The Leadership Team

Ronnie went on to build a media and entertainment company - UTV, where post many pivots and four almost near bankruptcies and 15 years of focussed work with strong co-founders and a large team, it scaled to a size spanning all aspects of Content and Platform and then he divested UTV to The Walt Disney Co in 2012.

Perception in most cases is larger than reality and so in spite of so many failures, Newsweek termed him the Jack Warner of India, Esquire rated him one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century and Fortune as Asia’s 25 most powerful.

Having lived it and seen the misconception that it’s all about quick success and that failure is to frown on - he authored a book ‘Dream With Your Eyes Open’ as his commitment to champion entrepreneurship and evangelize failure.

Ronnie got the term “cat with nine lives” attached to him by colleagues and peers for the number of times he had failed, but reflecting on his setbacks and counting on his main virtue that success can never be timed and staying the course is the only option, Ronnie in his second innings decided to deepen his commitment to making India a better place through a focus on two of the largest sunrise sectors - Online Education & the not-for-profit rural / social space. He is Co-Founder & Chairman of upGrad which zeros in on the massive Online Education market and the fact that Learning for every working professional is now a lifelong commitment. He, along with his wife Zarina, are the Co- Founders of The Swades Foundation, which is committed to empower one million lives in rural India every 5-7 years through a 360 degree model spanning Water, Sanitation, Health, Education and Livelihood to lift them out of poverty permanently.

As a hobby and passion Ronnie loves to tell stories that must to told via movies with his new brand RSVP and he owns 3 sports teams under the brand U Mumba in Kabaddi, Volleyball and Football even though he has never played any of the sports himself.

Mayank has spent most of his professional career in the education sector, where he has been involved in deals with over a billion dollars flowing into the sector. He has served as VP - Education at Bertelsmann, Europe’s largest media and education conglomerate, where he oversaw the education strategy and its multi- million-dollar investments in India.

Prior to joining Bertelsmann, Mayank was the Senior Principal at The Parthenon Group, where he advised clients in the education sector on market potential, growth and market entry strategies, investment decisions as well as revenue and profit uplift strategies. He participated in deals worth US$1Bn flowing into the education sector. He worked with global clients across all geographies including China, South-East Asia, Middle East India, and South America. He has also worked at the Tata Strategic Group, advising Tata’s strategic direction.

In this capacity, he further served as a Board Member of iNurture - India’s No. 1 provider of industry- specific academic programs. He has also worked at the Tata Strategic Group, advising Tata’s strategic direction.

An IIT Delhi and ISB alumnus, Mayank was named the ‘40 Under 40 Achiever of the year’ by BusinessWorld Disrupt in 2017 and ‘BW Education 40 under 40 Achiever’ by Business World in 2020. He was also recognised with the title of Influential Leaders of New India in 2021 by the Team Marksmen and is currently the Co-Chairperson at the India EdTech Consortium (IEC) – an IAMAI EdTech Committee.