My Success Mantra
‘Just be yourself, trust your instinct’. Be it at Veena World or during my stint in Australia, I have always followed my instinct and more often than not, it has helped me. You have to trust yourself and go after your goals.
My First Milestone
Having the guts to ask my mother to leave everything behind and set up a new travel company from scratch.
My Inspiration in Life
I have always admired the Richard Branson style of business. Practically out of nothing, he has been able to build an empire. At my desk, I have Bill Gates’ famous line ‘Business at the speed of thought’ written in bold, that acts as a constant reminder to never get complacent or overconfident.
Biggest Career Learning
‘Without your team, you are nothing’. The line ‘We are in it together’ completely embodies the Veena World culture. There is nothing called ‘one-man show’ in business.
My Stress Buster
I practise crossfit most days of the week. On the days I can’t, there’s football in the evenings. I also have a fascination for cooking and will be often found in the kitchen. It’s the best stress buster after a long day.
My Favourite Management Book
You have to keep up with the times and internet is the best library. I do like reading the Harvard Business Review with its ever so interesting research topics and industry case studies.
USP of Veena World Team
The Veena World team has grown from a mere 35 of us to 550 in a span of two and a half years. Being a travel company, our organisational culture is one that is all about fun and excitement. The team is filled with positive energy and has always been forward looking.
My Dream Destination
Having been to Antarctica in 2011, I would one day like to visit the North Pole. One can only imagine how thrilling the expedition would be on board the world’s most powerful nuclear icebreaker ’50 years of Victory’. The aim is to get this done before I turn 30.
Vision for the Company
At Veena World, we promote affordable tourism. For a while now, travel has been projected as a luxury that only a few can enjoy. We want to change that. We feel that even a streetfood vendor should be able to travel the world. When you travel, you meet people from different cultures and you are able to look at the world in a different way. For this, we want to get every Indian to travel both within India and across the world.
My advice to the Gen-Next
India has a very competitive business environment, but also one that promotes ideas and has been the case recently, one that is encouraging startups. So if you have an idea, work on it, bring it to the market, and you will find the right people and resources to help you with it. At the same time, take note that hurdles will keep showing up and challenge your rules and principles. Its your ability to tackle them head on and emerge out of them with your head held high that will define you as a good leader in the long run. Finally, remember to work hard, but don’t let your social life take a hit, party harder.
– Neil Patil, Founder & Director, Veena World
(As told to Akshay Kumar)