10X Growth Strategies

E27 - Antifragile (Author- Nassim Nicholas Taleb) - with Shaloo Garg

A must listen podcast for a dose of energy, positivity and facing uncertainties! In this episode, I had a full of energy conversation with Shaloo Garg , Managing Director at Microsoft about one of her favorite books - Antifragile by Nassim Taleb. When we first met, I still recall our intense conversation about calamities in the economy and the world in general as a result of COVID-19. The author of the book defines the term antifragile this way: Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty.

In this podcast, Shaloo and I go down the path of core attributes of Anti Fragility, volatility and uncertainty as key catalyst for change, her philanthropic work in social impact space, key strategies to succeed amidst the uncertainty  and how startups prepare for the future and increase their odds of success.

Top 3 take away to pave the way for your 10x growth:

1. Fragile breaks with stress,  antifragile becomes stronger
2. Embrace chaos and take risks to fuel progress
3. Skin in the game is the name of the game

E26 - My Life in Full (Author- Indra Nooyi) - with Payal Koul Mirakhur

My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future by Indra Nooyi is nothing short of brilliant. The biography of PepsiCo’s former CEO gives a glimpse into how a woman of color in corporate America rose to take on an esteemed leadership role and thrived in it. 

In this episode, Payal Koul Mirakhur, Former VP at IBM, sat down with Madhavi Ravanan, Service Delivery Head at Nokia to discuss how relatable she found the book. Payal got candid about what it means to be a working mother, her support system over the years, and how she combated gender bias at work. Tune in to the podcast to know why Payal highly recommends the book and what her key takeaways were.

E25 - 2030 (Author- Mauro F. Guillén) - with Molly McCabe

"2030: How today's biggest trends will collide and reshape the future of everything" by Mauro F. Guillén, is an interesting book covering a range of topics including population, immigration, distribution of wealth and diversity. 

In this episode, Molly McCabe, CEO, HaydenTanner shares her perspectives on the impact of upcoming trends on humanity and our future. Check out the podcast to discover opportunities and areas of 10X growth for business, people and countries around the world.

E24 - Alchemist (Author- Paula Coelho) - with Shikha Mittal

In this exciting episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Shikha Mittal who is a Sr.Dir, Product Marketing at VMware. We discussed the book - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. She shared her thoughts on why she chose to read this book, on pursuing her personal legend, and what the words of wisdom derived from the book mean to her in life and work. 

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a powerful novel that takes the reader on a beautiful; journey. The protagonist is a young Spanish shepherd embarking on a quest for treasure in lands far and near. While the book is fiction, it imparts wisdom on why one should follow their dreams despite facing failures.

E23 - How to Win Friends and Influence People (Author- Dale Carnegie) - with Sushma Malhotra

In this episode our guest Sushma Malhotra, Founder, President & CEO of S5 Advisory, shares her life changing career transformation experiences, inspired by Dale Carnegie's classic, “How to win friends and influence people.”

How can you build better relationships, and learn from each other to foster a win-win for everyone? How being a good listener instills a sense of importance, and inclusion? Let’s learn more about the 12 ways to genuinely win people, and become a great leader. 

E22 - Measure What Matters (Author- John Doerr) - with Raj Rajamani

In this episode our guest Raj Rajamani, CPO at SentinelOne, shares his experience with the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) goal setting framework.We discussed the book “Measure what Matters: OKRs, the simple idea that drives 10X Growth” authored by John Doerr, a Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist.

What is the difference between dreams and goals? Raj shares that “Dreams become Goals when you write them down”. OKR is a powerful and collaborative goal setting protocol that helps organizations drive higher performance, engagement and results. Listen to this podcast to get a taste of OKRs and discover the 4 OKR superpowers for effective goal setting in an organization - Focus, Align, Track and Stretch.

E21 - Atomic Habits (Author- James Clear) - with Saro Velrajan

We have all made resolutions like reading more often or exercising daily, only for it to fall through. We have all struggled to do something consistently and have agonized over our failed attempts. Atomic Habits is a book for just about anyone wanting to develop new habits or sustain old ones to achieve their goals. 

In this episode, Madhavi sat with Saro Velrajan, Chief Strategy Officer, Ginkos India, to talk about the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. They discussed what they liked about the book and what were some takeaways they got from it. Saro got candid and shared examples from his life on how he had forged different habits like maintaining a fitness routine or becoming a writer. 

Let’s listen to the podcast to know more about some strategies you can adopt to develop sustainable habits and pave the way for your 10X growth.

E20 - Mindset (Author- Carol Dweck) - with Benu Aggarwal

With the world rapidly changing around us, we have to constantly learn and adapt in order to stay relevant. Adopting a growth mindset (as compared to having a fixed mindset) pushes an individual to learn continuously, understand that effort is required to master a skill, and see failures as opportunities. 

In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Benu Agarwal, President and Founder, Milestone Inc. We discussed the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Stanford psychologist and Professor Carol Dweck. Benu shared her insights on how she embraced a growth mindset in her life and how it helped her grow Milestone and succeed as an entrepreneur, wife, and mother. 

E19 - Modern Monopolies (Authors- Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson) - with Dheeraj Pandey

Are platforms eating the world? How can entrepreneurs build a platform that brings value to their customers? Why are traditional monopolies despised and platform monopolies loved by customers?

In this episode Dheeraj Pandey, industry superstar, Co-founder and CEO of DevRev and former CEO of Nutanix shares his insights about the book “Modern Monopolies”, authored by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson. Listen to the podcast and discover the secrets to build successful companies and platform businesses.

E18 - The Hard Thing about Hard Things (Author - Ben Horowitz) - with Jeetu Patel

The book The Hard Thing about Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz, narrates the trials and tribulations of a startup journey and the mindset required to be a founding CEO of a startup. Ben who is currently the Partner at Andreeson Horowitz shares tough learning lessons from his experience building several companies.

 

This episode features Jeetu Patel, EVP & GM of Cisco Security and Collaboration Business Units at Cisco, who shares key insights and deep admiration for the book The Hard Thing about Hard Things. An entrepreneur himself, Jeetu talks about wartime mode vs peacetime mode of operation, managing our psychology as a leader and the importance of setting up a communication framework across the company. Jeetu also elaborates an interesting 6 part stack rank of what a company needs for business success.