Rajmohan Krishnan’s book Wise Wealth is being noticed for the best of reasons: the world is in dire need of the excellent solutions it offers. Rajmohan has expertly weaved fabulous inputs given by 35 extraordinary Indians to create a narrative that infuses hope and injects ideas. Those of you who know me well know that employee welfare, entrepreneurship, scaling of solutions, giving back, and the health of the Indian economy are topics dear to my heart.
“Wise Wealth” checks all these boxes and more, but my review of the book will focus on these topics. Entrepreneurship many thought leaders featured in the book demonstrate how to proactively nurture tomorrow’s economic leaders. At one moment, you are reading about how Harsh Mariwala is using the Marico Foundation to lend holistic support to entrepreneurs. Flip a page and you get to know why Sunil Kant Munjal endorses the cluster effect on geographies and how stoking the aspirations of the rural billion is a necessary step in India’s growth story. And those are just a couple of examples among many.
SCALING
Rajmohan brings sharp focus to the idea of scaling, not to entrepreneurship but to a domain that needs it even more: philanthropy. The average kind-hearted person will help somebody they come across in distress.
But how does the visionary kind-hearted person relieve distress on a large enough scale to make a difference to the ocean of people called India? Raj tackles this gargantuan problem by curating inputs from the greatest philanthropists of modern India. Reading the book, one gets the feeling that scale is not as unscalable a mountain as it seems at first sight.
IMPACT INVESTING
The book also familiarises the new billionaire with the cutting-edge concept called impact investing. That wanting to be a positive force in society does not always necessitate emptying one’s pockets. A billionaire can do good while also expecting rich returns. Rajmohan navigates through the labyrinth of challenges and opportunities that are present in this still fledgling field of thought.
EMPLOYEE WELFARE
Many wisely wealthy people in Wise Wealth help us understand that it’s both humane and profitable to be empathetic towards employees. A couple of stories – those narrated by GV Prasad and Jairam Varadaraj – were particularly inspiring. As suspected, offering employees dignity and benefits transforms them into innovators and growth agents. I strongly recommend the book to the most ambitious youth – tomorrow’s billionaires. They will derive a deeper understanding of success and wealth. I also recommend it to those who dislike the wealthy.