He is also a management consultant with a specialization in analytic models and process improvement, and a successful angel investor and advisor to early stage startups. His academic and professional focus is on how mathematical models transform management in today’s data-rich, information-poor business world. Prior to becoming a professor, Vijay enjoyed a very successful career as an operations management consultant, entrepreneur, and executive. From 1994 to 2002, he was co-founder and CEO of Onward Inc., an operations management consulting firm based in Mountain View, CA, where he led the growth of the firm from three consultants to a professional staff of thirty. In 2002, Onward’s call center consulting practice was acquired by Blue Pumpkin Software (acquired by Witness Systems) while Onward’s data analytics group was acquired by Advertising.com (acquired by AOL).