Discover the trailblazing visionaries shaping the future of business in 2022. Dive into "The 10 Most Futuristic Business Leaders To Watch" and stay ahead of the curve. Explore the innovative strategies, groundbreaking ideas, and disruptive approaches driving success in today's rapidly evolving landscape. Get inspired by these extraordinary individuals who are revolutionizing industries and pushing boundaries. Stay informed and gain valuable insights into the future of business leadership.

4. The Essence Of Leadership In The World Of Business
uccessful business organizations are
often shaped by the exemplary
leadership of the leaders of the
organization. Great business leaders lead
by setting the perfect examples for their
colleagues. Generally, leadership is all
about two things, passion, and focus.
Every business leader should believe in
staying close to the ground and allowing
their passion to speak more than their
words. Things like courage, competence,
and energy are very contagious and affect
other people in the organization. So,
leaders need to have the courage, passion,
love, competence, and energy to
effectively lead an organization.
With the present technological
advancements, innovation plays a huge
role in determining the course of
industries. So, a business leader also needs
to develop new ideas and implement them
efficiently to disrupt the market. No
business can survive without innovating on
a regular basis. Additionally, every
business leader must listen to their team.
They should be able to understand, listen
and support their colleagues with the
challenges they are facing. Also, with their
clear business vision, they should adapt
and change to make their business
successful. They should also have the
ability to make tough calls and decisions
with high consequences. A leader must not
fear taking any calculated risks to utilize a
business opportunity.
Recognizing the futuristic leaders, Inc
Magazine has enlisted “The 10 Most
Futuristic Business Leaders to Watch in
2022.”
Our Cover Story features Christanto
Suryadarma, the Sales Vice President –
Southeast Asia, Zebra Technologies, Asia
Pacific. With its rich history of innovation,
Zebra is recognized as the industry leader in
segments like; enterprise mobile computing,
barcode scanning, specialty printing, RFID
reader and RFID printing, and workforce
management.
Graduated from the Universitas Kristen Satya
Wacana as an Electronics Engineer, Christanto
started his professional career in IT by taking
on the role of a Pre-sales Engineer before
finally moving into Sales. Before joining
Zebra, Chirstanto was the Head of Channels,
Mid-Market, SMB, Commercial, & Alibaba
Cloud Partnership at Hewlett Packard
Enterprise Asia Pacific. And before that, he
also held various senior leadership positions at
companies like the ECS Group, Intel
Corporation, and Microsoft Asia Pacific.
So, delve into more such inspiring stories
and lessons from other business leaders in
this issue and get motivated.
Edit
or’s
Note
s

5. www.theincmagazine.com
Business Development Manager Wilson Shan
Marketing Manager Chirs Philip
Business Development Executive Maria, Wilson, Martina, Alex, Kelvin
Technical Head Jacob Smile
Assistant Technical Head Alina Sege
Digital Marketing Manager Jennifer Parker
Assistant Digital Marketing Manager David King
Research Analyst Earl Lewis
Circulation Manager Scoot Taylor
The Inc Magazine
Rochester, New York- 14602, United State
Phone- +1 [217]503-4344
Info@theincmagazine.com
Follow us www.facebook.com/theincmagazine/ www.twitter.com/theincmagazine/
www.linkedin.com/company/theincmagazine
Copyright© 2022 The Inc Magazine
sales@theincmagazine.com
Editor In Cheif Sonal K
Managing Editor Ehsan Jami
Publishing Control Team Alexis, Michael
Visualiser Mary Chars
Art and Design Head Stephan Wood
Art and Pictures Editor Namrata Chaure
Art And Design Assistant Anushka Bhosle

6. COVER
STORY
CHRISTANTO SURYADARMA
Sales Vice President | Zebra Technologies
08

7. Carlos Manuel Da Silva Santos
ceo | Ethos Asset Management
Amit Sharma
ceo | CData
Dr. Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes,
ceo | Softhread
Ellie Perlman
Founder | Blue Lake Capital
12
16
20
28

8. he Sales Vice President – Southeast Asia,
Zebra Technologies, Asia Pacific. With its
rich history of innovation, Zebra is recog-
nized as the industry leader in segments like;
enterprise mobile computing, barcode scanning,
specialty printing, RFID reader and RFID printing,
and workforce management.
Since 1969, Zebra Technologies has been
working behind the scenes in many industries
around the world. The firm’s solutions enable
businesses from varying verticals, (Retail/E
-Commerce, Manufacturing, Transportation &
Logistics (T&L), Healthcare, Public Sector,
Hospitality, and Banking) to gain a performan-
ce edge by intelligently connecting their
people, assets, and data to help them gain
business visibility to make business-critical
decisions swiftly and decisively.
Zebra is a keen believer in innovation. From
the very first handheld laser barcode scanner,
which had built-in 1979, to the Zebra Savanna
Data Intelligence Platform that the company
introduced in 2017, Zebra spends around 10%
of our annual revenue on R&D (about $567M
in 2021).
Christanto graduated from the Universitas
Kristen Satya Wacana as an Electronics
Engineer and started his professional career in
IT by taking on the role of a Pre-sales
Engineer, before finally moving into Sales.
Before joining Zebra, Christanto was the Head
of Channels, Mid-Market, SMB, Commercial,
& Alibaba Cloud Partnership at Hewlett
Packard Enterprise Asia Pacific. And before
that, he also held various senior leadership
positions at companies like the ECS Group,
Intel Corporation, and Microsoft Asia Pacific.
08 June 2022
Christanto
Suryadarma
“
More importantly, we
must be able to execute
it with integrity,
passion, and resilience.
T
A Goal Oriented Leader
Christanto graduated from the Universitas
Kristen Satya Wacana as an Electronics
Engineer and started his professional career in
IT by taking on the role of a Pre-sales
Engineer, before finally moving into Sales.
Before joining Zebra, Christanto was the Head
of Channels, Mid-Market, SMB, Commercial,
Alibaba Cloud Partnership at Hewlett
Packard Enterprise Asia Pacific. And before

9. So, he feels the only way for businesses to stay
competitive in this brave new front is to
undergo digital transformation to achieve
As the saying goes, “Life is never
going to be smooth sailing, but I’ve learned to
roll with the punches”. Christanto feels Asia
Pacific is a very dynamic and complex region
with diverse cultures, languages, and business
environments. The biggest challenge in
managing rapid changes in Asia Pacific, is the
need to know the current trends and identify
those that are shaping the future.
that, he also held various senior
leadership positions at
companies like the ECS Group,
Intel Corporation, and
Microsoft Asia Pacific.
can be used to cater to the varying needs of its
customers, including retail/e-commerce,
manufacturing, TL, Healthcare, the Public
Sector, and other businesses. That said, Zebra
is continuously improving itself and enhancing,
its product offerings through RD and
acquisitions.
Current Market Trends
Christanto believes we live in an on-demand
economy where organizations must digitalize
their operations to remain competitive. This
on-demand economy has been accelerated due
to the COVID-19 pandemic, due to lockdowns
and social distancing measures. And it looks
like things won’t be going back to what it was
before COVID.
He also feels, leaders need to respond quickly
to changes, to be able to build capacity and
nurture the ecosystem of clients and partners
to generate both short-, and long-term
sustainable business growth. Christanto says,
“More importantly, we must be able to
execute it with integrity, passion, and
resilience.”
Staying Motivated
Making Efficient and Sustainable
Solutions
According to Christanto, Zebra already has
quite an extensive portfolio of solutions, that
Christanto Suryadarma
Sales Vice President
The 10 Most Futuristic Business Leaders To Watch in 2022.
Christanto Suryadarma
Sales Vice President
He is currently the Sales Vice
President for Zebra
Technologies in the Southeast
Asia region, and he is
responsible for growing
Zebra’s business in Southeast
Asia and leading the sales
team for the region.
Christanto is involved in
developing and executing
strategies in alignment with
Zebra’s goals and managing
sales activities for the market
to achieve Zebra’s overall
business objectives. He is
also leading Zebra’s channel
sales for the Asia Pacific
(excluding Greater China).
09 June 2022

10. Since joining Zebra in Q3 2021, Christanto
has transformed Zebra Team in Southeast Asia
to adopt the growth mindset, which is to be
Inclusive, Innovative, and Collaborative. As a
result, Christanto and his team achieved strong
double-digit Y-o-Y Growth in Q4 FY21 and
gained significant market share in key
segments. They also doubled the firm’s
earnings from its services and achieved a
higher Employee Engagement Index.
Transforming the Organization
greater efficiency and results through the
adoption of the right technologies. As the
pioneers at the edge of the enterprise, Zebra
has been empowering the front-line of
businesses for more than 50 years, and it
continues to invest in innovations to do so.
Helping Others in Need
For Christanto, success is not about earning a
lot of money. It’s also about having the ability
to help others in need. He says, “We should not
aim for personal success. Rather, we should
aim to become significant. Because to be
Successful is self-centered, while being
Significant means going beyond-self.”
He also started a literacy movement named
“Mybook MyCountry” in 2017, which is
focused on helping underprivileged children in
remote areas of Indonesia. Christanto has
worked with one of the largest publishers in
Indonesia to get new books at discounted rates
and liaised with local volunteers and educators
to open up their homes and schools and
converted them into reading gardens that can
be accessed by underprivileged children and
students in the vicinity. To date, up to 59,
Reading Gardens have been set up in remote
areas of Indonesia, and it has helped about
10,000 underprivileged children and students.
Moving forward, Christanto’s vision is to
make Zebra Technologies and its Partners the
leader in industry transformation in Southeast
Asia. His secondary role is to build and
manage a strong channel ecosystem in the Asia
Pacific (excluding Greater China) through the
Engage-Enable-Excite (Three E’s) strategy
and execution.
Picture of the Future
Christanto believes, with the rise of industrial
Revolution 4.0 and the on-demand economy,
companies are racing against time to digitalize
their businesses to keep up with the growing
demands of their customers.
Therefore, Zebra is in a very exciting space to
contribute to the fast-growing on-demand
economy and next industrial revolution by
making the World Works Better with
intelligent automation, connecting people,
tasks, and data, and creating insights with AI
and Machine Vision to make faster, better
decision making.
Don’t just be successful,
be significant. By
making others successful
will in turn grant you
even more success.
“
10 June 2022

12. orn in an upper-middle-class family, Carlos
Manuel Da Silva Santos chose to study
Economics. After achieving 18/20 values,
Carlos started teaching at a university and created
his first private company, where he made his first
million. However, in 2015 Carlos lost everything.
He made wrong investments, was subjected to many
scams that he could not recognize, and lost millions
quickly.
Carlos
Santos
“
Work, always respect all the people
around you. Understand that
anyone can bring you something.
And work hard. Never give up.
When you lose, see it as a lesson
and use it so that next time you
won't repeat the same mistake .
B
Everyone he knew criticized his way of living.
But soon, things changed; Carlos recovered
and continued doing the same. The capacity
to think and work to make things better, doing
what I enjoyed with passion, being resilient, and
working with principles were and are the best
things in the world. In the end, the opportunities
appear.- says Carlos.
Carlos founded Ethos in Portugal in 2012.
During its initial days, Ethos leased an algorithm
to major investment funds that were paying
royalties to Ethos. When the organization entered
the market in 2014 and 2015, these investment
funds traded $300 billion through this structure.
Thanks to the market's volatility, investment funds
proposed Ethos to operate in a different structure
that could help them avoid market volatility. In
order to do that, they flowed the funds to Ethos,
order to do that, they flowed the funds to Ethos,
which increased its total assets. Later in 2019, Carlos
assumed the position of an advisor for Monetary
Policy in Dollars. Soon, the board of directors of
Ethos decided not to lease the algorithm anymore;
instead, Ethos itself decided to start trading its own
funds.
Ethos is currently present in 72 countries across
the world. Carlos has been directly involved in the
organization's business areas like project financing
and financial trading. He holds a bachelor's degree
in Economics and several Master's degrees in
Finance, Banking Accounting, and International
Taxation. As a reflection of his professional and
educational excellence, he was recognized by Men
Leaders to Look Upto Award (2021), the Africa
12 June 2022

13. The 10 Most Futuristic Business Leaders To Watch in 2022.
Carlos Santos
Ethos Asset Management | CEO
Dubai Honours Award for Excellence
and Leadership Prowess (2021), and the
Ernst Young Award: Best Economist
(2016), and Banco de Portugal Award
(2015).
Helping Clients
Carlos decided to diversify and invest in project
financing at that point, which eventually allowed
him to make long-term investments with fixed
returns.
He aimed to bring capital to various sectors that
other financial entities were not focused on,
trying to understand why.
He says, Why would someone not invest in South
Africa, Laos, Swaziland, or Brazil? Soon I realized
that the macroeconomic and operational risk
related to such entities was the reason.
Carlos soon understood that a financial instrument
issued by a bank allows the seller to migrate the
operational and macroeconomic risk to the
financial market. This eventually allowed him to
have a net asset discounted to the present value of
the financing to not need to be 100 % of the
investment. This was the innovative factor.
Tackling Challenges
All countries, economies, and companies face
challenges. The pandemic has been a challenge for
Ethos and the entire global banking system in
general, Carlos took this opportunity to create a new
Ethos.
Helping Employees to be Productive
Carlos says, Our human resources are the most
valuable asset that we have. In such way to allow
them to maximize their thinking capacity and inno-
vate know how we need to create the environment
for that.
At first, Carlos's goal was to guarantee
that investors could model financial
markets without making any losses in
financial investments. I was trying to
utilize my proprietary algorithm, which
alerts in line with 'enter and exit positions
in the commodities, currency, bonds,
futures and share markets.- he says.
Using an aggressive risk modulated
strategy, Ethos spreads and accumulates
profits through compounding, which
helps it achieve gains in a completely safe
way that could never be performed in the
market.
To do that, Ethos tries to understand their personal
and professional needs guaranteeing that it misses
nothing about them and their families, which will
allow them to stay focused 24/7. Ethos is well
13 June 2022

14. Remember that when you fail you
are one step ahead because you will
not make the mistake that others may
make. Never stop, because when
someone stops, you will surpass them
and make it possible.
“
knownforthequalityofitspeople,anditsexceptional
results show how differentiated it is. We have an
abundance of talent, no doubt, but beyond that, we
alsohaveadistinctlycollaborativeculture,whichwe
have worked hard to preserve over the course of the
pandemic. We have welcomed thousands of new
potentialclientstoourfirminthepastfewyears,and
it was important to us that they experience first-hand
what it's like to be Ethos.- adds Carlos.
Ethos has a pay-for-performance culture, where
it rewards people who drive its growth. However,
it also has a shareholder-aligned compensation
framework that entirely depends on the equity
awards to incentivize long-term value creation,
and that compensation can be adjusted according
to the performance.
Advice for Younger Self
When we asked Carlos to provide some suggestions for
upcoming entrepreneurs, he said, Work, always respect
all the people around you. Understand that anyone can
bring you something. And work hard. Never give up.
When you lose, see it as a lesson and use it so that next
time you won't repeat the same mistake. He also adds,
Remember that when you fail you are one step ahead
because you will not make the mistake that others may
make. Never stop, because when someone stops, you will
surpass them and make it possible.
14 June 2022

16. CData also realized the need for a standard
approach that can allow every system to communi-
cate in the same way, as the APIs are inconsistent
and prone to change. Soon business intelligence
vendors like Tableau, Sisense, SAS, and data
integration vendors like Informatica and Matillion,
who needed a broad range of connectivity within
their products, recognized CData’s approach. These
initial OEM partnerships have later blossomed into
partnerships with more than 150 vendors, which
include companies like Google, Tibco, and Palantir.
Amit
Sharma

“
The more you sweat in
peace, the less you
bleed in war.
B
orn out of its culture of excellence in
engineering and appreciation for standards,
CData is a leader in the world of connec-
tivity. It offers real-time connections to more than
250 SaaS applications, databases, ERPs, and CRM
systems including Salesforce, NetSuite, Workday,
ServiceNow, etc. Originally conceived as an appli-
cation for integration, CData quickly pivoted to
standard-based connectors that could be used along
with any other data management solution. It was
the first company to build ODBC, JDBC, and
ADO.NET drivers for SaaS applications.
The Steadfast Leader
CData is being led by its CEO and founder, Amit
Sharma, who defines CData’s technical platform
and business strategy. Amit’s leadership has helped
his company to rise from a small start-up to a
leading provider of data access and connectivity
solutions.
He pursued his schooling at a boarding school in
Western India, followed by engineering in Central
India. After completing his engineering degree,
Amit joined Infosys in Bangalore. However, he
16 June 2022

17. Christanto Suryadarma
Sales Vice President
The 10 Most Futuristic Business Leaders To Watch in 2022.
Amit Sharma
CEO | CData Software
soon moved to the U.S for his
MS in Computer Networking at
the NC State, where he was
exposed to the start-up world.
After completing his MS, Amit
joined a wireless security
start-up named Elixar, then
went on to meet the other
co-founders of CData at a
North Carolina-based start-up
called /n software. They
enjoyed working with each
other so much that they spent
nearly a decade together before
breaking into the connectivity
space with CData in 2016.
Amit has also received his
MBA degree from Duke Fuqua
School of Business.
Under Amit’s leadership, CData
now offers additional
capabilities, including data
integration with CData Sync, and
application integration with CData
Arc. Recently, thcompany has launched its first
platform that offers direct, real-time connectivity
as a service. CData Connect Cloud helps
businesses manage their connectivity needs and
leverage data within the application or platform of
their choice without the need to build complex
data pipelines.
Influencing Factors
Amit considers himself lucky to start his career at
one of the most sought-after companies in India,
Infosys. Then he followed it up by joining a
start-up, which was ultimately destined to fail.
Although the contrast could not be more dramatic,
it influenced his choices from then on. Soon he
was hooked to the energy, intensity, and
excitement of building something new.
Amit strongly believes that a smart group of people
who love working together can overcome any
obstacle. So, he feels it was very important for him
to build a passionate team where the culture is
conducive to doing the best work.
Industry Insights
Amit believes the data landscape for enterprises is
quickly getting fragmented. Although the advent of
SaaS applications simplified various business
operations, they also fragmented business data in
various clouds that are quite difficult to integrate.
Most organizations use a multitude of different
SaaS applications, each of which becomes their
own data repository.
17 June 2022

18. “
Innovation is important,
but it is essential to pair
that with a rock-solid
support system that gives
our customers the
freedom to advance their
work.
“
The first wave of integration trends was to bring
everything together in a central data warehouse.
However, this process was very costly to set up and
possessed a lot of risks. Data movement had to be
managed carefully, and security rules set up in the
application were often lost.
The CData team believes that the next wave of data
integration is one of direct and real-time
connectivity. In this wave of data integration,
organizations will be able to leave their data where it
originated and access it when needed.
CData feels there are a few solutions to do that,
and it intends to be a leader in that category.
Motivating the Team
CData employees are a competitive bunch of
people, and Amit likes to remind the team that this
small company based out of Chapel Hill, NC, helps
powering a portion of the planet’s leading
infrastructure software deployed within products
from Tibco, Google, Tableau, and others.
CData competes in a cutthroat market, where driver
technology is easy to compare, and performance
measurement can happen in milliseconds. Amit and
the entire team at CData take pride in winning
against every other product in terms of speed and
stability, using their innovative techniques.
Under Amit’s leadership, CData has expanded its
problem-solving culture to its customer success
team. Customer Success is not only a part of its
business, but it is the business for the company.
CData’s data connectivity ensures the re-use of
analytics systems and models that its customers
have built currently.
Amit says, “Innovation is important, but it is
essential to pair that with a rock-solid support
system that gives our customers the freedom to
advance their work.” He feels, that watching his
colleagues and team members build great careers
and achieve their potential gives him tremendous
satisfaction. He further adds, “What little part I
had to play in that is very satisfying to me.”
18 June 2022

20. Dr. Ingrid
Vasiliu-Feltes
  
“
Until you spread
your wings, you'll
have no idea how
far you can fly.
M
eet Dr. Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, the CEO of
Softhread, an IT company providing
industry-agnostic, environment-agnostic,
and platform-agnostic software that enables
companies to manage highly confidential data with
their networks, environments, and devices securely
and effectively. eet Dr. Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes, the
CEO of Softhread, an IT company providing
industry-agnostic, environment-agnostic, and
platform-agnostic software that enables companies
to manage highly confidential data with their
networks, environments, and devices securely and
effectively.
Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes is a healthcare executive, futurist,
and globalist who is highly dedicated to digital and
ethics advocacy. She is a Forbes Business Council
member, digital strategist, passionate educator,
entrepreneurship ecosystem builder, board advisor,
and consultant.
Additionally, Dr. Vasiliu- Feltes was appointed to the
Board of Advisors for multiple companies, and she
also serves as an Expert Advisor to the EU
Blockchain Observatory Forum.
During her long academic career, she taught multiple
courses and provided more than 100 academic
lectures, seminars, grand rounds, and over 100 faculty
development courses.
She has held several leadership positions during her
long career and is a member of many prestigious
organizations. Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes is also the Founder and
CEO of The Science, Entrepreneurship, and
Investments Institute, Founder CEO of Revexpo
Consulting. She is presently serving as a Country
Director for WBAF USA, Senator of WBAF, Faculty
Member of the WBAF Business School- Division of
Entrepreneurship, and teaching the Executive MBA
Business Technology Course at the UM Business
School.
20 June 2022

21. The 10 Most Futuristic Business Leaders To Watch in 2022.
Dr. Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes
So�hread | CEO
The Journey
After her career in healthcare and life
sciences as a healthcare executive,
researcher, and clinician, Dr.
Vasiliu-Feltes has earned her
Executive MBA and immersed
herself in the world of business. Her
professional endeavors are currently
at the intersection of science,
technology, and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes has always been
fascinated by various large-scale
complex problems as a business
leader. While advancing through her
career, she learned how science,
innovation, and technology are
driving the global economy. She
also understood the need to
continuously learn new skills to
leverage the technology, which
often significantly impacts business
and entrepreneurship.
Preserving Confidentiality and
Optimizing Network Security
Softhread uses a patent-pending blockchain and
AI-enabled platform named Chios™ to preserve
confidentiality and optimize network security
while enhancing operational efficiency. Through
its decentralized system, which empowers
state-of-the-art interoperability, Softhread builds
scalable solutions that are entirely customizable,
cloud-enabled, industry-agnostic,
cloud-independent, and optimize the ROI of data
management.
Softhread has developed its innovative,
patent-pending blockchain platform Chios™, to
enable the secure decentralization of any data
owned by individuals, devices, networks, and
other regulated workloads. Built on top of a
massively adopted Hyperledger Fabric
permissioned blockchain technology, Softhread’s
patent-pending Chios™ platform has been
specially designed for confidential computing and
compliance requirements of various highly
regulated industries, like healthcare, space, life
sciences, energy, insurance, and government
technology, which can benefit from the
comprehensive zero-trust solution.
The firm’s existing projects and ongoing
relationships with many technology companies
have already demonstrated its capabilities in the
areas of life sciences, healthcare, smart cities, space
industries, and cybersecurity.
21 June 2022

22. The Institute works as a Think Tank
and has collaborated with other
global, not-for-profit organizations
which are aligned with the UN
SDG 2030 Agenda and promotion
of social entrepreneurship.
A Unique Industry
Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes says,
“We are currently likely
experiencing the cusp of
the 5th industrial
revolution.”
As a globalist and the founder of the non-profit
Institute SEI, she aims to fulfill a vision to be a
catalyst for scientific and digitally driven
entrepreneurship and promote sustainable
economic growth. The institute's mission is to
contribute to state-of-the-art knowledge sharing
and provide educational resources, and become a
premier data intelligence, data analytics, and
data-driven decision support partner for
key stakeholders in the entrepreneurial
ecosystem.
She feels these
unprecedented times call
for various innovative
solutions and approaches to
manage a volatile post-
pandemic global business
environment and for business leaders to adapt to
major emerging technology mega-trends that will
eventually disrupt the way people live, work, and
educate and entertain themselves as a society.
Picture of the Future
Dr. Vasiliu-Feltes and her team are looking
forward to executing their new strategic
direction and speeding up the
development of new commercial
solutions in its portfolio. She is also
thrilled to be able to continue forging new
long-term collaborative relationships
with various key stakeholders in the web
3.0 and smart cities business ecosystem.
Suggestions for Younger Self
When we requested Dr. Vasiliu-
Feltes to provide some suggesti-
ons for new entrepreneurs, she
said, “Ethics and purpose are
key in the digital era.
Ethical and purpose
-driven leaders are
poised to achieve
long-term success
and maintain their
competitive
advantage in the
new post-pandemic
economy.”
22 June 2022

24. Sanjay Sethi
Sanjay Sethi
T
o deliberate on the growth opportunities in the Indian plant-based foods space, the Plant-Based Foods
Industry Association (PBFIA) organised the 1st Plant-Based Foods Summit in Hotel Le Meridien, New
Delhi, on 26th May 2022. The summit was supported by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries
(MoFPI) and The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority of India (APEDA).
It was a one-of-a-kind summit in India, bringing together the whole ecosystem of the plant-based foods sector,
including business leaders and government policy reformers, under one roof. In addition, the summit
24 June 2022

25. The Honourable Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and
Jal Shakti, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel, graced the 1st Plant-Based
Foods Summit with his presence and meaningful remarks. He
believes that the Indian plant-based food business will expand rapidly
and that minimal compliance requirements, scientific measurements,
and supply chain strengthening will be required.
As part of the Eat Right Movement, Ms. Inoshi Sharma, the
Executive Director of FSSAI, emphasised the possibilities of
plant-based foods in terms of long-term safe, healthy, and sustainable
food items. She addressed the need for plant-based food firms to
work and improve compliance by lowering the salt, sugar, and fat
content in their products. In the last 10-15 years, India has acquired a
global presence that has influenced the domestic landscape. Dr.
Sudhanshu, Secretary APEDA, highlighted India's plant-based food
capabilities, including some indigenous crops in which India already
ranks high in terms of output. By generating value-added items, India
can easily conduct business and meet global demand. With the
growing popularity of plant-based foods, India is well-positioned to
provide all of the essential raw materials and skilled labour.
Furthermore, Dr. Sudhanshu unveiled the pivotal position paper by
PBFIA titled The Dawn of a Plant-Based Age: India to lead the way
to world food security and nutrition . The report presents an outline
of the worldwide plant-based foods market as well as prospective
chances for India to become a global leader in food security and
nutrition. The goal of this PBFIA flagship publication is to increase
awareness among Indian officials about the need to support India's
growing plant-based foods sector.
The summit also attracted over 40 plant-based food start-ups of India
who showcased their products for the tasting, including several
women entrepreneurs who are propelling the industry forward; 400
delegates attended from some of the important organisations,
including APEDA, FSSAI, FICCI, CII, FICSI, NIFTEM, Kerry,
Symrise, Symega, Viscofan, Buhler, ITC, GoodDot, Mother Dairy,
Ahimsa VC, Urban Platter, Epigamia, Blue Tribe Foods, Wakao
Foods, Roquette and many more.
Overall, the summit represented the emergence of a powerful voice in
India in favour of plant-based foods. The growth in the plant-based
industry is expanding rapidly, and India is quickly becoming a
burgeoning market. As a result, the scope for an industry based on
three principles: humane, health, and the environment are enormous.
successfully represented a convention of plant-based food
entrepreneurs and scientists, allowing for the exchange of ideas.
The Dawn of
a Plant-Based
Age: India to
lead the way
to world food
security and
nutrition .
”
”
The 10 Most Admired Business Leaders in 2022
25 June 2022

28. 01 www.theincmagazine.com
01 www.theincmagazine.com
Ellie Perlman
Blue Lake Capital | Founder Ceo

E
llie Perlman is a real estate investor owning
various multifamily properties across the
U.S. She is the founder and CEO of Blue
Lake Capital, a real estate investment firm
specializing in multifamily acquisition and
management. At Blue Lake Capital, Ellie helps her
investors grow their wealth by investing alongside
her in various large multifamily deals.
Ellie grew up in poverty, being the oldest child in a
family of six. She got her first job cleaning
synagogues when she was nine. Ellie always wanted
more and had a burning desire to succeed and break
the poverty chain.
At the age of 19, she married her high school
sweetheart. Initially, both struggled greatly, but after
a lot of hard work and motivation, Ellie joined the
best law school in Israel. Later she got a job at a
prestigious law firm, working round the clock on
fascinating real estate transactions until she found
her eyesight distorted because of a disease that
nearly left her blind. However, Ellie's eyesight was
restored after a painful and lengthy healing process.
At that point, she was determined to live her life to
the fullest.
After recovering from her eye disease, she took time
to reflect on her life and soon realized that she didn't
want to practice law any further; instead, she wanted
to join the real estate industry. Ellie knew real estate
was her ticket out of poverty, but she didn't know
how exactly. So, she decided to leave her job as a
lawyer and became a property manager, keeping
tabs on more than 300 properties. Her internal fire
then pushed her even further, and a few years later,
Ellie joined MIT to pursue her MBA degree. After
graduation, she pivoted her career and became a real
estate investor and entrepreneur.

29. The 10 Most Futuristic Business Leaders To Watch in 2022.
29 June 2022
Ellie and her team rely upon A.I. technology for
underwriting data and seek to implement additional
cutting-edge technology as it becomes available in
the organization's processes and properties. She
says, We are currently evaluating how to further
advance our green policies and practices in our
property communities to create healthier, more
sustainable, and more community-enriching
practices.
Hiring the right
people is always an
exciting task.
Building a company
is a team sport. In
order to thrive, you
must have the right
team. Cultural fit is
as important as
experiences.
“
Influencing Factors
While growing up in poverty, Ellie swore that her
kids would not experience the reality she had gone
through. She says, When I was about 11 years old,
I decided I would have a different future. I didn't
know how. Over the years, I learned that the richest
families in the world had one thing in common:
they all owned real estate. But I was certain I
needed money to invest in real estate, which I didn't
have then.
After graduating from MIT, Ellie founded Blue
Lake Capital, where she buys multifamily
properties across the U.S. while raising money from
investors, overseeing the management of the assets,
and executing renovations to increase rents and
streamline expenses, until it's time to sell after
roughly 2-5 years.
Harnessing the Power of
Commercial Real Estate Investing
Since its inception in 2017, Blue Lake Capital has
grown to over $750M AUM. The organization
creates the path for extraordinary living, primarily
by harnessing the tremendous power of commercial
real estate investing, combined with technology in
underwriting and elite management of multifamily
properties to create opportunities to help its
investors grow and thrive.
The organization buys, operates, and sells
multifamily assets across the U.S. while raising
money from investors to purchase those assets.
Tackling Challenges
Ellie sees challenges as an opportunity to learn,
grow and improve. Like most other companies, the
challenge of capitalizing on a business, creating a
sustainable and efficient process, and building the
right team can be difficult. Still, Ellie finds creating
“
wealth and building a future for not just herself but
her team and investors to be thrilling.

30. 30 June 2022
“
Current Market Landscape
Although the real estate industry was highly
competitive and tight, recently, it has started
showing early signs of softening. Ellie believes that
with the rising inflation and the Fed's rising interest
rates, the market can soon witness a correction. She
feels there will be more opportunities to purchase
assets at a discount from owners who have overpaid
for their assets. On the other hand, unlike the
residential market in 2007, where investors could
purchase a single-family home at a discount if they
had cash, it makes little sense to pay in cash when it
comes to large multifamily properties. Ellie says,
The multifamily lending scene has been more
challenging than before; Increasing interest rates
and lower LTVs play a significant role in the ability
to make a smart purchase and seize opportunities.
Achievement
Ellie is proud that despite having grown up in
challenging economic circumstances, she put herself
through law school in Israel, transitioned her career
in property management, and then earned a
scholarship that helped her attend MIT for her
MBA. This incredible journey has given her the
strength to bring Blue Lake Capital where it is
today.
Since its foundation in 2017, in less than 5 years,
Blue Lake Capital was able to exit 6 deals, with an
average IRR to investors of 31%.
Advice for Young Entrepreneurs
Ellie advises young entrepreneurs by saying, The
difference between dreamers and achievers is that
achievers take the first step and stick to it. It's as
simple as that. Don't let fear talk you out of doing
something big. Others will advise you against it, but
they are also motivated by fear. After all, fear is the
thing that keeps us from the pain of failing because
you can't fail what you don't do. Don't listen to that
voice; acknowledge it and thank it for its attempts,
but listen to the other voice that pushes you forward
and take action.