Subex, the Indian RA giant, has announced that its founder, Subash Menon, has stepped down from the role of CEO. You can read their press release here. His successor has not yet been named.
Menon was previously forced to step down as Chairman in June. This was the price he paid for Subex’s continuing financial struggles, which all stemmed from the use of FCCBs to finance the disastrous acquisition of Syndesis. This latest move means that the founder, who gave his name to the company, now only retains a role as a non-independent director. In the press release, Menon said:
“With the restructuring of FCCBs complete, I have decided to focus on my other business interests and hence this move.”
The timing of Menon’s resignation is intriguing; Subex customers are about to converge on Vienna for their annual user event. However, those who watch Subex closely might have had a hint this was coming – a June stock exchange filing revealed that Menon and Sudeesh Yezhuvath, COO, had lost their ‘golden goodbye’ entitlements in the event of leaving the company.
Despite the FCCB miscalculation, Menon continues to be admired by many of his rivals. Subex’s woe is not unique amongst Indian businesses; several of them used US Dollar-denominated FCCBs to fuel acquisition sprees, only to get burned by stock market and currency movements. As a leader, Menon’s relentless growth strategy turned a niche software start-up into a global business with annual revenues of USD120M at its peak. In the process, he popularized and spread the concept of the Revenue Operations Centre, and the concept of revenue assurance itself. Whilst Menon was fiercely competitive in business, he was also widely respected for his personable manner. Although his next moves are unknown, we look forward to hearing about Subash Menon’s future business ventures.
