As the executive director of investment for L Capital Asia in Singapore, Shantanu Mukerji was looking to expand his global perspective and industry expertise. The Managing Partner of his fund had suggested that Mukerji and his colleague join the next session of Private Equity and Venture Capital at Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education. In this interview, he shares how the program not only provided exclusive access to data on global trends, but also exposed him to new facets of private equity and venture capital.
At L Capital Asia, I'm part of the South East Asia investment team responsible for sourcing, executing, and monitoring deals with other members of the investment and operations teams. My main goal was to step back from the grind and analyze the data on industry trends that you don't see when you're bogged down in day-to-day details. You can't learn if you don't disconnect.
It's all about building and broadening your industry perspective on multiple levels. I was quite impressed by how current the HBS professors are on emerging global trends. They provided access to the facets of private equity and venture capital that I didn't have. Because of that, they also served as a valuable sounding board on issues that my team faces as we work to help our portfolio companies grow.
This highly relevant program cements and augments your understanding of industry trends—it fundamentally broadens your horizons. And the case method is the key to that exposure and expansion. What I liked most about the case method is that the situations and people are real. So you're exposed to data about the company that you just couldn't access on your own.
Each diverse case provides a unique global perspective on industry trends, data, and history. When you look at all the cases collectively, you can see how they connect and interact. For example, the last case was about a typical leveraged transaction that creates value. By reinforcing your knowledge and exploring new trains of thought, the case method both cements and augments your skillset.
What was the one "aha" moment for you during the program? Taking a deep dive into real situations with real outcomes and real people was the pivot point for me. The opportunity to study a diverse mix of situations in detail—and in context with real companies in the real world—is what drives the cementing and augmenting. And getting feedback from the HBS faculty and your peers exposes you to new ideas and possibilities…you're like a sponge that continues to absorb and expand.
For more information on Harvard Business School's investment management course, visit the Private Equity and Venture Capital program.
