Shradha Sharma Interviews Mohandas Pai: Inside Infosys and BYJU's

#mohandaspai #yourstory #shradhasharma

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation, part two coming soon!

The Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Deewar is a perfect embodiment of India in the 1970s. Bachchan’s Vijay Verma was a victim of circumstances, engulfed in the social-political turmoil of the 1970s rife with unemployment and exploitative work conditions. In the real world too, there was an angry young man like him, called TV Mohandas Pai. The man, Pai, whom we know today as one of the architects of India’s technology industry, grew up in a radically different country. This, he says, shaped his worldview.

“I was brought up amidst challenging situations. My parents sacrificed everything to ensure that I had a good upbringing. But it was a time when people like us stayed poor and those in power got richer. Deewar is an apt portrayal of the bubbling anger of my generation,” says Mohandas Pai in an interview with Shradha Sharma.

He may have had a humble upbringing, but Pai worked his way up the corporate ladder, joining Infosys as a consultant, then taking on a finance role, and eventually becoming a board member at the IT giant. In his second avatar as an investor, Pai became the co-founder of Aarin Capital and Exfinity Venture Partners.

Today, you may know him for his fiery debates on television channels and social media platforms, but Pai has been a “rebel” from his childhood days. In fact, it was his relentless pursuit of seeking answers and calling out unjust practices that led him towards the corporate world.

Watch this riveting conversation between Shradha Sharma & Mohandas Pai!

00:00 Introduction
01:13 Mohandas Pai's Path
13:41 The Driving Force
19:21 Establishing Corporate Governance
28:41 "Corporate Governance as a Culture & Way of Life"
36:02 Insights on the Startup Landscape
40:30 Crafting Role Models
44:59 Startups with Diverse Orientations
50:24 The Influence of the Board
01:03:41 To Be Continued

ABOUT SHRADHA SHARMA:

Shradha Sharma is the Founder & CEO of YourStory. She started YourStory in 2008 to tell stories of entrepreneurs - something that mainstream media was not ready to do in 2008. Since then, Shradha has scaled YourStory to become one of India’s leading digital media platforms covering every aspect of India’s new economy.

She was featured on Fortune’s list of the best 40 under 40 entrepreneurs in India for three years in a row. In 2018, she won the Forbes Power Trailblazers award and was twice featured on LinkedIn’s list of powerful influencers, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and actor Priyanka Chopra.

ABOUT YOURSTORY:

YourStory is India’s biggest and definitive platform for startups and entrepreneurs related stories, resources, research reports, and analyses of the startup eco-system, mobile app developers, and more dedicated to promoting the startup ecosystem

Also, don't forget to watch some of our most loved interviews:

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[lizzie]

One of the best interview I have watched. Thank you Ms Shraddha for patiently listening to him and allowing him to talk. Mr. Murthy used to be frequent flyer with Jet-airways in the late and early 90s and 2000 and he used to be on board in the first row of economy while all the lesser known mortals of corporate world used to be Premiere Class. What was very funny and remarkable at the same time was more than half of business class passengers used to head to economy to say hello to him. He was so humble and grounded. Even Nandan Nilekani was but he was always in business class.

I may have seem Mr. Pai too but he was not a popular face as Mr. Murthy and Mr Nilekani.

[SwarnadeepNandy]

My god. The more I watch this guy, the more I admire him.
What a fantastic human being. It's so fortunate for people who work with him. 🙏

[kangafinancial]

MANY THANKS SHRADDHA. MOHANDAS PAI, I LOVE YOUR INTERVIEWS, YOU ARE A GENIUS.

[milanpati]

Mohan is the real jem of India. A big salute from me.

[Onlyabhi]

Wonderful person 😊.. Great interview
.Must see for every youth...

[christieaf]

Mohandas Pai and his hard talk, without mincing words or compromising. It is always a pleasure to listen to him, and he is very educative too.

[robmendes]

could NOT stop viewing... from Australia i say ....great interview with Mohandas Pai....a true patriot and an incredible person, an intelligent man, a thinker, doer, witty, compassionate man, an ideas person, one who makes use of every moment in time, he talks and works at an incredible pace....such a joy to listen to Mohandas Pai!!!!

[premprasad]

I came here to enjoy this conversation but thanks to Pai, i am will going to watch Deewar now

[Nirak]

My god
He is a rockstar

Clarity of thoughts 🫡

[smithanair]

It is always a pleasure to listen to Mohandas Pai.

[vineethkumar]

Admire Mohandas sir..for sharing his knowledge n experience...well explained...

[sebastinesos]

I was fortunate to walk and work along with Mr Pai in the Bangalore Infosys Campus & was there until his last day ❤. Infosys is my first professional School and under such legendary leaders 1000s of Indians have found their way of life .
Loves from New Zealand.

[sudhababulnath]

Inspiring interview the MDP style..great life lessons and motivation for every Indian..take away is learn change evolve

[ManjunathLaksh]

One speaker I would always listen., ..

[lenu]

Its always a delight to listen to pai. Great principles with action and vision. I wish Pai should not get involved in BYJU. The ship has sunk, no point of pai getting on-board and setting rules and talking principles. Ed-Tech doesn't have that much market, and everybody knows BYJU on steroids of evaluations.

[kishtyle]

Mohandas Pai at his best!!....agree with most of the things except his take on Gandhi

[hammadshaikh]

Everyone has right to keep his/her opinion.

[tejasdeshmukh]

No Ashneer Grover was hurt in this interview !!

[PG]

As always great story, better MIC Quality will help viewer.

[ElectrifiedStud]

What this guy taught us is basically, How to be an Entrepreneur 101. Gold