9: Prashant Mehta - Full Conversation - Partner, Lightbox - a podcast by CXO Life

Hey, you are listening to talkcxolife and in this edition, we will be conversing with Prashant Mehta, Partner at Lightbox, a venture capital firm in Mumbai. Now Prashant is also known as the endurance man. Why you ask? Imagine pedaling from Mumbai to Pune and back, that is about 330km, for 13 hours, and (no don’t run out of breath as yet) then within the same week of pulling off that feat, trekking to the Everest basecamp!
Well, that is Prashant Mehta for you ladies and gentlemen! So hold on as we begin unraveling this intriguing story of Prashant across various fronts.
Born in Mumbai, and having spent his growing years between India and Africa, Prashant studied biotechnology in the U.S. but ended up working for a bank, pursuing an MBA from Wharton School after which he headed straight to work for Lehman Brothers which helped him understand the art of investing in emerging markets. He subsequently moved to Silicon Valley to head Yahoo’s commercial operations for emerging markets.
It was this move to California that also fortified his love for the mountains and he began studying and researching various aspects of trekking and mountaineering. His zest for testing his endurance too culminated in California, twenty years ago, when Prashant was grappling with some critical health issues. His then boss and friend egged him on to take to biking as a way to reboot his system. What started as a way to distract his mind and get fit soon became an obsession to push his limits, which Prashant himself hadn’t anticipated. Soon, Prashant began participating in various races and events across the US and other countries. It soon graduated to participating in triathlons and then came the half Ironman.
A noteworthy interesting pattern, that emerges from his story as most of the other CXOs I have interviewed is also a strong presence of ‘the tribe’. An equally, if not more, enthusiastic bunch of friends who goad you on to do things, however out of reason or out of bounds it may seem, but doing them nevertheless and doing it together. And yet, if anything, there is hardly any pattern in his story excepting that of episodic, erratic moves including Prashant’s move from the US to Mumbai to head an advertising technology startup for 5 years before he surprised himself yet again and became a venture capitalist.
And now here’s some great news, weeks ago, Prashant completed his Turkey half ironman that involves a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike and a 21k run in 6.45 hours about 37 minutes better than his last attempt about three years ago.  So here’s cheering for him and his gang of boys who call themselves the Worli 5.45. True to their style days after which, his gang of friends biked along the Turkey coast!
Among the very many crazy things up their sleeve is an inspiring K2K (Kashmir to Kanyakumari) bike ride, which will be a second marvelous attempt at raising charity for children suffering from terminal and critical illness. The previous one was a non-stop Delhi to Mumbai ride through which Prashant and his team raised and donated Rs. 3.5 crores towards the same cause. And then there is the Full Ironman which Prashant is targeting after the K2K.
Ah alright, I hear you, let’s get going already! But hey, as if this wasn’t already good enough we also captured the venture capitalist in him, sharing his insights on recognizing wealth-generating business ideas and more importantly people potential and of course his philosophy on success and work-life balance.
Don’t forget to stay tuned for the CXO Funfacts segment at the end of the conversation wherein you’ll know of Prashant’s unusual fixations, fears, his favorite food and why Orange is indeed the new Black.
Happy listening!

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