Pravin Raj, Finance Expert in Dallas, TX, United States
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Pravin Raj

Verified Expert  in Finance

Technology Advisory Expert

Location
Dallas, TX, United States
Toptal Member Since
February 15, 2023

Pravin excels at empowering strategic ambitions with the minimum of surprises. With 30+ years of experience, including AWS and Cisco, he has been a COO, professional services leader, management consultant, portfolio manager, software engineer, evangelist, marketer, and author. Pravin has led distributed teams on every continent, built teams of 15-1,500+, managed multi-hundred-million-dollar P&Ls, and delivered customer outcomes with a CSAT of 9.4/10 across 1,000+ clients.

Management ConsultingGrowth StrategyBusiness Plan ConsultingMarket ResearchPitch Deck ConsultantFundraisingCorporate Strategy

Career Highlights

Director and Co-lead
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Director and COO
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Director and COO
Cisco

Education Highlights

Master's Degree
University of Alabama
Bachelor's Degree
Anna University

Case Studies

Work Experience

Founder and CEO

2023 - PRESENT
OpenRun Ventures LLC
  • Established and founded advisory services company that helps ambitious CEOs to grow and create value.
  • Provided sample advisory and board engagements. Acted as an advisor for a stealth B2C startup. Advised the founders on GTM strategies to grow and capture market share in a rapidly changing and regulated industry.
  • Acted as the advisor for two early-stage services startups. Helped founders refine business plans, raise working capital, and innovate with customers on the public cloud.
  • Became the fractional head of BizDev for an AI startup, advised the founders on GTM strategies, and helped land first customers for this innovative SaaS company in the customer intent space.
Focus areas: Business Strategy, Growth Strategy, SaaS, Startups, Go-to-market Strategy, AWS IoT, Cloud, Business Models, Fundraising, Investment Ideas, Value Proposition, Market Research, B2B Partnerships, B2B, Sales Growth, Pricing Strategy, Corporate Strategy, Recruitment, Business Planning, Storytelling, Pitch Deck Consultant, Market Opportunity Analysis, Agile Coaching, Organizational Strategy & Design, Organizational Change Management (OCM), Operations, Innovation, Innovation Strategy, Strategic Planning, Strategic Planning & Execution, Team Leadership, Executive Coaching

Director and Co-lead

2021 - 2022
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Co-led the $353 million (+18% YoY) AWS Professional Services business in the United States, delivering around 1,000 engagements for 500 enterprise customers with a customer satisfaction score of 9.4 out of 10.
  • Grew a 1,700-person team of industry-leading experts in technical (cybersecurity, DevOps, data, analytics, AI/ML, and AppDev) and non-technical (strategy, people, and project management) specializations.
  • Enabled customer outcomes, such as an automotive eCommerce platform, increased customer satisfaction with AI predictive models, and improved time-to-market by migrating workloads to the cloud while reducing costs and improving the security posture.
Focus areas: Professional Services, Team Leadership, P&L Responsibility, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Leadership, Strategy, Customer Success, Senior Executive Management, Growth Strategy, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Management Consulting, Market Assessment, Business Plan Consulting, Pitch Decks, Value Proposition, Market Research, Go-to-market Strategy, B2B, Sales Growth, Pricing Strategy, SaaS, Corporate Strategy, Recruitment, Business Planning, Storytelling, Business Intelligence (BI), Software Development Management, Engineering, Delivery Management, People Management, Cloud Architecture, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Change Management, Agile Coaching, Organizational Strategy & Design, Organizational Change Management (OCM), Operations, Innovation, Innovation Strategy, Performance Management, Strategic Planning, Strategic Planning & Execution, Executive Coaching

Director and COO

2015 - 2021
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Contributed to approximately 60x revenue growth, 40x headcount growth, and multibillion dollars in downstream platform revenue by architecting all strategic planning, operational execution, financial management, enablement, and quality programs.
  • Spearheaded the European and advisory practices on an interim basis for 18 months each.
  • Served as an Amazon Bar Raiser, completing 600+ interviews and recruiting 150+ to fill critical roles, including the first professional services hires in five countries.
Focus areas: Strategy, Business Operations, Sales & Channel Enablement, Quality Management, P&L Management, Learning, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Leadership, Senior Executive Management, COO, Growth Strategy, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Management Consulting, Market Assessment, Business Plan Consulting, Pitch Decks, Business Models, Investment Ideas, Value Proposition, Fundraising, Market Research, B2B Partnerships, Go-to-market Strategy, Partnerships, B2B, Pricing Strategy, Corporate Strategy, Recruitment, Business Planning, International Growth, Storytelling, Pitch Deck Consultant, Business Intelligence (BI), Market Opportunity Analysis, Delivery Management, People Management, Cloud Architecture, Chief Operations Officer (COO), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Change Management, Organizational Strategy & Design, Organizational Change Management (OCM), Operations, Innovation, Innovation Strategy, Performance Management, Strategic Planning, Strategic Planning & Execution, Team Leadership, Executive Coaching

Director and COO

2012 - 2015
Cisco
  • Integrated and revitalized multiple existing services teams with diverse mandates into one Cisco Consulting Services entity. .
  • Conceived all internal transformation and operations efforts from the initial instantiation to a $100 million revenue run rate.
  • Integrated an external SVP hire to lead Cisco Consulting Services. Enabled 66% bookings and 38% revenue growth while reducing costs by 7% in FY2014.
Focus areas: Strategy, Business Operations, Communication, P&L Management, Leadership, Senior Executive Management, Transformational Leadership, COO, Growth Strategy, Business Strategy, Organizational Design, Management Consulting, Market Assessment, Business Plan Consulting, Value Proposition, Fundraising, Market Research, Go-to-market Strategy, Partnerships, B2B, Pricing Strategy, Corporate Strategy, Recruitment, Business Planning, International Growth, Storytelling, Business Intelligence (BI), Delivery Management, People Management, Chief Operations Officer (COO), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Change Management, Organizational Strategy & Design, Organizational Change Management (OCM), Operations, Innovation, Performance Management, Strategic Planning, Strategic Planning & Execution, Team Leadership, Executive Coaching
1989 - 1991

Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research

University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA

1985 - 1989

Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Anna University - Chennai, India

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