Disruption is often outside in, says serial entrepreneur K Ganesh. It takes an outsider to change the status quo, like how Elon Musk and Tesla challenged ICE cars. Ganesh, the founder of venture-building platform GrowStory, who has incubated and scaled successful startups like BigBasket, Portea Medical and Bluestone, talks about how new-age business models in India have localised, innovated and made money. He discusses value creation amid path to profitability concerns, how investors navigate the high-risk, high-reward potential of these companies, and how AI is changing the business landscape in India
How does AI change our approach to work? Are Gen Zs impatient? What does it mean to build our own ‘personal board of directors’? Vivek Gambhir and Sunder Ramachandran answer all these questions and more in today’s episode. In conversation with Divya Shekhar, they discuss their book HeadStart, which contains their collective wisdom from spending decades in various business leadership roles. They also reflect on career strategies they wished they knew when they were starting out, and how their advice is differentiated among a deluge of career tips on social media.
Through his nearly two-decade career, Mohinder Amarnath fought against the fiercest of bowlers. In his recent autobiography Fearless, written along with his younger brother Rajender, a former cricketer, commentator and author, Amarnath sheds light on his formative years under the watchful eyes of his father, his time on the international stage, and why, in 1988, he refused to back down from calling the selectors a 'bunch of jokers’. The authors are in conversation with Forbes India’s Kathakali Chanda.
Alok Sama was chief dealmaker at possibly the most influential technology investor in the world: Softbank. The company, founded by maverick investor Masayoshi Son, has backed some of the most disruptive companies in the world, like Nvidia, Uber and Tiktok and Alibaba. In this episode, Sama speaks with Divya Shekhar about his book The Money Trap, in which he gives an insider’s account of the people, deals and businesses that have steered and shaped the course of the world.
What does it take to run a successful restaurant? Why do so many F&B ventures fail? What qualities do successful restauranteurs have? Ravi Wazir, a seasoned strategist in the food and beverage industry, who has worked with popular restaurants like Olive, Izumi and Swati Snacks, answers these questions in his new book Beyond the Menu: A Restaurant Start-Up Guide. In conversation with Divya Shekhar and Pankti Mehta Kadakia, this episode features interesting anecdotes and insights about the business of food
Artificial Intelligence is already part of our day-to-day life. It is in our homes, our offices, and increasingly in our public spaces too. Technology, including AI, “will only serve society in the best way if we have checks and balances”, Verity Harding, director of the AI & Geopolitics Project at Cambridge University, tells Divya Shekhar in April. It is important, she adds, that regulators and the people building AI listen to people already vulnerable to this technology, and take into account diverse viewpoints. Her new book, AI Needs You, takes a historical and intersectional perspective to help us navigate and understand artificial intelligence.
What does it take to build an iconic jewellery brand for the ages? CK Venkataraman, the managing director of Titan Company, attempts to answer this question in his new book The Tanishq Story. It is an insider’s account into the people, ideas, situations and challenges that went into building one of India’s biggest jewellery brands. Venkataraman, a Titan lifer, is candid about missteps in building the company, why his self-identity does not come from his job, and why philanthropy is on his mind as he retires in 15 months.
In her new book 'Code Dependent', Madhumita Murgia brings voices and stories of people from across the world to describe how AI is impacting our work, our health, our body, and our freedom in various ways. Murgia, who is the artificial intelligence editor of the Financial Times in the UK, tells Divya Shekhar that while AI is still considered as a futuristic technology, it has started impacting our lives in ways we cannot imagine.
In a world where ESG (environment, social, governance) is often reduced to box-ticking and greenwashing by businesses, Rajeev Peshawaria believes that sustainability is a leadership challenge, and entrepreneurs and CEOs should instill the culture of accountability top-down. In his new book Sustainable Sustainability: Why ESG is Not Enough, Peshawaria, the CEO of the Temasek-backed non-profit Stewardship Asia Centre in Singapore, talks to Divya Shekhar about the shifts he sees in global business behavior with respect to addressing climate and sustainability concerns, and what more needs to be done.
The two-time World Cup-winning Australian all-rounder talks to Divya Shekhar and Kathakali Chanda about his new book The Winner’s Mindset. He talks about a tragedy that triggered a fear of the short ball, how he overcame his anxiety, why it’s important to train the mind, and what he wants to do next after a successful career as a cricketer and now commentator. He also discusses what young players have in stake ahead of the T20 World Cup, and how they can cope with the pressure
In his book 'Slip, Stitch and Stumble', senior journalist Rajrishi Singhal takes a broad-scope look into the evolution of financial sector reforms in India. From Manmohan Singh's landmark July 1991 Union Budget speech to the current complicated relationship between fintech companies and regulations, the book takes stock of the various events, stakeholders and motivations that propelled financial sector reforms in India at different stages, as well as the roadblocks along the way. Also joining Divya Shekhar in this episode is Forbes India journalist Nasrin Sultana.
Gurcharan Das believes that reliving your life is better than living it. In his memoir Another Sort of Freedom, he reflects on 80 years of his life. The author talks to Divya Shekhar about how he fled his home during the Partition, stumbled through various academic disciplines—from engineering and literature to philosophy and Sanskrit—survived doing business during the License Raj and scaled the corporate ladder, only to let go of it when he reached the top, all because he wanted to find his life’s purpose.
To compete in the new age, companies need to fuse the physical and digital to create value, says Vijay Govindarajan. The Coxe distinguished professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, his new book Fusion Strategy is all about how companies need to use technology and real-time data to turbocharge their products, strategies and customer relationships. He also talks to Divya Shekhar about why AI should be ‘augmented intelligence’ and not ‘artificial intelligence’ and why India should focus on high-level manufacturing to get the most out of its demographic dividend.
We’ve heard about the popular phrase “leading from the front”. It means taking the lead in making decisions and showing people the way. But Ravi Kant, former vice chairman and CEO of Tata Motors, is of the belief that business leaders should no longer aspire to lead from the front, but instead, aim to lead from the back. Why does he say that? What does he mean? And is this something organisations will even be open to implementing? Let’s find out. In this episode, Kant discusses his new book ‘Leading from the Back’, which he has co-authored with bestselling writers Harry Paul and Ross Reck.
Sudha and Narayana Murthy are no doubt icons of our generation. But when so much is known about their life already, what can you possibly write that seems new to readers? And when the subjects of your book are your primary sources, how can you avoid being hagiographical? In this conversation with Divya Shekhar, celebrated author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni talks about ‘An Uncommon Love’, her first work of non-fiction, where she focusses on the early life of the Murthys. She traces their childhood, courtship, marriage, family life, and also their individual professional milestones, including the founding and initial years of Infosys.
In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner, managing director of Graham Fisher and Co., talk about their book These are the Plunderers: How PE runs and wrecks America. The book is a well-researched critique of how private equity firms in the US that specialise in buying companies, load them with debt and completely squeeze them for profits. The authors talk to Divya Shekhar about the insurance takeover by PE, the lack of transparency in their dealings, and the responsibility of the media while covering PE billionaires.
The author and leadership coach, known for international bestsellers The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and The 5 AM Club, speaks with Divya Shekhar about his forthcoming book The Wealth Money Can’t Buy, and the relevance of self-help books in the age motivation content fatigue, thanks to social media. He also discusses why hubris takes down many great people and companies, why most CEOs and billionaires are “cash rich and happiness poor”, how technology takes us away from creativity, and the secret behind how successful people separate good advice and decisions from all the noise
Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba believe that India’s best days are still ahead and that the country shouldn’t lose its biggest strength—its democracy—by “any stretch of the imagination”. In their new book, ‘Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India’s Economic Future’, Rajan, former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, and Lamba, an economist at Pennsylvania State University, talk about why creativity and human capital should be at the centre of growth and development. They also tell Divya Shekhar why it’s essential to reprioritize our resources to focus on the basics.
What if I tell you there’s a company that can scrape every photo you casually upload on social media? A company that uses powerful facial recognition technology in ways that even big tech companies like Google and Facebook have refrained from using. The New York Times Journalist Kashmir Hill speaks to Divya Shekhar about her book Your Face Belongs to Us, which investigates the inner workings of Clearview AI, a controversial facial recognition startup. She discusses the promises and perils of such technology and its impact on privacy.
Fali Nariman is arguably the greatest living expert on the Constitution. He started his legal practice the year the Constitution of India was enacted in November 1949. He spoke with Divya Shekhar and Forbes India Editor Brian Carvalho about his new book 'You Must Know Your Constitution'. He discusses pertinent issues, including how the Constitution can be taken to the masses, questions around sedition and censorship, national vs official languages and whether it’s time for India to have a new Constitution. (Published by Hay House Publishers India and distributed by Penguin Random House India)