I am a Jain by birth, from a Rajasthani family that made its home in West Bengal. I have lived in five states of India and travelled across countless cities, towns and villages of this country, and to more than five nations. That breadth, of cultures, circumstances and ways of living, is part of what I bring to a conversation. I have seen human life in many forms.
My career began in the early internet years, mentored by two of India’s earliest internet pioneers, Ajit Balakrishnan of Rediff and Rajesh Jain of Netcore. Since then I have spent more than twenty years inside the arena: building a 3,000-merchant payments network from zero, leading national enterprise sales in cybersecurity, scaling business development at one of India’s leading digital lending platforms, and serving as COO of a real estate developer.
With startups & founders
I have worked with or consulted for thirteen startups, invested in thirteen more, and observed hundreds of founders and companies closely over the years. Because I have lived the path from many sides, as founder, operator, seller and investor, I can sit with you honestly on the real questions: whether to build, join, or wait; how to find distribution and revenue; when to raise; how to keep momentum when nothing seems to move.
Fintech & PaymentsCybersecurityTelecom & ITReal Estate13 worked with13 invested inINSEAD Executive Program
Beyond the startup world
I can also help with the challenges of corporate life, navigating organizations, difficult dynamics, and the politics that come with any workplace, along with business strategy and the real problems of running a business, and with meaningful introductions drawn from a network of more than forty thousand professional connections.
The inner ground
Alongside all of this, I have kept a steady practice, years of Vipassana meditation and reflection, and a deep interest in the wisdom traditions that have helped people live well for centuries. It is the still centre from which everything else is easier to see. It is why Equilive exists.
And at heart, I live the same balance I help others find. I am a husband to a talented, working wife, and a father of two. The juggle of work, family and inner life is not a theory to me. It is my own daily practice.
