Rupesh Thakkar

I bring over 15 years of cross-disciplinary experience in product and business leadership to my role as a mentor. My career has traversed diverse industries and functions, offering me a unique vantage point to guide aspiring professionals. From the rigorous world of investment banking at J.P. Morgan Chase and Edelweiss Capital, where I honed my financial modelling and analytical acumen, to navigating the dynamic landscape of technology at Microsoft and Zoom, I have consistently sought challenges that fostered growth and learning. My passion lies in empowering individuals to unlock their potential and navigate the complexities of the business world. I believe in a hands-on mentoring approach, leveraging my experience in Strategy: At Zoom, I collaborate with cross-functional teams to determine optimal pricing strategies for cutting-edge AI products. My strategic thinking is further evidenced by my contributions at Microsoft, where I conceptualized a product idea that addressed consumer challenges and was incorporated into the company's long-term vision. Product Management: I thrive on bringing innovative products to market. At Microsoft, I led the development of a new beta service that facilitated collaboration on complex topics, and at Zoom, I spearheaded the launch of 'Essential Apps', a suite of third-party applications for SMBs. Both initiatives yielded significant positive outcomes. Finance and Operations: My early career in investment banking and asset reconstruction provided a solid foundation in financial analysis and operational excellence. At McKinsey, I led teams to optimize processes and achieve cost savings for Fortune 500 companies. This experience allows me to guide mentees in financial decision-making and operational efficiency. Leadership and Collaboration: Throughout my career, I've led and collaborated with diverse teams across geographical boundaries. This experience has instilled in me the importance of clear communication, effective delegation, and fostering a positive team dynamic, skills I aim to impart to my mentees. My mentoring philosophy centers around sharing practical insights, providing constructive feedback, and helping individuals build a strong professional network. I am dedicated to supporting mentees in identifying their strengths, setting achievable goals, and charting a fulfilling career path. I believe that everyone has the potential to succeed, and I am committed to helping my mentees realize theirs.

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  Advice on funding

  I am a core believer that VCs / angels need you as much as you need them. Vetting VCs to see what they are bringing to the table (reputation, expertise, network, prior experience in same industry etc.) are factors to look into when you take on money from someone.

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  Building a team

  I have built and led teams across companies and firmly believe that root driver of any startups success boils down to people you hire and retain (choose to).

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  Go to market strategy

  Work with Online and Direct (including Channel ecosystem) teams at Zoom to drive incremental growth across channels. Specialties include Pricing, Discount management, product value, packaging etc.

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  Leadership

  What are you doing on a daily basis to establish and demonstrate your leadership? Lead by example in case of startups is the only viable approach since most people are there because of you.

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  Pricing strategy

  Role of pricing strategy is to capture maximum possible value in each instance so that it maximizes the LTV of the customer. If you charge too much few will pay and most will churn away while if you charge too little, you will never make enough profit to ship new value (causing customers to churn away)

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  Product marketing

  First leg of Product Marketing is to do a deep compete and user study - PMM should establish clearly what is market using and paying for. Second leg is to create awesome content that explains what engineers have built and why users should use your product!

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  User research

  I have led many user studies and there is truth to following 2 sentences: 1) Any user research that doesn't involve user paying you $ to try the product is basically flawed. 2) Users are very good at explaining problems but not at describing solutions

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  Venting frustration

  I am a good listener (not your therapist) so I am happy to hear out what is making and keeping you anxious. Often after a few minutes, I uncover a root cause, which is solvable. If not, you at least got your frustration out!

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  LinkedIn

  12 years of experience

  I had to select a tool to move ahead so I ended up selecting LinkedIn. But I am happy to chat about networking and how to build meaningful professional networks to drive success.