Great Lakes Institute of Management hosts Shankar Narayanan as part of its ‘Distinguished Thought Leadership Series’

~ Founder of Sanaka Group shares lessons about ‘free market and wise choices’ ~

21^st June 2021, Mumbai: Mr. Shankar Narayanan, Founder of Sanaka Group and Former Managing Director, Carlyle Asia Growth Partners, addressed a strong audience of 600+ participants on a virtual session, Friday, 18^th June. Mr. Narayanan shared insights on ‘wise choices and importance of ceasing opportunity at the right moment’ at the Distinguished thought Leader Series -Term Zero organized by Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

During the session, Mr. Narayanan explained to the enthusiastic listeners his experience in investing and how he has learned to do the right thing at the right time through reading and learning as much as possible. He encouraged the youth to not rest until they learn something new everyday to make themselves a better person. He emphasised on the importance of integrity and hard work rather than cutting corners and searching for shortcuts.

He further elaborated on private equity, growth capital and mid-market business saying it has been the largest success stories in the last two decades. India with its traditional and family businesses in 70s and early 80s had more constraints, but with the I.T. revolution people gained access to capital. Thus, with more options, Mr. Narayanan further explained how ‘businesses that shows constant growth of 25% – 35% can be a good investment option’.

Explaining his experience with venture capitalists, Mr. Narayanan said, “A platform with extraordinary founders and average idea will be a good space to bet your money”.  The entry of youth with novel ideas is always an interesting thing about the sector according to him. He further shared his personal experiences and learnings from his investments. He also emphasised on observing and studying an organization before investing.

He concluded by highlighting the importance of knowledge, learning from personal experiences and not compromising on moral values, which can allow a person to excel in any field. Mr. Narayanan also answered queries from students on parameters of acquiring a company, advise on withdrawing shares, return on equity, crypto currency etc. 

Speaking during the event, Dr. Suresh Ramanathan, Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management, said “We are honoured to have the presence of Mr. Shankar Narayanan and for a truly amazing session by sharing perspective that everyone could relate to. The idea of integrity and knowledge is something that the students must keep with them for a successful life journey. By quoting his personal life examples, the session became more live and Great Lakes Institute of Management will continue to host more distinguished leaders under this series in the future.”

About Great Lakes: Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai founded in 2004 by Padma Shri Awardee Dr. Bala V Balachandran is one of the premier B-schools in India. Great Lakes has, within a short span of 15 years emerged as a top-ranked business school. Great Lakes has 50+ full time faculty and 150+ visiting faculty including over 25+ international faculty from top global schools like Yale, Kellogg, Stanford, and Harvard. Further collaborations with world’s leading institutions like University of Houston, University of Bordeaux, Hongkong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), University of Missouri, Kansas, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago and Babson College etc., have helped Great Lakes in globally benchmarking its programs.

Great Lakes, Chennai, was accredited by Association of MBAs (AMBA), UK in 2014 and became the youngest B-school in India to receive this prestigious international accreditation. In 2015, Great Lakes, Chennai also received international SAQS accreditation and in 2017, its two-year PGDM program was accredited by National Board of Accreditation (NBA). For the years 2018 -2019, Great Lakes was ranked No.1 in India by Analytics India for its Analytics program. Great Lakes, Chennai was ranked 5th by Outlook India among top private MBA institutions, 9th by Business India, 15^th by Business Today and 18^th by NIRF among top 10 Indian B-Schools. It was also placed in Super League 2 category by Business Standard in the year 2019.

Led by exceptional academic faculty, steered by an outstanding advisory council, and buoyed by the international collaborations, Great Lakes has been constantly innovating to stay ahead of the needs of our businesses and community. It is the first B-school in India to offer full time specialization in Analytics and first to introduce AI and Machine Learning specialization. 

Great Lakes has a 30-acre LEED Platinum rated green campus in Chennai and a second campus in Delhi-NCR. In the year 2019, Great Lakes Gurgaon campus received the prestigious AMBA accreditation and was also ranked among the top 5 emerging business schools by the National HRD Network (NHRDN) for the year 2018-2019. Great Lakes Gurgaon was also ranked 13^th by Business World for its one-year program in the year 2019.

Great Lakes offers One Year full time MBA (PGPM) for experienced professionals, Two-year MBA (PGDM), Part Time Executive MBA for senior managers, and Weekend Executive MBA Program. Great Lakes alumni currently numbering 8800+, work at world renowned organizations both in India and overseas across 30 countries.