From a nonchalant teenager to authoring a book on Verilog at 25 and launching successful IPOs for startups on the US stock market, Rajeev Madhavan exemplifies how the right guidance can transform a life. This is the story of one of Silicon Valley’s most influential venture capitalists, as narrated to Yashasvini Razdan.
Growing up in Kochi, with a father who worked in Customs and a homemaker mother, Rajeev Madhavan was the youngest and only boy among three siblings. Pampered by everyone, young Rajeev’s dad, T.K. Madhava Panicker, was at the forefront of letting him prance and play cricket. However, his mother, Sathy Devi, was a tough taskmaster who ensured that none of her children slipped up on studies, maintaining a balance between pampering and control.
“My mother was a homemaker. She controlled the finances at home. If I wanted to go play cricket and buy gear, my dad would let me, but my mum would not. She turned her family home into an apartment complex, sold some apartments, and kept some for rentals. Her business acumen was impeccable, but she probably never realised it,” recalls Rajeev, with admiration and awe for his mother’s tight grip and financial foresight.
A comical business
Please register to view this article or log in below. Tip: Please subscribe to EFY Prime to read the Prime articles.
