Apollo Tyres Ltd. is one of the world’s largest family businesses. Founded in 1972, Apollo now has over 19,000 employees, serving 100 countries. Neeraj Kanwar is the grandson of founder, Ranuaq Singh. He became MD in 2009 (in his mid-thirties) and has led the growth of Apollo from revenues of US$450 million to over US$3 billion; Apollo is on track to reach US$5bn in revenues by 2026. Neeraj continues to work closely with his father, Onkar Kanwar, who is the company chairman. In this interview, I speak to Neeraj Kanwar, Vice-Chairman & MD of Apollo Tyres and his Father, Onkar Kanwar, Chairman of Apollo Tyres. We discuss the complexities, challenges and opportunities of running one of the world’s largest family businesses including effective succession planning, leadership, culture and change.

Thought Economics

Girish Mathrubootham is a renowned figure in the global tech industry, an entrepreneur who has rewritten India’s startup narrative through his determination, innovation, and entrepreneurial acumen. As the CEO of Freshworks, he has propelled the company to new heights, carving a niche in a domain that was previously dominated by established industry giants. A visionary, he set his sights beyond just commercial success, co-founding SaaSBOOMi and Together Fund. These ventures reflect Girish’s commitment to leveraging technology and resources to help the burgeoning start-up ecosystem in India, illuminating a path for countless budding entrepreneurs. But Girish’s influence extends beyond the realm of tech and start-ups. His philanthropic initiatives paint the portrait of a leader who believes in giving back to society. His passion for nurturing talent is manifested in FC Madras, a testament to his belief in India’s potential on the global stage. Establishing this football club was a deliberate act of providing young Indian athletes the infrastructure, support, and opportunity they need to excel in their field. His life’s mission, as he succinctly puts it, is to “create world champions from India,” a purpose that unifies his roles in entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and sport. In this interview, I speak to philanthropist & entrepreneur, Girish Mathrubootham. We discuss his journey as an entrepreneur leading Freshworks from start-up to $Multi-Billion IPO, what it takes to lead scale-up global businesses, and the power of philanthropy to create change.

Thought Economics

In this interview I speak to Ajaz Ahmed, Founder & CEO of AKQA, a design & innovation agency who now employee over 7,000 people in 50 countries – and work with more than half of the Fortune 500 top 20 companies. Ajaz has co-authored and written three books about business, creativity, scaling and technology: Velocity (2012), Limitless (2015), and Defeat (2019). Ajaz has also been involved in philanthropy since the start of AKQA for over two decades, and launched ajaz.org which has made over 15 grants since it was launched in August 2021. In addition to his own charitable organisation, Ajaz sits on the board of Mission 44 (founded by Sir Lewis Hamilton: empowering young people from underserved groups to succeed), Elton John AIDS Foundation (founded by Sir Elton John & David Furnish, funding frontline partners preventing infections, fighting stigma and providing treatment) and Virgin Unite (founded by Sir Richard Branson, uniting people & entrepreneurial ideas to change the world). In this interview, I speak to Ajaz Ahmed MBE on what it takes to build a global creative business, the power of creative industries as a force for good, and his learnings from working with some of the world’s greatest brands.

Thought Economics

From the sandy beaches of Australia to the bustling walkways of international fashion, Brian Smith has masterfully navigated his entrepreneurial journey with audacity, resilience, and a surfer’s spirit. Born with an insatiable passion for surfing, Brian has not only ridden waves but also the tides of the business world. A chartered accountant turned innovative entrepreneur, he spotted the untapped potential of sheepskin boots and introduced them to California. This marked the genesis of UGG, a brand that faced its share of rejections, only to emerge as an icon in the footwear industry, thanks to Brian’s unwavering faith and tenacity. Today, UGG is more than just a brand; it’s a global phenomenon that has redefined comfort and style in footwear. Generating billions of dollars in annual sales, UGG stands as a testament to Brian’s vision, perseverance, and entrepreneurial prowess. In this interivew, I speak to Brian Smith, Founder of UGG. We talk about his entrepreneurial journey, why it’s important to see businesses through the lens of life stages, and what it takes to build a global brand with incredible consumer loyalty.

Thought Economics

What if the greatest salespeople on the planet are the opposite of who you think they are? Everyone sells, every day. It’s why the most successful people are better than most at selling themselves, their ideas, or their products. Yet when people hear the word “sales” they think of an overly confident, articulate extrovert at best, or, worse, a pushy, know-it-all huckster. Because of these misperceptions, when they find themselves in a situation where they need to sell, they feel compelled to put on the persona of a “good salesperson.” But there’s a disconnect between who we think good salespeople are and who they actually are. In any room, they’re not the most self-confident, they’re the most self-aware. They’re not the most sociable, they’re the most socially aware. And they don’t succeed in spite of obstacles, they succeed because of obstacles. In their new book The Unsold Mindset, USC Marshall Adjunct Professors Colin Coggins & Garrett Brown sought out some of the most successful people from all walks of life, including CEOs, entrepreneurs, doctors, trial lawyers, professional athletes, agents, military leaders, artists, engineers, and countless others in between in hopes of understanding why they’re so extraordinary. They found that as different as all these incredible people were, they all had an eerily similar approach to selling. It didn’t matter if they were perceived as optimists or pessimists, logical or emotional, introverted or extraverted, jovial or stoic – they were all unsold on what it meant to sell and unsold on who people expected them to be. In this interview, I speak to Colin Coggins & Garrett Brown, two of the world’s foremost experts on sales. We talk about the counterintuitive nature of the greatest sellers on the planet – and how we need to understand the psychology, culture and reality of sales.  

Thought Economics

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, a New York Times #1 bestselling author, has written or edited 51 books which have sold over 3 million copies, been translated into 32 languages, and become bestsellers in 12 countries. Amazon recently recognized the ‘100 Best Leadership & Success Books Ever Written’ – and included Marshall’s Triggers and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. He is the only living author with two books on the list. His other bestsellers include: MOJO, Succession: Are You Ready?, The Leader of the Future and How Women Rise (with lead author, Sally Helgesen). His new NYT bestseller, The Earned Life, is an Amazon Editor’s Choice for Book of the Year So Far in 2022. Marshall’s acknowledgements include: Global Gurus – Corps D ’Elite Award for Lifetime Contribution in both Leadership and Coaching, Harvard Business Review – World’s #1 Leadership Thinker, Institute for Management Studies – Lifetime Achievement Award for Teaching, American Management Association – 50 great thinkers who have influenced the field of management and BusinessWeek – 50 great leaders in America. His life is featured in the documentary movie, “The Earned Life” and the New Yorker profile, “The Better Boss”. He is one of a select few executive coaches who has worked with over 200 major CEOs and their management teams. He served on the Advisory Board of the Peter Drucker Foundation for ten years. In this interview, I speak to Dr. Marshall Goldsmith about finding our path in life, the pursuit of happiness, the scorecards for success, the power of mentorship, discipline and what it takes to live the life you deserve.

Thought Economics

Mike Evans is the founder of GrubHub. Hungry and tired one night, Mike wanted a pizza, but getting a pizza was a pain in the neck. He didn’t want to call a million restaurants to see what was open. So, as an avid coder, he created GrubHub in his spare bedroom to figure out who delivered to his apartment. Then, armed with a $140 check from his first customer and ignoring his crushing college debt, he quit his job. Over the next decade, Mike grew his little delivery guide into the world’s premier online ordering website. In doing so, he entered the company of an elite few entrepreneurs to take a start-up from an idea all the way to an IPO. In 2021, JustEat acquired GrubHub for over $7billion. In this interview, I speak to Mike Evans, Founder of GrubHub. We talk about the brutal realities start-up life, what it takes to lead an innovative, scaling, consumer focussed business and how he took a $140 cheque and turned it into a $7bn+ business.

Thought Economics

The single best way to have a great idea is to produce lots of ideas. The number of new ideas your organization can produce is a metric for its ability to generate novel solutions to any given problem. Your ideaflow is the most crucial business metric that you’ve never considered. Every business problem is, finally, an idea problem. How well you can solve those problems is how well you and your business can perform, navigate uncertainty, and develop innovations. Jeremy Utley is the Director of Executive Education at Stanford d.school and an Adjunct Professor at Stanford’s School of Engineering. He is the co-host of the d.school’s widely popular program “Stanford’s Masters of Creativity.” Perry Kelbahn is a co-founding member of Stanford’s d.school faculty. He is an Adjunct Professor and Director of Executive Education at Stanford d.school. He has served as COO of Patagonia and as CEO of Timbuk2. In this interview, I speak to Jeremy Utley & Perry Klebahn of Stanford’s renowned Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (aka the “d.school”) on ideaflow, their proven strategy for routinely generating and commercializing breakthrough ideas.
 

Thought Economics

Mitch Lowe has been a leader in some of the most influential and disruptive companies in the entertainment business. Mitch never graduated from high school. After a youth spent smuggling goods and money in Europe, he invested in and eventually ran video stores in the 1980s and 1990s. He was a cofounding executive of Netflix. After leaving Netflix, he became an executive at McDonald’s, eventually creating the DVD kiosk business that would become Redbox. Under his leadership as president and COO, Redbox became the third largest video rental company in America, growing to 35,000 locations and $1.5 billion in revenues. Mitch invested in and became CEO of MoviePass, a movie theatre subscription service that acquired three million subscribers in eight months. While MoviePass never succeeded, it significantly influenced the trajectory of the business of movie theatrical exhibition. In his new book Watch and Learn, Mitch gives an inside perspective on the dramatic evolution of the entertainment business, from the days of early cable television, Beta, and VHS to a world where consumers have infinite choice and control of the movies they see. In this interview, I speak to Mitch Lowe, Co-Founding Executive of Netflix, Former CEO of MoviePass and Former President of Redbox. We look at the lessons he learned from one of the fastest growing, competitive, and creative industries on the planet, and how those insights extend far beyond entertainment into all industries. We talk about disruption, success, innovation, and the importance of listening to your gut.  

Thought Economics

Dame Stephanie Shirley CH, also known as Steve, is a workplace revolutionary and successful IT entrepreneur turned ardent venture philanthropist. At 88 years old, her story has many strands which, woven together, have produced a lifetime of exceptional achievements. Dame Stephanie’s story begins with her 1939 arrival in Britain as an unaccompanied five-year-old Kindertransport refugee. This defining experience equipped her with fortitude at a very young age and made her determined to live a life worth saving. In 1962, she started a software house, Freelance Programmers, and pioneered radical new flexible work practices that changed the landscape for women working in technology. She went on to create a global business and a personal fortune which she shared with her colleagues, making millionaires of 70 of her staff at no cost to anyone but herself. Since retiring in 1993, Dame Stephanie’s life has been dedicated to venture philanthropy in the fields of IT and autism. She initially founded Autism at Kingwood in 1994 to support her late son Giles, then there was the ground breaking Prior’s Court School for pupils with autism and her charitable Shirley Foundation went on to make grants of £70 million. It spent out in 2018 in favour of Autistica, the UK’s national autism research charity founded by Dame Stephanie. In 2009/10 she served as the UK’s first ever national Ambassador for Philanthropy. In 2017, Dame Stephanie received a Companion of Honour (CH), a membership limited to only 65 individuals globally, for her services to entrepreneurship and philanthropy. In this interview, I speak to Dame Stephanie Shirley CH. We discuss her remarkable life story from arriving in Britain as five-year-old war refugee, to building one of the UK’s most successful information technology companies, changing the landscape completely for women in technology, and her work as one of the UK’s most prominent, and impactful philanthropists.

Thought Economics

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