Women’s Day: Suchita Salwan writes about two people she turns to for advice
Entrepreneur Mona Gandhi and consultant Ireena Vittal are always around when Salwan wants advice.
By ET CONTRIBUTORS | Updated:
BCCL
Suchita Salwan believes the key to giving great advice is not to give the person seeking advice an answer, but in helping them identify the right problems and apt mental frameworks to solve the problem.
Being a startup founder means coming across a lot of people who have advice for you — solicited and unsolicited. In the early stages of a venture, for a first-time founder, these conversations can make a lot of difference — for the better, or for the worse. I have realised it is important to seek out high-quality advice from qualified, empathetic individuals and I want to write about two people who have been exceptional with the quality of their thinking and generosity of support.
The key to giving great advice is not to give the person seeking advice an answer, but in helping them identify the right problems and apt mental frameworks to problem-solve. If there are two people in all of India’s startup ecosystem who do this well, it’s Mona Gandhi and Ireena Vittal.
Mona will never toot her own horn, so allow me to do it. She was the first female engineer at Airbnb, and saw the company grow from folks coding around a table to its becoming the behemoth that it is today. Not only has she led strategic partnerships and growth for Airbnb in SF and then APAC, she has been an advisor and an angel investor through her journey, and recently launched her own enterprise… after having a child!
Her credentials aside, I have learnt so much from her. She taught me how to think in first principles in year one of LBB, which set us on the right track. More than being just a call away whenever we have needed a different perspective on numerous decisions relating to hiring, firing, product tweaks, budget allocations, you name it, what I appreciate most about Mona is that, in millennial speak, she has kept it real. She’s challenged our assumptions, called us out on our silly mistakes and has just been a rock-solid guide. In between her new startup, taking care of her young daughter and continuing to advise companies — I don’t know how she does it! But as we say at LBB, Mona can do anything.
Another person I wish to write about today is Ireena Vittal. I recently met Ireena through my investors, Blume Ventures. I was kind of petrified of meeting her. Don’t get me wrong — she is really kind. But she is also one of those rare people who has no time for startup speak and flouncy words. She will cut through your jargon, test your hypotheses, and negate your hyperbole with facts. With Ireena, you get what you see, and that’s her expectation from you as well—be frank about what you know, and what you don’t. To bring out the most honest and vulnerable sides of a founder is a skill, one that Ireena perfects.
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When I think of these two incredible women, I’m reminded of a line from Rudyard Kipling’s poem If: “If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch”. Mona and Ireena exemplify this for me. One of the highlights of my entrepreneurial journey has been the opportunity to learn from them. Their intelligence, excellence and unparalleled experience aside, what makes them my role models is how humble they are. And for that and more, they’re number one in my Little Black Book.
The writer is the founder of discovery and commerce platform LBB.
Gita Gopinath, Pinelopi Goldberg: Women Economists Who Rule The World
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In a changing world, women are matching strides with men, breaking barriers and setting new boundaries. As workplaces become more inclusive and diverse, we see women taking charge across the sectors.
The world of finance and economics, too, has seen the rise of woman power. Women economists, across latitudes, are calling the shots in leading global financial organisations. From the World Bank to the International Monetary Fund, it's women all the way.
Here's looking at these power bosses, and their inspiring journeys to the top.
In Pic (l to r): Anshula Kant, Gita Gopinath and Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg.
In a changing world, women are matching strides with men, breaking barriers and setting new boundaries. As workplaces become more inclusive and diverse, we see women taking charge across the sector..
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State Bank of India (SBI) Managing director Anshula Kant recently made history when she was named MD and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the World Bank. The appointment makes her the first woman CFO of the international body.
Born on September 7, 1960, Kant - who grew up in Roorkee - has been with the SBI for over 35 years, having joined the bank in 1983 as a probationary officer. A Lady Shri Ram College and Delhi School of Economics alumna, Kant rose through the ranks during her tenure at SBI, where she previously also served as CFO. As CFO, she managed USD 38 billion of revenues and total assets of USD 500 billion. The mother-of-two, she has a son (who lives in New York) and a daughter (based in Singapore) with her CA husband, also served as the CEO of the Singapore unit of SBI.
In her new role, Kant will be responsible for financial and risk management of the World Bank Group and reporting to its president David Malpass.
State Bank of India (SBI) Managing director Anshula Kant recently made history when she was named MD and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the World Bank. The appointment makes her the first woman CFO..
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India-born Gita Gopinath’s appointment as the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October 2018 made her the first woman, and second Indian after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, to hold the position.
Born on December 8, 1971, in then Calcutta, during the Bangladesh war, Gopinath’s family moved to Mysore when she was nine – and enrolled her in Nirmala Convent school. She later joined Mahajana PU college in Mysuru and pursued science, before moving to Delhi to study economics at Lady Shiram College and later at the Delhi School of Economics – where she met her now-husband Iqbal Singh Dhaliwal, with whom she has a son.
Having completed another M.A. from the University of Washington, Gopinath – who at one time loved athletics but gave it up to concentrate on her studies - did her PhD in Economics from Princeton University.
Gopinath worked at the University of Chicago in 2001 as an assistant professor, before moving to Harvard where she became a tenured professor in 2010. Gopinath is now on leave of public service from Harvard University’s Economics department where she is the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Economics. The 46-year-old is the third woman, and second Indian after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to be made a permanent member of the economics department at Harvard.
In 2016, Gopinath was appointed by the CPM-led LDF government in Kerala as financial advisor to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, but she stepped down from the position in 2018.
India-born Gita Gopinath’s appointment as the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October 2018 made her the first woman, and second Indian after former RBI governor Raghuram..
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When Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg was appointed the World Bank’s Chief Economist in April last year, she became just the second woman – and first Greek – to hold the position. But the 56-year-old Elihu Professor of Economics at Yale University (she joined the faculty in 2001) was once rejected from the bank for an internship, according to a report in The National Herald.
As an undergraduate student in Germany, Goldberg had applied for an internship at the World Bank, but got a letter saying that she wouldn’t even be considered till she had a doctorate. And that pushed Goldberg to leave home for the US to pursue her PhD.
Born in Athens in 1963, she studied at the German High School of Athens, and gained a Diploma from the University of Freiburg, Germany, before getting her Ph.D from Stanford University.
Goldberg’s illustrious career included various roles in academia (she has previously served on the economics faculty at Princeton and Columbia), apart from her several roles in the economic community.
From 2011-2017, she was also the Editor-in-Chief of the American Economic Review. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she is a recipient of both Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and Sloan Research Fellowships, and also won the Bodossaki Prize in Social Sciences - among her various awards and recognition.
(Image:Yale University)
When Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg was appointed the World Bank’s Chief Economist in April last year, she became just the second woman – and first Greek – to hold the position. But the 56-year-old El..
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In its recent appointment of Beata Javorcik, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD) got its first woman chief economist. The Polish national, who has a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale, will join the bank on September 1.
Javorcik was also the first woman to hold a Statutory Professorship in Economics at the University of Oxford. Prior to joining Oxford, she worked at the World Bank in Washington DC.
She is also a managing editor of the quarterly Economic Policy,and a member of the Royal Economic Society’s Executive Committee, apart from being a Director of the International Trade Programme at the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London.
In its recent appointment of Beata Javorcik, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD) got its first woman chief economist. The Polish national, who has a Ph.D. in Economics from Ya..
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Laurence Boone, former chief economist at insurer AXA, was last year appointed as the chief economist at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – where she had also served from 1998-2004. The French national, with a PhD in Applied Economics from the London Business School, began her career at Merrill Lynch Asset Management.
Equipped with a Master's Degree in Econometrics & Macroeconomic Modelling from Reading University and another Master's Degree in Economics from Université Paris X Nanterre, her other positions have included Chief Economist at Barclays Capital France and Managing Director of European Economic research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Between 2014 and 2016, she was advisor to former President Francois Hollande.
Laurence Boone, former chief economist at insurer AXA, was last year appointed as the chief economist at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – where she had also served from..
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
Congress approaches NCW over 'sexist remarks' by Punjab CM at Women's Day event2026-03-12T02:22:51Z
