Much before pandemic forced everyone to work remotely, FreshToHome, the meat, seafood and fresh produce e-tailer had embraced the flexi-work model. “I can no longer boast about it since most organisations have embraced it now,” says Shan Kadavil, the company’s founder. The model has worked well for him considering he lives “out of a suitcase right now” – Kadavil has been flitting between the company’s headquarters in Bengaluru and its office in Dubai.

In an interview, Kadavil speaks to Lounge about measuring passion, encouraging team leads to become entrepreneurial,  and his experiments with plant based meat. Edited excerpts:

Who do you consider your mentor and why? 

I am strongly influenced by the vision of Mark Pincus, a popular entrepreneur in Silicon valley, and founder of a number of large companies such as Zynga. He was also my former boss and is a mentor and investor of FreshToHome. Mark is a visionary and his belief in the capabilities of human beings is exceptional. He sincerely believed anyone who dared to dream big will be successful if he/ she is passionate about chasing their dreams without micro-managing them or limiting their potential.