Manish Modi, the heir to the MK Modi group, is now an internet entrepreneur. He positions NetAcross Communications, a systems integration company, as an industry educator and technology spokesperson. Its charter "" to provide internet technology-based solutions. Its target "" to be a Rs 100 crore company in 4 years.
Modis tryst with computers began in school, and the affair continued right through to college where he studied computer science. Then followed a brief stint at American Express. The mandatory overseas MBA degree followed. Modi came back in 1994 armed with a scroll from Columbia University in New York to join the groups flagship, Modipon.
At Modipon, his brief was to come up with marketing and IT strategies. When asked about his contribution to the company the young man sums up with a quiet self-assurance: I brought in a marketing focus to a company which had a sales approach. We branded a product, got into partnerships with key customers for new product development and formalised processes. I can also take credit for making the company IT literate. They are now installing an Intranet, and it will soon be a paperless office.
It could not have been easy for this man with shoulder-length hair, a questioning attitude and a quick impatience with anything that does not sound logical, to make an entry into traditional business. Modi candidly admits: Wherever I had full authority I was successful; but where I was a mere contributory member to a team I could not carry others along, although they would agree with me in meetings. I had developed a perfect performance appraisal system which did not get implemented!
Modi, a self-proclaimed rebel, claims that his move to a new outfit has the full backing of his family. When me and my Dad were attending a course at IMD in Lausanne on family business transition and growth, he recalls, we were relating the story of my move into IT and related services. All the participants and professors there thought it was extraordinary. But thats what people have come to expect of him "" extraordinary stuff.
