He has worked in Singapore for 10 years in various roles at software company Autodesk, Grab and Singapore Press Holdings.
But when the opportunity arose to lead a startup in India, Gaurav Sachdeva jumped at the chance.
The 43-year-old Delhi native, who graduated with an engineering degree from Delhi Institute of Technology, is chief operating officer at StockGro, a stock market venture started by Indian entrepreneur Ajay Lakhotia, which has about 60 employees and is based in Bangalore.
“My time at Autodesk, Grab and Singapore Press Holdings was fulfilling,” he told Tabula!. “I contributed to their digital transformation and subscription growth, but I also wanted a new challenge within the tech industry.
“This was not just a product or technology challenge, but a mindset challenge.”
Speaking about his new venture, Sachdeva said the Indian stock market had huge growth potential.
“Indian stock market is worth about US$4 trillion ($5.38 trillion) and recently surpassed Hong Kong’s. Yet less than 4% of Indians are invested in stocks.”
“This is because Indians are taught to save money and not grow their assets. They are afraid to enter the stock market after losing hundreds of thousands of rupees.”
“So, through StockGro, we want to educate the 400 million Gen Zers, especially in India, that the stock market is a place where they can leverage their skills and grow their wealth.”
StockGro applies fintech to show you how to invest in the stock market in a very experiential way. The preparation zone helps you build your portfolio using virtual money in a risk-free environment. After that, there are a bunch of experts who give you tips. Theoretical knowledge is also provided in the form of bite-sized content.
Launched in 2020, StockGro has over 35 million monthly active users. The initial learning experience is free, and then there are subscription levels as you progress to real trading.
Currently working remotely from Singapore, Sachdeva said his 10 years of experience working for Singapore companies has helped him greatly in his work at Stockgro.
“I came to Singapore in January 2014 to start working at American software company Autodesk, where I set up the first product team and worked on subscription-related product features,” he said.
“Two years later, I got the opportunity to work at Grab, where I was involved in product development and helped grow our small business into a big one.
“At SPH (2018), I enjoyed the challenge that the media companies offered me to transform old monopoly businesses into exemplary digital companies.”
Initially, it was difficult for Sachdeva at SPH because “everyone thought SPH was working well and wasn’t interested in listening to a 37-year-old trying to tell them how to run the business differently.”
But over time, he managed to “change his mindset.”
“Together with deputy CEO Anthony Tan, we have built a digital media products group within the media business,” he said.
“We built product and design teams from scratch, brought analytics and data science into the organisation and reinvented how we built products across newspapers, and then across radio and advertising.
“While developing our product and engineering team, we gained exposure to diverse customer segments and consumer behaviors.
“Along the way, I was able to work closely with newsrooms to convince them why they should listen to our story and how we could work together to increase circulation of not only our print newspaper but also our digital newspaper.
“The past five years from 2018 to 2023 have been truly exciting, extremely challenging and full of learning. There has been a lot of hard work and I am very proud of it. I am extremely grateful for the opportunities I have had whilst working at SPH.”
In 2022, SPH underwent a restructuring that led Sachdeva to consider whether he wanted a new challenge.
“At that point, I spoke with Ajay Lakotia, who I met through an investor in 2018. He was starting his own company and needed someone to help with product design and other areas.
“I decided it was time to get back into the startup world and help build an organization.”
Sachdeva was in Bengaluru to oversee business growth and product development.
“I actually love living in Singapore,” he says. “It’s a very welcoming country, and there’s no shortage of food for vegetarians. I have Chinese and Malay friends and am absorbing the local culture. It’s been a fulfilling journey.”
“I came to Singapore as a single man and married my wife Jyothika while I was there. We now have a six-year-old daughter, Aparajita.
“I think in Singapore I can live the life I want.”
VK Santosh Kumar
