This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with
more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get
90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers.
Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com
Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian
Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP
Morgan and more.
________
Mukund Narayanamurti has spent more than two decades at the
intersection of business, government and Asia. Based in New
Delhi, he leads Austrade across six South Asian markets,
including India, after previously leading its work across
Southeast Asia. Earlier, he founded and led Asialink Business and
spent more than a decade at KPMG advising companies across Asia.
Born in Bengaluru, Mukund moved to Australia as an international
student at 18, later earning an MBA from MIT Sloan and pursuing a
PhD at Melbourne Business School.
In this conversation with Vidit, Mukund shares his unlikely
journey from a cricket-obsessed teenager in Bengaluru to moving
to Australia alone at 18 — where he struggled so badly that he
almost left after his first year — and ultimately returning to
India as a senior Australian diplomat.
He reflects on working on an $8.5 billion deal at 23 that “broke”
him, losing business pitches for nearly three years before the
wins finally came, and being initially dismissed as too young
before becoming Asialink Business CEO at 34.
Mukund also explains why he still pursues a PhD despite a
demanding career, what 55 pieces of “scathing” academic feedback
taught him about staying humble, and the leadership lessons he
learnt across 750 consultations with Nicholas Moore.
They also explore why India offers a front-row seat to global
competition, the rapidly growing commercial relationship between
India and Australia, and what Mukund has learnt from building a
career across some of Asia’s most important markets.
Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.
________
Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com
Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian
Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP
Morgan and more.
Show notes and more episodes here
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram
Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit
Agarwal directly here
Contact us via our website
This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with
more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get
90% off your plan for your first 6 months at
xero.com/highflyers.
________
TIMESTAMPS
00:16 — Meet Mukund Narayanamurti
03:10 — Australian Government Message
04:10 — Bengaluru, Cricket & Growing Up “Unfocused”
09:10 — Leaving India Alone at 18
14:40 — Feeling Lost & Almost Going Home
18:15 — The University Year That Changed Everything
25:00 — Why Senior Leaders Need Brutally Honest Feedback
31:15 — The $8.5B Deal That “Completely Broke” Him
34:15 — Returning to India & Betting His Career on Asia
37:50 — Three Years of Losing Every Business Pitch
40:15 — Why India Is the Ultimate Test of Global
Competition
50:00 — The Surprising Scale of Australia–India Business
54:10 — Leaving KPMG to Build Something From Scratch
58:10 — Dismissed as Too Young, Then CEO at 34
01:07:55 — 750 Meetings With Former Macquarie CEO Nicholas
Moore
01:13:30 — International Student to Australian Diplomat in
India
01:16:30 — “Work Is Worship”, Family & What Drives Him
________
Welcome to the 13th episode in our special series with the
Australian Government and their Centre for Australia–India
Relations (CAIR), spotlighting the growing Australia–India
relationship across technology, business, media, culture and
sport.
Other guests in this series include BHP's CFO Vandita Pant, Bank
of America's Head of Capital Commitments Gautam Chari, Renowned
Music Composer Tushar Apte, Australia's High Commissioner to
India Philip Green, MUFG's CEO Vivek Bhatia, Australia's
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Peter Varghese, NAB's EGM Sweta
Mehra, Deputy Secretary of Australia's Home Affairs Brendan
Dowling, Orica's CEO Sanjeev Gandhi, Sports Journalist Bharat
Sundaresan, Cricket Legend Lisa Sthalekar and CAIR's CEO, Ryan
Neelam, reflecting the breadth of Indian-Australian leaders at
the most senior levels.
________
The High Flyers Podcast features in-depth interviews with the
world’s most influential figures in business, tech, finance,
government and sport. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the
global top ten for past three years, with listeners in 27
countries and over 200+ episodes released, and featured in
Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW.
Our guests include -- Malcolm Turnbull (Prime Minister of
Australia), Keith Rabois (Managing Director, Khosla Ventures),
Jason Collins (Head of BlackRock, Asia Pacific), Brad Banducci
(CEO, Woolworths), Michael Schneider (CEO, Bunnings), David
Eckstein (CFO, Legora), Kevin Hartz (Partner, A*; Founder,
Eventbrite), Jesse Zhang (CEO, Decagon), Vandita Pant (CFO, BHP),
Elena Verna (Head of Growth, Lovable), David Haber (a16z
Partner), Jodie Auster (Uber's Global Head of Travel), Rob Giglio
(CCO, Canva), Jean-Michel Limieux (CTO, Shopify and Atlassian),
Stevie Case (CRO, Vanta), Cristina Cordova (COO, Linear), Gautam
Chari (Head of Capital Commitments, Bank of America), John
Haddock (CBO, Harvey), Mark Suster (Partner, Upfront Ventures),
Niki Scevak (Partner, Blackbird), Craig Tiley (CEO, USA Tennis),
Jeanne DeWitt Grosser (COO, Vercel), Paul Bassat (Partner, Square
Peg), Bowen Pan (Creator, Facebook Marketplace), Peter Varghese
(Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Australian Government), Sam
Sicilia (CIO, Hostplus), Jack Zhang (CEO, Airwallex), Tim Doyle
(CEO, Eucalyptus), Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (CEO, Xero), Sanjeev
Gandhi (CEO, Orica) and Philip Green (Australia's Ambassador/High
Commissioner to India).
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