'Example of authentic leader': Kalaari Capital's Vani Kola gives inside view of how Ratan Tata operates

Incidents of people feeling inspired and motivated by the industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata are not rare. While some people admire and respect him for his willingness to help budding entrepreneurs and their ventures appealing, others are more drawn to his down-to-earth nature. 

On his 85th birthday, Founder and Managing Director of the early-stage technology-focused venture capital firm Kalaari Capital, Vani Kola wrote in a LinkedIn post that she felt “deeply inspired” whenever she met the Tata Sons chairman emeritus. Vani Kola said that Tata always had insightful questions for the founder meetings. She added the stalwart’s qualities, such as attention to detail, curiosity, and calm, as well as intellect and ability to think rationally, have deeply inspired her. 

"He always came with insightful questions for founder meetings. His attention to detail, curiosity, and calm as well as his intellect and ability to think rationally, have inspired me no end," Kola wrote in the post. 

Kola pointed out that Tata started encouraging and motivating young entrepreneurs and the start-up ecosystem when the veteran industrialist entered his 70s, an age when most retire away from their professional life.  

“It was deeply motivating. After a highly impactful life in his late 70s, he started new innings encouraging young entrepreneurs and supporting the start-up ecosystem. He always brought curiosity and was fully prepped for founder interactions," she said. 

 

The Kalaari Capital MD listed down her four key lessons from Ratan Tata. These included preparedness for meetings, an empathetic approach to feedback, graciousness, humility and marked lack of pretentiousness, and an eagerness to contribute towards making the world a better place. 

Furthermore, she noted, "He was not only approachable, but genuinely interested in being engaged. He was always eager to listen to new ideas and engage with young entrepreneurs."

“He never had any airs about him. He is a perfect picture [of] how an authentic leader should be,” Kola wrote. 

Towards the end, she said that Tata is genuinely excited about ideas that can truly make a difference to people's lives. "Ideas that could make a positive difference genuinely excite him. He is an ideal role model for founders who are about to begin as well as entrepreneurs who are leading some of the biggest start-ups," she underscored. 

The industry veteran has invested an undisclosed amount in his protege Shantanu Naidu’s start-up Goodfellows, which is aimed at providing services for senior citizens and the elderly. Tata has also invested in some of India's biggest start-ups, like Bhavish Aggarwal’s Ola Electric, Peyush Bansal-led online eyewear seller Lenskart, health and fitness start-up Cure.fit, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led online payments unicorn Paytm to name a few. Ratan Tata-backed business-to-business marketplace Moglix became a unicorn in 2021. 

Ratan Tata was featured in Hurun India Rich List 2022 with a net worth of Rs 3,800 crore, most of which comes from the Tata Group of Companies. The Tata Group of Companies comprises Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Starbucks, Titan, and Indian Hotels to name a few.

Also read: Billionaire Ratan Tata : The 'Millennial Dumbledore' of Shantanu Naidu

Also read: 'Could see nothing but eye of the bird': Mukesh Ambani compares Argentina, Lionel Messi to Mahabharat's Arjuna

Also read: Gautam Adani’s Role Models: Dhirubhai Ambani, Arunima Sinha, Kiran Kanojia