As a young entrepreneur starting my first company back in 1993 at the age of 24 in India, I had a really severe shortcoming in my skill set. I had no idea how to manage the money we were earning from selling BBS subscriptions for my startup, JabberWocky BBS.
My partner, my younger brother was still in school, and I had just graduated from computer engineering college myself. The only thing that I learned in college that was of any use, was hacking Linux. And that skill was acquired on my own without any help from the college staff or syllabus.
In the approximately six years or so (a story for another post😀) I spent in engineering school, they tried to teach us everything from Thermodynamics and Strength of Materials to Compiler Construction and Linear Circuits. But the one subject that no one taught us was finance.
Even today, none of the engineering syllabi offer a course on financial basics, like reading a balance sheet, raising corporate capital, and forming a company?
Luckily for me, one day in 1995, I saw an ad in the local newspaper on a Financial Basics class taught by another young entrepreneur named Anil Lamba. I signed up for the course, and over the next ten weeks, every Saturday was spent learning how to be a financially literate entrepreneur. That course changed my life and put me on the path of financial freedom. I was able to navigate the deliberately complex world of corporate finance and manage the entirely crucial world of personal finance.
Today, my guest is Anil Lamba himself. We have kept in touch through all these years, and I have watched his training program grow to a successful enterprise at Lamcon Schools. He is the author of many best-selling financial books (all of which I own). His first book “Romancing the Balance Sheet” is required reading for anyone who even thinks of starting their own company.
Watch our conversation, and hopefully, it will reaffirm your own financial literacy or get you on the path to it. I cannot emphasize how important this is for everyone.
Indian Innovators - Anil Lamba, Financial Literacy Educator