– ‘Fearless . . . just like me,’ says Virender Sehwag about new book
NEW DELHI, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag highlighted the need to talk about mistakes — be it in cricket, business or life — at the announcement of a new book called ‘The Biography of a Failed Venture’, written by Prashant Desai, a senior director at Everstone Group and head of strategy and investor relations at Burger King India.
“Everyone makes mistakes. Be it in cricket, business or life. It takes courage to share them so that others can benefit from them. Prashant has been fearless with his book, just like me,” Sehwag said.
Published by HarperCollins India, ‘The Biography of a Failed Venture’ provides a brutally honest account of why D:FY, an Indian sports brand that the author founded, failed and how entrepreneurs can avoid these pitfalls to make their business ventures successful.
“My book is my attempt to give mistakes a rightful seat at the table,” author Prashant Desai said. “Mistakes teach. And yet, most shy from sharing mistakes. I start the conversation by sharing all the mistakes I made that led to the shutdown of my venture D:FY. I lost almost everything I earned over 25 years of my life. Hope others benefit from my share. And dare to bare theirs.”
Releasing on 26th August 2021, the book decodes success secrets from the black box of a dead start-up.
Sachin Sharma, Executive Editor, HarperCollins India, said, “Some of life’s biggest lessons are taught by failure. Prashant Desai tried to create a genuinely Indian sports brand but failed. In The Biography of a Failed Venture, Prashant presents his journey of building D:FY and how it could have changed the world of sports brands. The learnings that emerge from his venture are the stuff that every entrepreneur must know. This book should be on the must-read list of every business owner.”
The book, which is a rare account of learning from mistakes, is a must-read for would-be entrepreneurs and anyone willing to learn from their failures. It has already received advance praise from luminaries and thought leaders like Arundhati Bhattacharya, former chairperson SBI, Abhinav Bindra, Farhan Akhtar, T.V. Mohandas Pai, Virender Sehwag and Ritesh Sidhwani amongst many others.
About The Book
THE STORY OF A TRULY INDIAN SPORTS BRAND THAT COULD GO PLACES BUT FAILED
Prashant Desai was seven when he lost his father. Growing up in poverty, his single-minded focus was to become wealthy and successful. Ranking fourth on the all-India Cost and Works Accountants exam at the age of twenty-one, joining the corporate world and working with leaders such as Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Kishore Biyani and Jignesh Shah was a dream run that Prashant enjoyed, one that very few could even imagine and achieve.
In April 2017, Prashant Desai founded a venture to build the first truly Indian sports brand – D:FY. In six months, Rajiv Mehta, who started Puma India and led it for seven years, joined him as a partner. They opened seventeen stores in seven cities, riding on great aspirations and confidence. The business lost Rs 30 crore in thirty months, virtually wiping out all that Prashant had earned for nearly thirty years. The venture failed not because Prashant did not possess the necessary vision, determination and courage; it failed because the number of things Prashant did wrong exceeded the number of things he did right.
One could weep over the fuselage or decode the black box. So, when Prashant decided to decode it, new possibilities emerged, revealing a treasure trove of success secrets. The Biography of a Failed Venture provides a brutally honest account of why D:FY failed and how entrepreneurs can avoid these pitfalls to make their business ventures successful.
About The Author
Prashant Desai is a senior director at Everstone Group, a leading India-focused South East Asia private firm with investments across private equity, real estate, green energy and venture capital. He is currently the head of strategy and investor relations at Burger King India. Prashant is also a trained speed reader, and a half marathoner with forty timed runs. He is dedicated to spreading financial literacy through his social media channels. You may reach out to Prashant on Instagram.
About HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins Publishers India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers. HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Prabha Khaitan Woman’s Voice Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and the Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India has been awarded the Publisher of the Year Award three times: at Publishing Next in 2015, and at Tata Literature Live! in 2016 and 2018.HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Egmont, Oneworld, Harvard University Press, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet.
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