Peking University, April 23, 2024: As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Guanghua-Kellogg EMBA program (referred to as GK program) in 2024, we reflect on the journey from GK01 to GK10, where our esteemed GKers have consistently made a significant impact with low ego, both in China and on the global stage. Taking this opportunity, we are going to interview 10 distinguished alumni representatives in a special GK Alumni Talk Series. The interview will delve into the enduring legacy of the GK program, management insight, industry foresight, challenges and successes, etc.

Ten Years, Ten People. These ten GKers will form a vivid picture of the GK community, which is also an interpretation of their profound impact on the era.

In this first talk, let's meet Vivek Prabhakar, an alumnus from GK08, who has achieved remarkable success in many fields including international trade export, inbound and outbound tourism, and is a practitioner of lifelong learning. As the founder of India's second-fastest growing online travel platform, www.happyeasygo.com, and the founder of Seelingo, the fastest-growing B2B website in the medical consumables sector, Vivek has demonstrated exceptional innovation and business acumen. Across different organizations, Vivek has taken on pivotal roles including Country Head, COO, and CEO, fostering the ongoing expansion of operations and creating a number of enduring, impactful brands.

My name is Vivek Prabhakar and I am from GK 08. I have been an entrepreneur for the last 18 years. I started my first company right from China, and presently doing businesses in more than five countries of the world. And I run an e-commerce platform for medical supplies. We have a purchase office in China, and mainly we have our platform in Canada, India, and the US.

I always look for a partner who can come for the full time. Entrepreneurship is not about the part-time. It's a full-time job. When you choose a people, you have to see what they have done in their life. You have to see what exactly they have created value for the society. And when they become a co-founder or partner with me, they have to invest the money. And you have to also see their past failures and successes.

Companies are basically a set of people. So you have to look for a talented team. When I look for the people, I look for what are the problems they have solved in their past organizations. As an entrepreneur, you're solving problems every day. You have to see the first thing, the problem. The second thing, you have to see the integrity of the other person. It's not like they are coming to your company just for money. It's not about the money actually. It's about how big their dream is. And how their dream is going to align with your company's objective. The third thing is you have to see this person how humble he is. These are the requirements for finding a good team.

When the Covid started, I was sitting in China in the crisis. I started getting the feeling of the crisis because there are a few hundred people working for you. You have a brand name, you have been doing this business for the last 16 years. I asked them to just go take a break for 6 months. I'll pay you. But I believe that we will find an opportunity in this crisis.

You have to stand up, you have to take the responsibility in the crisis, and you have to find opportunity in the crisis. During that crisis, I found another opportunity to start my next tech flat platform, which is a platform for supplying medical supplies around the globe. So we asked them to come back and most of the people who were there are still working for me.

We became very successful in just the last 3 years.  In the first year we were one of the biggest suppliers from China in 2021. So when people ask like what is the reason for the success of your company. It's my own effort of all those people who have been working for me for more than 10 years now.

The definition of long term has changed after Covid because the world has changed a lot in the last 4 years. So I keep on learning. I joined Guanghua after doing businesses for 16 years. So when I came to Guanghua, a lot of people asked me like, for 16 years you have been doing businesses and you have been doing global businesses. Why did you come to Guanghua? You must be knowing everything. But no, it's not right. When I came to Guanghua, it has completely changed my perspective on how I look into the world.

I used to seeing the world by sitting inside China or inside India or the US where I have my businesses. But after coming to Guanghua, I see this world not from sitting inside a country, but from the outside of this planet earth. When you see that perspective, your way of doing business has changed. You see the opportunity in the whole world. This is the biggest perspective I have gained when I came to Guanghua.

The second thing is after coming to Guanghua, I met a lot of intelligent minds, people from different businesses backgrounds, peers, very successful peers. One of the country head in Canada is my classmate from GK. The last thing is Guanghua gave me tools how to structure my thinking process, how I do the businesses and that has really helped me a lot.

During our extensive two-hour interview, we were granted an insightful look into Vivek Prabhakar's entrepreneurial journey. A three-minute video could not possibly capture it all. Beyond the topics covered in the video — partnership, leadership in crisis, lifelong learning, Vivek offered profound insights into the essence of entrepreneurship, the importance of a global outlook, and the responsibility we hold towards society. When we inquired about the enduring fervor he has for entrepreneurship, he shared, "It's about motivations, it's about changing the lives of the people, it's about making a small dent in the universe."

Over a decade, a collection of ten remarkable individuals will converge to create a dynamic portrait of the GK alumni community. We eagerly anticipate the forthcoming insights from the GK Alumni Talks, as we collectively bear witness to the intellect and grace of our GK alumni.