Top 10 Inspiring Leaders to Watch in 2023

Hastings was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1960. He went to school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Before entering college, he took a gap year and sold vacuum cleaners’ door-to-door. Hastings graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He then obtained a master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University. In 1997, Hastings co-founded Netflix with Marc Randolph, his former Pure Software employee. The firm came up with a business model based on mail-order subscriptions that took advantage of two emerging technologies—DVDs and the internet. As of October 2021, Netflix had over 214 million subscribers worldwide. This includes 74 million in the US and Canada, 70 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 39 million in Latin America and 30 million in Asia-Pacific. 

Nikhil Kamath, Cofounder of Zerodha

Nikhil Kamath is today famous as one of India’s youngest billionaires and the co-founder of Zerodha, the country’s largest trading brokerage. Nikhil Kamath was 17 when he got his first job at a call centre. With a salary of Rs 8,00 per month, he started trading in stocks, and it wasn’t until a year later that he took up trading seriously; now, Kamath, a billionaire, is leading the country’s most successful stock brokerage firm, Zerodha. Around 15 percent of India’s total retail trading volume is done through the platform, averaging a daily turnover of over US$10 billion 

Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO of OYO 

Ritesh Agarwal is the founder and CEO of OYO. OYO Rooms is India’s largest hotel network, with monthly revenue of $3.5 million and 1,500 employees in 154 cities across the country. Ritesh made history in 2012 by becoming the world’s second-youngest self-made billionaire at 25. Ritesh Agarwal was born in Bissam Cuttack town in Odisha and brought up in Titilagarh. His family used to run a small shop, so he had exposure to entrepreneurial life as a child. He graduated from St. John’s Senior Secondary School and moved to Delhi for college, but dropped out soon after to launch OYO and became the first Indian to be selected for the Thiel Fellowship in 2013.

Aman Gupta, Cofounder & CMO of boAt 

Aman Gupta is the co-founder and chief marketing officer of boAt. Before launching his electronic product company, Aman used to work at different companies in different posts. He was Director of India Sales at Harman International, the audio product powerhouse. In 2016 he founded Ship. Most people know him from the show Shark Tank India, where he is one of the sharks. boAt is one of the number one headset equipment models in India, which has gained a whopping 27.3% market share. boAt currently has 5,000 retail stores supported by 20 distributors. Selling more than 10,000 units per day and four million units per year.

Manish Gujral, Asia Pacific Director of Harley Davidson Financial Services

Manish Gujral is one of the leading senior executives in the Financial Services- Automotive ecosystem in India as well as in Asia Pacific Region. He is widely known for his growth and result-oriented leadership and is respected for his work, across organizations, in developing leaders and creating Shareholder value. He is currently based in Gurgaon and is Regional Director for Harley Davidson Financial Services for Asia Pacific. In his current role, he is also directly responsible for the Indian Market. In his current role, he has been instrumental in driving unprecedented success across geographies, including India, China, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Previously Manish has worked with General Electric (GE), DBS – Chola, Allianz Group and BMW Financial Services. Manish is a Yale Alumnus (YGELP) and was included amongst India’s Most Dynamic Personalities by Fortune India magazine in 2022. He enjoys reading, travelling, and coaching. He operates a private library with his two children, who also support fundraising for students who cannot support their higher education.

Mr. Sudarshan Sabat, Mind Trainer

Mr. Sabat encourages people to develop a winning mindset. According to him, someone is winning in life every single second. Each person can become a winner in their lives by first winning it in their minds. He has the vision to create more than 1000 trainers in the next five years. Together, these Trainers will reach out to people to teach them steps to solve their problems. They will also teach How to solve their hurdles and overcome obstacles in life. His mission is to improve people’s lives by ensuring that at least 10% of Indians are Independent. Mr. Sabat is guiding people towards goals and prosperity through mind power. According to Mr. Sabat, the power of the subconscious mind will only work when you trust and believe in it. He contends that the human mind is a potent weapon that Humans only utilize.

Manoj Kumar N, Multi-preneur

A New age Multi-preneur, Manoj Kumar N, after completing his MBA, started his journey as a Sr. Business Development at Flipkart, Bangalore. A few months into work, forced by unanticipated family legal and medical emergencies, he quit his job to assist his family business. With two decades of experience in various disciplines, Manoj, with the help of friends and family, bootstrapped and ventured into a new-age logistics and distribution start-up in Bangalore’s Silicon Valley -named “DayNightRiders” that gets unique startups placing their high-end products in premium markets. Upon its success, He has established the ‘Teachers-Students Welfare Trust’, where teachers receive career assistance post-retirement. His other venture – “Maduca Agritech”, gives contract farmers access to drone-based farming tech at affordable prices. He runs a – “Mental Health Wellness Trust”, providing access to free Medicare to needy patients with mental health emergencies. He oversees his “Community Building Welfare Trust,” where he wants to assist the Ediga community to uplift the underprivileged in education, counselling, and career areas.

Dhanasekar B, Founder & CEO of Logskim Solutions Private Limited

Dhanasekar is a first-generation entrepreneur working towards creating a Skill Ecosystem through various Skill Development Programmes in the country, especially through Apprenticeship mode. He has taken the lead in building a seamless supply of skilled and certified workforce for various industries. In this journey, he has touched more than 15,000 lives by providing employment opportunities, especially from the rural and sub-urban areas, by partnering with 75 plus companies in 16 cities across PAN India. His passion is to add another 1,00,000 youths to this journey before 2025 to create a robust skill platform. He is working towards making Logskim a ‘One-Stop Skilled HR Solutions Provider’ for companies in providing the right HR solutions.

Dipesh Punamiya, Director Sales at realme India

An astute and result-oriented MBA (Marketing) postgraduate with 15+ years of experience; extended expertise in Channel Sales, Marketing and Team Management. A deep understanding of the marketing domain focuses on delivering business solutions. Worked with key brands, including LG, Micromax, and realme, through diversified roles and responsibilities. Had notable success in building strategic alliances to open an opportunity for accessing new markets through the appointment of new distributors/networks, retail spread, providing macro & micro level insights; expertise in creating and harvesting untapped business opportunities; effectively identifying & networking with channel partners, resulting in deeper market penetration & improved market share.

Manoj Rathi, Founder & CEO of Krono IINC

A focused entrepreneur, an opportunist, and a world-class marketer who leads with intent and an unwavering commitment to making an impact. An avid traveler, Manoj draws inspiration from anything that’s out there. Passionate about design, number crunching, strategy development and application. He is highly organized and committed to his professional goals. Creates Branding and Marketing strategies linked with effective tactical plans that can be integrated into the business, that are simple to understand, and can be fully implemented is one of his plus points.  His experience of over 2 decades, consistent efforts and team management skills have helped him bring his dream to reality today which is known as Krono.