Interview with Satyen Kothari, The Founder of Cube Wealth

Budding entrepreneurs always want to know what it takes to lead a company or a team and are always curious about the way stalwarts of the startup world utilize their day, and the habits that they cherish. Keeping this in mind, we interviewed Satyen Kothari, a serial and well-known entrepreneur from the Indian startup industry, who is currently working as a founder and CEO of Cube Wealth, a financial consultancy platform for professionals. Satyen has vast experience; as he has worked for 15 years in Silicon Valley for big companies like Apple. Also, he is the founder of India’s first digital payment company and highly successful venture, Citrus Pay, which was sold for USD$130M in 2016.

Thus, here are some amazing insights from the Satyen Kothari himself to the questions that every budding entrepreneur or young professional faces:

1. How is an entrepreneur different than any other person? Do they think differently about ideas, money and other aspects?

As an entrepreneur, you are almost blindly optimistic. Because, if you realistically factored in all the ways you could fail; you would never start. I believe it’s not just about being different or thinking differently; it’s also about acting differently. Most successful entrepreneurs have an action bias. What they do sets them apart from above all else.

2. Can you share something about “Vision as a trait of an entrepreneur”?

Vision is something that you need to get started and is a regular checkpoint to ensure you are on track. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed and consumed by the daily grind that having a clear picture of what you are working for is crucial. As importantly, the vision is open to amendment with time and learnings and macro circumstances. Nothing is rigid in start-up land other than your values.

3. What does your day look like?

Whenever possible, I trust my natural body clock to wake up without alarms or fixed time. I trust my body to tell me how much sleep is needed and practical. The morning peacetime helps me get a perspective on what I want to accomplish that day.

A lot of time is spent thinking, shooting off questions on Slack to team members, writing to contacts to get on top of their inbox at the start of their day, and if feasible, some time to read. And I craft up my top three priorities for the day. All this is ideal in a quiet corner of my house with a perfect black coffee mug. The days at work are regimented to meeting vs thinking days. Which means the 1-2 meeting days of the week are insane and packed! Some of these meetings are productive, but it is a percentage game, so a lot of energy is dissipated in this.

But that leaves the benefit of having three days to do deep work – which I love. And which recharges me. Cube’s culture is that we usually finish work by 6/7 pm. This is unusual for a startup. A big reason we can do this is that the office culture is intensely designed around efficiency – controlled meetings, quiet times, respect for thinking time, zero focus on facetime with the boss.

4. Can you tell us something about ‘entrepreneurs are willing to take the risk’?

This reminds me of the saying that a ship is always safe in the harbour, but that’s not what ships are built for. You’ve got to take risks in life if you want to chase your dreams; to be an entrepreneur or even otherwise.

5. How passion separates an entrepreneur from other people? Was Cube Wealth a result of your passion?

Being an entrepreneur requires a huge degree of passion and obsession. Some entrepreneurs obsess over the product, others over processes and some swear that hiring the right people is key; I believe it’s a balancing act that involves all of the above. Cube Wealth is a result of a lot more than pure passion. Since this isn’t my first rodeo, Cube Wealth is a result of equal parts passion, business thinking, hard work and patience.

6. Are entrepreneurs bookaholics? Please tell us about some of your favourite books

I have always loved books. The time and discipline I give them waxes and wanes based on circumstances, but the love never goes away. I am reading Ben Horowitz’s “What you do is who you are” which I am in love with. Just like his previous book “The hard thing about hard things”. What a bloody genius! I also read light and yet deep humours like Calvin and Hobbes to take my mind off the day. My living room is minimalistic and has a few seats, electronics, and my favourite books all over. That is pretty much perfection for me 🙂