Ashish Venkataramani
Partner
Ashish joined Eight Roads in 2019 as a Principal after spending time at Pfizer most recently as Senior Director & Business Unit Head. He also has prior experience in management consulting.

What is the job you do at Eight Roads? Can you briefly describe a day in your life at work? e.g. what sort of projects are you working on?

Very broadly, my work involves identifying investment themes in the healthcare sector, evaluating investment opportunities, supporting our portfolio companies and strengthening the Eight Roads platform.

It’s hard to describe a typical day because each of the above tasks have their own peaks and troughs. However, the key skill is to appropriately balance these priorities and maintain momentum.

Looking back, what’s been the steepest learning curve on your career journey so far?

The move from being a strategic advisor to running a large business unit was a significant change in the scale and scope of my responsibilities. Some of the key learnings that stand out for me are: how to establish credibility with, and add value to an already accomplished team, how to prioritize at a strategic and operational level, how to trust my gut on key decisions, and the importance of fostering the right culture to consistently bring the best out of a team.

If you could give one piece of advice to your 20-year-old self what would it be?

To achieve what others can’t, you need to do what others won’t. Be prepared to take thoughtful risks, delay gratification, stay humble, and always be hungry to learn.

How do you directly support our entrepreneurs/principal investments/portfolio companies? Can you give an example?

I play the role of a partner and sounding board on key decisions related to their portfolio, route-to-market, cost structure, organization design and talent plans. In specific cases, my support extends to operational aspects, for e.g. facilitating industry connect.