Manoj Varsani

Nationality: British
Programme: Modular Executive MBA, 2017
Pre-MBA: Chief Technology Officer
Post-MBA: CEO and Founder, Hammock
Current industry: Software - Property Tech

“What did the MBA give me? My co-founder!"

When Manoj Varsani completed the Executive MBA programme in 2017, he graduated with more than just an MBA. He also left having found the person he wanted to partner with in a new start-up venture for property landlords.

Manoj and Marco Ferrari both studied on a two year part-time Executive MBA, specifically the modular format. The Executive MBA has two formats, offering evening and modular (long weekend) options, which allows students to continue to work while studying part-time, equipping them with new skills and knowledge.

“Marco and I became really good friends and worked closely together during the MBA. We did a collaboration between companies we were each working with at the time. With that real-life experience, we knew what it was like to work together. We had complementary skill sets and we realised we could be together in a room for a very long time and not get on each other's nerves!”

That’s one of the best things about doing the MBA at Bayes – it’s about the networking and the inspiring people you meet alongside the classroom learning.

Founding a start-up based on personal experience

In 2019 Manoj, Michael, and Marco founded Hammock – an accounting platform for landlords to manage all property finances in one place. Hammock provides real-time updates on income and expenses, bookkeeping and insights into the performance of each property, tracking information such as rental yields, arrears balance and loan-to-value ratio. It also helps landlords stay on top of compliance and prepare tax returns.

The idea for Hammock was born from Manoj’s own encounters with some of the issues landlords face:

“As a landlord, I got really frustrated with the process of managing my taxes and doing my bookkeeping, and I just thought with all this technology out there, there has got to be a better way of doing this. The next question I asked myself after that is, am I absolutely crazy or is this a problem that everyone else is facing too? And the only way to test that theory was to go out and build it and see if people pay for it.”

“It turns out I'm not completely crazy, which is good. Hammock really helps landlords look at property not just as bricks and mortar, but as a financial asset. This is one of the largest investments you can make and so you should be looking after it. If you look at property investment as passive income and just something that sits there, you're probably going to do a disservice to yourself and the tenants. For example, if you don’t maintain or invest in your buy to let, you’ll end up spending more money both in terms of churn of tenants and the constant repairs. Tenants want to live in quality homes. You need to treat the house as an asset.”

“For me, Hammock is helping professionalise the sector and changing peoples’ attitudes to property investment, because if you look after your property then you win and the tenants win too. Everybody wins.”

A learning experience like no other

Manoj’s first degree was from City, University of London and he graduated with a BSc Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (Hons) in 2007.

“I had an excellent experience studying for my undergraduate degree at City and I started my career in software development. As I climbed up the ladder through my career, I realised I didn’t just want to have learn solely through my employers. I also wanted to expand on my breadth of knowledge of business, management and financial knowledge that an MBA provides.”

“One of the main attractions of the Bayes MBA is the cohort that comes with you on that journey, and you’re learning from experts in different areas, different industries, different backgrounds. For me, that is priceless in terms of having two years learning and working with a diverse group of people who are very successful in their careers as well.”

Another major attraction for Manoj was the international aspect of the programme, which included a Silicon Valley elective and the International Consultancy Week in Vietnam.

“The international electives were amazing. I learned something unique and new on every single trip because the culture of how business operates is completely different in each of those countries. The one that stood out for me and resonated with me most was probably Silicon Valley, because it focused on tech. We got to visit the likes of eBay, Cloudflare, AirBnB and Solarcity, which is one of Elon Musk’s companies. We also got to meet founders and venture capitalists and they give you insights that you can really apply – such as deciding what to focus on when you are crafting a pitch deck. Hearing those founders’ stories, you remember how they went from zero to one, and all the things they went through. You have that in mind when you’re going through difficulty or as you are scaling or growing.”

An entrepreneur for social good

Outside of his daily role with Hammock, Manoj spends a significant amount of time volunteering for several charities, as well as acting as a mentor to Bayes’ students as an Entrepreneur in Residence.

He is Chairman of the Board for Shadow to Shine which offers employability and entrepreneurial training courses, mentoring, and work experience to empower young people from underrepresented backgrounds to realise their full potential. Manoj worked with the founder, Becky Fatemi, and their CEO Korinna Williams to turn the social enterprise into a charity, and he recruited the board.

“I’m really passionate about Shadow to Shine and helping young adults into employability. They may have gone through some difficulty or face barriers in life which most people wouldn’t know or see. It’s a really good and impactful cause. Seeing the mentees grow over time is very rewarding.”

Another charity which Manoj supports is Harrow Carers, which he has been involved with for more than 15 years and has served as a trustee and Chairman of the Board.

It was Manoj’s relationship with Harrow Carers and seeing the challenge of sourcing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in the run-up to the Covid-19 lockdown, which drove Manoj to set up SOS Supplies, for which he was awarded an MBE in 2020.

The idea for SOS Supplies started with a phone call on a Thursday from the Chief Executive Officer at Harrow Carers.

Manoj explains: “She told me she was struggling to source PPE supplies like gloves and masks. The existing suppliers where suddenly charging £100 for a £3 box of surgical masks. I was in disbelief. I started making phone calls and eventually sourced some for the charity, but I thought that if a sizeable charity like Harrow Carers can’t source PPE, then surely this must be a national problem. We can't have these suppliers profiteering from the situation and people are not going survive if they don't have the PPE.”

Manoj’s response was to speak to his team at Hammock and encourage them to help him find a solution. The result was SOS Supplies, an online marketplace for organisations to source PPE from pre-vetted suppliers who had available stock at the best prices.

“I just came up with the name, bought the domain on a Friday, and the website went live on the Saturday. We started tweeting it to social media and journalists started picking it up. Within a few weeks we had a volunteer workforce of more than twenty people, from all over the country.”

Fast forward three months and SOS Supplies was working with over 250 hospitals, charities, schools, police and fire stations. The response was overwhelming.

“It was a crazy time. I remember doctors from hospitals and CEOs of charities calling to thank us, and many were very emotional on the phone. It was a very distressing time.”

Manoj received his MBE from the Princess Royal in an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.

“It was during the pandemic and so I was only able to take one person with me, which was my wife. It was quite an experience – Windsor Castle is absolutely beautiful, and you really feel like you are going back in time.”

“I’ve learned so much from volunteering.”

For Manoj, the benefits of volunteering are both personal and professional.

“Although I do give a lot of time, I’m also equally learning so much which is relatable and transferable to my job. When you are a start-up, you don’t have much money and you are meant to find all these thousands of customers with very little money. If you think about a charity, their approach is similar in that they have to make every pound count and stretch it far as they can.”

“Charities and start-ups are very similar in my mind – you don’t have the resources, the people or the money, and you have got to do what you can with what you have and try and reach as many people as you can.”

“Volunteering also keeps me grounded – when you see and hear some of these stories, it’s a wake-up call every time.”

“The MBA is an investment in yourself.”

What advice would Manoj have for somebody considering doing the Executive MBA at Bayes?

“It’s a huge challenge. If you are going to do it, you absolutely have to submerse yourself in it 100%.”

“You will learn so much and meet many amazing people along the way – and you might just find the person you want to start your business with.”