Episode 46: Beware and Avoid Getting “Trapped” in a Career with Karthik Suresh
Synopsis
Episode 46. We all get stuck in our careers and in our jobs sometimes. Part of getting through it is attitude, another part is awareness, and another part is just making decisions that match with your age and experience.
In this episode, host Greg Martin discusses career paths across Wall Street, Silicon Valley and everything in between with Karthik Suresh. Karthik is the Co-Founder & CPTO of Ignition, an AI-powered platform for end-to-end planning, execution, and measurement for marketing and sales teams. He has had quite the career journey which included witnessing his company lose $400 million in 30 minutes on the trading floor, working as a PM at Facebook and of course the life of a career in tech.
Karthik shares the details of his experiences leading up to starting his own business, including his time working in finance in New York and through the startup ecosystem. He also highlights how these experiences helped him build skills that came together to help him be successful in his business today along with lots of takeaways for young people with aspiring career ambitions.
Key Takeaways and Discussion
Where his career started and how he ended up at Facebook.
The pros and cons of his experiences on Wall Street in a high-frequency trading environment.
The unfortunate trading loss he encountered at a previous company.
His experiences in New York in comparison to his friends in the Bay Area.
What brought him to London Business School and what he learned.
The highlights of his time working at Facebook.
The gap Karthik identified that inspired his vision for Ignition.
How Karthik connected with his Ignition co-founder Derek.
How the individual skills built throughout his career came together to his advantage.
What to do when your likelihood of failure is higher than success.
How startups are being approached in Silicon Valley today and what’s changed.
The advice Karthik would give his past self if he could go back in time.
The benefit of taking risks, especially when you’re young.
Karthik’s Background
Graduate of Carnegie Mellon and London Business School
Began his career in the world of finance in New York City, focused on high-frequency trading (Morgan Stanley, KCG Holdings)
Needing a career change, Karthik worked as a product manager at Facebook.
In 2021 he started Ignition, a platform designed to help with quarterly planning and product launches.
See Karthik on Linked-In