BBS - Business, Banter & Stories

In this episode, we learnt - Everest is climbed in the dark what happens when your dad's oxygen supply gets cut off 1 hour from the summit what drives you to climb Mt. Everest, and ski across Greenland in 21 days at sub-zero temperatures. Introducing Deeya Bajaj, a woman who has climbed 6 of "The Seven Summits" and is part of the first Father-Daughter duo to summit Mt. Everest. She is also a Wharton MBA, internationally-recognized adventurer, speaker, business leader, and founder of a non-profit for girls. Her videos & talks advocating girl's rights have reached over 10M people. Listen to her if you want to learn you prepare to stay alive in extreme situations and take inspiration from each and every one in life.  Highlights -  2:54: Her journey outdoors: Becoming a mountaineer and her aspiration to summit Everest  5:05: Dealing with high stake situations: managing fear, keeping yourself and your team alive  11:20: Parental influence: the role a parent plays in inspiring their children to achieve the impossible  15:00 Humility and preparedness: adventure is not about being a daredevil but about meticulous planning  16:00: Amplifying positive impact: leveraging forums to raise funds, inspire and empower young girls  23:00: No mountain worth dying for: what happened when her father's oxygen mask froze, an hour away from Everest summit  28:00: Advice on getting started on adventure sports: the 3 nuggets of wisdom every business owner needs to know too

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to chase your startup dreams in the middle of pursuing your MBA degree at an Ivy league school, this is the episode for you. Listen to Eleanor as she shares -  1.40 - 4.50 : What is Aspire 360 (now Allianse), how did it start, and evolve to become the business it is today. 8.00 - 10.27 : Networking tips. How do you connect with a stranger? 11.40 - 13.50 : How does Eleanor deal with unpredictability & uncertainty as an entrepreneur  13.50 - 15.40 : Steps to effectively pursue an MBA while running a startup. This is how Eleanor did it.  15.40 - 17.53 : Why a 3 time entrepreneur feared talking to her customers, and how she overcame it. *disclaimer - in this episode, her startup Allianse is referred to as Aspire 360 (pre name change)

Andy has had a career spanning 20+ years, with leadership positions at companies like Google, Stripe and Facebook (now Meta). He was on the landing team for Facebook’s entry into Asia, and also helped set up Facebook's office in Singapore. He's built & lead teams at the biggest of stages. His next chapter is playing the role of angel investor and startup mentor to the founders of tomorrow. In this episode he shares -  1) Why it's a brilliant idea to get away from the HQ of large companies 2) How Facebook finally cracked their China business 3) His methods to build and lead a 200-300 member team 4) How serving tables at a restaurant forever changed his approach to life

This is Neha, an entrepreneur in making. Listen to her as she shares (1) her transformative experiences in the Stanford MBA (including some interesting advice given by Reece Witherspoon) (2) her experiences at Stitch Fix ($10bn market cap), and their unique approach to motivating employees (3) her fool proof method to having a 'clear the air' talk with your superior (4) tips on how entrepreneurs can manage their biggest enemy - 'uncertainty' (5) the vision behind her new company (its raison d'etre)