Ritesh Agarwal

While a college student at Wharton, Jason Kothari scraped together money from family and friends to save his childhood favourite comic book company, Valiant Entertainment, from bankruptcy and bring it back to life. A few years later, he transformed Valiant into the third-largest superhero entertainment company in the world after Marvel and DC Comics and sold it for $100 million. Jason then became a professional turnaround leader and went on to transform distressed. Indian Internet icons Housing.com, FreeCharge and Snapdeal, helping save billions of dollars in value, and advise giants like technology investor Softbank and real estate developer Emaar, who have invested billions of dollars in India. Irrationally Passionate reveals the inside story of how a rebel, train-wreck kid transformed himself into a successful young entrepreneur and business leader who became one of the top ten paid executives in India while only in his 30s. From getting his first job as an assistant to Jackie Chan in Hong Kong, to learning strategy from champion Muay Thai fighters in Thailand, to tackling huge personal setbacks, to becoming a CEO in 60 seconds, among many other stories— Jason’s inspiring journey across countries, industries and companies has something for everyone, right from students to entrepreneurs to corporate CEOs to even parents of students and entrepreneurs. Irrationally Passionate is a highly personal, authentic, open and complete account of a young entrepreneur’s life. Brimming with practical advice and philosophical insights, it will force readers to reflect on how they perceive life, work, family and spirituality by giving them a fresh perspective. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jason Kothari is a passionate entrepreneur and business turnaround leader. While still in college, he acquired the bankrupt US-based Valiant Entertainment and led its transformation as the CEO to the third-largest superhero entertainment company after Marvel and DC and a sale for $100 million, a record industry return. Subsequently, Jason was the CEO of Housing.com, where he led the transformation of the distressed company and a merger with News Corp’s PropTiger to create the $350 million industry leader. Following this, he was the Chief Strategy & Investment Officer of Snapdeal, where he played a lead role in transforming the distressed company from a monthly loss of over $20 million to a profit, the first for an Indian e-commerce company. Jason was also the CEO of FreeCharge, where he led the sale of the company to Axis Bank for $60 million. In addition, he has been a senior advisor to Softbank; Noon.com, a Middle Eastern e-commerce company that has raised $1 billion; and is a Board Director of Emaar India, which has over $2 billion in real estate assets. Jason holds a B.S. from The Wharton School and lives in Mumbai. He is also Executive Producer of the upcoming blockbuster movie Bloodshot (Sony Pictures) starring Vin Diesel releasing worldwide on March 13, 2020.

From the by lanes of Kamalia and the rugged landscapes of Quetta in India of the 1940s and what became Pakistan, they escaped to the Partition-ravaged cities of Amritsar, Agra and Delhi, with little more than the shirts on their backs. From here, four of the six Munjal Brothers built their business, part by part. There was no grand vision of building a world-scale enterprise; their aim was simply to survive. Hero began with trading and then manufacturing bicycle parts, evolved into bicycles, mopeds, automotive parts and motorcycles & scooters, and today Hero and its successors encompass service businesses and infrastructure. Thirty years after starting, Hero Cycles became the world s largest bicycle maker in 1986. In the next fifteen years, in 2001, the motorcycle venture became the world s largest, and both pole positions are held firmly even today. This is an authentic Make in India story about overcoming many odds: the ravages of time, global competition and even business history. It follows the lives of the four Munjal brothers who lived together and scripted a revolution on two wheels without any formal education or resources. In parallel, it s also the story of how India s agrarian economy, with limited means of transportation, took wings on this two-wheel revolution. Driven by family values and Indian wisdom, yet pioneering in its thinking and best practices, Hero firms today are renowned for placing mutually beneficial relationships at the core of their business philosophy. The book captures the Family Spirit that brought together employees, customers, channel partners, suppliers and communities and created success, welfare and well-being for millions. A rare story of a value-driven organization creating exceptional value for society.