Sivakumar Sundaram

Finance professional

Name S.Sivakumar Located in Mumbai, India Current Designation : CEO, Brand Capital, The Times of India Group Qualification : M.Com, 1989, FICWA, 1989; FCA, 1990 Brief Background of Experience: Sivakumar is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India as well as Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India. He has been with the BCCL group for 21 plus years and has diversified experience in the areas of M&A, deal making, finance, marketing, business development, incubating & setting of businesses, recruitment & training. During his tenure with the group he has held various positions in the Finance function and has been responsible for playing a pivotal role in the various forays of the group including The Times Bank, Internet, Radio and TV mediums and its various Strategic partnership, M & A initiatives. He currently works as the CEO of Brand Capital a division of The Times Group, which has made media investment of about a Bn USD in 300 plus companies in the last 5 years of its existence. Brand Capital (earlier called Private Treaties) started as a business idea to evangelize manufacturing and product centric companies into brand converts who realize the power of advertising. The business idea soon became a tool of social engineering by being an enabler to lift unsung companies into a higher orbit of brand led growth. Brand Capital is the growth engine of BCCL media contributing to its rapid growth in Print and other new media. In 2009, in recognition of its innovation driven business strategy, Brand Capital was voted one of the seven most innovative business models by PubliGroupe and International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA). In his additional role as Head of the Corporate, Sivakumar works very actively with Mr. Samir Jain, the Principal Shareholder of the group, in ideating, incubating and implementing growth ideas for the BCCL’s groups media business. Sivakumar is a spiritual person, enjoys activities related to physical fitness, Badminton, trekking and likes to paint during his free time. He has made several trekking expedition in the Indian Himalayas.

The search of self :Where have I come from, where do I go and what should one do. Am I a spiritual being transiting through a human experience or a biological species having a human experience.

Raising the level of awareness : The growth of human civilization is contingent upon creativity leading to discovery of breakthrough technologies, enabling progress. Creative streak since perceived, to be inborn and native, limits options for development and progress. This sets the context of the idea about empowering every individual on planet earth by raising the level of his or her awareness. The absolute need to be in the present – Here and Now! No Capital investments and no organization to implement the idea. Be aware. We are either reminiscing /regretting the past or hoping / worrying about the future thereby never being in the present. A fully pre occupied mind is merely on a sustenance mode and focused on greed or fear leading to grabbing of resources. Contra this with an individual, whose mind is free

Banking (Corporate & Investment banking, Retail & Private bankin, Finance - Investing, Marketing, Real Estate, Communication, Media (New & Traditional), Taxation

My first encounter with TED was when I watched Devdutt Pattanaik’s talk on East Vs West – the myth that mystifies. The talk and the forum were fascinating and from that point onwards would have watched several videos on TED talks. For me TED has opened up several new vistas many of them I did not even knew either existed or were even possible. TED is unique and an unparalleled forum and bring the best in every aspect of human existence from science to spirituality, a one stop edutainment destination. The people it brings to its forum to share their thoughts and experience, have all been fascinating and have enchanted the audience with mind provoking concepts. It is where one needs to go to recharge and get stimulated with fresh ideas and new possibilities which when translated at the work place provides the impetus for the next orbit of growth.

Ability to predict human behavior ie how an individual would react to a given situation. All actions confirming to the pre determined notions are seen as fair and correct and defense mechanisms prop