Quick Summary of my CV

What I Offer

Judgment. As I get older, my take on things is being valued more than the labor I offer. I’ve built decent judgment in business, investment, building technology, and editorial.

• Extensive experience in closely collaborating with CXOs, providing problem-solving consultancy, and engaging in high-stakes, cross-functional environments.
• I am extremely comfortable with uncertainty — what should be done and how should it be done.

Labor. Through my years of entrepreneurship and jobs, I have developed a Swiss Army Knife-like skill stack:

• Core Strength: Skilled in structured problem-solving and clear communication, crucial for breaking down complex technical concepts. Strong ability to learn quickly. Proficient in user research and various modeling techniques, including cost and financial modeling.
• Hands-on: Can get hands-on with business operators, developers, data scientists, and editors.

Network. I’m decently well-networked in the India and with the news product community internationally. I can help hire.

Media Savvy. This doesn’t come naturally to me. Over the years, I’ve built ability in writing, moderating, hosting, and training. See my training portfolio. While my time at Times Internet, I’ve represented the company.

I thrive in roles that allow me to balance my three personas: the outward-facing CXO consultant or community builder, the hands-on builder, and the solitary learner because all three personas require different temperaments.

Where

I live in New Delhi. I am happy to travel — nationally and internationally — occasionally.

How Long

Most of my interventions will be deep and dense and you’ll need a 2-4 year stint to start seeing tangible results.

What Have I Done

Over 17 years, I have honed my ability to think critically and structure problems effectively. My career spans multiple roles and industries:

• 2006-2008: Software Developer at Amdocs India, then Architect in Amdocs Israel.
• 2009-2011: Consultative Sales at Amdocs US, catering to AT&T.
• 2013-2017: Co-founder of an Information Design Studio, serving 90+ brands in 7 countries. Customers included insurance, FMCG, media, politics, healthcare. Folded the business at peak cash position.
• 2017-2020: Consultant for the International Center for Journalists, advising various Indian newsrooms.
• 2018-2020: Founded a research and curriculum-driven training firm for news leaders. Sold services to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and WhatsApp. Exited the firm because of Covid-19 uncertainty on the events business.
• 2020-mid to 2022: Led Editorial Product at TOI. Along with our Editor-in-Chief, redid our taxonomy, data journalism content strategy, TOI+ value proposition, implemented modular and immersive journalism, and drove data culture among the Editorial team.
• Mid 2022-Present: One of our experiments yielded promising ROI — recommendation. Our CEO tasked me to establish AI practice at TOI. I hired the team and we got started building our CDP, personalization, and propensity. We scaled personalization to achieving 350% increase in CTR over editorial feed while maintaining unit economics. Also, worked with our company owners on a project to test how Indian audiences react to Chat-Based interfaces.
• Angel Investor: Invested in a YC-backed LLM company and a WordPress agency.
• Here’s my CV https://ritvvij.parrikh.com/about/