Vikas, CEO, abillionveg - From Wall Street (Youngest PM at Calpers) to Transforming Sustainability
Vikas, CEO of abillionveg - a global platform built around sustainability and healthy eating - now in 120+ countries, joins the latest Elevate Discussion with Elevate founder & Private Equity Director, Kaushik Ravi (ex-Goldman VP).
Vikas first entered Wall Street at the age of 14, with his first job. He then worked in Investment Banking at Credit Suisse, and then joined Calpers, one of the largest pension funds in the world with $400bn AUM - as the youngest PM ever hired at Calpers. He then was a Managing Director at Dymon Asia Capital.
Then, he decided to combine his passion for entrepreneurship with an impactful cause that he truly believed in. He resigned from the hedge fund world, and started abillionVeg, with the bold goal of helping a billion people go vegan by 2030.
Join us for the incredible story and lessons learned from his career!
Get much more career resouces at ElevateLab.Org
0:03:00 - abillionveg - Building a platform that is now in 120+ countries
0:07:00 - Growing up in an environment around financial markets, started working on Wall Street when he was 14 years old
0:08:00 - Started his career in Investing in Emerging Markets TMT and then transitioned to Investment Banking at Credit Suisse
0:09:00 - Starting in a structured career gave him strong foundation in skills and accelerated learning
00:11:00 - Becoming the youngest PM ever to be hired by Calpers ($400bn AUM), one of the largest alternative investors in the world
0:13:00 - Joined Dymon Asia Capital, one of Asia's largest hedge funds, a $6bn fund, as a Managing Director
0:13:30 - Knowing when the timing was right to start his business
0:15:00 - How he decided what type of business to build
0:17:00 - How was it like to resign from a lucrative HF job to pursue something you believed in?
0:18:15 - Entrepreneurship is really hard and humbling
0:24:30 - Trends in the sustainable food market: supply-side & demand-side
0:29:00 - The convergence of plant-based food and environmental movements, and innovation in the space
0:32:00 - Behind building the abillionveg platform & the idea
0:38:00 - Trends in the sustainable food space
0:41:00 - Boldness of the vision & mission of abillionveg
0:43:00 - Expansion of sustainable food industry into mainstream places like Starbucks, and abillionveg's push to meet users where they are
0:45:00 - Building a platform that helps next generation of entrepreneurs in sustainability space
0:47:00 - Working at abillionveg & his pitch
