Banking on faith Investment bankers quit cushy jobs to start ventures in handicrafts, wine retail
After inking deals, strategising, being a part of mergers and acquisitions; investment bankers are jumping onto the startup bandwagon by starting their own ventures.
From well-paying jobs with leading MNCs, it is now all about marketing and selling Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, dokra art, kalamkari, bandhni etc.
“It is a free fall. But if you know what you want to do in life, you can achieve it,” says Ajay Shetty, founder, Myra Vineyards, who after working with Morgan Stanley in New York and Merill Lynch in Hong Kong, quit it all to start the wine company in Bangalore.
According to Rahul Garg, who was an i-banker with Bank of America and Lehman Brothers, the i-banking experience provides exposure to several companies, business analysis and to the prevailing business environment.
“All this sort of creates a base that helps when launching your own firm. I used to interact a lot with company CEOs, CFOs, understand business requirements. This gave a good perspective on business, competition, challenges,” says Garg, who started the handicrafts focused e-commerce firm Artisangilt.com in 2013. The new entrepreneurs say that although quitting a job that provides security, stints abroad, and a fat pay cheque is a tough call, the present startup-friendly environment is way too attractive to give a miss.
Arvind Nagpal, former Cognizant executive, and now founder of data analytics firm Teg Analytics, says: “It does imply money issues in the initial months. However, after working with MNCs, there comes a time when you want to use your experience and potential in running your own firm and doing everything from scratch.”
Both Garg and Shetty chose segments that are different in every sense from their i-banking jobs, “but reflected heavy growth opportunity,” echo the duo.
Though per capita consumption of wine in India is low at 10-12 ml per year at present, “the potential is tremendous, with there being a lifestyle change in society today. And spending time with farmers, watching closely how wine is produced, helping market and sell it is vastly different from an i-banker’s job. Which means it helps me as an individual develop a different set of skills,” says Shetty.
“Ditto”, says IITian Garg, who sensed an opportunity in bringing handicrafts online.
“Investment banking is about short-term cash flow. While entrepreneurship is all about long-term value creation. At the end of the day, it is more about harnessing our capabilities,” says Garg.
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