In this video, Harsh Parikh, CA, Co-Founder at DRiefcase, Ex-Director - Investment Banking at Bank Of America Merrill Lynch, IIM B alum talks about founding his startup and the challenges faced by an entrepreneur. He also tells us why investment banking is infamous for backbiting and politics.
Summary of the video
If you think investment banking involves quite a bit of politics, manoeuvring and blame games, you may be right. At least 50% of the time, according to Harsh. He explains just why this negative culture exists in an investment banker’s career. He says that with the possibility of earning big bucks, a monotony may set in. And naturally, a competitive environment is created.
Next Harsh takes us through the founding journey of his startup DRiefcase. He tells us about the pain of digging up medical records for the family when needed and how DRiefcase is a solution for just such an emergency. A way to store medical records online, for individuals as well as organisations, DRiefcase has taken on the task of converting a large amount of paper data in the medical sector to digital.
He talks about the challenges he faced as an entrepreneur. He shares how he exchanged the safety and security of a cushy investment banking job, to become a Co-Founder at a startup, where he acts as CEO as well as a peon. He talks about scaling down from talking to CEOs and CFOs of huge corporations to speaking to much lower ticket individuals as clients.
He shares what skills one should focus on in b-school, in order to develop a career in finance and further to become an entrepreneur.
If you want to know what it takes to found a startup, this video is a must-watch for you.
Key Takeaways
1. You need to love money to survive investment banking.
2. Be professional at work; don’t take things personally.
3. Work experience with a startup is a valuable point on your CV today; recruiters appreciate people with such experience.
4. As an entrepreneur, you cannot have an ego.
5. As long as you ensure that the boss knows who is doing the work, you’re safe.