"So when we started Kraftshala, we actually, you know, started, you know, with training some of the elite institution students. But as we expanded, we quickly figured out job is what people are looking for. Job is what you have to prepare for, and jobs is what you have to win for." - Varun Satia
In this episode of India GameChanger, Varun Satia, founder and CEO of Kraftshala, shared his journey from working at Nestle to creating an impactful marketing and sales learning platform. Varun's early involvement in entrepreneurship, including founding a college entrepreneurship cell and working under mentors like Vivek Ramaswamy, played a crucial role in shaping his business acumen.
Some of the topics Varun covered in detail included:
- How working at a large company was good, but he had a lingering feeling of being detached from the granular learning experiences that come with smaller, more agile environments.
- An anecdote about his early failure while launching a network in India under Vivek's mentorship reveals a critical lesson: resilience and learning from setbacks. Varun’s initial launch was a failure, but the guidance he received helped him navigate through it and grow.
- His critique of traditional higher education, particularly business schools, reveals a disconnect between academic learning and necessary, real-world business skills.
- Varun unapologetically provides a sobering look at the Indian job market. He emphasizes that higher education institutions in India must focus primarily on employability.
- KraftShala’s approach to continuously evolving its curriculum based on industry needs is a testament to the importance of adaptability. By maintaining close relationships with recruiters and updating their programs to include emerging skills like programmatic advertising, they ensure their students remain competitive.
- Using data analytics to enhance the placement process is one of KraftShala’s innovative strategies. By tracking where students drop off in the job application process and providing targeted support, they improve placement rates and student confidence.
