long bio
Gaurang Swarge
I was born in Pune, grew up in Mumbai (India) & moved to Vancouver, Canada in 2018. This page contains a non-exhaustive list of things I’ve done over the years. These days I'm specifically interested in business facing data roles.
As a professional
In 2008, As I was finishing my Master’s in computer science, A chance conversation with a friend and our common passion for mountaineering led us to take a leap into the world of business, hoping to turn our passion into a profitable business. A completely uncharted territory for a young 20 year old college grad with absolutely zero business experience. Over next 10 years, this business, which initially started as a B2C venture pivoted into a first of its kind, niche service offering in the events and entertainment industry, employing 25 people with annual revenue reaching up-to $800,000.
I spent 10 years taking on multiple roles in Natura and achieving success in every single one of them. I took on challenges way out of my comfort zone and consistently up-skilled myself to tackle the job at hand.
As Director at Natura, apart from managing key clients, I was responsible for effectively managing day to day operations using data in various functions. I was responsible analyzing all our internal data to aid the decision making process. I taught myself the skills needed to analyze this data effectively. My thirst for continuous learning even led me back to school in 2017 for a Business Intelligence and Business Analytics course. I was successful in combining my technical, analytical and business acumen. On one hand, I designed internal dashboards, on the other, I walked into a client meeting to present our service offerings. At the same time, I created financial models to make informed capital budgeting decisions. Above all, this experience instilled a lifelong thirst for continuous learning and improvement. Over the years I’ve been part of teams in diverse scenarios and have worked closely with personnel from different areas of work. I fluently speak English, Hindi, Marathi and have a passable understanding of French.
Non-Profit and Adventurer
In 2009, I finished my Basic Mountaineering course from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi. In 2010, I finished Diploma in Trip Leading from National Outdoor Leadership School, USA. In 2010 & 2012, I was part of the first high altitude rock climbing expedition in Indian Himalayas. (Check out the video of the expedition below)
Good folks at Oakley India, were so impressed, they even made a video involving me, for their social media campaign :) (video below)
To continue the interest in environmental conservation and outdoors, we setup a non-profit trust (NOET under Natura to work with the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. We ran multiple volunteer driven initiatives to help and maintain the national park. We organized cleanup marathons every year during Independence day. We organized building of small check dams to contain water source for animals during the summer months. We even helped the staff to create fire lines to avoid forest fires during summer.
These days, You can find me bouldering at Hive during the week, or in Squamish trying not to fall off my projects during weekends.
