Kunwer Sachdev alongside board director S.B. Ganguly at the 13th Conclave for CEOs, Kolkata, 2012
When a homegrown business starts growing rapidly, it hits a dangerous crossroads. Most founders take the comfortable route: they pack their Board of Directors with childhood friends, close family members, and people who will simply echo their choices.
From day one, I was very clear that Su-Kam would not follow that path.
I didn’t want to build a comfortable family business. I wanted to build a world-class, institutionalized corporation. To do that, you need independent voices, absolute institutional merit, and governance from veterans who have managed billion-dollar empires. As we grew past a thousand-crore turnover, with six manufacturing plants, over 2,000 employees worldwide, and 74 technology patents, the stakes were too high to leave boardroom strategy to friends.
But as a tech founder trying to disrupt an unorganized inverter sector, how do you convince the giants of India’s corporate elite to join your board? You don’t do it through headhunters. You do it with sheer, unyielding persistence.
The Six-Month Pursuit of Exide’s S.B. Ganguly
My first target was Mr. Satya Brata Ganguly—known universally as S.B. Ganguly. He was a legendary figure in corporate India, having served as Chairman of Exide Industries from 1992 to 2006, steering the company through a period of great growth in the face of stiff global competition. Under his tenure, most foreign car makers entering India chose Exide as their battery partner. He also oversaw the landmark integration of Standard Batteries into Exide.
To an outsider, it seemed impossible that a titan of his stature would sit on the board of a young power backup company in Gurgaon. I refused to accept that. I systematically searched through my network looking for common links until a friend helped me secure an initial appointment in Kolkata.
I flew down and met him in a hotel room. Initially, he was incredibly hesitant and almost declined my offer outright. He was used to structured, legacy multinational systems. But instead of pushing for an immediate signature, I made a simple request: “The next time you visit Delhi, let me know. I just want to show you my facilities.”
Six months passed without a word. Then, out of the blue, I received a call that he was staying at a hotel in Delhi.
I didn’t lose a single second. I didn’t send a driver; I went to his hotel personally to pick him up. I brought him straight to our headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Gurgaon. I wanted him to see the precision, the scale, and the sheer hunger of our engineering teams. After seeing Gurgaon, I proposed a tougher trip: “Come see Baddi with me. We have put up a modern battery plant there.”
He agreed. On his next trip, I flew to Chandigarh, met him, and we drove to our Baddi manufacturing facility together. By the time we walked through the assembly line of that state-of-the-art battery plant, our relationship was completely built. He saw the infrastructure, felt the vision, and said yes.
A personal moment: Kunwer Sachdev with S.B. Ganguly during a visit to his Kolkata home
Infusing Industrial Scale: Biplab Majumder of ABB
As Su-Kam scaled up industrial power systems, we needed board members who truly understood massive, global engineering networks. ABB was the gold standard for high-end industrial inverters worldwide.
I set my sights on Mr. Biplab Majumder, who had recently completed an illustrious tenure as the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of ABB India—a global power and automation giant.
Founder’s Rule: “If a corporate heavyweight says no on the first meeting, it isn’t a rejection. It just means you haven’t shown them enough proof yet.”
Just like with Mr. Ganguly, it took three intense rounds of deep strategic meetings, heavy technical breakdowns, and comprehensive factory walkthroughs before Mr. Majumder saw that Su-Kam was executing technology at a true multinational standard. He officially stepped onto our Board of Directors, immediately elevating our corporate governance structure and bringing world-class industrial lineage into our ecosystem.
The Financial Wizardry of Sanjaya Kulkarni
While Mr. Ganguly and Mr. Majumder brought unmatched operational and manufacturing pedigree, scaling an enterprise also requires massive financial sophistication. For that, we brought in a true financial wizard: Mr. Sanjaya Kulkarni.
An IIT Bombay and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, Mr. Kulkarni was a pioneer of India’s modern financial services sector. He co-promoted 20th Century Finance Corporation in the 1980s, turning it into one of the country’s largest financial groups, and established alliances with international institutions like Zurich Financial and GMAC. Today, he continues to guide major industries as the Chairman of Time Technoplast Ltd.
Mr. Kulkarni brought a sharp, analytical financial lens to our board meetings. He taught us how to look at balance sheets not just as a record of the past, but as a strategic tool for future expansion. His deep connections in elite business circles and his experience in fundraising and corporate finance allowed Su-Kam to navigate complex fiscal transitions seamlessly as our turnover climbed past several hundred crores. The enrichment our executive team received after he joined the board was immeasurable, and I personally learnt a great deal from his wide experience.
The Core Pillars of Su-Kam’s Corporate Governance
By intentionally keeping family out and bringing independent, decorated market experts in, we surrounded our executive team with unmatched strategic depth:
| Board Member | Professional Lineage | Core Contribution to Su-Kam | Verification |
|---|---|---|---|
| S.B. Ganguly | Former Chairman, Exide Industries (1992–2006) | Guided our entry into automotive and heavy industrial battery sectors; instilled manufacturing discipline. | Exide 75 Years Crunchbase |
| Biplab Majumder | Former VC & MD, ABB India | Infused world-class corporate governance and industrial scale into our inverter systems. | Business Standard |
| Sanjaya S. Kulkarni | IIT/IIM Alumnus; Chairman, Time Technoplast | Sophisticated capital structuring, risk management, and private equity alignment. | Time Technoplast Crunchbase |
The Lesson for the Next Generation of Founders
The list of leaders who helped guide Su-Kam is long, and the stories behind each one require a book of their own. But the core lesson remains constant for any entrepreneur building a business today:
Your company will only grow as big as the minds advising it. If you populate your board with friends, your business stays small. If you have the courage to knock on doors, drive the cars yourself, and show your factories to the absolute best minds in the industry, you can build an empire that rewrites history.