#Paypal mafia invest software#

And I call them my reverse mentoring group. I think, on a maturity scale if they were six on 10 within ITC, once they walked into their own worlds, they are 10 on 10. So all these people have been with me and gone out to start up their own companies. Rajesh Yabaji is also from the same batch as Srinath. Both the other founders Amrit and Vishal were other key parts of the team, one did manufacturing and the other built up a new factory. In Guntur, I brought Zetwerk’s Srinath in 2010 and he played a major part in launching sustainability practices for agri in a big way. To me the idea is secondary, the person is very important. In my investments, I always bet on the person. My second job is assisting them in looking at their people in the organisation, the people systems and talent development.Ĭould you share some insights on how you have witnessed the founders of unicorns in your portfolio - Zetwerk and Blackbuck, evolve over the course of growing their businesses? Once you are listed, much like Zomato and other startups, corporate governance requirements take priority because you are open to scrutiny. My job as an independent director will be to guide them in putting robust corporate governance and policies in place so that they can launch themselves into a larger league. How many times in your life will you get a chance to work with people who you hired and mentored? It's the best “Gurudakshina” I could get. What roles and responsibilities will you take up? Rangrass also revealed the role he would play in Zetwerk’s launch into a 'larger league.'

As he takes on his new role as Zetwerk's independent director, he said working with the unicorn's founders, whom he hired and mentored, is the best 'gurudakshina' he could get. Moneycontrol caught up with the ITC veteran who has minted a generation of business leaders and founders. The 62-year-old Rangrass is particularly bullish on new-age agritech startups and has also invested in companies like Vegrow, Absolute Foods, Krishify, Farmart, Loopworm, and AgNext, to name a few. While the Zetwerk founders look up to 'Rangy sir' as their teacher and guide, who they inducted on their board recently as an independent director, Blackbuck founder Rajesh Yabaji described him as a role model and godfather. He is also an active investor and mentor, with an envious track record of making investments in unicorns such as Zetwerk, OfBusiness and BlackBuck. Rangrass spent 40 years at ITC, where he joined as a trainee and became the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company’s agri-business unit before retiring as its group head for R&D (research and development), sustainability and projects in June this year. And if there is a common thread that binds the ITC mafia, it is Sanjiv Rangrass.

#Paypal mafia invest software#

In fact, a growing list of founders is emerging from ITC, a diversified conglomerate whose interests range from FMCG to hotels to software to agri businesses. If America had the PayPal mafia, where a group of former employees and founders went on to start successful technology companies, India in the last decade has seen entrepreneurs mushroom from companies such as Flipkart, Paytm, Zoho, and Freshworks, among others.īut the old economy is not far behind in minting first-generation entrepreneurs.