He worked in Singapore for a decade in various roles at software company Autodesk, Grab and Singapore Press Holdings.
But when the opportunity came to Mr Gaurav Sachdeva to helm a start-up in India, he jumped at the chance.
The 43-year-old, who hails from Delhi and has an engineering degree from Delhi Technological University, is the chief operating officer of StockGro, a stock market venture started by Indian entrepreneur Ajay Lakhotia. It has about 60 employees and operates out of Bengaluru.
“My time with Autodesk, Grab and Singapore Press Holdings was fulfilling,” he told tabla!. “I helped in their digital transformation and subscriptions growth, but I also wanted to take up a fresh challenge in the technology industry I’m in.
“It was not only a product and technology challenge, but also a mindset challenge.”
On his new venture, Mr Sachdeva said the Indian stock market has a lot of potential for growth.
“The Indian stock market is valued at about US$4 trillion ($5.38 trillion) and it recently surpassed even Hong Kong. But the percentage of Indians investing in stocks is less than 4 per cent.
“This is because Indians are taught to save money and not to grow their wealth. They are fearful of venturing into the stock market after losing a few lakhs.
“So, with StockGro we want to teach people, especially the 400 million Gen Z in India, that the stock market is a place for them to apply their skill and grow their wealth.”
Applying fintech, StockGro shows how to invest in the stock market in a very experiential way. The preparation zone helps people build a portfolio using virtual money in a risk-free environment. Then there are a host of experts who give tips. Theoretical knowledge is also provided in the form of bite-sized content.
Launched in 2020, StockGro has more than 35 million monthly active users. The initial learning is free. Later on, as people progress to actual trading, there are subscription tiers.
Mr Sachdeva, who now works remotely from Singapore, said his 10 years working for companies in the Republic has helped him tremendously with what he has to do at StockGro.
“I came to Singapore in January 2014 and began working with American software corporation Autodesk where I set up its first product team and worked on subscriptions related product features,” he said
“Two years later, I got an opportunity to work at Grab, where I was involved in its product development and growing the small business into a large business.
“At SPH (in 2018), I relished the challenge that the media company offered: Transforming an old monopoly business into a model digital company.”
Initially, it was difficult for Mr Sachdeva at SPH because “everybody thought it is a well-oiled machine and were not willing to listen to a 37-year-old who was trying to tell them how to run their business differently”.
But, over time, he managed to “change mindsets”.
“Along with deputy CEO Anthony Tan we built the digital media products group within the media business,” he said.
“We set up a product team and a design team from scratch. We brought analytics and data science into the organisation and we reinvented how products were done within the different papers and even radio and advertising.
“There was this diversity of customer segments and consumer behaviours I was exposed to, while developing the product and engineering teams.
“During that process, I got to work closely with the newsrooms in convincing them why they should listen to us and how we can work together and grow the circulation of not only the print newspapers but also the digital newspapers.
“Those five years of my life from 2018 to 2023 were really exciting, very challenging and full of learning – lots of battle scars which I’m proud of. I have to give huge thanks to the opportunities I got while working at SPH.”
In 2022, SPH went through a restructuring that prompted Mr Sachdeva to consider if he wanted to take up another challenge.
“At that point, I had a conversation with Ajay Lakhotia whom I had met through some investors in 2018. He was building his own company and needed somebody who could do product design and help in other areas.
“I decided it was time for me to jump back into the start-up world and help build an organisation.”
Mr Sachdeva visits Bengaluru to oversee the business growth and product development.
“Actually, I love living in Singapore,” he said. “It’s a very welcoming country and food is never a problem, even for a vegetarian. I have Chinese and Malay friends and have absorbed the local culture. It has been a journey of enrichment.
“I came as a bachelor and got married to my wife Jyotika while in Singapore. We now have a six-year-old daughter, Aparajita.
“I think Singapore lets you live the life you want to live.”
By V.K. Santosh Kumar
