44 min

E124: Sumeet Mehta (Co-founder & CEO, LEAD‪)‬ The Desi VC: Indian Venture Capital | Angel Investors | Startups | VC

    • Investing

Sumeet Mehta is the co-founder and CEO of LEAD, an edtech company helping digitize and transform affordable private schools to better serve students from middle and low-income groups of families. Before co-founding LEAD, Sumeet was Chief Executive Officer at Zee Learn (2007-2012). He transformed the institution from a pre-school franchise company to an education company with a presence in pre-schools and K-10 schools, and science activity and animation classes. Prior to that, Sumeet spent eight years at Procter & Gamble Singapore, where he was involved in in brand management, leading businesses in Australia, Southeast Asia, and India. Sumeet is an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad and PEC Chandigarh.

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Episode Notes:


Introduction (1:40)
How and why did Sumeet co-found LEAD? (3:08)
How do you 'figure out' your mission as a founder? (8:18)
Do founders take time to introspect about their personal growth? If they do, how frequently do they engage in this practice, and what methods do they employ? (14:23)
How can a founder effectively address and manage their insecurities while continually learning and growing in their role? (19:20)
What has Sumeet learned about himself over the course of his entrepreneurial journey (24:00)
The toughest part of building a company (28:36)
Working with your significant other as a co-founder (32:08)
Non-negotiables as a founder (34:50)
Fostering a culture of long-term thinking among employees (39:02)

Advice Sumeet would offer his younger self (41:11)

. . .

Social links:


Follow Sumeet on Twitter
Follow LEAD on LinkedIn
Follow The Desi VC Podcast on Twitter
Follow Akash Bhat on Twitter
Follow Akash Bhat on Instagram

Sumeet Mehta is the co-founder and CEO of LEAD, an edtech company helping digitize and transform affordable private schools to better serve students from middle and low-income groups of families. Before co-founding LEAD, Sumeet was Chief Executive Officer at Zee Learn (2007-2012). He transformed the institution from a pre-school franchise company to an education company with a presence in pre-schools and K-10 schools, and science activity and animation classes. Prior to that, Sumeet spent eight years at Procter & Gamble Singapore, where he was involved in in brand management, leading businesses in Australia, Southeast Asia, and India. Sumeet is an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad and PEC Chandigarh.

. . .

Episode Notes:


Introduction (1:40)
How and why did Sumeet co-found LEAD? (3:08)
How do you 'figure out' your mission as a founder? (8:18)
Do founders take time to introspect about their personal growth? If they do, how frequently do they engage in this practice, and what methods do they employ? (14:23)
How can a founder effectively address and manage their insecurities while continually learning and growing in their role? (19:20)
What has Sumeet learned about himself over the course of his entrepreneurial journey (24:00)
The toughest part of building a company (28:36)
Working with your significant other as a co-founder (32:08)
Non-negotiables as a founder (34:50)
Fostering a culture of long-term thinking among employees (39:02)

Advice Sumeet would offer his younger self (41:11)

. . .

Social links:


Follow Sumeet on Twitter
Follow LEAD on LinkedIn
Follow The Desi VC Podcast on Twitter
Follow Akash Bhat on Twitter
Follow Akash Bhat on Instagram

44 min