An analogy to why I am joining Signeasy can be found in Eric Schmidt’s famous statement to Sheryl Sandberg when she was offered a job at Google in its infancy. “If you are offered a seat on a rocket ship , don’t ask what seat. Just get on.”
My story, however, is humble in comparison. Before I dive into the top five reasons as to why I am joining Signeasy, I am going to briefly describe my journey thus far.
While I was enjoying the scorching Texan summer in Austin earlier this year, I was faced with a tough decision to return to India due to US Visa issues and I started looking for a product management opportunities in India. My mentor at my ex-employer Bazaarvoice introduced me to Sunil, the founder and CEO, Signeasy. From my very first interaction with him, I realized that he has immense clarity about the mobile landscape, the challenges of creating successfully monetized products in this domain and a strong professional network in the start-up ecosystem. I was convinced after that call that Bangalore is THE place to be, with its burgeoning product scene and the ability to offer a “confused desi” a place to call home.
The interview process:
While in Bangalore, I met Sunil a couple of times to understand his transition from a Product Manager (PM) to a CEO and his vision of the direction of the product and the company. Signeasy had also recently released a very first-of-a-kind feature called Continuity for Digitized Paperwork across devices, which indicated that the team is focused on anticipating customer needs and leveraging the capabilities of innovative technologies.
When the PM opportunity opened up at Signeasy, meeting with Sree, Sunil and rest of the team was a very exciting experience. Putting pen to paper and drawing up an objective plan for the product, team and my own personal growth for six months was a challenging assignment to do and also the most fulfilling part of the process.
Once my interviews were done and I was awaiting a final decision, I decided to take an adventure trip to the happiest nation on earth, Bhutan!
Taking in the spectacular views of the serene Punakha valley, I thought about why I wanted to join Signeasy if given an opportunity. Here are the top 5 reasons why I am joining this team.
Growth : “Nothing is set in stone” said Sunil during one of my interviews with him while I was busy asking him a multitude of questions.  Such a statement suggested to me a founder and team that is very open to new ideas to make things better constantly. Growth of the company and personal growth go hand in hand. Signeasy’s growth is seen in the expansion of its team from just two people to twelve members or even the doubling of its downloads crossing 2.2 million. Personal growth to me means doing things I have never done before or deepening the skills that I already have. There are a lot of “firsts” that I expect to handle in this role at Signeasy.
Product: Signeasy is at an interesting inflection point, where it has crossed 2.2 Million downloads, is available in more than 100 countries and is consistently rated as one of the top 10 apps for business . At its crux, it solves a real problem . As more industry verticals integrate Signeasy into their workflows, there are exciting opportunities to add to or diversify the current product and solve newer and bigger problems for the end user. Read more about Signeasy’s evolution here.
People: Honesty and passion for what they do are the two attributes I truly care about while evaluating where I work, who I work for and who I work with. My interaction with the team in the last few weeks has led me to believe that these two attributes do and will determine the long standing success of Signeasy.
Vision : The founding team is passionate about the future of Signeasy and its important for me to work with people who have thought ten steps ahead. For Signeasy, it is not just about the product, but also about the customers we serve through fanatical customer service and the perception we build. Although most companies talk about vision in lofty terms, I felt that the Signeasy team is grounded and had specific goals for the team and the company going forward.
Diversity : Diversity of experience, gender, temperament and the opportunity to build the culture of the company at this stage in its life seemed like a very exciting prospect. Between me and Ananda, we make up about 10% of the female workforce at the company and we couldn't be more proud.
All these and other thoughts rushed through my mind as I headed back from the picturesque Punakha Valley to my hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to hear my phone beep with an e-mail notification since Wifi is a luxury in Bhutan. The email was titled “Welcome to Signeasy” and had my offer letter in it.
And lo and behold! A nifty app called Signeasy was there for my rescue. I didn’t have to even reach for a printer or a fax machine to send my offer acceptance to the Signeasy team. I would have gotten really weird stares if I had dared to ask for a printer or a scanner in Bhutan! Am glad that Signeasy came handy!
Sending in my offer acceptance signaled the beginning of a new life for me, here in Bangalore and at Signeasy. A sense of deja vu swept over me as I thought of the very reason that Sunil had conceptualized Signeasy. Like me, he too is an enthusiastic globetrotter. He too was pondering “what next?” in life while vacationing in Mexico when he received an offer from a start-up he intended to join in Palo Alto. However unlike me, he didn’t have Signeasy to promptly send in his acceptance. And that’s where this seed was sown.
A real problem, a real solution and a fantastic set of minds driving it forward!
Am home, finally!
