Lakshmi Natarajan is an Indian-American global executive, strategic advisor, community leader, and investor with over 20 years of experience helping Fortune 500 companies and high-growth startups define customer strategy, drive sustainable growth, and optimize operations. Her corporate career spans senior leadership roles across marketing, management consulting, strategy, sales, and operations, with experience at organizations including American Express, Accenture, GlaxoSmithKline, Oracle, Compass, and a broad portfolio of global clients.

With a strong foundation in global enterprises, Lakshmi bridges corporate rigor with agile startup execution. She is the Founder and CEO of Excelador, where she advises startups and large enterprises through strategic consulting, fractional executive leadership, and growth capital. Lakshmi serves as a strategic board member to startups across property technology, healthcare, and B2B SaaS companies. She currently serves as Head of Venture Strategy and Investment at Xanara Advisors, a UAE-based wealth management firm. Her prior roles include General Partner at Erez Capital, an AI-focused venture capital firm, and Advisor for Crewstone International, a Malaysia-based private equity firm.

An alumna of the University of Pennsylvania, Lakshmi is a speaker and podcast guest, recognized as one of MSN’s Top 10 Influential Entrepreneurs in 2025 and named to Top 100 Innovators & Entrepreneurs Magazine. She mentors founders through the City of Miami’s venture programs and Mana Tech, serves as Vice President of the India–US Chamber of Commerce, contributes to Forbes Business Council, and actively supports global youth education initiatives. Having traveled to over 65 countries, she brings cultural fluency, strategic perspective, and purpose-driven leadership to building people-centered, sustainable growth.

During this episode, we discuss:

• Lakshmi’s non-linear career journey
• What Lakshmi learned after becoming an entrepreneur
• Why capital alone does not create a successful company
• The case for being a constant learner
• Community as a career and growth engine
• Why investors ultimately invest in people, not just products
• Growth strategy advice for founders
• What Lakshmi looks for as an investor
• A refreshing perspective on startup “failure”

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things growth!