Sanghi reads path to digital success.
US-based credit card company American Express (Amex) made a big splash in corporate venturing when it hired Harshul Sanghi, who had formerly been head of Motorola Mobility’s corporate venturing unit.
Sanghi said he helped establish Motorola Ventures after the phone equipment provider’s purchase of his previous employer, Ucentric Systems, as the “go-to standard for corporate venturing”.
That group was divided in half two years ago, into Motorola Mobility Ventures and Motorola Solutions Ventures, when its parent company Motorola was also split in two, with Sanghi becoming head of Motorola Mobility Ventures but leaving before search engine Google’s purchase of the parent business this year.
Sanghi’s role at Amex is an attempt to put the company at the forefront of the digital age. He said: “ Amex was looking to set up an office in Silicon Valley to accelerate the transformation into digital commerce.
“The larger initiative, in addition to corporate venturing, is to plug American Express into all the innovation going on in the valley. They needed someone connected who understood both the entrepreneurial perspective and the VC ecosystem, as well as someone who had experience navigating large corporations.”
He added: “The story in mobile/wireless is that, five years ago, Silicon Valley was nowhere when it came to wireless and mobile. There was Nokia out of Europe and Sony Ericsson was the upcoming group. Really Silicon Valley was nowhere. You fast-forward five years and you have Apple with IOS and the Android platforms, and Silicon Valley is the centre of the universe as far as mobile is concerned.”
Lessons from the top: Sanghi said: “One of the most important things is to have support from the leadership team. This was a fundamental requirement to take on the role for me. I have overwhelming support from Dan Schulman, the president of enterprise growth, and the chairman and vice-chairman. It is absolutely incredible how this company is so committed to transformation, viewing us as a catalyst for change.”
