Tell me about your vision.
My vision is to help founders of startups
and other high-growth leaders to juggle everything with joy.
And what I mean by that is they have a lot to do,
a lot on their minds, and a ton of responsibilities.
And so how can they not just magically give up on those things
or pretend they're not there?
But how do they create the conditions
and create the life they want to have joy as a juggling adult?
Can you tell me more about that, Vijay?
Yeah.
I always say WTF is my coaching.
And by WTF, I mean for the folks I work with
to be wealthy, thriving, and free.
And that means not just financial success,
but non-material wealth, like a feeling of abundance.
It means thriving in the sense of their business, which
they are quite integrated.
That's part of their identity, is
growing in a way that also generates satisfaction
for them.
And then finally, free, in that they have independence
and they have choice and they have autonomy in their life,
as well as the mastering purpose that they seek.
And so that's, I think, really at the core there,
to be wealthy, thriving, and free.
Thank you for sharing that.
If I were to ask you, Vijay, where
did this vision of helping entrepreneurs or startups
come from?
I have had the experience of starting a couple businesses
of my own.
And while I've been a founder, I've also subsequently
been a leader in a venture studio.
I have been at one of the leading venture capital
firms investing around the world.
And I've seen this in different cultures, industries, places,
over many years, that whether you're looking at people
incubating a business in an accelerator
or in your portfolio, of which we have in my previous firm,
we had made 1,2800 investments, this is really important.
And helping to coach and help people
is an unlock for value, not just as an investor,
but as a stakeholder in those organizations.
And so I want to help people find that rhythm
and that holistic success, regardless of what
their business category is.
Because across stages and across industries,
the issues are pretty consistent and often the same.
What would you say, Vijay, is your why of what you do?
What's my why?
I have been either an entrepreneur and a founder
or a service to entrepreneurial leaders in one way, shape,
or form for the last 25 years.
There's something I believe very deeply,
that this is the way in which we change lives, change
the society, create prosperity, create growth, change,
introduce innovative new technologies,
and do all these things.
And whether actively involved in it myself
or helping maximize the potential and the outcomes
for the people doing it is really important.
And so that's been true since I was in college
and I got introduced to working in tech
when I was working in New York early in my career,
when I was working microfinance in developing context
in West Africa early in my career,
or later being a part, as I said, of different startups
and starting them as well as investing and supporting others.
That is a consistent thing is to be ultimately a service
to entrepreneurial leaders.
When would you say that you came to the realization
throughout your journey of that that was your why?
When was it like, oh my gosh, this is what I want to do?
I think it was something when I was asking myself,
should I start another business?
Do I want to invest in them?
Do I want to support them in some other way?
I realized just the energy that came from spending time
with people and thinking constructively about how
to support their success.
And so that happened probably around the pandemic.
I realized the thing I had been doing very naturally
and consistently, it was like, I was
really like, was this, this was the why.
And it's like the thing you do and the common thread
across that became very obvious.
And it shaped how I wanted to then double down and be
doing more of that, both in my previous role
and then now as I focus full time
on being an executive coach to startup founders
and other high growth leaders and startups.
What were you currently doing in that time
that you decided, like what you said you were investing
or trying to think about?
Yeah, so at the time I was leading corporate innovation
and partnerships for a firm, 500 Global,
which is one of the most active VC firms in the world.
And we were starting incubation programs and accelerators
and things like that around the world,
working with different companies and had
the pleasure of seeing different types of startup programs
really blossom.
And subsequently, we had the opportunity
to start a portfolio value group.
And that was going to help those founders thrive.
And I was asked to do that.
I was very excited to do it at the time,
but I kind of wondered why.
And people kept saying, you're always just doing this.
You're always helping the portfolio.
You're always there.
It's always a yes as opposed to just being available
and just doing these things that you do naturally
that other people sometimes think of as work
can sometimes be your calling card and professionally
your impact without even knowing it.
And so that ended up shaping the decision
to take that opportunity and subsequently helping
affirm this lifelong trajectory of focusing on how to support
and be of service to entrepreneurial leaders
and certainly that's helped my own entrepreneurial journey
too.
Thank you for being here today.
I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions
as these episodes continue to move forward.
This is going to get more and more fun.
We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We'll invite people to participate in the show.
And thank you for giving us your time and attention.
Have an excellent time building out your vision
and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.