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Vinay Nichani

Vinay Nichani

Cisco

Career Roadmap

Vinay's work combines: Business, Technology, and Working with Others

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Day In The Life

Senior Director

I lead teams that sell software and drive customer success.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

    University High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Electrical and Electronics Engineering

    University of California-Los Angeles

  • Graduate Degree

    Business Administration and Management, General

    University of Southern California

Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Sales Managers:

High School

Bachelor's Degree: Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Graduate Degree: Business Administration and Management, General

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life took a while to figure out

  • 1.

    Majored in Mechanical Engineering because I liked car racing.

  • 2.

    Switched to Electrical Engineering because the internet was getting huge and I wanted to be a part of it.

  • 3.

    Got a job in Sales Engineering because I liked talking about tech more than I liked building tech.

  • 4.

    Did a lot of presentations because I was terrified of public speaking.

  • 5.

    Went into leadership because I liked the idea of leading a team.

  • 6.

    Left leadership because I got exhausted by all the administrative crap I had to deal with.

  • 7.

    Really focused on technology disruption, and how to capitalize on it, which helped me stand out.

  • 8.

    Came back to leadership because I missed it.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Peers:

    You're an engineer, you can't do sales.

  • How I responded:

    Focus on the work. Don't worry about being perfect, just get a little bit better every day. If you do that enough days in a row, you'll be amazing. Getting 1% better every day would make you 3800% better in 1 year.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • Growing up my parents lived beyond their means so I could go to a good school. In college, I spent conservatively, which excluded me from a lot. Went out less, watched TV more, cut a lot of corners. Focused on the work. Money is no longer an issue.