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Dhiraj Rajaram
Founder, Mu Sigma / Distinguished Alumni, Chicago Booth / Forbes 40 under 40 / E&Y Entrepreneur of the year
Dhiraj Rajaram is an Indian entrepreneur born in 1975 in Chennai, India.1 He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Mu Sigma Inc., a leading provider of analytics and decision sciences solutions.12
Background and Education
Rajaram completed his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy, followed by an M.S. in computer engineering from Wayne State University, Michigan, and an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.14
Career
Before founding Mu Sigma, Rajaram worked as a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Booz Allen Hamilton in the US.13 In 2004, he started Mu Sigma in Bengaluru, Karnataka, which has since grown to serve over 125 Fortune 500 companies.1
Achievements and Recognition
- Listed in Fortune Magazine's "40 under 40" in 2011 and 20131
- Awarded "Entrepreneur Of The Year India" in the Services sector by Ernst and Young India in 20121
- Received the Young Turk award at the CNBC TV18 India Business Leaders Awards in 20141
- Won the distinguished alumni award for entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 20141
Personal Life
Rajaram married his engineering college friend Ambiga at the age of 21, and they have a son named Akash. The couple divorced in 2016.12 He currently lives in Bangalore and is known for his love of riding Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycles.23
Entrepreneurial Approach
Rajaram is known for his unique approach to problem-solving, combining math, business technology, behavioral science, and design thinking.4 He encourages his employees to think big and even offers seed money for those who wish to start their own ventures.2
Highlights
What’s in a name … Why should you MuMin after you SigMax?
Warning - Abstract and Philosophical
Mu Sigma … the company I founded two decades ago is in a category I call decision sciences. My stakeholders would rather have me say it’s in AI. Well, they have a point … the world seems to be rewarding such behavior. Sometime back they wanted me to call it a big data company and before that an advanced analytics company. I have resisted the urge to call it Mu-Sigma.ai … because at some level, I feel we would lose our authenticity if we did that. There is a bigger meaning for Mu, Sigma and the space between those two symbols.
As a 28 year old kid I thought our name represented the core elements of how a decision is formulated. But today I feel it has bigger meaning … the Mu … the Sigma and the space between them.
Mu (mean) represents expectation and Sigma(variance) represents movement from that expectation. Sigma is a measure of the breadth of experience. Our lives are datasets. Learning from datasets is possible only because of its Sigma and that in turn depends on Mu. All feelings, good or bad, come from Sigma. Happiness or sadness, joy or anger, surprise or disappointment are examples of these feelings.
My early life taught me that unless I Sigmax I am not going to make a dent on the universe … but now, I feel that I am just a tenant in my universe … while trying to make a permanent dent, I understood that I am just paying rent to my impermanent universe. The problem was not with manifested success but rather my definition of it.
While dialoging with mom about separation anxiety with Akash (my son), we arrived at the conclusion that it mostly comes from expectations we have from the universe. Even “MY” love for “MY” son and her love for me too are under conditions. There is no unconditional love when the self is under the illusion of the mind … when one believes that I am just me … even the love for oneself is conditioned on identifying with one’s own mind and body. There can be no love on earth greater than the love of a parent to the child … even that is conditioned on being the parent biologically, mentally, emotionally etc.
True love does not need any objects to manifest upon … it can exist by itself … the nature of consciousness is bliss (love and happiness) … but it hides behind the world veil of “Maya” or as the Toltecs call it “Mitote”.
I wish I could understand this enough to state it in a simple manner … but I am not yet there. But at the risk of sounding simplistic let me say this … the answer is Mu Min …
At Mu Min you have no memory and no imagination … that’s only possible when the dataset becomes a datapoint … when we kill the past and the future … and therefore are only left with the present moment … the datapoint.
A good life is a dataset that strives to become a datapoint.
Mu min has to be in harmony with Sigmax … that’s the purpose of the space between Mu and Sigma … to Minimize Expectation & Maximize Experience.
“Valliappan, AL (apprentice leader) in THD, left this for you on his last day” … This was a WhatsApp message from my BU head. ( image below - wish I knew how to read Tamil 😀)
Why did I buy Mu Sigma back from my investors … because they wanted to monetize the asset and I wanted to institutionalize the intention. The economic brain will call me a fool … it’s probably right. But the heart is brainier than the brain.
Why Ownership Matters?
The income statement tells you how well you did today … it’s a testament to your execution. It’s measured in profits. It’s akin to measuring velocity of the particle (organization).
The balance sheet tells you how you will do tomorrow … it’s a testament to your capabilities and therefore your responsibilities to all stakeholders at a point in time. It’s akin to measuring the position of the particle (organization).
If you are into physics you will appreciate the fact that it’s impossible to simultaneously measure velocity and position. There is a duality here that seem like opposites … so where does the singularity of organization arise from … it comes from its intention … its purpose (Sankalp, Iradha)
It’s the cap table that will tell you how you will do in the long term future … it’s a testament to your intention … it’s the only attestation of your clarity.
We are living in a world where we have taught future entrepreneurs that going public is considered success … I.e. reducing your ownership and diluting it to retail investors, who are least powerful, is considered success … in other the most powerful smart cookies of capitalism are throwing a few crumbles to the least powerful. IMHO, the density of the captable is directly proportional to the density of clarity and intention of the company.
Entrepreneurship is about the owning of the enterprise … own the goodness and more importantly own the badness … the good in your organization are your children and they anyway get a lot of love and attestation from everybody … it’s the bad, who are also your illegitimate children, that don’t get any love and acceptance from you and others … they are where pain and suffering reside … they are where the lessons originate … the building blocks for the future.
Vishnu and Brahma are universally good … but it’s at Shiva where you own your badness. It’s at Shiva that the cap-table manifests … and shiva must hold the poison in the neck.
Tho Aap Ka Iradha Kya hai? Are you going to own your bad … your pain and suffering … or not? Are you going to find the Shiva in you?
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