Tushar is a Strategy & Operations Executive in the Tech industry. He leads high-performing teams that drive practical, longer-term product and go-to-market strategy development and put in place operating models that enable complex organisations to operate more effectively. With over 20 years of experience since graduating, he has transitioned from Assurance to Strategy Consulting, and now Tech.
Current job title and description of what this role entails:
I am currently Head of Strategy & Operations, Global Partnerships at Stripe. Stripe’s mission is to increase the GDP of the internet. Critical to this are banks, card networks, payment methods, and hardware and software providers. I lead a team that develops our long-term partner ecosystem strategy and acts as the connective tissue with other critical functions such as Product, Engineering, GTM, Risk, and Treasury.
Tell us about your career journey since graduating from LSE?
Over time, my career journey has taken me further west, from London to New York, to San Francisco, where I currently live with my wife and two daughters.
Upon graduating from LSE, I was keen to gain more of a generalist experience. Joining PwC in their Assurance division enabled me to learn more about how businesses work from the inside-out, across several industries, and gain team leadership experience relatively early in my career.
Upon gaining the ACA qualification I was ready for a more transformative experience and wanted to invest more in my personal growth. I moved to New York for my MBA at NYU Stern and changed my career to Strategy Consulting at Booz & Company.
At Booz, I worked on projects across almost every industry and functional problem, before specialising in Media & Technology. As a consultant, you build a unique skill-set that sets you up for success in most fields, for example quickly learning about a new area, developing analytical horsepower, solving ambiguous problems, working with different styles, and creating a compelling narrative. Although I loved consulting, I wanted to apply this skillset in a place where I could have the potential to have a lasting impact on an organisation. After four years at Booz, I joined Google. Across my Google career, I worked in a variety of Strategy & Operations roles. A particular highlight was leading Product and GTM strategy for Google Maps where we transformed the monetisation arm of the business. Google offered me the opportunity to be at the leading edge of tech, enhance my skillset and work with some of the smartest minds. After almost eight years at Google, I was increasingly curious about FinTech, and subsequently made the leap to join Stripe during the pandemic.
How has the programme you studied helped your career since you graduated?
The Department’s multidisciplinary approach has been the cornerstone for how I approach every business problem, for example exposing me to Micro - and Macroeconomics, Game Theory, Finance, Accounting, Organisational Theory, International Business Strategy and Sociology. Coupled with such rich diversity in the student body, I’m more equipped to view situations from a variety of viewpoints and get closer to a better, more rounded solution.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?
It’s challenging to focus on my “best” piece of career advice as I’ve been fortunate to receive several nuggets over the last 20+ years. My advice boils down to the following; own your career path, invest in relationships, build on your strengths, know your blind spots and bring humanity to your work.
Along my career journey, I’m fortunate to have been supported by my family who have provided not only support and advice but a “go for it” attitude when I’ve needed that push. I believe it's important to have that around you as not every career move is as obvious or easy as it seems in retrospect.
What’s the greatest challenge you’ve had to overcome?
The greatest challenge is typically when I start a new role or at a new company. I strongly believe to be effective you need to understand the organisational context and have deep relationships across the company. These don’t come overnight – I’ve had to heavily invest each time I start something new so I can earn my seat and have impact.
Share with us your fondest memory of the Department of Management.
I still recall the warmth of the Professors and the closeness of the class. The Professors were pastoral in their approach, very approachable, and built tight-knit relationships with the student body that went beyond graduation. The class was relatively small (at least back in 2000-03) and so we all knew each other well – I still treasure those relationships even today, even though we’re spread across the globe.
If you would like to be our Alum of the Month or if you would like to nominate a Department of Management alumni, please email dom.alumni@lse.ac.uk.