Brothers from Another Mother
Joe and Prem met while working in NYC and later found out that their families grew upon the same street almost 7,500 miles away in Kerala, India!
CEO
Prem Thomas
Prem is currently also the Cofounder and CFO of an early stage biotech company. Prior to founding Gurus, Prem was a Kiva Microfinance Fellow in Manila, Philippines. Before leaving for the Philippines he worked at the New York City Investment Fund, a civic venture capital fund. Prior to that, Prem was an Investment Banker for Bank of America, where he met Joe.
Prem went to UNC Chapel Hill and grew up in Tampa, Florida.
President
Joe Choorapuzha
Joe is currently a 2nd year MBA student at UPenn. Prior to joining Gurus, Joe worked with an investment fund in NYC. Before that he was an Investment Banker at Bank of America, where he met Prem.
Joe received a B.A. in Economics with a concentration in Political Science from Columbia University and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Mascot
Indy (Indiana) the Lab
Indy is our mascot. He is a 2-year-old yellow lab who likes eating sticks, taking naps and chewing on Gurus.
Indy lives with Prem in Tampa.
Meet our Gurus
We've had some help from some amazing Advisors
CEO and Co-Founder, Sustain Condoms
Jeffrey Hollander
CEO and Co-Founder of Sustain Condoms, a natural rubber condom manufacturer.
Co-founded Seventh Generation and built the company into a leading natural product brand with sales over $150 million known for its authenticity, transparency, and progressive business practices.
Adjunct Professor of corporate sustainability and social entrepreneurship at New York University.
Former Chair of the Greenpeace US Board of Directors
Co-founder and Board Chair of the American Sustainable Business Council
CEO and Founder, S'well Bottle
Sarah Kauss
CEO and Founder of S'well Bottle, stainless steel water bottles that look great and do good
S'well partners with several nonprofits such as Water Aid to provide clean drinking water to people in need and can be found everywhere in hundreds of retailers including J. Crew, Neiman Marcus and Whole Foods.
Recently ranked on Fortune's 40 under 40 list.
Former Vice President at Alexandria Real Estate EquitiesFormer Producer at Tapestry networks
CEO and Founder, Global Eye Wear
Sanjay Srinivasan
CEO of Global Global Eye Wear, a manufacturer of sunglasses for the Tourist/Resort, Mass distribution, Drug and Surf shops that manufactures eye wear for Panama Jack and Veggie Tails.
CEO of and Global Promo, a manufacturer of promotional products and caters to theme parks, resorts, hotels, sports teams, car dealerships, hospitals, schools, and restaurants.
Former founder of a jewelry line catering to the resort market, which was acquired in 2005.
CEO and Founder, Stellar Partners
Susan Stackhouse
Recognized as one of the industry’s most respected airport retailers, with over 35 years of valuable experience
CEO and Founder of Stellar Partners, and operator of duty free stores, newsstands, and specialty retail stores including Mindworks, Ron John Surf Shop and Swarovski in many U.S. airports.
Former Executive Vice President at Bonnani Exports, a group of companies operating duty free stores and ship chandleries.
Formerly spent several years at large retail clothing chains in Florida in buying and merchandising.