Vineet Rai on being an early bird in impact space and becoming a top dog

Vineet Rai tells Anjuli Bhargava that a high risk appetite combined with a strong survival instinct is the recipe for success

In 2001, when the world was in the throes of capitalism and yet to wake up to the world of impact investing, one man in India registered an entity to raise funds for transforming rural India with the princely sum of Rs.5000. The following year, he borrowed Rs.1 lakh from his wife and registered an advisory company on the premise that if those who have previously not been entrepreneurs have to turn entrepreneurial, they need someone to advise them.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Jacqueline Novogratz set up Acumen, first as a fund that later became a non-profit. In