Biography

Sramana Mitra is the founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first and only global virtual incubator/accelerator. Its goal is to help a million entrepreneurs globally reach a million dollars in annual revenue, build a trillion dollars in global GDP, and create 10 million jobs.

Since its founding in 2010, 1Mby1M has become a powerful platform for democratization of entrepreneurship education, incubation, and acceleration, embracing a community of over half a million people. Sramana’s weekly online mentoring sessions have had over 300,000 participants.

In 2015, LinkedIn named Sramana one of their Top 10 Influencers alongside Bill Gates and Richard Branson.

Sramana’s passionate advocacy of bootstrapped entrepreneurship since 2005 has dramatically improved the credibility of non-venture funded startups. She believes entrepreneurs should go to investors as kings, not beggars. Her free Bootstrapping Course is a good starting point for those interested in exploring the subject.

Before 1Mby1M

Sramana has been an entrepreneur and a strategy consultant in Silicon Valley since 1994. Her fields of experience span from hardcore technology disciplines like Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing and Semiconductors, to sophisticated consumer marketing industries including e-commerce, fashion and education.

As an entrepreneur CEO, Sramana founded three companies: Dais (off-shore software services), Intarka (sales lead generation and qualification software using Artificial Intelligence algorithms; VC: NEA) and Uuma (online personalized store for selling clothes using Expert Systems software; VC: Redwood). Two of these were acquired, while the third received an acquisition offer from Ralph Lauren, which the company did not accept.

As strategy consultant, Sramana has consulted with over 80 companies, including public companies such as SAP, Cadence Design Systems, Webex, KLA-Tencor, Best Buy, MercadoLibre and Tessera among others. Her work has also included numerous startups and VCs. Sramana has a proven track record in turnarounds, both mid-sized private companies (Example: think3, with Joe Costello) and divisions of larger companies (Example: a $100 million business unit of Cadence, with Lavi Lev).

Sramana has a Masters degree in EECS from MIT and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Economics from Smith College.

From 2000 to 2004, Sramana chaired the MIT Club of Northern California’s entrepreneurship program in Silicon Valley. MIT then had over 9000 alums in the Bay Area and she inspired a team of 90 talented volunteers to deliver a high-momentum forum to support startups.

Writing & Speeches

Sramana has authored Entrepreneur Journeys, a series of 12 books focused on demystifying entrepreneurship. In addition, Sramana has authored Vision India 2020, exploring India’s problems and solutions that can potentially be sought through entrepreneurship.

Feminine Feminism, one of the Entrepreneur Journeys volumes, focuses on the actualization of female potential. It starts with the essay Talented Women: Please do NOT Quit. Sramana’s speech, Women Entrepreneurs: The Myth, The Minefield, The Movement expands further on the subject. Through 1Mby1M, Sramana has mentored thousands of women entrepreneurs and remains committed to supporting female founders through their challenging journeys.

Sramana has an algorithm-level understanding of Artificial Intelligence, having designed products using core AI technologies. Her Thought Leaders in Artificial Intelligence series on the 1Mby1M blog explores trends, use cases and open problems in various industry sectors.

Her speech on the Future of Capitalism explores the impact of AI-driven automation on the current economic model of the world, and the future of work.

Her Man and Superman series extrapolates AI-driven innovation out to the future and explores its implications for humankind.

Sramana is concerned about fortune accumulating at the tip of the economic pyramid and extreme inequality making society unsustainable. Through 1Mby1M, she is trying to create fortune in the middle of the pyramid.

From 2008 to 2010, Sramana was a columnist for Forbes.

The Arts

Sramana has a deep interest in and involvement with the Arts. She leads a literary salon, Caravanserai Literati, and hosts an annual Arts salon at her home in Silicon Valley. She is also an avid painter, and an extensively trained dancer.

Personal

Sramana comes from a prominent Calcutta family with roots in entrepreneurship and public service. The family was also a sinister cauldron of chauvinism and corruption. From that complex mix emerged two talented women who actualized their potential. In the sixties, Sramana’s aunt became a nuclear physicist who went to Oxford for her post doc and pursued a career in academia. And in the nineties, Sramana became a MIT Computer Scientist and later, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. In Feminist Father vs. Chauvinist Father, she has discussed the role her father played in her journey.

Sramana is married to Dominique Trempont, a well-known Silicon Valley executive and Board Member who was Steve Jobs’ right hand at NeXT.