The Co-founder and CEO of Advantage Club relives his honeymoon and the adventure he had Down Under.
Sourabh Deorah, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Advantage Club loves to travel. A trip to New Zealand in 2013 was the best adventure that he had. It was his honeymoon and his wife was along which made the trip extra special.
He told ET Panache, "We did a road trip covering both the North and South islands. North New Zealand is a pure countryside whereas the South is more a place with mountains. We covered Milford Sound, Waitomo caves, went bungee jumping in Queenstown, explored Hobbiton, went hiking on Fox glacier, went horse riding covering the shooting locations of The Lord of the Rings movie franchise, to name a few."
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The highlight of the trip for the Advantage Club CEO was bungee jumping.
The couple covered both islands in 10 days, which was quite ambitious. "Usually, people take 18 to 20 days to cover the same," Deorah said. The highlight of the trip for the Advantage Club CEO was bungee jumping. "New Zealand has one of the highest bungee jumping sites in the world," he added.
One of the interesting things about driving through the scenic areas of New Zealand for the startup boss was is the roads. "They were completely empty with nothing but green pastures and forest land on the sides. Even the gas stations are many miles apart from each other. A tip would be to fill your car with fuel the moment you see a gas station because you might just run out of fuel if you miss one expecting another one to come soon. We saw a couple of cars stranded in the middle of the road because they were out of fuel," he said.
The millennials are all grown up, and now as top bosses, they have some words of wisdom to give to the next generation.
Millennials in the workforce are shaping the world around us. Take for instance the likes of Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Brian Chesky (Airbnb), Evan Spiegel (Snap) and Ben Silbermann (Pinterest). As driven by mission as money, the generation once described as lazy and entitled is aged between 36 to 38 and has risen to influential roles.
Here is the advice they would like to give to the newer generation coming into the workforce:
‘Don’t Be Seduced By Titles’
Nikhil Kamath, Co-founder, Zerodha
“Do not be seduced by designations and job titles. Instead, focus on finding work in a company with a progressive and innovation-driven culture. As a generation that has grown in an all-digital age, sustaining growth in this rapidly transforming ecosystem is not easy. Seek a mentor who complements your strengths. Do not be intimidated by other’s experience…Do not underestimate the value you bring to the workforce. Look for exponential experiences early in career — not linear ones.”
‘Build A Network’
Rashmi Daga, Founder, FreshMenu
“My advice to Gen Z employees would be to spend time with work colleagues and build longlasting relationships. This will help them build a positive environment at work and a great learning opportunity with easy exchange of ideas. They could get an opportunity to learn across functions and be involved in upcoming cross-team projects. Being focussed on every learning opportunity would be the fastest path to progress for a leadership role.”.
‘Learn By Doing’
Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, OYO Hotels and Homes
“Having set out on my entrepreneurial journey at a young age, the words of my mentor, Peter Thiel, have always stuck with me. He wanted us to focus on learning by doing. Today, OYO is driven by millennials and Gen Z, and I keep telling them how important it is to be passionate about everything you do and the importance of learning by doing. Patience, perseverance and grit are the other qualities that allow you to be focused and seize each opportunity that comes your way.”
‘Be A Sponge’
Ameera Shah, MD, Metropolis Healthcare
“Absorb and learn as much as you can. I did that during my internships. I felt that I should be going beyond my area of learning. If I was put in one division, I was rarely found there. I would be all over the company, learning everyone’s jobs. I am curious about how things work and just learning from everybody is very important.”