Ankur Verma : Mapping A Trajectory To Financial Brilliance Through A Leadership Legacy
Ankur Verma
CFO
"I see my primary responsibility as a leader to be nurturing the next generation of leaders rather than creating a hierarchy of followers"
Mindtickle exemplifies this approach by aiding businesses in boosting revenue and enhancing customer retention through improved performance within sales and customer support teams. The company's solutions are designed to elevate the effectiveness of these critical teams, thereby driving business growth and customer satisfaction. Ankur Verma, as the CFO of Mindtickle, plays an instrumental role in this success. He focuses on the organization’s financial aspects, providing the necessary insight and guidance for sound decision-making. His contributions are pivotal, offering robust support that ensures the company remains financially healthy while pursuing its strategic objectives. Through his leadership, Mindtickle continues to thrive, leveraging financial acumen to reinforce its market position and achieve its long-term success.
During an exclusive interview, Ankur divulged his professional journey and the significant milestones he accomplished in his career.
Please summarize your professional background and experiences and the motivation that drives your daily activities.
I am a chartered accountant and I qualified in 2000. I started my career with Bennett Coleman and Company (The times of India group), the largest media conglomerate then, for over four years. Then, I completed my MBA from the Indian School of Business in class of 2006, with dual majors in finance and marketing. After that, I joined GlobalLogic in their corporate strategy and development team. I managed corporate development and M&A functions, along with the global financial planning and analysis function. I spent almost seven years with them, helping scale operations from around $20 million to about $250 million.
Thereafter, I joined a SaaS company in the US healthcare sector, hCentive, and over the next seven years, I helped scale the business from approximately $5 million to $70 million in under six years. I led the process of equity sale when hCentive was acquired by UnitedHealth, a Fortune 5 company. I worked at UnitedHealth for a little over a year and helped them completely integrate the operations of hCentive in their mainstream business. I joined Mindtickle after the completion of integration of hCentive with United health. I've been with Mindtickle for about four and a half years now. I joined when
the company was relatively small, and over this 4 year period, we have more than tripled the business size. I also helped raise funds from the SoftBank Vision Fund during COVID-19, leading two rounds of funding and taking the company's valuation beyond a billion dollars.
We've grown the business organically and through acquisitions, which are now fully integrated. As for what motivates me, there are a few corporate jobs where you can tangibly see the impact of your work on the how the business evolves over the course of time. The financial decisions we make and the counsel I provide to the executive team significantly influences the business' evolution and outcomes. This tangible impact and gratification from nurturing and seeing the business grow is what drives me the most.
Today, the role of a CFO is dynamic and increasingly strategic within an organization. How do you grasp best practices and add value to the business?
A CFO’s role is very crucial as we today operate in a highly global but extremely turbulent macro environment wherein multiple countries are at war, there is global risk of inflation, Volatile currency and interest rate issues and risk of losing customers and vendors. Managing predictable and favorable financial outcomes besides managing these challenges, becomes one of my primary responsibilities. One fundamental aspect of the job is to avoid any surprises for any stakeholder, including investors, founders, board members, employees, customers and vendors, by staying ahead of the curve and planning for outcomes which you can't control or influence. Additionally, I help other executive team members make judicious decisions by considering the long-term and short-term financial impacts of their daily business choices. I am very often used as a sounding board by our extended leadership team while they make their operational decisions. This also ensures that there is alignment between routine operations and the organization's long-term vision.
Describe your leadership approach. What guidelines or methodologies do you follow as a leader?
My leadership philosophy is fairly straightforward: I believe in hiring people who are smarter than myself and then get out of their way. I believe in hiring people who are self-motivated and giving them the freedom to do their jobs without unnecessary interference. It's pointless to hire talented individuals only to micromanage them. Instead, I trust them to lead their initiatives and contribute with their expertise to the organization. This approach not only empowers them but also fosters innovation and growth. By doing so, I aim to build a strong, self-sufficient team capable of driving the business forward independently, with or without my leadership. The broad philosophy is to lead the team in such a way that you end up creating more leaders and not more followers.
How do you stay updated with current industry trends?
There are multiple ways in which one can stay on top of all the industry trends. My current employer, Mindtickle, has a marquee list of investors ranging from Softbank, Norvest Partners, Accel and Canaan Partners. Investors typically have forums which allow all senior finance executives of their portfolio companies to stay connected and exchange thoughts on changes which are imminent.
We've grown the business organically and through acquisitions, which are now fully integrated. As for what motivates me, there are a few corporate jobs where you can tangibly see the impact of your work on the how the business evolves over the course of time. The financial decisions we make and the counsel I provide to the executive team significantly influences the business' evolution and outcomes. This tangible impact and gratification from nurturing and seeing the business grow is what drives me the most.
Mindtickle continues to thrive, leveraging fin- ancial acumen to reinforce its market position & achieve long-term success
Today, the role of a CFO is dynamic and increasingly strategic within an organization. How do you grasp best practices and add value to the business?
A CFO’s role is very crucial as we today operate in a highly global but extremely turbulent macro environment wherein multiple countries are at war, there is global risk of inflation, Volatile currency and interest rate issues and risk of losing customers and vendors. Managing predictable and favorable financial outcomes besides managing these challenges, becomes one of my primary responsibilities. One fundamental aspect of the job is to avoid any surprises for any stakeholder, including investors, founders, board members, employees, customers and vendors, by staying ahead of the curve and planning for outcomes which you can't control or influence. Additionally, I help other executive team members make judicious decisions by considering the long-term and short-term financial impacts of their daily business choices. I am very often used as a sounding board by our extended leadership team while they make their operational decisions. This also ensures that there is alignment between routine operations and the organization's long-term vision.
Describe your leadership approach. What guidelines or methodologies do you follow as a leader?
My leadership philosophy is fairly straightforward: I believe in hiring people who are smarter than myself and then get out of their way. I believe in hiring people who are self-motivated and giving them the freedom to do their jobs without unnecessary interference. It's pointless to hire talented individuals only to micromanage them. Instead, I trust them to lead their initiatives and contribute with their expertise to the organization. This approach not only empowers them but also fosters innovation and growth. By doing so, I aim to build a strong, self-sufficient team capable of driving the business forward independently, with or without my leadership. The broad philosophy is to lead the team in such a way that you end up creating more leaders and not more followers.
How do you stay updated with current industry trends?
There are multiple ways in which one can stay on top of all the industry trends. My current employer, Mindtickle, has a marquee list of investors ranging from Softbank, Norvest Partners, Accel and Canaan Partners. Investors typically have forums which allow all senior finance executives of their portfolio companies to stay connected and exchange thoughts on changes which are imminent.
Additionally, there are many industry forums and events organized mostly by communities led by Big Four consulting firms and investment bankers. These events offer chances to meet peers, exchange insights, discuss market trends, customer experiences, and risk management. Being in the right community is crucial for staying updated. Lastly, I stay informed through extensive reading to keep up with ongoing developments.
Throughout your career, which mile stones have brought you the most satis faction, both personally and profes sionally?
One of the most recent and key milestones in my professional journey happened during the global shutdown due to COVID-19. I Joined Mindtickle in January 2000 and there was a global lockdown in early march. Despite the challenging circumstances, we were able to successfully raise $200 million in an equity funding round led by Softbank Vision Fund, one of the top investors globally, and all of it happened, while working remotely from different locations across the US, India and UK. This achievement was particularly satisfying given the unprecedented covid situation.
Another significant milestone was the successful utilization of that funding over the past four years, resulting in nearly tripling the business' size and culminating in an acquisition that integrated new product capabilities into our platform. In my previous role at hCentive, I contributed to its growth over six years, leading to its acquisition by UnitedHealth, a major milestone which created very good returns for stakeholders and employees. At GlobalLogic, I played a pivotal role in scaling the business across multiple countries(both organically and inorganically) within a short span of six years, which helped improve the topline by over forty percent. These milestones, both recent ones and in past roles, have brought immense satisfaction at both personal and professional level.
What new financial strategies or advancements is the organization currently working on, and what financial roadmap do you have planned for the future?
As I mentioned earlier, a significant challenge for most CFOs today is managing risk and navigating the unpredictable environment we operate in. Twenty four years ago, when I began my career, the CFO's primary concern was ensuring accurate bookkeeping and accounting, which was largely a ‘rear view mirror’ opinion on the business as you were broadly recording events that had occurred already. Today, the role of the CFO has evolved to focus on future planning and strategic forecasting. We are now responsible for implementing processes that allow businesses to stay nimble and enable proactive decision-making. To address this, we are developing AI-based automated dashboards that can provide leading indicators about the (future) state of the business through the use of very precise metrics. These dashboards allow us to stay ahead and effectively plan for any potential issues before they come to surface. This proactive approach is now a core responsibility of the CFO’s office.
Ankur Verma, CFO, Mindtickle
Ankur Verma, adept in managing cross-border, multi-currency, and multicultural global operations has 20+ years of experience in evaluating financial, operational, and strategic health in SaaS, tech, healthcare, and services businesses. During the course of professional journey, he has more than tripled the size of businesses, thrice and in under five years, leveraging organic and inorganic strategies, turning around profitability, and an ultimate sale to a strategic investor and to Fortune 5 company
Throughout your career, which mile stones have brought you the most satis faction, both personally and profes sionally?
One of the most recent and key milestones in my professional journey happened during the global shutdown due to COVID-19. I Joined Mindtickle in January 2000 and there was a global lockdown in early march. Despite the challenging circumstances, we were able to successfully raise $200 million in an equity funding round led by Softbank Vision Fund, one of the top investors globally, and all of it happened, while working remotely from different locations across the US, India and UK. This achievement was particularly satisfying given the unprecedented covid situation.
Another significant milestone was the successful utilization of that funding over the past four years, resulting in nearly tripling the business' size and culminating in an acquisition that integrated new product capabilities into our platform. In my previous role at hCentive, I contributed to its growth over six years, leading to its acquisition by UnitedHealth, a major milestone which created very good returns for stakeholders and employees. At GlobalLogic, I played a pivotal role in scaling the business across multiple countries(both organically and inorganically) within a short span of six years, which helped improve the topline by over forty percent. These milestones, both recent ones and in past roles, have brought immense satisfaction at both personal and professional level.
What new financial strategies or advancements is the organization currently working on, and what financial roadmap do you have planned for the future?
As I mentioned earlier, a significant challenge for most CFOs today is managing risk and navigating the unpredictable environment we operate in. Twenty four years ago, when I began my career, the CFO's primary concern was ensuring accurate bookkeeping and accounting, which was largely a ‘rear view mirror’ opinion on the business as you were broadly recording events that had occurred already. Today, the role of the CFO has evolved to focus on future planning and strategic forecasting. We are now responsible for implementing processes that allow businesses to stay nimble and enable proactive decision-making. To address this, we are developing AI-based automated dashboards that can provide leading indicators about the (future) state of the business through the use of very precise metrics. These dashboards allow us to stay ahead and effectively plan for any potential issues before they come to surface. This proactive approach is now a core responsibility of the CFO’s office.
Ankur Verma, CFO, Mindtickle
Ankur Verma, adept in managing cross-border, multi-currency, and multicultural global operations has 20+ years of experience in evaluating financial, operational, and strategic health in SaaS, tech, healthcare, and services businesses. During the course of professional journey, he has more than tripled the size of businesses, thrice and in under five years, leveraging organic and inorganic strategies, turning around profitability, and an ultimate sale to a strategic investor and to Fortune 5 company