Career Checkpoint: Recent Episodes
B V Harish Kumar
I'm B V Harish Kumar and this is Career Checkpoint where I chat with some of the smartest people I know, and try to learn from what has shaped their careers and how they see the world.
Anurag Kapoor is the quintessential restless entrepreneur. So much so that, when we recorded this, we spoke about two startups that he was simultaneously a part of, and by the time I got around to editing the chat and publishing it, he has started another new chapter in life! Anurag is Head, Solutions and Presales at Iksula. In this episode, we spoke about his journey from Wipro to the multiple startups he has been involved with. Anurag had some wonderful insights about the entrepreneurial life, challenges in moving from a safe, corporate life to being on your own, the thrill of it as well as the depths you’ll plunge to! I know people who eat or drink or binge watch shows when they’re down. You’ll be amazed to find out what Anurag does! So go on, listen to this fascinating chat with Anurag Kapoor.
Cyril Varghese is Global Logistics Director- Strategy and Commercial at Fluor Corporation. Rudyard Kipling’s poem If talks about responding to Triumph and Disaster with equanimity, he says If you can keep your head when everyone around you is losing their heads, you’ll be a Man. Whenever I think about Kipling’s If, the only person that comes to mind is Cyril Varghese. In this episode, Cyril helps me unpack some meta thinking behind how he has dealt with his life and career - his secrets to being happy in life! That’s reason enough for you to drop everything and listen to this chat. But if you needed one more reason - Cyril also gave me a 101 lesson on Cargo and Logistics. It’s a fascinating domain that has been the engine of civilizations and trade over centuries. If you’re looking to make a career in a slightly off-beat space that makes a real difference and exposes you to different cultures and countries all over the world, logistics is the space to be! And you can listen to Cyril explaining why and how!
In this episode I speak with Harsh, who is a Global Principal with ING, working to diversify ING's income through fee based business models. Harsh has had diverse experience working with brands like Times of India, ICICI, Barclays and IDFC First Bank. What was fascinating to learn was how Harsh rebuilt his career from scratch when he moved to Netherlands in 2014. It’s a great lesson in humility and I found it quite instructive how Harsh navigated through those tough times to almost resurrect his career. This was a fun chat for me as much as it was insightful. All I can say is I wish I had had this chat earlier!
In this episode, I chat with Nawal Saini. Nawal is a Managing Director in Brookfield’s Renewable Power Group. In this role, he is responsible for building and managing Brookfield’s business in India and assists the infrastructure team in executing large-scale transactions. I got a one-hour private masterclass on how Nawal takes investment decisions worth hundreds of millions of dollars! We spoke about the role of luck and serendipity in his career arc and how he accounts for biases in decision-making. nawal also told me why he thinks he’s a much better senior leader as compared to the associate who had just started his career. If you’re looking to build a career in investment, there are many useful lessons for you. And one more thing - Nawal also explains in novice-friendly terms, what his company, Brookfield, a global leader in alternative asset management does. I hope you find this as insightful as I did.
In this episode, I speak with Anshuman Gupta. Anshuman works with Investec India and as per Asiamoney Brokers Poll, he is the No. 1 Healthcare Analyst in the India region and No. 2 globally. I took this opportunity to get Anshuman to explain to me the basics of the Indian pharma space. We covered India’s contribution to the world pharma industry, regulations, generics and of course, the COVID vaccinations. I also found out about Anshuman’s career arc - from being a chemical Engineer to the top pharma analyst that he is today and what he would have done had he not done his MBA! This was quite the learning opportunity for me and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did recording it.
In this episode, I talk to Parth Bidasaria, Business Head at Udaan. At MDI, the one defining thing about Parth in my mind was his batting. He was one of those guys who timed the ball very well. Over the last 16 years, we have had occasional chats but never spoke in detail about work. So this was an opportunity for me to delve deeper into his career path and get a peek into the world of Udaan. I enjoyed this chat where Parth spoke about the books that influenced his life, how he went about the multiple career pivots. And yes, just like me, he seems to have seamlessly moved on from cricket to tennis! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did recording it.
In this episode I talk to Ashok Das, Managing Director, Fixed Income and Currencies, Deutsche Bank. Ashok gave me a peek into the life of a high-flying market-maker, how he copes with the pressures and incentives of the world of finance. Yes, a tweet from Trump can have a direct bearing on his life. But he tries to keep calm and carry on! This was a fascinating chat and has lot of useful insights for anyone starting a career in the world of finance and banking - to learn how to grow into the fastest dinosaur out there!
In this episode I talk to Vandhana Rajendran, Director at Strat & OS . Vandhana hasn’t followed the typical career path of an MBA from a school like MDI Gurgaon. She has done two stints at KPMG and has lived the life of a typical management consultant. But at the time of her choice, she decided to get off the so-called corporate treadmill and is living life on her own terms, where her family comes first. This was an interesting chat where I also learned about how she sees her role as a coach for her children. There are a lot of tweet-worthy life-lessons in this chat!
In this episode, I talk to Shom Biswas who works as Director, Customer engagement at Global Logic. But an introduction like this will be doing grave injustice to the many different interests that Shom pursues with characteristic passion. As he himself puts it, professional dilettante is the right way to describe him. I learned about the similarities between investing in stocks and the Fantasy Premier League. He told me about the book that he’s publishing in 2021. We spoke about a sub-altern group from the MDI days (which sounded something like The Fight Club) - other members of that group should listen to the episode to find out if he broke any rules!
And yes, we firmly established that Shom is a Shom is a Shom.
In this episode, I talk to Smriti Handa, Regional HR Director, South Asia, at Reckitt Benckiser. She has worked with Phillips and Airtel earlier. Smriti enjoys getting HR a seat in the boardroom. I learned about what this means, the kind of challenges she has had to overcome, her take on diversity and inclusion. We also spoke about what it means to be a working mom who wants to give her best at work as well as to her family - why should she have to choose one over the other? Hopefully, people like Smriti will help change mindsets among leaders and pave the way for a more equitable and better world for our children.
In this episode, I talk to Aaditya Gutgutia, who works as a partner with Emerging India Value Advisory. He is someone who is a thorough-bred from the world of finance - an area that I have very little intimate knowledge of. So I did my own research on Aaditya and his upcoming book on Polycycle Investing before talking to him. In this chat, I learned about how he sees life as a series of 12-year cycles- each with a different role to play, his take on the woke culture and of course, Polycycle Investment. A chat with Aaditya would not have been complete without a reference to one of his big influences, Prof. Sanjay Bakshi. I learned a lot while recording this and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
In this episode, I had a chat with Akshay Khanna, who is a Partner with Avasant and is the Global Lead, Avasant Labs. This was an interesting chat where I could pick Akshay’s brains about technology outsourcing, how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted global outsourcing decisions and what he thinks about the India story. We also spoke about the time when his startup got acquired by PayTm and Akshay’s stint with PayTM coincided with the explosive growth PayTM had post Demonetization in 2016. It was a fun chat and I could find the right opportunity to pull his leg about a trip that he and Amit Didolkar who I did the first episode with, have been threatening to go on, for the last 15 years!
In this episode I have a chat with Sreedhar Prasad, who has over 20 years of global consulting experience with KPMG India, Middle East and Kalaari Capital. My conversation covered a wide range of topics and themes from curiosity to Chinese cuisine to what should parents do to help their children prepare them for their future. Sreedhar also shared his secret of how he keeps his sanity intact even when he is continuously traveling!
In this episode, I talk to Vinayak Shenoy, Head of Marketing & Retail - Asia Pacific & Middle East Africa, Lenovo Mobile Business at Lenovo. Given the varied roles, countries, markets, industries that Vinayak has worked in, our conversation revolved around how he unlearns to learn about a new market or assignment. I also learned what he does when he feels overwhelmed by any situation and his take on what the moral job of marketers is in the Board room!
Rajat Jain works as Business manager for Maggi at Nestle India. One of the few folks from my batch at MDI Gurgaon, who is continuing with the same company that he joined from campus. The big takeaway for me was how important humility and learning are and how Rajat has developed some eclectic interests outside a typical high-flying corporate job and how he likes to learn how to appreciate these interest areas.
Amit is a friend from MDI Gurgaon and has worked in Technology sales roles for various small and big organisations for the last many years. In this chat, I learned about how he prepares for sales meetings, what he considers the greatest source of knowledge and what he would have been doing if he wasn’t doing sales.