This 25-year old CA joined a insurtech start-up after quitting his job at a leading insurance co. Did the risk pay off?

• Meet Abhishek Salunkhe, a young CA from Bangalore, India.
• Unbeknownst to him, he found himself joining a tech start-up at 25 years old. He never thought he would be working at a start-up but an opportunity knocked at his door.
• Like any other person he had apprehensions but he did a SWOT analysis to help him make his decision.
• Three years later, he is on an accelerating career trajectory. In fact, recently, he was a part of the fundraising team which managed to procure $82 million in financing!
• This is his story, of how he found his way.

From humble beginnings and an uncertain path 

Growing up in Dhule, a small city in India, life was simple and peaceful. My family comprised doctors and engineers –neither profession really interested me. (Perhaps, it was the massive engineering textbooks my father had that deterred me – little did I know that the CA curriculum wasn’t going to be much different.) Instead, I dreamt of becoming a commercial pilot. However, this dream never materialized because it required me to take science after grade 10 and I definitely did not want to carry on with science! As an average 15-year-old student with no clear direction in my career yet, I was at a crossroads as to what next, when my uncle suggested Chartered Accountancy. He was a CA and he started to help me understand the potential of a career as a CA! Soon with his guidance, I decided to pursue the CA designation! Right after class 12, in 2009, I enrolled in the CA course from ICAI (The Institute of Chartered Accountants from India). 

To find my own way 

In 2008 – 09, the entire family moved to Pune (a larger city) to support me while I furthered my studies and chased my CA dreams. Moving from my hometown (Dhule) where everything was within a radius of about 10 kilometers to a city where I needed to travel 25 kilometers a day to attend college courses – was intimating, to say the least. More than that, my dad decided to retire when I started college. There was an immense amount of pressure on me to pass my exams and start working. I completed my articles at a mid-sized firm where I gained experience through statutory and tax audits of small private companies and partnerships. Fast forward, through several challenges and ups and down I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2015.

Starting my career as a CA Fresher

During my articles, I really enjoyed income tax and strategic financial management. In fact, I had made up my mind to pursue a career in management consulting. However, I soon discovered that management advisory firms are obsessed with CA rank holders, and since I was not one, I did not stand a chance. After qualifying, I applied to Deloitte for a position in their Transaction Advisory department, however, ended up receiving an offer from Bajaj Allianz General to work in their Finance MIS team. Even though I had never really been too interested in insurance before, I relished the opportunity and very quickly developed a nuance for insurance. I have to mention, I was influenced by Warren Buffet and the Berkshire Hathway Story where Buffet built a company that was on the verge of bankruptcy into the largest insurance company in the world in a span of 50 years!