Rishabh has successfully raised $13 million for his business Fermat. In the last quarter alone, he went from $100K to double-digit-millions. Making his company possibly one of the fastest-growing e-commerce businesses of all time.
All founders talk about their most formative moments.
But, not all of them are rose-tinted and inspiring. Some are hard-hitting and uncomfortable.
And that’s the moment that Rishabh takes us to today.
It’s February 2020. When he was working for his previous company.
He was leading an incubator that got young business ideas off the ground. And the one in question was the youngest of three businesses. The parent company was already generating millions.
As the team lead, Rishabh was faced with the all-important question from the Group CRO — what is the right next step? Will this company actually grow?
It had only been a year. When compared to the other businesses, it wasn’t moving the needle. Nor was it at the stage of being able to.
There was a partnership offer on the table that would guarantee an acceptable result for the Group.
What was at stake for Rishabh?
To discuss this further, they met with Rishabh in a huge unfinished conference room. The senior team of the parent company was huddled around a small table, ready to talk with him.
Rishabh was relieved to be having the conversation. Unaware of the position that he was about to be put in.
Instead of discussing how to get the business off the ground, he was quizzed on the sales team projections and the pipeline.
One of the senior team members didn’t think they would make it.
But Rishabh had faith in his team. He thought they would comfortably outperform the partnership offer.
And that same senior board member declared his number of years in sales and said he was wrong.
With all that was at stake, the CEO then forced Rishabh to put his job on the line for his projections.
Was this level of accountability in work the norm?
Even if the sales were made — would he want to continue to work for a company that was willing to put this level of accountability on him?
What was the purpose of putting him on the spot in this way?
The risk-reward balance was way off.
From that moment, there was no doubt that he would leave the company no matter the result.
In today’s episode, we dive into the nuts and bolts of this event.
Discussing
- The positive and negative of it
- What healthy accountability in work looks like
- How this moment impacted his leadership style
Rishabh’s story is not uncommon. We all have experiences that have a direct impact on the way that we do things today.
And what Rishabh touches on in this episode, is the power of looking at those impacts face-on.
Can he choose to accept them?
Tune in for his insights and reflections on this pivotal moment.