The First Two Years – Details, episodes & analysis

In the final episode, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran searches for what makes people in the first two years of their careers happy. And the right way to say goodbye to the listeners. 

One last thing before we go. You can always write to us at podcasts@the-ken.com with feedback, tips, and suggestions for upcoming shows. Thank you for listening. The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff.

Take the happiness survey to be a part of the season finale here.

The debut season of TFTY was jampacked with insight, international guests, and interesting takeaways. This season, we learned how to ask for help without worrying about looking stupid, turn a job that you have into the one that you want, network when you hate networking, look for a Dravid in a mentor and build a personal brand with no work experience.

On this episode of TFTY, Akshaya Chandrasekaran and Rahel Philipose (from The Ken’s flagship business podcast Daybreak) assemble the entire crew and give a behind-the-scenes look at how the podcast came to life. The ensemble gathers ‘round the mic and shares their favorite early-career advice of the season. Stick around for what has to be the best part of the episode - updates from the TFTY community and loyal listeners who tell us where they are right now.

If you liked this episode, share a note with the host at akshaya@the-ken.com or take this form and tell us about your early-career problems, both big and small. We might have you on the show! The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff.

From over here at The Ken's newsroom, we have a very exciting announcement: our first premium podcast – India's first premium business podcast – is now live!

It's called Two by Two – and this podcast will be your personal investigative brain. Each week Two by Two will be where hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan will be joined by a few interesting and opinionated guests to discuss some of the biggest questions from the world of Indian business.

But, why's it called Two by Two?

Here it is: each episode of the Two by Two podcast will feature an important story investigated and discussed and visualized as a 2x2. A simple matrix that's the purest form of conflict – that places the players and their motivations on both axes. Along with incredible guests, the hosts will discuss what is going on, why is it happening, who gains and who loses, and where is all of this leading to?

Two by Two is a premium podcast – but for now, the first episode is free for all listeners. On this episode, the hosts speak to Professor R Srinivasan and Srikanth Rajagopalan on the brewing rivalry between Flipkart and PhonePe, once parent and child, but now more like cousins. Flipkart, which is now venturing into FinTech with Super.money and Phonepe, which has launched the grocery delivery app Pincode are both stepping into each others turf.

What happens next?

Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple or YouTube – and if you like it, please leave a review, wherever you get your podcasts?

The first two years are the foundation of one's career. But for many, it is just a stepping stone to an MBA. Our listener this week, Priyanksha, knew she didn’t like her first job within three months of joining the company. An MBA was her escape route. She stayed at the company for two reasons a) to gain work experience which is a pre-requisite for an MBA b) to support herself financially during her MBA preparation. Right from the beginning, she knew the company would not support her future plans. So, she kept it a secret till she cracked her CAT and the subsequent interview rounds, and got an admission letter from an IIM. It came as a complete surprise. Her immediate manager did not receive it well. He was angry and upset.

Thousands of talented, accomplished, smart people have been in Priyanksha’s shoes. As we near the end of The First Two Years, we speak about lasts and why last interactions matter. 

On this episode of TFTY, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran brings - Prasadh MS, head of workplace research and communications, Xpheno, and her colleague Aayush Agarwal, staff writer and IIM Kozhikode alumnus, to discuss an exit strategy at the company. 

Do you have a career question we can help you to solve? Share a note with the host at akshaya@the-ken.com or take this form and let us know. We might have you on the show! The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff. 

Shantanu loved his first job. He had great admiration for the senior leadership. The work was fulfilling and meaningful. And his peers were great. It was the perfect job for him, except for one thing – his manager. He was "caught in the chaos" of unrealistic deadlines, shifting goalposts, and vague feedback. Is there anything he could have done to make the situation better besides quitting? How do you deal with a difficult boss?

On this episode of TFTY, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran brings two people who are known for their abilities to coach people and transform workplace cultures - Shiv Shivakumar, one of India’s longest-serving CEOs, and Nitin Sharma, Partner, Antler India, a VC firm.
 
Do you have a career question we can help you to solve? Share a note with the host at akshaya@the-ken.com or take this form and let us know. We might have you on the show! The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff. 

You just started your first job at a new company. You’re ready. You’re eager. You’re smart and capable. It’s all the makings of the take-the-world-by-storm career. But to your dismay, you end up with “grunt” work. It feels like all your achievements from college have been wiped out clean, and you’ve to prove that you can be a high achiever in the office as well. 

This continues to happen week after week. You feel like you're stuffed with tasks that nobody wants to do. You feel like you're meant for bigger and more high-impact projects. What do you do? How do you get into those right teams and right projects and make an impact? 

Should you just bide your time till you get to the good stuff? Or should you quit and find a different job with less of this "boring" work? 

On this episode of TFTY, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran brings two people who have been there and done that – Sairam Krishnan, head of marketing at Atomicwork, and Shresth Tandon, director of operations at Media.net. Both went through this same ordeal and came out with a unique understanding of how to make the grunt work “matter.” 

Do you have a career question we can help you to solve? Share a note with the host at akshaya@the-ken.com or take this form and let us know. We might have you on the show! The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff. 

You’re new and young and people just don’t trust you. Have you ever struggled to be taken seriously at work? How do you get the results you want if people don’t trust you or cooperate with you, especially when you have no title or authority?

On this episode of TFTY, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran brings on Dr Nashater Deu Solheim who is a pro at making connections, building trust with difficult co-workers, and connecting in a more meaningful way. She’s a psychologist who’s worked with certified psychopaths in maximum security settings and she brings those lessons into solving this complex disconnect issue. 

Do you have a career question we can help you to solve? Share a note with the host at akshaya@the-ken.com or take this form and let us know. We might have you on the show! The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff. 

Most people believe that if you’re smart, work hard, and meet your goals, a promotion is guaranteed. But the truth is a lot of talented people fail to get ahead while seemingly ordinary peers blow right past them. So, how do organizations decide who gets promoted over whom?  If it’s not entirely based on performance, does it mean you have to suck up to your higher-ups? Play office politics? Be everything everywhere all at once? These were the questions, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran, was exploring in the latest episode of The First Two Years, an early careers podcast from The Ken.

If you’re starting out, probably in the 18-25 age group, this episode is a great place to start.

Do you have a career question we can help you to solve? Share a note with the host at akshaya@the-ken.com or take this form and let us know. We might have you on the show! The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff. 

Our listener Harshit has reached a plateau. He joined an early-stage startup in the EV charging space with a lot of enthusiasm. He believed in the company’s mission. But very soon things started to take a turn for the worse.

When the going got tough, the culture of feedback disappeared. His role kept changing to keep up with the changing business needs. But without feedback, he felt directionless and lost. The leadership was so busy putting out fires that they completely deprioritised feedback. His frustration only grew with time. Was he making progress? Was he adding value? He couldn’t tell. All messages requesting feedback were left on seen.

If he insisted on getting feedback in person, he got something wishy-washy. A telltale sign of not having thought enough about his work.

He did what he thought he never would - quit his job in less than a year of joining. On most days, he knows he made the right decision. But sometimes he wondered if he had to take a share in the blame as well.

Did he not know how to get people’s time and ask for feedback? Was there anything else he could have done to get people interested in his work enough to give him meaningful feedback? Should he have been more relentless in asking? Asked just one more time?

On this episode of The First Two Years, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran is joined by Balaji Ramachandran, director of growth at Meesho, and Karthik Pasupathy, head of marketing at Prudent AI. Both share surprising tips and pragmatic ways to ask for feedback that can help anyone who’s facing obstacles in doing so.

Do you have a career question we can help you to solve? Share a note with the host at akshaya@the-ken.com or take this form and let us know. We might have you on the show! The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff. 

Networking can make you feel dirty. It can feel unnatural, forced, and almost cringe to reach out to people for networking.

You know it’s important. You value what a good professional network can do to one's career. Eighty-five percent of jobs are still secured through networking, according to a 2022 LinkedIn survey. Even LinkedIn is built on the premise that professional networks can make you successful. But even the time you got past the initial awkwardness and reached out, it did not fetch you any response.

Then, are there any ways to do it in an authentic way? What kind of people should you attract to your network? On today’s show, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran invades a startup mixer to find out if people actually mix in these mixers.

Santhosh Babu, celebrated executive coach, shares a unique and important framework for creating a healthy network of people who can sail you through. Samyak Daga, Vice-President of The Carlyle Group, shares what kind of requests he approves and which ones he denies help to. Towards the end, we also touch upon less-awkward, and effective networking strategies that actually work.

Tell us what you think? You can write to Akshaya, the host, at akshaya@the-ken.com. Have a career question you want us to cover? Tell us.

The First Two Years is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. 

Subscribe for more exclusive business stories, deeply-reported newsletters, and a whole lot of stuff.