term growth, turned it down.
The dotcom crash of 2001 hit AdventNet hard, reducing its customer base from 150 to just three. Despite an offer to sell the company for 150 crores, Vembu declined. He used the company¡¯s cash reserves to pay his employees while foregoing his own salary for four years. During this time, they developed ManageEngine, an IT management tool for mid-sized companies, which quickly gained popularity and was adopted by 60% of Fortune 500 companies.
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Transition to Zoho Corporation
During this period, Vembu acquired the domain name "Zoho" from a defunct hospitality company. In 2005, the launch of Zoho CRM marked a turning point for the company. By 2008, Zoho CRM had one million users. In 2009, AdventNet was rebranded as Zoho Corporation, expanding its offerings to over 25 products and 50 mobile apps. By 2015, Zoho had grown to 12 million users and achieved sales of 1,800 crores.
Competing with Giants
Zoho¡¯s competitive pricing offered the same functionality as Salesforce at a fraction of the cost, posing a significant threat to the industry giant. Despite Salesforce's attempts to acquire Zoho, Vembu remained steadfast, declining the offer.
By November 2021, Zoho¡¯s revenues had reached 5,230 crores, making it a billion-dollar company by revenue. The COVID-19 pandemic further boosted Zoho¡¯s success, with revenues climbing to 6,711 crores and profits reaching 1,918 crores.
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Current Status and Vembu's Lifestyle
Today, Zoho Corporation boasts revenues of 8,700 crores with a profit of 2,800 crores, ranking among the world's largest software companies. Despite his immense success and a net worth of 28,000 crores, Sridhar Vembu maintains a simple lifestyle, living in his native Thanjavur village and riding his bicycle. His journey from a small-town boy to the founder of a 9,000-crore company without any external funding is a testament to his vision, perseverance, and innovative spirit.
Indian business mogul Sridhar Vembu recently caused a stir on the internet by showcasing his latest vehicle, an electric three-wheeler. As the CEO of Zoho Corporation and a Padma Shri Awardee, Vembu is the 55th richest person in India with a net worth of USD 3.75 billion according to Forbes. He also owns a Tata Nexon EV but prefers the electric three-wheeler for shorter trips under 10 km.
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