Being a small fish in a big pond isn't his cup of tea

Fascination with technology led finance exec to leave accounting giant for riskier world of start-ups

- Sue-Ann Tan

Finance executive Bhavik Vashi was on the career fast track when he joined Big Four accountancy firm KPMG right after graduating. He soon decided, however, that being a small fish in a big pond was not for him, so he quit for the riskier world of small start-ups.

Mr Vashi, 32, is now managing director for the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East at Carta, a platform that helps people manage equity, build businesses and invest in promising companies.

Indeed, joining small tech start-ups and helping them grow is not just an entrepreneurial ambition for Mr Vashi, but builds on the childhood interests he had while growing up in the United States.

He tells The Sunday Times: "As far back as I can remember, I've been a techie. I think it comes from my dad, who studied electrical engineering and spent most of his career working at tech companies.

"He was always on the bleeding edge of technology at work, and he brought that passion into our family life as consumers.

"Whatever the newest toy on the market was - television, computer, video-game console, mobile phone, sound system, whatever - you could bet on my dad buying it.

"We'd go to (American big-box store chain) Fry's Electronics and spend hours comparing various options. That process helped me to better understand technology, the impact it can have, and how to evaluate it."

This fascination with technology caused him to leave the coveted KPMG job that he landed after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, and move to a small start-up called Anaplan that was trying to replace spreadsheets at large companies.

"Desperate to escape before the audit busy season and intrigued by the compelling value proposition, I accepted the offer they extended me. This turned out to be a life-changing decision," he says.

Mr Vashi spent the next decade at the small American start-up, growing it from a company with fewer than 100 employees to one with more than 2,000.