Chet Rao Chet Rao

Joyous journey and Eulogy KPIs

Many a times we are in search for the “purpose” of our lives. In our opinion, joyfully participating in the journey of life is the purpose and the reward!

From the perspective of one’s professional life, this means finding joy in little things along the way. Business world lives and dies by the “numbers”, which, in our opinion, are extremely important KPIs. However, personal joy in the professional life, is dictated by “eulogy” numbers.

From our experience, these four “eulogy” numbers lead to a joyous professional life:

1) Be valued: Humans are social animals and being valued within one’s professional ecosystem leads to joy. This is earned through doing your activities diligently with the right intent.

2) Add value on a daily basis: Adding value consistently on a daily basis compounds over time.

3) Constantly learn: Learning and curiosity foster neural bandwidth to brain’s pre frontal cortex. Learning mode engages your pre frontal cortex and disengages the limbic (reptilian) pathway. It compounds over time, similar to working out for physical health.

4) Build authentic human connections: Joy of working with others with an authentic intent, surpasses any other forms of joy. Build authentic connections in your professional life, they will compound over time.

At OTM, we believe in the cliche of “win-win” and “growing the pie” and it starts with a joyous professional life.

#www.onthemarc.net #joyatwork #winwin #growthmindset #eulogykpi

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Chet Rao Chet Rao

Analogies “to be or not to be”

Leaders often use analogies to distill down complex situations. There are several tactical advantages for using analogies: 1) simplify 2) relatable 3) minimize fear of the unknown 4) reach 5) share a pov without sharing details. There are several types of analogies, the most popular are sports, movies/books and war analogies.

Sports analogies are inherently problematic for cross-border transactions. Popularity of sports and the acceptance of terminologies varies significantly by country. For example, using a badminton analogy might be good in South East Asia, but may not apply to the US.

War analogies, we at OTM (www.onthemarc.net) believe, are not good. Any war, by definition, has a winner and a loser. In most successful negotiations, win-win most likely will lead to long term value creation.

We are big on using humanistic analogies to make authentic connections. For example a common American football analogy is “get it into the end zone” implying arriving at a tangible result. A humanistic analogy would be “get to the end of the journey” or “arrive at the destination”.

The differences are subtle, but wrong analogies can lead to confusion.

Please reach out to the OTM (www.onthemarc.net) team. We would love to be part of your journey. 80% of our transactions are in the range of US$5 MM to US$25 MM.

#analogies #crossborder #strategicplanning #transactions

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Chet Rao Chet Rao

New beginnings India

On The M.A.R.C opened its Indian office last week in Belgaum India. Belgaum is strategically located in the center of Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Goa. It just so happens that our founder has ancestral roots in this community.

Over the last decade or so, India has emerged as a juggernaut. One can see the rise in confidence in everyone’s eyes. The Indian business community is changing from order takers to order givers. This is a huge shift from its colonial past. Indian economy has surpassed the British economy. The Indian diaspora has been incredibly successful in all the fields. This has also spurred elevation of India’s image globally.

A case in point, top 4 whiskey brands by sales globally are of Indian companies. This is a far cry from the 20th century when government policies deterred Indian whiskey manufacturers.

Why is this happening? Our opinion is that India, as a country, is extremely resilient. If you are a history buff, you can research the past 3000 year history of India. This resilience makes Indian nation very adaptable. Adaptation is the single most important trait for survival.

OTM is extremely proud to have physical location in India now. We specialize in cross border deals. Please visit our website www.onthemarc.net to see what OTM can offer. We would love to be part of your journey. Our philosophy is simple, right advice at the right time.

#India #crossborder #deal #value

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Chet Rao Chet Rao

Intent and action

We always wonder what is our sphere of influence? how we can position our influence to benefit ourselves the most? We’re constantly looking, consciously or subconsciously, for bigger better offers (BBO). Does this constant state of “becoming” something else, push our reality further away from the truth? How does this constant state of “becoming” impact the deal in play?

Don’t believe us, try being aware of your intent “becoming” the next time you’re in middle of an important decision.

This situation is complex and multidimensional and for a deal to consummate to the benefit of all the parties, it is important to be aware of the state of “becoming”. Each party has to be laser focused on its intent and action in the moment. This is especially true for the circle of decision makers.

At www.onthemarc.net, we bring our collective experience to work for our clients. Please reach out, we would love to be part of your journey. 80% of our opportunities are in US$5-US$25 million DVs.

#dealmaking #intent #action #becoming #mindfulness #dv

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Chet Rao Chet Rao

Let there be light

Diwali (or Deepawali) is celebrated around the world to celebrate the victory of light over darkness. Each of us has a unique life’s journey, full of periods of light and darkness. It is part of life as we know it. Especially for founders, the light is bright, and the darkness is pitch black. At www.onthemarc.net, we understand these highs and lows. We work with founders to support them, particularly during the dark times. Even the strongest, sometimes, need an assist along the journey. We’ve been there. For the right advice at the right time, contact info@onthemarc.net 80% of our engagements are in the range of US$5-$25 million DVs.

#diwali #founders #startup #advisory

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Chet Rao Chet Rao

Single truth, many realities

It all begins with an idea.

Every person’s reality is different. Truth and reality are two separate concepts. Truth exists, while reality is perceived. More a person observes a situation with humility and selflessness, more the reality and the truth merge. Often times in deal making, particularly cross border deals, there is significant gap between the reality for each party and the truth. We make the parties aware of this and lay the foundation for longstanding and sticky relationships. Awareness brings realities closer to the truth.


#truth #reality #crossborder #dealmaking #sustainable #partnerships

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Chet Rao Chet Rao

Which Resume’

It all begins with an idea.

Authentic human connections are central to a balance between spiritual and material growth. Often times, the rigors of life take us away from building our eulogy resume. It doesn’t have to be that way! Eulogy and CEO resume can coexist symbiotically. The secret is in authentic connections, humility, and love for all. Intent, sourced appropriately, followed by actions is all one can do.

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Chet Rao Chet Rao

Deer in the headlight

It all begins with an idea.

Fight, Flight, Flop, Fawn, Faint, Friend are natural limbic responses to an unknown or traumatic or stressful stimulus. In literature, there is mention of another rarer response which is associated with a higher state of consciousness “unite”. Although it’s not an “F” word, the example of Mahatma Gandhi is cited frequently.

I’ve worked with many founders/entrepreneurs and their responses to pivotal stressful situations are varied. Those who survive and thrive are the ones who “Unite” the stressful situation with solutions and people.

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Chet Rao Chet Rao

In the beginning

It all begins with an idea.

In our periodic postings, we will share our insights from the confluence of business, philosophy, psychology, sociology and other fields. Our hope is to be part of your journey, we believe that participation in life’s journey is reward itself and authentic human connections make it a unified journey.

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