ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE CARUTH INSTITUTE

Caruth Graduate: Harsha Chaturvedi, Cox MBA ’99

While completing his MBA at SMU’s Cox School of Business, Harsha Chaturvedi, Cox MBA ’99, developed the business plan for Vantage Agora, a company that contracts manufacturing from India for U.S. companies. The company’s sales have grown between 100 percent and 200 percent every year since its creation in 2003, and show no signs of slowing down. Chaturvedi credits the strong Cox network and the guidance of Jerry White, director of the school’s Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship, as key ingredients to his success.

Why did you choose to attend the Cox School?

The Cox School has an incredible reputation of providing quality education along with a very unique opportunity to interact with some of the best business practitioners and leaders in the Dallas community.

Which Caruth courses did you take, and who were your professors in those courses?

I took the Starting A Business course taught by Jerry White.

Why did you take the Caruth course?

All along I have had a dream of running my own organization. I have always believed that it is possible to make the bigger difference with your own organization.

What were the most important skills you acquired and lessons you learned in the Starting A Business course?

As a partner of my own organization, this course gave me all the tools I needed to start and operate a new business. I sometimes wonder how someone would start a company without having taken a course like this one.

Jerry covered many different important concepts in this course. But the most important one was the fact that cash, for any organization, is the most important asset. In running, growing and in the day to day operations of Vantage Agora, we live the principles Jerry taught us.

What are your entrepreneurial goals?

Our goal is to make Vantage Agora one of the premier contract manufacturing companies in the world. Our mission at Vantage Agora is to help our customers and our suppliers create immense value through their partnership with Vantage Agora. My partner, Sudhir Achar, and I both have a goal of providing a substantial portion of our profits to charity in times to come.

We always believed that we could provide great cost benefits with our high-quality, world-class manufacturing companies in India. At Vantage Agora, we have made this a reality through our “Executive Cockpit” supply chain solution and deep-rooted relationships with our customers and suppliers.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs today?

To believe in your dreams and to realize that all limits are self imposed. As Swami Vivekananda said, “The biggest sin of all is to not aim high enough.”

Education BS, Bangalore University

MS, Louisiana State University

PMBA, SMU Cox School of Business

Before Cox Principal software engineer at Fidelity Investments

Caruth Courses Starting A Business

Today Co-founder and Director of Operations, Vantage Agora Inc.,