Powering Dreams

Hello! Gets Talking to a Streetsmart Businessman Who Is Presently Riding the Crest of Investment Opportunities in Indian Start Ups... And What a Ride He’s Had Getting Here!
 

- Sangeeta Wadhwani

He could be just another ‘Cuppie’ or corporate yuppie, but what sets 28-year-old Sanjot Malhi, apart, is his unusually fortuitous journey. Working at the management consultancy Bain & Company, at the tender age of 22, he counseled them “against launching a two trillion dollar mutual fund scheme in India. The market wasn’t ready for that model. It would have made for a lucrative opportunity, but giving the right answer was my bigger prerogative. We were not yet ready for it.” He had to take full responsibility for this tidal decision; “I knew there will be a suitable time, but it was yet to come.”

Today, as a Venture Capitalist working at Matrix Partners, he has seen the company invest close to 5,000 crores in various Indian enterprises, such as Ola! Practo, Quikr, Daily Hunt, Stayzilla. (Ola! has purportedly risen to the number one radio cab service in India). Meet him on a flight, and you are likely to find him reading e-books on how to spot a scam enterprise! As a Yale University undergrad, he may have learned from some of the world’s finest, yet not for a second does Sanjot give one any impression of being inherently superior. What makes him truly happy, “Is impacting people’s lives in a positive way. That inspires me, that motivates me. And they don’t have to be Indian people alone, they can be of any colour, any language.”

THE WONDER YEARS AT THE HAGUE