He left behind a CEO title to offer juice. And somehow, it’s working.
Sayantan Das had every factor to remain comfortable. A distinguished MBA from Imperial Organization School. 6 and a half years at Foodpanda Malaysia, culminating in the CEO role. A cushy corporate career that many people would eliminate for.
He walked away from all of it– to begin Being Juice, his juice service.
And if you believe that sounds insane, consider this: Being Juice has bagged US$ 1 million in equity capital financing. Beginning his career in financingBorn in India, Das relocated to Singapore before he even turned one. Maturing in a “common Indian household,” he would later on gravitate towards a financing degree at UNSW.
Australia was a perfect destination for numerous reasons. It supplied a taste of the Western design of education, while remaining reasonably close to household. Das was also a big sports fan, with a specific passion for cricket, so that aligned too.
His next role was as analyst on the Singapore Exchange. Pretty prestigious for a very first task but rather rapidly, that role lost its shine. It felt too straightlaced for Das.
Turning to entrepreneurship and a couple other stints– and failing — Das found himself moving to Malaysia to work for foodpanda, an online food and grocery shipment service like UberEats, operating in 11 countries consisting of Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.
In 2017 foodpanda was brand-new and “messy,” as Das put it. “Whoever could sign up with literally that day, they would just hire,” he explains.
Having actually been a founder himself, he had the experience of establishing an office, actually — including cleaning it.
CEO goes back to business school It was during his time at foodpanda that Das earned his MBA from Imperial Organization School.”I wanted to update my abilities but at the exact same time, I didn’t wish to be too far detached from the useful side of running a company,” he says.
As it was during the pandemic, the MBA moved online– which exercised better for Das. There was a more intentional method to networking as you can’t just face a classmate in class. Everyone in the Southeast Asia region would therefore band together.
Thanks to that, Das got to get in touch with senior leaders around the region without sacrificing time with household.
“KL is home now I’m married to a Malaysian, my daughter is here,” he states.
The ROI of an MBA With a UK MBA costing around 57,000 pound sterling (around US$ 76,186), the question on everybody’s mind is: Was the MBA worth it?
For Das, the answer to this depends on 3 questions:
- How much are you investing?
- Where are you doing it?
“The value of the MBA has actually been marked down a lot today; there’s not that much premium put on it,” Das admits.
And with numerous leaders these days’s top companies coming from non-business backgrounds– they might even be dropouts– having an MBA could even be unfavorable to some.
It trains you a specific way, when companies desire you to think outside of the box.
“But if they have actually entered into top business schools, it’s a testament to how difficult they can work, and just how much of an achiever they are, instead of anything else,” Das adds.
Being Juice concentrates on offering healthy fruit drinks. Source: Being Juice
Becoming juice In 2 years given that making his MBA, Das released Being Juice in 2024. Then, a year or two later, he would protect US$ 1 million in funding for it.
For all the debate on the ROI of an MBA today, lots of would see this as evidence that the MBA doesrepay.
Not everyone might have actually predicted the boom in beverages. Das did, having tracked how Chinese drink brands have mushroomed throughout the country and area, such as Mixue, Luckin, and Chagee.
The way Das sees it is that snacking has actually been displaced by drinks.
And while there are currently regional homegrown champions for coffee and tea, there hasn’t been one huge brand for juice.
Being Juice intends to be that go-to name, with Das aiming to open thousands of branches across the globe.