Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars Awards 2016: Gopal Rajaraman

After 15 years on telecoms equipment maker Motorola’s senior engineering staff, making a shift to venture investing could be a challenge for most people.

Gopal Rajaraman, investment principal at Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, however, has made the move look easy after a promotion in August.

Reese Schroeder, managing director at Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, said: “Gopal joined our team in January 2013 from a purely technical role in the company and, within a matter of months, had already developed a deep grasp and understanding of the position and was making valuable contributions to the team. Gopal continues to grow and develop at a rapid rate and I believe he continues to have significant upside in the ventures unit.”

Rajaraman said he had been helped by being part of “a small, high-impact team” in which “all team members are closely involved in everything”, rather than being able to apply any of his science fiction reading, “typically involving time-machines”, to create more free time and work even harder.

Currently, he manages the firm’s investment in Boundless Spatial, and is proud of having “contributed heavily” to Motorola’s robotics investment strategy that backed CyPhy Works in March 2015. “We failed initially, but we pivoted and persisted and finally managed to get a successful deal done with CyPhy.

“Today, we are collaborating very closely with CyPhy Works and robotics is viewed as a very strategic area for Motorola Solutions.”

His career nearly led him into hedge funds, but opportunity knocked in a different form.

Rajaraman said: “After spending 15 years on the engineering side, I was seeking different challenges and proceeded to obtain an MBA from the University of Chicago in analytical finance.

“I was leaning strongly towards hedge funds, but at the time Motorola Solutions Venture Capital was looking for a new team member. During my job interview, Reese Schroeder and Tony Palcheck, now MD at Zebra Technologies after its spin-off from Motorola, convinced me that corporate venture capital (CVC) was worth a shot.

“Today, reflecting upon my decision, CVC was actually a natural transition for me from my previous role, where I was helping the chief technology officer team manage their innovation framework. The CVC team is at the front-line of innovation for Motorola, a company that has a very strong tradition and history for innovation.”

As a result, in the next five years, he said he would “consider it a success if I have played a big role in helping at least a dozen companies become successful, thriving businesses, with maybe one or two unicorns [companies worth at least $1bn], even though I do not like the use of that word”.

Of the industry as a whole, he believes CVCs should be doing follow-on rounds. He also believes having venture team members on a startup’s board of directors can mean they help with fundraising and product and marketing strategies. He thinks they can provide a constructive voice in the board room and use the corporation or the CVC team’s industry connections to help create opportunities.