• He built factories from scratch.

  • He walked away at the peak.

  • He earned a PhD at IIM Bangalore.

  • He earned tenure in America.

  • He came back to shape India’s future.

Meet Prof. Mukesh Sud — a rare soul who spent 15 years as a first-gen entrepreneur and 15 years as a globally respected academic.

His Achievements? Let’s unpack the journey:

🔧 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿 (𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟬)

  • Graduated from IIT Delhi

  • Founded multiple small-scale industries in abrasive blasting & plasma coatings

  • Bootstrapped, scaled, and successfully exited — proving grit works

📚 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 (𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱)

  • PhD, IIM Bangalore

  • Tenured Associate Professor, Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University, USA

  • Taught at Augustana College, IL

  • Returned to India to join IIM Ahmedabad (Business Policy Area)

  • Visiting Faculty, Department of Entrepreneurship, Ashoka University

🧑‍🔬 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱

  • Published in FT50 journals

  • Pioneering work on:

  • → Institutional theory

  • → Paradox of embedded agency

  • → How entrepreneurs break free from societal scripts

  • Co-author of Leapfrog: Six Practices to Thrive at Work — a playbook blending street-smart entrepreneurship with academic depth

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲, 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳. 𝗦𝘂𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀:

💡 The one decision that scared him most

🌏 What America taught him about India (and vice versa)

🔥 How to act with courage inside rigid systems

👨‍🏫 The advice he gives Ashoka students that he wishes he’d heard at 25

“𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 — 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.”

#𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 #𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 #𝗜𝗜𝗧𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗵𝗶 #𝗜𝗜𝗠𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 #𝗜𝗜𝗠𝗔 #𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗸𝗮𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 #𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗼𝗿𝘆 #𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 #𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽