10X Growth Strategies

In this episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan has a thought-provoking conversation with Kay Sarathy, SVP Insurance Applications, Berkley Technology Services about the book Subtract:The Untapped Science of Less by Leidy Klotz. Kay Sarathy shares her experiences deploying some of the techniques from the book in the digital transformation journey she is leading.  In the book Subtract, the author draws our attention to the hard truth that biological, cultural, and economic forces around us encourage us to do more, not less. Our failure to subtract is a root cause for our cluttered calendars, closets, and inboxes. Klotz’s pioneering research shows us what is true whether we’re building Lego models, cities, grilled-cheese sandwiches, or strategic plans: Our minds tend to add before taking away, and this is holding us back.

The book Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind. System 1 of our mind is fast, intuitive and emotional. System 2 is slower, more deliberative and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything can be understood by knowing how the two systems shape our judgements and decisions.  In today’s episode, Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at OJO had the chance to talk to VT Bharadwaj, a General Partner at A91 Partners. He is a very well known investor in the Indian Startup ecosystem. It was a very valuable discussion around how he used learnings from the book on decision making, intuitions and judgements.  Tune in to understand decision making, judgements from an investor and learn from it.

When we try new, innovative things we are going to fail. If we put ourselves out there and love with our whole hearts, we are going to get hurt. In the book “Rising Strong”, author Brené Brown says that when we own our story and feel through these experiences of failure, we then write our own brave endings. Truth is falling hurts,  and the dare is to keep being brave, face our emotions and feel our way back up. In this episode, our host Preethy Padmanabhan had the pleasure of speaking with Amritha Prasad, VP of Product Design and Research at Calm on their experiences in Rising Strong from failure. Tune in to hear insightful and wholehearted stories of courage, compassion and connection.

Networks and network effects are fascinating in this era and their economic value is augmented by technology. Andrew Chen who led the “Rider Growth” program at Uber has a fascinating insider view on companies who have leveraged network effects in recent years. The book “The Cold Start Problem” provides an in depth view of how to understand and build networks, the various items which are at play in a marketplace design and the process of building economic value from these networks. In today’s episode, Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at OJO had the chance to talk with Bobby Burns, VP of Product and Engineering at Indeed.com. Bobby and Arthi explored different aspects of networks, marketplaces, interesting problems and products built to manage networks. He shared various anecdotes from his own product journey and how he leveraged ideas from this book to build and scale networks. Tune in to understand networks, network effects, marketplace design and scaling.

In this episode, our host Preethy Padmanabhan had a thought provoking discussion with Prith Banerjee about his book “Innovation Factory”. Prith is Chief Technology Officer at ANSYS, a leader in engineering simulation. He has a rich career journey as a successful serial entrepreneur, senior executive in large companies. Prior to working in the industry he held distinguished roles in academia. He was listed as FastCompany top 100 business leader in 2009 and has won several awards from IEEE, ASEE and NSF. In "Innovation Factory: Creating and Sustaining High-Performance Innovation," Prith explores the key factors that contribute to building and sustaining a successful innovation ecosystem within a company. Drawing on his experience as the former CTO of HP, Banerjee provides a roadmap for leaders seeking to foster innovation in their organizations. He stresses the importance of a clear innovation strategy, a supportive culture, effective talent management, and collaboration with external partners. He also examines the role of technology in driving innovation, highlighting the potential of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and the internet of things. Overall, Innovation Factory offers a comprehensive guide to building a culture of innovation that can drive sustained growth and success.

In this episode Madhavi Ravanan, Service Deliver Head, Nokia had an insightful discussion with Anusha Vaidyanathan, Director Product Line Management, Zscaler about the book "What Got You Here Won't Get You There". "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" is a self-help book by Marshall Goldsmith that explores how successful people can continue to grow and achieve even greater success. Goldsmith argues that many successful individuals develop bad habits and behaviors that hold them back from achieving even greater success. He identifies twenty common behaviors that successful people often exhibit, such as the need to win at all costs or the tendency to blame others for problems. Goldsmith offers practical advice on how to identify and change these behaviors to improve one's leadership skills, work relationships, and overall success. The book is a valuable resource for anyone looking to continue growing and achieving success.

"Your promotion is not just about you; it's about everyone around you who has supported you and everyone who will follow in your footsteps." - Stacy Mayer Promotions Made Easy doesn't just talk about how you move up the corporate ladder. It is a guide on how you can enjoy your job more, build relationships, and support other people to succeed in their careers. And there is no better person to talk to about this book than Shari Begun. Recently made VP of Sales, Consumer, and IoT at Renesas Electronics, Shari talks about how the book inspired her and helped her develop her leadership style. She cites examples from her career, and her 3Xing vision. Further, she shares insights on how to not just do what you are good at and the importance of building trust with 15-min Ally meetings.  Tune in to listen to our recent episode and get inspired to grow into the leader you want to become.  

The general advice usually given and something you will often hear is to specialize and specialize early in your chosen field in order to reap success. But David Epstein says otherwise. In his book, Range, WHY GENERALISTS TRIUMPH IN A SPECIALIZED WORLD, he asserts that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists are primed to excel.  In today's episode, I had the chance to talk to Mita Gupta about this very book. Mita boldly explored many interests as a generalist, taking on different challenging roles (Co-founder, VP, and Board Advisor, to name a few) allowing her to successfully start and build multiple B2B businesses.. She spoke about why she believed in this particular notion and discussed some examples from her own life and career that supported it.  This is an episode you don’t want to miss. Tune in to understand why a breadth of experience is invaluable as compared to narrow specialization.

What is Blitzscaling? How do you use it to grow and scale your business? Discover the secret sauce of silicon valley startups. Learn how companies like AirBnB, LinkedIn, Zara and several others embrace Blitzscaling to achieve massive scale in a short time.  We are excited to feature the book Blitzscaling authored by Chris Yeh and Reid Hoffman. A writer, investor, and entrepreneur, Chris has had a ringside seat in the world of startups and scaleups since 1995. Hundreds of companies, from garage-dwelling startups to Fortune 50 titans have tapped his knowledge and insights to accelerate and transform their businesses. Chris co-teaches the course "Technology enabled Blitzscaling" at Stanford University focusing on how Silicon Valley companies navigate rapid scaling, from dorm room to global giants.

Our host Preethy Padmamabhan sat down with Elena Elkina to talk about the book "The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels", by Michael Watkins. Elena is a Partner and Privacy & Data Protection Management Executive at Aleada Consulting. She shared how the book helped her secure early wins, align goals up and down the chain, build coalitions, stay balanced, and avoid vicious downward spirals. First 90 days is a great guide for leaders on how to hit the ground running when they start a new job or a new project. Tune in to listen to this episode and hear insights about what one can do in their first 90 days to accelerate their transition to a new role and achieve success.