Sriram’s passion for books was serendipitous & led him to establish bookstores across India – he started his journey with Landmark in 1988, set up Walden in Hyderabad in 1990 & then the Crossword chain across India.
He co-founded Crossword with Ms. K. Anita in 1992 & helped build it into India’s leading bookstore chain. He arranged for the buyout of Crossword by the current owners Shoppers’ Stop Ltd. in 2000 from the initial investor India Book House Ltd.
Sriram stepped down from Crossword in August 2006 & co-founded “Next Practice Retail” that offers business design, incubation & consulting services for consumer & retail businesses.
He is an advisor to Seedfund, the early stage venture fund and to several of its investee companies. He is an Independent Director on the Boards of Kokuyo Camlin Ltd and Kokuyo Camlin Alphakids Ltd.
He served as President of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Mumbai, the global not-for-profit organization that fosters entrepreneurship & entrepreneurs (2010-12) & continues to serve on its board.
Sriram serves on the board of trustees of the non-profit – Society For Nutrition Education & Health Action (SNEHA) for women & children in urban slums. He serves on the board of advisors of the non-profits Pratham Books, Junoon Theatre and Toybank.
While at Crossword, Sriram established the Crossword Book Awards (now Vodafone Crossword Book Awards) to annually recognize & reward the best of Indian writers & books, that he continues to oversee. He has curated the Kala Ghoda Literature Festival from 2005 to 2010.
He’s a visiting faculty at IIM A & a guest lecturer at IIM L & other business schools as it helps him keep learning.
He advises & mentors individuals & firms. He is particularly interested in entrepreneurship, innovation, business strategy & incubation, purpose & culture, leadership & next practices.
He remains a student & book evangelist.