Spark Spotlight: Navtej Singh

At Egnyte the Spark is at the center of everything we do, including our logo. When it comes to our team, we see the Spark as the intersection of talents and passions that drive each and every employee - which is what ultimately drives Egnyte. Through this series I hope to showcase the outstanding individuals whose combined talents make Egnyte what it is today.

What do you do for Egnyte?I’m a marketing automation manager based in our Mountain View HQ.What hardware do you have in your arsenal?I used to be an iPhone user but I switched to Android since it's more open/hackable. Right now I’m using a Google Pixel phone, a PC running Windows 10 at home and a MacBook at work. The Pixel was initially a hassle due to wi-fi issues, but it works well now. I find Windows to be more powerful and especially adept at quickly processing data like in Excel. What are your go-to apps?For social media, I like Buffer. I love browsing Reddit on my phone, so by extension I love Relay. Obviously I use the Twitter app, and I also use the Wall Street Journal app. I’m an avid reader of WSJ, so much so that I used to get the print edition.Walk me through your background. What led you to Egnyte?My grandmother and grandfather were from New Delhi and Jaipur, respectively. My grandpa was actually at the UN! I have two younger sisters: one at SF State, the other one transferring to UC Davis from Deanza.I grew up in San Jose and spent my first 6 months of college at NYU before transferring to USC due to a family situation. I graduated from USC in 2014 with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in business law. Before Egnyte, I spent a year and a half at an infosec company called Bromium. Let’s talk about a day in the life of Nav Singh.On a typical day, I wake up around 6 so my dad and I can take our dog (half pit bull, half lab) for a walk. I come back and check news while enjoying my morning coffee. Based on traffic between Santa Clara and Mountain View, I determine when to leave for work. Once I’m home, I spend time with family and usually go to bed around midnight. I spend weekends outdoors as much as possible. I started rock climbing when I was an Eagle scout, and bouldering has remained a passion. I taught at Planet Granite and built the climbing team at USC, and I have enough gear to last another decade. One of my favorite places to climb is the Eastern Sierra; not so much Half Dome.

What’s something other Egnyters don’t know about you?I’m really excited about self-driving cars. My roommate during senior year of college was a Pakistani PhD candidate who built a self-driving car but then moved back to Pakistan. I also don’t watch any “traditional” TV because I do not like ads. No vegging out in front of CBS!What is your favorite thing about Egnyte?I love that folks really care about what they’re doing - not just in marketing, but also in CS, Product, etc. I like the fact that the challenges are unlimited. If you can see a way to help or a challenge to solve, it’s yours - how to improve conversion, how to optimize our execution, how to help wherever you can.What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? and the worst?Best piece of advice: If you put your name on something, that should reflect your personal brand.Worst: it can wait till tomorrow.If you had the opportunity to sit down for dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?If I had to pick anyone living today, I’d like to sit down with Mark Cuban and learn more about how he pulled himself up by the bootstraps. If I could sit down with anyone ever, I’d probably like to eat with William Faulkner. His work found the humanity on all sides of a racially divided era, which is more relevant than ever. Even today, I try to remember “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.”