Vivake Bhalla

Vivake has 20 years of experience acquiring and building businesses. He joined Cranemere at its founding and, having served in several roles, currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Cranemere, Vivake worked in management consulting for McKinsey & Company and as an investor in the clean energy, real estate and consumer sectors for Terra Firma Capital Partners and Qatar Holding. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Masters in Engineering from Imperial College, London.

After graduating business school, I spent a year traveling across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. It was an eye-opening life experience, especially for someone like me who’d only been on an airplane a handful of times. This year “on the road” helped me realize that despite language and cultural differences, people all over the world are really quite similar. And most people just want the same things: safety and security, food on the table, the ability to earn money, and the best possible life for their children.

If I weren’t in finance I would probably be an architect, because I love buildings from both an aesthetic and a functional point of view. I’m also fascinated by their history, their design, and their purpose and believe that no matter the building, its design has the ability to influence human behaviors and interactions.

There’s no better way to get to know someone than on a trip.  It’s an opportunity to get to know someone unencumbered by the obligations of work or home and often outside their comfort zone. Traveling with someone allows you to share experiences both old and new and it’s a whole new way to get to know yourself and your companion.