About Saurin Shah... [Current] [Virtual Worlds/Games] [Trax In Space] [1993-1995]

[Current]
Saurin is an experienced game and digital entertainment industry executive. He is currently the Vice President of the Social Games at Digital Chocolate.  He manages product management related for a next generation/patented virtual goods platform (NanoStars) and all cross-game/platform services.  He also managed and built the San Mateo social game studio, which is actively producing social games for Facebook and actively reviewing mobile game platforms, including iPhone, Android and others.  Digital Chocolate was also founded by Trip Hawkins, the founder of Electronic Arts and 3D0 as well as one of the early employees of Apple.  He previously held Director of Social Games and Director of Product Management positions at Digital Chocolate.

[Virtual Worlds/Games]
Saurin held Product Management positions at Gaia Online and PlayFirst.  Gaia is a fast growing online teen-hangout and virtual world with over 11 million users, a billion+ post forums, and one of the largest virtual item economies on the web.  PlayFirst is a leading, venture funded publisher of casual games based in San Francisco.  PlayFirst is most notably known for their hit title, Diner Dash, and is funded by top venture capital firms, such as Trinity Ventures, Mayfield Ventures and Rustic Canyon.  Saurin has also consulted on product strategy and investment analysis for companies such as PlaySpan and venture firms.

Prior to PlayFirst he was a management consultant at Infosys Consulting and focuses on the high-tech, media & entertainment and retail industries. At Infosys Consulting, the business consulting arm of Infosys, Saurin is responsible for recommending and leading visible, measurable changes to help his clients become more competitive and profitable. He uses analytical rigor tempered with creative, insightful thinking to help companies change they way compete and operate.

Over his career, Saurin has consulted or worked in pursuit teams for leading, global firms, such as Microsoft, Paramount, Nordson, APL, The Limited Brands, Lexmark, Amazon, Eagle Global, Landmark Graphics, TBC Corporation, JohnsonDiversey (a spin-off of Johnson & Johnson and Unilever) and more.  He has worked in small and large teams spread out around the world for companies ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 100 firms. Having done work for Europe ( Germany, Netherlands, UK), United States, Asia ( Japan, China, India) and Latin America ( Mexico, Brazil), Saurin brings a critical global awareness to his clients. 

Saurin has amassed a broad range of experiences critical to successful business leaders. He has conducted project management, formed ecommerce and marketing strategies, assessed product commercialization and time-to-market capabilities, assisted start-ups with business and marketing plan development, gathered product and service requirements through customer interviews and research, and used technology as an instrument to drive competitiveness.

Saurin received a MBA from the Executive MBA program at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin.  He is always looking for new ideas and businesses to become a part of or to provide consulting services.

[Trax In Space]
An early entrant in the world of digital media, in 1993 Saurin Shah began a movement to legally distribute music online at a time when Prodigy was the largest ISP in the US. He helped pioneer a digital distribution model which leveraged the power of the Internet to cheaply deliver music to fans anywhere in the world. His business, Trax In Space, became one the largest Internet music properties for amateur musicians and trackers (digital musicians).

Later at Digital Rhythms, Inc., a technology incubator which bought Trax In Space from Saurin, Saurin raised $2 million in funding and assumed the role of Vice President of Business Development. At Digital Rhythms, Saurin once again pioneered online media. He grew the number of monthly unique users to over one million; and at a time when "eyeballs" were more important than revenue, Saurin began a successful subscription model to take advantage of the 25,000+ plus musicians at Trax In Space. The ensuing dot-com bust and other personal reasons led Saurin to leave Digital Rhythms and pursue other career options in 2002.

Recently Saurin launched a new Trax In Space website, built from scratch from the ground-up. The new site is a social network designed around musicians and music lovers.

[1993-1995]
The roots of Saurin's passion for digital media begins with computer drawn art. In the early 90s, the "demo scene" emerged in Europe and parts of the US. Gifted programmers developed short animated films known as "demos." Demos, written in a language known as Assembly, often showcased the skills of the demo writers and accompanying musicians and artists. Fascinated by the talented artists, Saurin formed his own digital art group, called CyberLegion Artist's Network, or "CLAN" for short. CLAN consisted of several top artists and musicians from around the world, including Texas (USA), Finland, Sweden, Germany and the UK. Quarterly Saurin would release a digital magazine which premiered recent art and music made by the group's members. CLAN was one of the first digital magazines to have a fully 3D rendered, animated menu.