|
For chronicle, Rajat Harlalka (Electrical 2005) spoke with Rohan Narse:
Q-1: Welcome, sir. Please provide some background info about you to our readers.
I completed my schooling and high school in Mumbai, or Bombay as it was known then, and was at the famous Ruia College before joining IT-BHU. I did toy with serious cricket in Mumbai for a few years but soon realized that the guys around were much better and in a different league. Being in the Mumbai under-19 probables camp and training and playing at the Wankhede Stadium was the high point of my cricket aspirations. I, as I am sure, all of my batchmates, focused on studies and the IIT entrance. My parents were both working and although we had enough on the table, doing well in studies seemed like the only way to build a bright future for me and my family.
After IT-BHU, I was working as a Sales Engineer with the multinational company Sandvik Asia, covering almost all states other than J&K, selling the companies’ cutting tools to the manufacturing sector. Although the job was challenging, growth prospects were limited. My boss had been in the company for a good 17 years and he had no chance of any upward mobility. I joined the IIMs, completing my MBA from IIM Bangalore in 1992 and chose a career in Strategy Consulting with a boutique Indian consulting firm and later moved to Coopers & Lybrand, to set up the firm’s strategy practice. After Coopers & Lybrand was acquired by Price Waterhouse, I moved to KPMG, with the mandate to set up the firms Business Transformation practice and was seconded to London for a period of an year. It was during my stint in London that I moved to Goldman Sachs, as a part of a team that set up the firms Strategic Group.
Q-2: With a degree in mechanical engineering, how and why you switched to investment banking as a career?
Mechanical engineering, in hindsight, was the best choice amongst the options available. There was a feeling that Mechanical Engineers were the best suited for being generalists and I did not want to restrict my options. Also, the course content seemed the most tangible! The move to investment banking came about not by design but by chance. During the late 1990’s, investment banks were being asked by the clients to come back with differentiated advise, especially about how the internet would impact their businesses and how they should respond to the changes. Investment banks are traditionally not suited to having open-ended dialogues of such kinds and most banks experimented by forming internal teams but eventually closed the initiatives.
Goldman Sachs was the first to consider hiring a fresh team from outside, supporting it with its investment banking expertise. The nature of the work allowed tremendous flexibility as we covered clients from corporate, investing and private wealth management. I was in London for the first three years and later in New York working in the firms Wall Street office for two years, before moving back. During my time with Goldman Sachs, I had the privilege of covering clients across the globe, enabling Goldman Sachs to enhance its client relationships as well as win new mandates. The most memorable win was the multi-billion dollar telecom company mandate, assisting a leading telecom company in China with its IPO.
Q-3: Recently you founded the Indian Ocean Ventures. Please tell us something about it.
I had moved out of GS, joining a team to set up an India-focused Private Equity firm but the whole process was taking too long for my liking. I used to visit India almost every fortnight and was getting fascinated by the opportunities the country was offering. It was during this time, that I reassessed my options and chose to set up an India-focused real estate advisory services and co-investment fund. The real estate opportunity was and is in extreme early stage, fragmented and yet slated to grow at a rapid pace. Lack of transparency and common processes and a high level of uncertainty on the regulatory front seemed liked some of reasons that hindered capital flow. The deal flow looked very promising and many investor classes, such as NRIs, HNIs (high net worth individuals) and Financial Institutions were keen on getting an exposure to the opportunity. I also had some personal relationships with business groups in India that gave me exclusive access to real estate deals. I had made a good deal of money, investing in the Indian real estate myself and I liked the experience of being out in the open, looking at tangible assets and creating the conversation for an investment to take place. The opportunity was current, I had select relationships that I could leverage and my background, although not in a direct way, was very relevant. Seemed like a bankable proposition if a professional team was put in place. IOV essentially showcases deals to international real estate funds as well as assists local developers in raising capital. In addition, it seeks to invest its own funds in select deals to maximize wealth creation for its investors.
Q-4: You have also been actively involved with the academia. In fact, you happen to be a faculty member of SPJIMR (S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Bombay). Please share a few word of advice for the entrepreneurship cell at IT-BHU.
This was way back in 1993. As a strategy consultant, I was advising a number of Indian clients on aspects related to their business or corporate strategy. I met Dr Shrikant, the Dean of SPJIMR, by chance and was impressed with his straightforward approach to solving complex business issues. He invited me to spend some time with the students and I found that very engaging. I remember discussing business cases with the students and hearing their perspectives and thoughts on the way forward. Unfortunately, given my travel schedule and long hours at work, I had to stop taking any further courses and stopped visiting the institute by 1996.
Q-5: How do you see the future of investment banking in India?
Extremely attractive, especially as almost all the top tier Wall Street banks are in India and will be followed by some of the more boutique ones. I’d also expect equity research to offer very attractive career opportunities as investment banks relocate their research teams and capabilities to India. In addition, as Indian companies grow in size and aspirations, we’d witness a lot of cross border M&A (mergers and acquisitions), signs of which are already evident. Given these factors, investment banking would offer exciting opportunities for young professionals looking to enter this field.
Q-6: Any memories from IT-BHU that you would like to share with us.
This is really the best of all the questions I am answering.
I had some very very special memories of my days at BHU and I’d say that the time I spent in front of King’s Pavilion, playing cricket for the institute, the batch and the university, was the most special, almost meditative. I made some very special friends, some of whom I am still in touch with and when we do meet, we still speak of a certain ‘innings’ that was memorable. Kashi Yatra, choreographing a dance with some friends and winning a prize, when all we wanted to do was to have some fun, was also special. The Saturday trips by cycle to the city and then to the ghats and then a late night ride back to the hostels was special as well.
Academics at BHU was a non-starter for me as I felt that the courses were not designed to encourage creativity and self-expression, but more to ensure that students learnt the stuff that was taught almost by rote. I did just the minimum required to get a 1st class and focused my time on extra-curricular. Nevertheless, sitting with my classmates, in one of the class halls, listening to a lecture on manufacturing engineering technology was a fun in its own way as I realized that 90% were there to clock the attendance!
Q-7: What advice will you give to future aspirants aiming to become executives/CIO?
Having role models and mentors at a very early age does help. In our times, we were not as well connected with the world outside and life at BHU was almost a ‘cocoon-like’ existence of sorts. I’d suggest that students choose role models carefully and plan their time at BHU very well. In addition, BHU provides a great opportunity to experiment and experience new possibilities and students could participate in sports, cultural and academic opportunities to develop there learning skills constantly. Academic performance matter at the beginning of the career, as companies, especially the premier ones, prefer to select candidates with a certain minimum performance. Having a strong level of awareness of the issues that affect business and the world in general and having a point of view on the possibilities ahead also helps.
Q-8: Thank you sir. We hope information provided by you will be useful to engineers who want to become leaders of corporate world.
I’d add a quote from one of the master trainers of our times, and management gurus- Anthony Robbins.
“It's not what's happening to you now or what has happened in your past that determines who you become. Rather, it's your decisions about what to focus on, what things mean to you, and what you're going to do about them that will determine your ultimate destiny.” - Anthony Robbins
| 
