Varun Sanghi | 27
Head, CarTrade Ventures
The trainee was thrown into the deep sea, which was infested with sharks. The undergrad, who was specialising in finance from HR College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai, was not strapped with any swimming tube. In fact, Varun Sanghi didn’t even know to swim. All that the 19-year-old knew was a stern message—it was more of a warning—from his father. “Learn on your own. Don’t come for any advice,” was the blunt message from Vinay Sanghi, the third-generation entrepreneur who started CarTrade in 2009. Junior Sanghi was aware of the rules of the game. “We don’t discuss business either at office or home,” says the apprentice who was suddenly all at sea. “We don’t work together,” underlines Sanghi, who dabbled in accounting, sales, marketing, and familiarised himself with the operations during his part-time stint.