Jason Kothari in a room

Very little is known about the man who was parachuted into two SoftBank companies. Even less is known about the work he did there. But the impression is that he saved both of them

Born in Hong Kong, Jason Kothari met Kunal Bahl at Wharton. They hit it off and over the years their friendship blossomed

Parachuted into Housing, Kothari let others do the firings and the strategy. He handled the company's image

Kothari is credited with selling FreeCharge to Axis Bank. But the deal was brokered by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal of Snapdeal

Kothari's designation at Snapdeal says he handles strategy, but he was never invited to key meetings. Especially the Snapdeal 2.0 meeting

Room 1

The two men stare at each other silently. It is a game of one-upmanship. The first person to bring an end to this awkward meeting, where tempers are frayed, will be the one who concedes. The hum of the air conditioner seems louder than usual. But there is another way to win this argument. Fight another day.

“Let’s just take this up with Kunal,” says one of the men. Jason Kothari, the chief strategy and investment officer, at Snapdeal, looks back at him and nods.

The meeting breaks.

AUTHOR

Patanjali Pahwa

Patanjali has spent over seven years in journalism. He last worked at Business Standard as Principal Correspondent, where he wrote on startups, e-commerce companies and venture capital. He has worked at an array of institutions, which include Forbes India, Caravan and Outlook Business. He is a Mumbaikar, born and brought up. Patanjali did his BSc in IT from Mumbai University and then got his journalism degree from IIJNM in Bangalore. He is enamoured by Ernest Hemingway and Tom Waits and may try to sneak in references to them in his stories.

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