What’s The Best Part About SoftBank Backing Paytm? Vijay Shekhar Sharma Tells Us One

If you are one of the active members of Indian startup ecosystem and have been following Paytm, you definitely know one of the inspirations for Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma is SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son aka Masa.

There have been innumerable instances where Sharma has told everyone of his respect and adoration for Masayoshi Son. One which remains the sweetest in the memory is during an Inc42 Facebook Live AMA, where Sharma talked about the investors in his company.

“When I met him for the first time, I wondered why he was still doing so many things. And what I learnt in that meeting was that once you have crossed money as a hump, it stops mattering as a number. Because it is your passion, vision and persuasion to do things that drive you ahead. So, after my interaction with him, I finally learnt how a $100-Bn guy behaves. He is hungry, passionate and excited,” he shared.

At another occasion, Sharma shared an advice given to him by Masayoshi Son.

Sharma recalled, “He said: ‘Build a very long-term horizon company’. Not 10-15 years, but a 25-30 years business landscape. That’s exactly what is incredible about SoftBank’s investment.”

In the world of numbers, a true leader who supports another for the growth is one of the best examples of Indian startup ecosystem and its potential.

“Ravi is a partner. Alibaba is like the people who know this world. Masa is the cutest. Alibaba has the biggest influence, Masa is nice and cute-you feel so delighted and inspired in his company. And incidentally, four of us own 97% of this company,” he said.

Cutest. Don’t forget cutest is Masayoshi Son.

This isn’t the first time Sharma has fan-boyed over Softbank CEO. During HT Leadership Summit, Sharma said that he is a “fanboy of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.”

He further added that he is also smitten by what Alibaba Founder Jack Ma is building. At various occasions, Sharma has called both of them his inspiration, and at the event, he said that he cannot believe that he has both of them on his side as partners.

During another media interaction, when asked about an inspiring global business personality, Sharma said, “I’ve interacted with Jack Ma (Alibaba) and Masayoshi Son (SoftBank). I also saw Steve Jobs (Apple) at a close distance. I wish I had interacted with him. But for this (occasion), I will pick Masayoshi Son (Softbank). Masa is not a man of a few billion dollars, but hundreds of billions.”

“When I met him for the first time, I wondered why he was still doing so many things. And what I learnt in that meeting was that once you have crossed money as a hump, it stops mattering as a number. Because it is your passion, vision and persuasion to do things that drive you ahead. So, after my interaction with him, I finally learnt how a $100-Bn guy behaves. He is hungry, passionate and excited,” he shared.

At another occasion, Sharma shared an advice given to him by Masayoshi Son.

Sharma recalled, “He said: “Build a very long-term horizon company“. Not 10-15 years, but a 25-30 years business landscape. That’s exactly what is incredible about SoftBank’s investment.”

In the world of numbers, a true leader who supports another for the growth is one of the best examples of Indian startup ecosystem and its potential.

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