sohail gondal

Founder at Endeavor Venture Partners

Bio Summary

Sohail has a proven track record of delivering shareholder value for principal investors through active management of a portfolio of companies. Over the course of his professional career, Sohail has built new businesses as a founder and early stage Director, delivered operational and bottom line improvements to companies in Family Office portfolios in interim positions, restructured or turned around businesses as a CEO and served Boards and CEOs of large corporations as a strategic advisor.

At home in a broad number of industries, Sohail has a deeper understanding, from the strategic, the investment and the operational leadership perspective across sectors including retail, technology, telecoms, media, education, financial services and private equity.

Sohail holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, a Masters in Industrial Engineering from the London School of Economics and a bachelors degree with double major in Accounting and Computer Science from the University of Liverpool.

Employment History

Group Head - Finance, Strategy & Corporate Development

Aramco

December 2019 - present

Dhahran Saudi Arabia

Working in the internal consulting function of Saudi Aramco to support CxO and senior leadership on critical projects. Promoted to Group Head to support for the Finance, Strategy & Corporate Development organizations $x0 ...see more

Founder

Endeavor Venture Partners

2016 - present

Senior Director - Strategy & Customer Insight

Oracle

July 2016 - December 2019

London, UK

INSIGHT helps C-Level executives assess a case for change to modern Cloud platforms for Finance, HR, Supply Chain, Planning & Management transformation. My focus on the TMT, Retail & Financial Services sectors Promoted fr ...see more

Chief Strategy & Investment Officer

Gulf Marketing Group

June 2015 - June 2016

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

GMG has operating investments across sports retail (Nike), healthcare, FMCG, logistics, education and real estate Five Year Group Strategy & Investment Roadmap § Lead the shareholders and the executive leadership through th ...see more

CEO Ventures

Al Ghurair

September 2010 - June 2015

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Major GCC family investment office with operating investments in Financial Services, Commodities Trading, CPG, Real Estate, Construction & Ventures. Only senior executive to receive highest ranking of “Outstanding” for 2013/14 Promoted from Group Head of Strategy in July 2013 Corporate Governance & Board Effectiveness § Developed annual board agenda transitioning focus from tactical operations to strategic portfolio oversight § Deployed board reporting templates to ensure clarity and transparency on critical areas for Board attention § Defined role for Executive & Investment and HR & Compensation Committees and sector advisory boards Strategy & Performance Management § Created portfolio strategy by evaluating financial performance potential and business models for 30+ OpCos, resulting in recommendation to grow, hold, monitor, or divest and a strategic intent for each OpCo § Delivered the first formal strategic planning and budgeting cycle for AGI portfolio companies § Deployed Balanced Scorecards and facilitated quarterly Executive Committee & Board OpCo reviews Venture Development/Turnaround § Developed a new platform to nurture new growth engines for the Group. Initial focus on optimizing portfolio of existing small business across Retail, Education, Printing, Construction Services and Money Exchange § Portfolio of c.US$200m in revenues – Delivered net profit YOY growth of 52% (20% above budget) Venture Growth for Pan-GCC Retail Business § Delivered 9% like-for-like revenue growth and c.23% increase in net profit § Gained Board approval for plan to grow Retail portfolio - Negotiated commercials & launched 3 new brands § Optimized rental costs by evaluating store footprint against key metrics (i.e. rent/sales; sales growth) § Formalized store-fit out and contractor base to minimize cost overruns, delay penalties & lost revenues Portfolio Restructuring PMO (35 strategic initiatives; US$20m of benefits) § Took over stalled portfolio of 35 initiatives covering divestments, turnarounds, cost reduction & growth § 87% of initiatives delivered on plan with benefits realization of US$20M

Lead Associate

Strategy& (Formerly Booz & Co)

July 2008 - September 2010

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Joined the Dubai office of a global strategy consulting firm after completing a summer internship in New York Financial Services Merger & Acquisitions Due Diligence Evaluation Riyadh, Saudi Arabia § Evaluated the dynamics of the Saudi Arabian insurance market to build the financial model and validate the investment thesis underpinning a proposed M&A transaction Strategic Growth Plan for Incumbent Telecoms Operator Dubai, UAE § Facilitated CxO suite to scope and prioritize key strategic initiatives aligned to the CEO’s growth agenda § Deployed an Executive Dashboard to provide the CEO with insight into progress against strategic roadmap § Defined 100 day plan for scaling the Executive Dashboards to enable client drive momentum post Booz exit Emerging Market Growth Strategy for a Telecoms Operator Lagos, Nigeria § Developed strategic marketing initiatives to support customer acquisition and share of wallet targets § Defined an IT strategy to underpin the market growth plan structured around three strategic themes: Enhancing operational resilience; Ensuring service excellence; and Building platforms for growth § Supported the IT strategy by developing annual value creation agendas and “post-Booz” 100 days plans Semiconductor Market Entry Strategy for a Government Investment Arm Abu Dhabi, UAE § Assessed semiconductor landscape to determine applications, component & value chain opportunities § Analyzed organic & inorganic growth options for the client to establish a dominant global market position National ICT Sector Development Strategy Abu Dhabi, UAE § Lead 3 consultants to develop an Information Communication Technology (ICT) strategy for driving sector development by quantifying investments across key industry segments, such as health & education § Developed the ICT strategic roadmap, detailing key programs with financial investment requirements § Defined 100 days plans for each ICT roadmap theme to enable client to maintain momentum post Booz exit Finance Function Maturity Assessment for Retail Bank New York, USA § Defined a pragmatic framework to help CFO benchmark the maturity of Finance functions across the bank § Developed the target operating model and a strategic roadmap for bridging the gap from the current state § Defined 100 days plan to enable client to implement recommendations after the exit of the Booz team

Founder & VP Product Development

Etilize Inc

January 2000 - September 2007

Irvine, CA, USA

Advisory Board Member March 2001 – September 2007 Co-Founder & Vice President of Product Development January 2000 – March 2001 Co-founded a venture to provide product information management solutions to online retailers ...see more

Education

Master's in Business Administration/Management

Columbia Business School

2008

Master's in Industrial Engineering

London School of Economics

1996

Bachelor's in Computer and Information Science , Finance

University of Liverpool

1992

Language Skills

English Urdu

Country Experience

Germany Nigeria Pakistan Saudi Arabia Thailand United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States

Skills

Business

Benchmarking & Best Practice,

Business Case,

Business Unit Strategy,

Business Planning,

Corporate Development,

Corporate Strategy,

Feasability Studies,

Growth Strategy,

Innovation Strategy,

New Business Build,

Operating Model,

Portfolio Strategy,

Purpose,

Scenario Planning,

Strategic Management,

Strategic Planning,

Trends & Global Forces,

Balance Scorecard,

Benefit Realization,

Dashboard Development,

Monitoring & Evaluation,

Strategy Execution,

Performance Management System,

Organizational Excellence,

KPIs,

Value Creation,

Carve-out,

Corporate Venture Capital,

Commercial Due Diligence,

Deal Sourcing and Execution,

Joint Ventures & Alliances,

M&A Strategy & Due Diligence,

Merger & Acquisitions,

Operational Due Diligence,

Post Merger Integration,

Spin-Offs,

Valuation,

Target Search

Analysis

Business Intelligence

Information Technology

ERP,

IT Strategy,

IT Transformation,

IT PMO,

Cloud Strategy & Change Management

Finance

Budgeting,

Corporate Finance,

Cost Management,

Financial Analysis,

Financial Modeling,

Financial Planning,

Investment Strategy,

Revenue Growth,

Divestitures

Industry Experience

Principal Investors

Venture Capital,

Private Equity,

Sovereign Wealth Fund