Episode Details
Back to Episodes
#275 Mukund Narayanamurti: From $8.5B Deals to Diplomacy, Brutal Feedback & What He Learned Across Asia
Description
This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers.
Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com
Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more.
________
Mukund Narayanamurti has spent more than two decades at the intersection of business, government and Asia. Based in New Delhi, he leads Austrade across six South Asian markets, including India, after previously leading its work across Southeast Asia. Earlier, he founded and led Asialink Business and spent more than a decade at KPMG advising companies across Asia. Born in Bengaluru, Mukund moved to Australia as an international student at 18, later earning an MBA from MIT Sloan and pursuing a PhD at Melbourne Business School.
In this conversation with Vidit, Mukund shares his unlikely journey from a cricket-obsessed teenager in Bengaluru to moving to Australia alone at 18 — where he struggled so badly that he almost left after his first year — and ultimately returning to India as a senior Australian diplomat.
He reflects on working on an $8.5 billion deal at 23 that “broke” him, losing business pitches for nearly three years before the wins finally came, and being initially dismissed as too young before becoming Asialink Business CEO at 34.
Mukund also explains why he still pursues a PhD despite a demanding career, what 55 pieces of “scathing” academic feedback taught him about staying humble, and the leadership lessons he learnt across 750 consultations with Nicholas Moore.
They also explore why India offers a front-row seat to global competition, the rapidly growing commercial relationship between India and Australia, and what Mukund has learnt from building a career across some of Asia’s most important markets.
Please enjoy exploring your curiosity.
________
Get in touch with us via email at contact@curiositycentre.com
Join our stable of commercial partners including the Australian Government, Google, KPMG,, Allens, Macquarie Capital, Xero, JP Morgan and more.
Show notes and more episodes here
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram
Get in touch with our Founder and Host, Vidit Agarwal directly here
Contact us via our website
This episode is supported by Xero, helping businesses use AI with more control through JAX, its in-platform AI finance partner. Get 90% off your plan for your first 6 months at xero.com/highflyers.
________
TIMESTAMPS
00:16 — Meet Mukund Narayanamurti
03:10 — Australian Government Message
04:10 — Bengaluru, Cricket & Growing Up “Unfocused”
09:10 — Leaving India Alone at 18
14:40 — Feeling Lost & Almost Going Home
18:15 — The University Year That Changed Everything
25:00 — Why Senior Leaders Need Brutally Honest Feedback
31:15 — The $8.5B Deal That “Completely Broke” Him
34:15 — Returning to India & Betting His Career on Asia
37:50 — Three Years of Losing Every Bus