Latest news with #SaurabhMukherjea
CNBC
01-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
India market is in a vulnerable place now given slowdown in earnings and still high valuations
Saurabh Mukherjea, Founder and CIO of Marcellus Investment Managers talks about potential rotation into high quality large cap names in India the next few months. He also highlights the importance of the trade deal between the U.S. and India. Without that, the stock market and Indian currency are likely to face a major correction.
Economic Times
21-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Linked to Britishers: Saurabh Mukherjea explains why India obsessed with elite degrees despite it not guaranteeing success
India must shed its colonial hangover of obsessing over credentials and reconnect with its entrepreneurial roots, says Saurabh Mukherjea of Marcellus Investment Managers. He warns that in today's rapidly evolving economic landscape, elite degrees no longer guarantee success. Speaking on a recent Bharatvaarta podcast, Mukherjea said India's fixation on prestigious degrees and elite institutions—once seen as the path to upward mobility—has lost relevance. 'Forget the degree per se,' he said. 'Focus on abstract thinking skills, creativity, and articulation.' According to him, these are now the true drivers of traces the root of this obsession to India's colonial legacy. 'The British came in, created the civil service and the clerical babu class,' he noted. Post-independence, India's leaders adopted the same bureaucratic model, designing a system that churned out office workers instead of risk-takers. 'We were bred through our school and college years to be fit employees for large companies,' he said. 'That world is gone.'The shift is not optional but structural. 'Employment as a phenomenon is only about 200 years old,' he said. 'Before that, we were an entrepreneurial society. Everyone will have to become an entrepreneur now—by design or necessity.' Mukherjea pointed to historian Lakshmi Subramanian's recent book India Before Empire , which highlights how pre-colonial India thrived as a global trade hub with a strong legal framework and low capital costs. 'We had a vibrant, prosperous business community,' he explained. The British, he said, systematically dismantled it by promoting disdain for local entrepreneurs and propping up colonial-backed businesses. 'The British left, but their insidious legacy remained,' Mukherjea said. 'They convinced us that the best life is one of white-collar servitude secured through rote learning and degrees. That mindset lasted 75 years—but it's breaking now.' As India's startup ecosystem flourishes and more young people veer away from traditional career paths, Mukherjea sees a revival of India's entrepreneurial spirit as both overdue and inevitable. His message to the next generation: 'Stop struggling to validate your worth through elite certificates. Build things. Think differently. Own your future.'
Time of India
21-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Linked to Britishers: Saurabh Mukherjea explains why India obsessed with elite degrees despite it not guaranteeing success
India must shed its colonial hangover of obsessing over credentials and reconnect with its entrepreneurial roots, says Saurabh Mukherjea of Marcellus Investment Managers. He warns that in today's rapidly evolving economic landscape, elite degrees no longer guarantee success. Speaking on a recent Bharatvaarta podcast, Mukherjea said India's fixation on prestigious degrees and elite institutions—once seen as the path to upward mobility—has lost relevance. 'Forget the degree per se,' he said. 'Focus on abstract thinking skills, creativity, and articulation.' According to him, these are now the true drivers of success. Mukherjea traces the root of this obsession to India's colonial legacy. 'The British came in, created the civil service and the clerical babu class,' he noted. Post-independence, India's leaders adopted the same bureaucratic model, designing a system that churned out office workers instead of risk-takers. 'We were bred through our school and college years to be fit employees for large companies,' he said. 'That world is gone.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Fastest Selling Plots of Mysore from 40L | 40+ Amenities PurpleBrick Learn More Undo The shift is not optional but structural. 'Employment as a phenomenon is only about 200 years old,' he said. 'Before that, we were an entrepreneurial society. Everyone will have to become an entrepreneur now—by design or necessity.' Mukherjea pointed to historian Lakshmi Subramanian's recent book India Before Empire , which highlights how pre-colonial India thrived as a global trade hub with a strong legal framework and low capital costs. 'We had a vibrant, prosperous business community,' he explained. The British, he said, systematically dismantled it by promoting disdain for local entrepreneurs and propping up colonial-backed businesses. Live Events 'The British left, but their insidious legacy remained,' Mukherjea said. 'They convinced us that the best life is one of white-collar servitude secured through rote learning and degrees. That mindset lasted 75 years—but it's breaking now.' As India's startup ecosystem flourishes and more young people veer away from traditional career paths, Mukherjea sees a revival of India's entrepreneurial spirit as both overdue and inevitable. His message to the next generation: 'Stop struggling to validate your worth through elite certificates. Build things. Think differently. Own your future.'
News18
19-06-2025
- Business
- News18
'Even My Job Could Be…': Finance Guru Saurabh Mukherjea On AI Taking Over
Last Updated: Saurabh Mukherjea warns that AI and leaner operations are reshaping India's white-collar job market, threatening middle-class jobs and fresh graduates. India is entering a new phase of capitalism that is fast reshaping its white-collar job landscape, and not for the better, warns Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Marcellus Investment Managers. The country's middle class, especially fresh graduates, now faces a growing threat of job losses driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and a corporate shift toward leaner operations. 'We are actually quite American," Mukherjea said on the Bharatvaarta podcast. 'Our companies are commercially oriented. Hiring and firing norms are changing, and AI is now hitting the workforce hard." He drew parallels with the wave of job losses in Western countries during the 1990s, when automation began replacing human workers at scale, especially in manufacturing and routine office roles. The stakes, Saurabh Mukherjea argued, are far higher for India, where the workforce is younger, larger, and more dependent on entry-level white-collar jobs that are now directly threatened by AI. He drew parallels with the job displacement seen in the West during the automation wave of the 1990s. 'The median age here is 28. Roughly 10 million graduates enter the market every year, and AI hits junior, entry-level jobs hardest," he explained. He pointed out that this transformation is no longer confined to the IT sector. 'Financial services, media, management consultancy, even my job could get automated," he said. Among the most striking examples he cited was HCL Technologies, which is 'openly aiming to do more with fewer people." India's white-collar work landscape, dominated by repetitive, process-driven roles, is especially exposed to automation. 'We don't have as many creative jobs. Our economy was built on labour arbitrage, and that's the work AI is best at disrupting," Mukherjea siad. Mukherjea cited examples from his own portfolio companies, where CEOs are actively pushing automation plans that could eliminate up to a third of their workforce in the next five years. 'They tell me, 'You as a shareholder will benefit,'" he said. 'I'm not sure I want it, but it's clear they do." Mukherjea expanded on this concern in another podcast episode released in April titled 'Beyond the Paycheck: India's Entrepreneurial Rebirth." There, he said that the stable, long-term jobs that once defined India's middle class are disappearing. Even middle management roles, long seen as safe and rewarding, are at risk. Roles across IT, media, finance, and middle management are being replaced by AI, signalling the end of the long-term, secure job model familiar to previous generations. Mukherjea believed India's digital infrastructure, built around the JAM Trinity (Jandhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile), can empower individuals to create their own opportunities. As traditional jobs decline, he suggests entrepreneurship could become the new engine of growth and prosperity. First Published:
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
'That iPhone could have been a mutual fund SIP': Data scientist blames ego for Indian middle class's EMI burden
A ₹10 lakh car. A brand-new iPhone . A weekly fancy dinner. In today's India, these have become silent symbols of success—tokens of middle-class arrival. But what if these very purchases are costing the Indian middle class its financial future? That's the provocative argument made by Mumbai-based data scientist Monish Gosar in a hard-hitting LinkedIn post that's ignited sharp reactions online. With India's credit card debt ballooning to ₹2.92 lakh crore in just four years and personal loans rising 75%, Gosar isn't pointing fingers at banks or inflation. Instead, he turns the spotlight inward: 'Banks didn't trap us,' he writes. 'They offered the rope. We tied the knots.' His message is as blistering as it is timely— we're not victims of the system; we're participants in our own downfall. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 23.7% Returns in last 5 years with Shriram Life's ULIP Shriram Life Insurance Undo Math, Not Magic In a country where a ₹15 LPA salary is seen as upper-middle-class comfort, Gosar paints a sobering picture of self-sabotage. Recalling a friend who chose a ₹10 lakh car over a ₹3 lakh used one, Gosar recalls the justification: 'I deserve it.' But instead of admiration, he offers a warning: 'That's exactly how the system wins.' Gosar's critique is rooted in numbers, not nostalgia. He contrasts the 36% interest on credit cards with the 12% returns from mutual funds—showing how the rush for status symbols overrides long-term sense. 'That iPhone could've been a mutual fund SIP,' he writes. 'We made emotional decisions. And we ignored the math.' You Might Also Like: Can middle class depend on salaried employment? Saurabh Mukherjea gives 10 commandments of entrepreneurship The result? A generation struggling not because they're underpaid, but because they're overextended—financially, emotionally, and socially. The System Isn't Rigged. It's Responsive. This isn't just about one man's opinion. Saurabh Mukherjea, founder of Marcellus Investment Managers, recently echoed the anxiety gripping India's white-collar class. In a podcast titled Beyond the Paycheck , he declared the traditional salaried path 'dead,' citing automation, AI, and collapsing middle management structures as signs of the end of job security. 'Much of what was supposed to be done by white-collar workers is now done by AI,' he said, warning of a middle class clinging to dreams that no longer exist. Mukherjea, like Gosar, isn't pessimistic—he's urging a mindset shift. From consumerism to entrepreneurship. From passive income to active risk-taking. From EMIs to equity. Instagram vs. Investment Gosar's post also cuts into another uncomfortable truth—how digital platforms like Instagram have distorted financial priorities. 'We started competing with people we don't even know,' he writes. The endless scroll of curated lifestyles has nudged many into equating self-worth with net spending, blurring the lines between wants and needs . You Might Also Like: 'The salary dream is dead': Market guru Saurabh Mukherjea drops truth bomb on India's middle class It's not that occasional indulgence is inherently wrong, as some netizens pointed out. But Gosar's message is about scale and intent—are we buying because we value the product, or because we crave validation? Middle Class at the Crossroads The comment section under Gosar's post reveals a nation split. Some defend the pursuit of comfort, pointing to rising living costs in metros. Others echo his call for responsibility. But one thing is clear—the middle class is standing at a crossroads. The dream of stable jobs, EMIs, and eventual retirement is under siege from inflation, AI, and a broken housing market. Yet within this crisis lies an opportunity: to rethink what success looks like, to decouple status from spending, and to embrace financial mindfulness over mindless consumption. As Gosar concludes, 'The system didn't trap us. We trapped ourselves. Every swipe, every EMI — that was on us.' The question is: can India's middle class untie the knots before it's too late? Because in the end, that iPhone really could have been a SIP—and that mindset could be the difference between debt and dignity.
