Anupam Bhattacharya, Founder, and CEO, Invictus Search Pte Ltd
Anupam is the Founder and CEO of two start-up advisory firms in Singapore. Invictus Search Pte Ltd is a licensed executive search firm focused on identifying the right leaders for the food and agribusiness industry and also in the Finance function across industries.
Podcast
Overview
Our guest for today is a very senior corporate leader turned entrepreneur. He had an amazing corporate career. But, he was not satisfied. He used to see entrepreneurs doing fabulous jobs and he was deeply impacted by it.
He says that while he was in the corporation, he had very meaningful roles to play, but whatever he did was because he was asked to do and not with his own free will. All that he was doing was not resonating with his inner self.
When the company he was working for was acquired by another company, he left the job to start his own company.
Our guest for this episode of The Brand Called You, Anupam Bhattacharya, is the founder and CEO of Ascent Advisory and Invictus Search Private Limited.
Anupam tells us that while he was in his 40s, he started Ascent Advisory which is an agribusiness consulting firm. As he was working on Ascent Advisory, he realized the need for a search firm that could effectively and quickly find the right talent.
This is how he started Invictus Search to serve the customer according to his needs and find the right fit for their company.
Anupam’s learnings from the challenge he faced during the shift from the corporate world to entrepreneurship
Anupam says that the corporate world spoils you with regular paychecks, bonuses, business trips, and many other things. Moving from a big organization to starting your own company is quite challenging. Talking about his challenges, Anupam tells us:
- It takes time to adjust to the fact that you are no longer working in an organization where everything is taken care of and you are being supported by a team of 40-50 people.
- You don’t have financial or human capital backing you up.
Learnings:
- You have to look at what the customer needs.
- When you find a niche for yourself and decide that this is the place where the market needs you, success is cut out for you.
- You need to extensively prioritize things as you cannot do everything. You need to find the top most impactful things.
- It is okay to fail as long as you learn from that failure.
How did the headhunters from the 80s and 90s evolve into the search firms of the 21st century? What are the changes they have seen?
Anupam believes that the headhunting industry is still evolving. He says that relationships and networks are extremely important.
They were important in the 80s and 90s and are still relevant. However, platforms like LinkedIn play an important role for search firms today, but the after-work still takes a lot of effort.
Technology plays a role in the initial screening, but it has not displaced the human element.
At what stage in one’s career, does a person come on the radar of the search firms and what should a person do to be on that radar?
Anupam says that after one touches the ten-year mark, search firms start to take notice of that individual. The ten-year mark is considered the indicator of high potency talent.
Talking about how to get on the radar, Anupam says that first of all one has to be visible and with the help of social media it is easier to get visible now.
Secondly, he tells us that search firms look for the people who have done something unique and transformational, that has created an impact.
How does the culture of an organization impact hiring?
Anupam says that he and his company are engaged in making sure they provide the right talent to the organization that also suits the organizational culture. It is very important to understand the culture of a company.
To make us understand better, Anupam tells us that a family-run business would have a different organizational culture than a multinational.
Whenever they are working for a company, they take pains to understand the vision and mission of the company and then they go into finding the right fit for them.
Anupam’s advice to the young people starting their journey in the corporate world.
Anupam advises young people starting their journey in the corporate world to take risks. He says that in the corporate world, one is provided with a lot of choices. He suggests youngsters take the roles where they would learn, even if it comes with a bit of hardship. It will add value to your leadership skills.
Profile
Anupam is the Founder and CEO of two start-up advisory firms in Singapore. Invictus Search Pte Ltd is a licensed executive search firm focused on identifying the right leaders for the food and agribusiness industry and also in the Finance function across industries.
Ascent Advisory advises agribusinesses on market entry / M&A opportunities across India and ASEAN.
He is also a Non – Executive Director on the Boards of a global Agri inputs company and a healthcare services company headquartered out of Mumbai, India.
In his last corporate role, Anupam was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the Asia Pacific for a leading Fortune 100 multinational corporation based out of Singapore.
