In this video, Kunj Sanghvi, Content Head at InsideIIM, speaking at i5 Summit at IIM Indore talks about his career journey. Kunj talks about learning the harsh truths of the real world at each stage in life and how he grew through it all. If you want to know the reality of the media business and life, you’ll love this talk.
Summary of the video:
In this video, Kunj shares the story of his life while highlighting the various steps that lead to where he stands today. He talks about using Bollywood films as a reference to life events. He talks of how he thought life was like a film, till reality crashed in. He talks of innocent beginnings from a Gujarati business-minded family. He then shares how he was unfocused like Hritik Roshan’s Karan from Lakshya in the first half. Lost and in search of a vocation, he dabbled in various things, all of which finally culminated in him joining MICA.
He shares how MICA helped widen his horizons. He shares the story of learning and growing as a b-school student. He shares incidents from his first job out of b-school, with HT Media. He talks about selling ad space for Hindustan Times, and how he learned the ins and out of sales. From here started his journey of various revelations, from wanting to work at branded and value added content to understanding that platform matters most. He talks about learning the importance of money as a moving force in the world.
He next talks about finding himself and working for his passions. He shares how he quit his job one fine day to travel the length and breadth of the country and write a book of short stories. He talks about traversing 23 cities and writing a short story in each of them. He then talks about being broke and starting a job at CNBC Awaaz. He talks of how dynamics change once you’re out of b-school. He shares the story of writing a 2nd book - Pehla Kadam - to promote financial literacy in India.
Finally, he talks about his learnings and takeaways from his stint at CNBC. If you want to understand how the media business works, or the mindset that drives a successful career with the right choices, this is a must watch for you.
Key Takeaways:
1. It’s the flow of money that determines the way the world works.
2. Sales is storytelling.
3. There’s no assumed respect for you because you’re senior. You have to earn respect.
4. Hierarchies in the real world after b-school are very different and need to be learned.