Sarika Garg is an entrepreneur who has helped to build the largest supply chain platforms and networks in the world with Tradeshift, Ariba and SAP. She is the former Chief Strategy Officer at Tradeshift, where she led corporate strategy, marketing and built innovation products. During her tenure, she helped Tradeshift grow from a small startup in 2015 to a leader with a $1.2B+ valuation. She has been recognized as a Top Woman Leader in SaaS in The Software Report for both 2018 and 2019.
She is also an active investor, board member and mentors young and upcoming leaders.
Please tell us about your role at Tradeshift, Ariba Networks, and your journey throughout.
The co-CEO of SAP, Jim Snabe, once advised me “try to do as many roles as you can, because you never know what is right for you and you truly learn the importance of different functions to run an organization.” I took this advice to heart. I started off as a quality manager at SAP and then went on to do product management, marketing and strategy. I helped build and launch several enterprise and cloud products that were used by 1M+ users.
Later, I joined Tradeshift, a small, high growth startup at that time. This was both exciting and challenging. In a short span of time I helped launch new products, fundraise, do 4 acquisitions and mature the company.
All of these explorations made me understand myself better. I love creating and building new business solutions. I am inspired by the positive impact this can have on people’s lives. I am an entrepreneur at heart.
You have served extensively across various organizations. How would you describe your leadership style?
In the tech world people matter the most. I am an enabler. I like to create an environment where people can be their best. I make sure that I provide my team with context and the tools to perform their jobs, and then step aside and let them do their magic.
What attributes do you look for when building a team? How do you make sure the team works well with your leadership style?
I look for people that are smart and self-motivated. But maybe most importantly, people who think like owners. Many years ago, I was complaining to a friend about all the things that were wrong with my company and he turned to me and said – “so why don’t you do something to fix it?” That was a turning point for me. It changed the way I approached my job and I went from being a tactical, “stay in your lane” doer to a strategic player. I look to build teams that embody this sense of responsibility and accountability for the success of the company.
Given the current climate, how would you say your leadership style changes in times of adversity?
My job as a leader is to be there for people in times of adversity. I have gone through many challenges in my life and my best bosses have been there for me with tremendous empathy and help. I hope to do the same for the people that I work with.
Women tend to have a “fear of the ask”. They do not want to be seen as aggressive. What is your perspective?
As a kid I was taught that rejection = failure. This translates into “fear of the ask”. As a young person I did an enormous amount of prep before any ask. I slowly learnt that rejection is okay and ”Move fast and break things” is really a more successful formula.
Did you ever find yourself hitting a wall? Were you ever in a bind? Was there a time when everyone around you told you that your idea would not work? How did you deal with it?
I tell myself every day – if I am not hitting a wall, I am not trying hard enough to grow. I have hit walls countless times. Very early, it was external walls. For example, a manager that refused to bring my salary at par with the market. Later in my career, the walls have been more internal. For example, I knew I wanted to work at a startup but it took many years to leave my very comfortable big company job. Pushing through walls is hard but if you do it enough times, it gets easier.
You have expanded beyond the corporate world to work with Neythri, a not-for-profit. What inspired you to do so?
The shortest path to bringing women at par to men in the workplace is by empowering them to take bigger risks. In the era of tech, one impactful path is to help women build their own tech startups and to help them to invest in tech startups.
I co-chair the Founders and Funders committee of Neythri where we connect, encourage and build a community of smart and driven women. We have a lot of work ahead of us but we are off to an amazing start.
Tell us about your family background and childhood.
I am the youngest of four daughters. I grew up in remote places in Africa where we were largely cut off from the larger world. As a result, we had little social conditioning. I grew up unafraid to try new things. When I started working, I did not think for a minute that I could not do what a person that went to MIT could do, or that I could not one day be a VP. This helped me to NOT get in my own way.
Do you believe that your South Asian heritage has influenced your leadership style in any way? If so, how?
When I was growing up, the smartest and most influential adults I saw were my mom and my aunties in India (who we visited once every few years). And yet, these women never got the chance to leave their homes and build businesses or even work.
It made me appreciate the immense hidden talent that we have around us. It’s very easy to hire people who “look” perfect for the job so I try to consciously break that pattern. I look for unconventional people and invest in them.
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your 15-year-old self?
Do the best you can and then take a chill pill! Let the world unfold by itself – the world has a mind of its own.
What advice would you give to young women leaders entering a male-dominated profession, or in any profession?
Stay authentic. You don’t need to learn to game the system. The most successful people are persistently authentic.
So, just to end this interview with one fun fact about you, which book will we find on your bedside table at the moment?
I am very curious so I read a lot. The last book I read is “Lifespan” by Dr David Sinclair who has spent decades studying aging as a disease and finding cures for it. It’s a fascinating and groundbreaking book.
Author Bio Sonal Chandna has worked in Strategy and Operations at Pitney Bowes Inc in India for five years. Aspiring to be a digital marketing professional, she is looking forward to advancing her career with an MBA degree at CSU East Bay. Sonal is also a PADI certified scuba diver, a resilient traveler and an avid animal lover.
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