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Saurav Chopra
Building 5mins.ai | Built & Exited Perkbox | Angel Investor
Professional Background
Saurav C. is a seasoned professional whose extensive and dynamic career in the technology sector reflects his deep commitment to innovation and enhanced employee engagement. With over 12 years of experience, he has made significant contributions to both established global tech brands and ground-breaking startups. His journey in the tech sphere has seen him take on various roles, culminating in the establishment of two large-scale HR technology ventures. In his current role, he lends his expertise to 5mins.ai, a trailblazing platform in workplace learning that aims to foster a culture of continuous professional development.
Before diving into the startup ecosystem, Saurav honed his skills in influential positions at some of the most recognized names in technology. He served as the Director of Global Partner Management and Internet Services at Bytemobile, a company that was later acquired by Citrix for an impressive $435 million. His dedication to business development was further demonstrated during his tenure at Amobee, which was sold to Singtel for $321 million. He also contributed his strategic abilities at Yahoo! Mobile, working tirelessly to push the boundaries of mobile technology in the European market.
Saurav’s entrepreneurial spirit truly shone when he co-founded Perkbox, which has become Europe's leading employee engagement platform. At Perkbox, he played a pivotal role in helping over 5,000 employers align workforce engagement with organizational purpose through a range of innovative recognition, rewards, and wellbeing solutions.
Education and Achievements
Saurav holds multiple advanced degrees that complement his professional endeavors and showcase his commitment to excellence in both education and practical application. He studied for his MBA in Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the prestigious London Business School, giving him a solid foundation in the art of innovation and strategic business management.
Continuing his pursuit of knowledge, he also earned an MBA in Management of Technology at the esteemed University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. This rigorous academic training in technology management has equipped Saurav with a unique perspective on leveraging technological advancements for business success.
His academic excellence began with an in-depth study of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi, where he also completed his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering. The rigorous education provided him with a robust technical foundation that he has skillfully combined with his entrepreneurial ambitions.
Achievements
Saurav's notable achievements in the tech industry include successfully raising over $40 million from top-tier venture capitalists to fund his groundbreaking HR tech initiatives. He has played a key role in the hiring and development of over 500 talented individuals, fostering an environment that promotes both personal growth and professional excellence. This impressive feat not only demonstrates his leadership capabilities but also highlights his passion for enhancing workplace culture and productivity.
As a strategic thinker, Saurav is particularly focused on unleashing the potential of organizations through people-centric initiatives. His work at 5mins.ai represents a commitment to evolving workplace learning through innovative techniques, much like the rise of TikTok in the social media landscape. Under his guidance, 5mins.ai stands out as a revolutionary platform aimed at transforming how organizations approach employee learning and development.
In addition to his entrepreneurial ventures, Saurav has also made significant investments in promising startups like Kouzina Food Tech Pvt Ltd and Thirdfort, exemplifying his keen eye for potential in emerging technologies. As a former Board Member at Pratham UK, he contributed toward educational initiatives that strive to enhance learning opportunities across communities.
Saurav C. has successfully embodied the perfect synergy of technology, talent, and business acumen, continually driven by a desire to make a meaningful impact on workplaces and society as a whole.
Highlights
Don't Confuse Confidence for Competence.
Remember the one who always spoke up in meetings, and never hesitated to share their 2 cents?
And that other one, quietly working in the background, consistently delivering exceptional results? 🤔
How often did the loudest voice get the promotion or lead the project, while the quiet achiever was overlooked?
We've all seen it. Companies and leading are wired to favour confidence. 💪
I made the same mistake more than once when scaling Perkbox.
But I know firsthand that confidence doesn't always equal competence. 🧠
It's crucial we change our approach to talent recognition. True brilliance often lurks in the shadows, overshadowed by bravado.
Leaders, it's time to recalibrate. Here are actionable strategies to unearth and nurture your hidden gems:
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Structured Evaluations: Ditch the subjective "gut feeling" and implement clear, measurable criteria for hiring, promotions, and performance reviews. 📋
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Amplify Quiet Voices: Create safe spaces for introverts to contribute. Use anonymous feedback tools or smaller breakout groups. 🗣️
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Mentorship & Training: Pair less confident individuals with experienced leaders who can champion their skills and train them on how to build self-assurance. 🤝
And for those quieter individuals? Remember, your competence is your superpower.
Find allies who appreciate your strengths, and don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Practice speaking up, even if it's just a little bit at a time. 🗣️
Let's create workplaces where true talent thrives, not just the loudest voices.
Because sometimes, the most valuable gems are the ones that take a little digging to uncover. 💎
What strategies have you found effective in ensuring you're not overlooking the quiet achievers in your team? Would love to know.
Tinariwen's concert at BBC Proms was an absolute revelation.
Their captivating fusion of Saharan Tuareg melodies and Western rock, was a powerful reminder to me of diversity's transformative potential. 🎶
Born in the Sahara amidst war and political strife, their unique music has resonated globally earning them Grammies.
Wouldn't it be amazing if our workplaces were more like Tinariwen's music, where authenticity thrives and diverse perspectives blend seamlessly? 🌍
Workplace as a space of fusion: embracing diversity, empowering every voice, and fostering an environment where potential thrives.
What does 'fusion' look like in your ideal workplace?
PS: If you want to listen to some meditative Saharan blues while working, definitely check out the Tinariwen on Spotify.
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
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