'40 is not a plateau, but a launchpad': 360 ONE's Karan Bhagat says the best two decades are still ahead for today’s young leaders

Turning 40 is not the point at which professional ambition begins to plateau but the age when "incremental becomes exponential," Karan Bhagat, founder, MD & CEO, 360 ONE, told awardees at The Economic Times 40 Under Forty ceremony on Friday.

Bhagat said the milestone had acquired greater meaning in retrospect. "For me, 40 is a really, really special age and I realise that only in retrospect, not really in foresight," he said.

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The reason, he argued, was the convergence of three factors, namely, experience, resources and ambition. By then, entrepreneurs and professionals have spent years in their businesses, made mistakes and learnt from them, while also gaining access to capital, people who believe in them and greater self-belief. "And I think these three things put together become a very, very powerful combination which in some ways makes incremental exponential," Bhagat said.

To illustrate his point, Bhagat cited the growth trajectories of several business leaders-some of whom were present at the august gathering-between their 40s and later decades, arguing that their achievements at 40 represented only a fraction of what followed. "Forty is nothing but just this ability to start," he said.

Bhagat said the next decade could be particularly significant for the awardees, as accumulated experience and resources begin to compound. "Forty to 50 is going to be a great age. It's all going to be about compounding," he said.

Looking further ahead, he told the young leaders that the next two decades could be their most consequential. "Two decades in the future are going to be the best decades," Bhagat said, while cautioning that they would also demand hard work and responsibility.