Andrew Banks, Chairman, The Veneto Group
We introduce you to Mr. Andrew R Banks, the chairman of the Veneto Group. In his early life he wanted to become a doctor, but he did not fit in that environment. Here is how his being misfit led him to be what he is today.
Podcast
Overview
It is very important to follow your passion, but are you on the right path? Have you found a goal in your life yet? In this episode of ‘The Brand Called You’, we introduce you to Mr. Andrew R Banks, the chairman of the Veneto Group. In his early life he wanted to become a doctor, but he did not fit in that environment. Here is how his being misfit led him to be what he is today.
About Andrew R Banks
Andrew shares with us some fascinating instances about how he got into the field he is currently working in. In his early life, he tells us that he was a bright student, especially good at science. So, his mother wanted him to be a doctor. He grew up and chose medicines as his subject, which he now calls a mistake in his life because he couldn’t stand the smell of blood. Later, he dropped out of the university. He feels he was intelligent but was a misfit. After this he shifted to Australia, as he says, “to find myself”. There he did various jobs like acting, working in a restaurant etc.
What about the World Wide Web tempted Andrew to adopt it.
As Andrew recalls his early days of recruitment, he tells us how he had to manage about a million resumés on papers. He had to invite recruitments for his clients through newspapers, for which he had to pay heavily, and other companies to do headhunting calls, for which he again had to pay. As WWW arrived, he found it to be a very cheap way to invite recruitments and started working through it.
Challenges Andrew faced in Managing Global Talent
Talking about the challenges he faced in managing global talent, Andrew mentions that it is very important to realize that there are huge cultural differences in every country. It is necessary to work in accordance with the culture of a country. Culture influences how you handle a particular situation in a particular area and approaches to recruitment.
How did Andrew manage to communicate to 40 different countries?
To answer the above mentioned question, Andrew categorizes the recruiters of the twentieth century into two categories: the misfits and the elitists. He says that the elitists were precise and efficient at their jobs and then there was Andrew who was a misfit. He calls being misfit to be a virtue as due to this behavior, he invited everybody who wanted to apply for the job and took them on face value instead of screening at the very start. This helped him much to grow in the long run.
How have the expectations of Human Resource Managers changed over time?
Discussing the changes recruitment industry has seen, Andrew talks about his theory of taking a person as SKA, which translates into; Skills you have, Knowledge you have on your resume and Attributes one has as a person. He tells us how a couple of decades back, recruiters used to ignore the attribute factor of the Person and were focused on skills and Knowledge, but, the time and the approach to look at the candidates has changed now. The recruiters equally consider the personality and temperament of the candidate as a requisite.
What are the key metrics you look for before you decide on making an investment?
On being asked what metrics drive Andrew for an investment, he tells us that he looks at different aspects like whether the people of that organization aligned to his way of thinking or not, or how is the organization performing digitally, whether the business is scalable or not. He adds that he is quite interested in the businesses that make the world a better place. He also shares instances where he could not get an investment because he got a bit slow to judge them.
At what stage do you look for an exit Veneto Investments
When Ashutosh asked Andrew at what stage does he plan to exit in the context of Veneto, Andrew replies that he does not occupy himself with this plan much, but he definitely looks for either dividend income or return within three years, depending upon the business.
Edison Awards
Later in the conversation Andrew tells us about the Edison Awards of the Edison Universe. He mentions that Edison Universe is an NPO based in the United States. It encourages innovation all over the world. Andrew for himself calls it a window to know what is coming.
Learning from Shark Tank Australia
On telling us about his experience in Shark Tank Australia, he says some time back he moved to California to look at some investments, there they auditioned him and that is how he got involved in it. He did four seasons with them which went quite well.
More
While discussing how Andrew manages his interests, we get to know that he is a very organized person. He maintains his schedule in a diary and sticks to it. He tells us that he strongly believes success comes from what you say no to. He suggests success has different elements like; it finding your passion and making a living out of it, he is financially independent, he has a loving family and does not have any enemies, so, he considers himself successful. He adds, if you do what you love you are successful.
Advice for young entrepreneurs
He suggests young entrepreneurs to not get frustrated in their early journey and make every step a winner.
