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Her father’s daughter

Madhavi Vuppalapati, Founding President and CEO of Prithvi Information Solutions, finds her inspiration in her father who has guided and moulded her as a person and professional, writes Vertika Yadav

As a young girl, Madhavi Vuppalapati wanted to become a doctor and save lives. It was only on her father’s insistence that she grew up to be her own boss. “My father always told me that providing a living to thousands is better than saving a hundred lives,” recalls Vuppalapati, Founding President and CEO of Prithvi Information Solutions.

Today, Prithvi is a fast growing IT solutions providers in India, and has been identified as a key emerging player in the IT services segment by the Pittsburgh Technology Council of USA. Founded in 1998, the company has a global presence with offices in the US, Britain and Singapore. It also has four global delivery centres in India, of which three are located in Hyderabad and one at Bangalore. In the near future, Prithvi is planning to come up with a state-of-the-art campus housing 1,500 professionals at Hyderabad.

Considering the kind of influence her father has had on her, it comes as a surprise when she reveals that Prithvi is not her father’s name. Vuppalapati adds, “We did not want to categorise ourselves into any bracket. We named our firm Prithvi because we wanted to be a global company providing a wide range of solutions.”

With her father’s guidance she went on to finish her BE from Osmania University. Then she completed her MS degree in Computational Mechanics from Carnegie Mellon University, US. Before setting up her own company, she worked with reputed organisations in the US and was Director, Operations at Gateway Resources Inc.

Prithvi Solutions was floated in 1998. “I started off by doing some consulting work,” she informs. Around the same time, offshore business had started to gain momentum. Realising the good prospects in the same, she, her brother Satish Kumar and five others launched the company; Satish is the Managing Director of Prithvi.

An order from Merrill Lynch of about $ 9,500 gave the firm a head start. From there, expansion into the Indian market began. By the end of 1999, Prithvi had almost 30 people. Another break from Sun Microsystems to do testing projects kept it going, after which the dotcom bust took place and the company lost some big projects. But her determination and family’s strong support kept her going at rough times like these. “Now when I look back things have been easy for me. But there were times when I would feel scared that things would not work out. Adding to my guilt was the fact that I had called Satish back from his MBA to be a part of this project,” says Vuppalapati.

After the dotcom bust she decided to bid for more government projects. “In early 2000, we were fortunate to get a project from the state of Ohio,” she says. That was Prithvi’s first big break. The order was for around half a million dollars, and over the next two years it was supposed to reach $ 6 million. “That project gave us a lot of confidence,” she recalls. Today she runs $ 70 million worth of business and has about 600-odd people working for her; this figure includes 100 in India. Over the years, Prithvi has built its expertise. “The objective is to build a good software consulting company like Infosys,” she states.

The lady of course loves challenges. “Everyday is a struggle but I quite enjoy it. Running an enterprise is a challenge in itself. The company needs an offshore strategy for growth. We will need some money in terms of cash if we want to ramp-up quickly. We are also trying to structure our entire finance system,” informs Vuppalapati.

The company has undertaken a project to build a 1,500-seat campus at Hyderabad. “Once you have an outsourcing centre, you need to give the whole range of services to the client. To be a cut above the rest one needs to multi-task.”

Though her life is focussed around her business, Vuppalapati feels passionately about welfare causes. Whenever she finds the time, she is actively involved in employment projects for women that can empower and transform their lives.

Once in a while, when she is not working, she likes to watch Hindi masala movies and cook for her family. She enjoys going out with friends and coyly admits, “I love spending time with my husband.” They have been married for three years.

Leading an entrepreneurial venture from scratch to an enterprise worth $ 30 million has not been easy, but the fear of letting down her father has kept her going all this while. “I have got so much from him, and this is a very small way to acknowledge that,” Vuppalapati concludes.

vertika@expresscomputeronline.com