Sandeep Ganguly
Chief Executive Officer, U2opia mobile
Sandeep Ganguly, chief executive officer (CEO) of U2opia mobile, is an expert in growing and supporting start-up businesses. In his current role, he is responsible for U2opia mobile’s overall growth, with a major focus on managing a growing team, sustaining and streamlining existing businesses, and identifying new revenue streams. “The landscape for consumer connectivity is quite dynamic. It is a challenge to keep the organisation/teams aligned with these changes. It is work-in-progress, and we need to introduce new solutions and globally keep our customers excited with tech solutions from U2opia mobile,” he says.
Ganguly has close to two decades of industry experience, which involves successful stints with Reliance Industries, OnMobile, Mobile Traffik, and Hughes. “I like to pick up businesses at an early stage and pave their way to growth and profitability,” he says. At Reliance Industries, he was involved in product development and strategy for developing rich media solutions over 4G. At Hughes, he was a part of the founding team to build one of the first VPN networks in the country. At OnMobile, he was responsible for replicating the ringback tone service in Latin America. In fact, he remembers this assignment as one of the most memorable in his career. “We were working in a new geography and the consumer behaviour was unfamiliar to us. We had to undertake an operation in 14 countries, which involved managing people, mobile operators, money flow, and logistics. And we had to be cash positive within 12 months of launch. It was a challenge that we successfully faced and made the region a torchbearer for OnMobile’s international business foray.”
In terms of management style, Ganguly says he believes in vesting complete trust in employees and ensuring they get targets that are achievable. He trusts by default, which he says is also his biggest weakness. “I keep all communication channels open and try my best to be accessible to employees at all times.” Ganguly is a graduate in electronics and communications from Pune University and has an MBA from IIM Calcutta. He is an avid reader and likes to spend his free time reading books on science and logic. “One of my most recent and favourite reads is The Foundation series by Asimov,” he says. His other interests are playing golf, swimming and travelling. When asked about his family, he responds, “My wife is my strength and I draw motivation by looking at my nine-year-old daughter’s learning curve and inquisitive questions about everyday life that we take for granted.”
