Shailendra Vyakarnam started his working career in small companies, leaving to complete his MBA and PhD at Cranfield School of Management, where he stayed on the faculty for ten years, before taking up a Chair in Enterprise at Nottingham Business School. In April 2001 he was appointed Teaching Programme Director at the University of Cambridge Entrepreneurship Centre and has been made a Senior Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge. He is presently the Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professor at Nottingham Business School and University of Reading.

He has published several books and journal articles and is on the editorial board of two academic journals.

In 1990 he co-founded Transitions, combining his academic interests with the practical 'how-to' for businesses. As a result of this he has worked with over 400 businesses in workshops, consulting assignments and as coach, mentor and non-executive director. Shai has extensive experience of teaching enterprise courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students and executive courses for owners of SMEs. He has carried out over twenty research projects for Training and Enterprise Councils, Government Offices, the SBS, the United Nations (FAO) and the British Council.

Shai is presently on the board of two start-ups, helping to develop the strategy, provide links and raise finance. He is also on the Board of the Institute of Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship, Indo-British Partnership Network. He is a Chartered Member of The Indus Entrepreneur and a trustee of the GEN Initiative a newly formed not for profit organisation.

svyakarnam@transitions.co.uk

www.vyakarnam.com