MAM
Sudarshan Banerjee to lead Ignite Mudra
MUMBAI: Sudarshan Banerjee, currently VP at Mudra India, will head Ignite Mudra from 1 April 2011.
Banerjee will be replacing Chandan Nath who will continue with the group as an advisor.
Says Ignite Mudra CEO Mudra Group COO Pratap Bose, “The time is right for us to push aggressively for exponential growth. Chandan has built an excellent base that we can now build on. We have a young passionate team which under the able stewardship of Sudarshan will propel Ignite Mudra as the ‘Agency of Choice‘ for entrepreneurs who want to build value for their brands.”
Before joining Mudra, Banerjee was working with Genesis Advertising VP and GM, Mumbai for 1 year and 2 months.
Prior to that, he was at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, as associate vice president and client servicing, and handled the accounts of TVS Flame and aol.in.
Banerjee has also worked with Grey, Bates 141, iContract, MediaCom, MEC (then Zenith Media), and MPG.
Adds Nath, “I have been steering the Ahmadabad office for the last 7 years, and for the last two years I have led “Ignite Mudra”. I welcome the opportunity to move on to a more strategic role within the Mudra Group and contribute to its growth agenda. I will continue to consult and mentor the Ignite team.”
MAM
Bob Iger joins Thrive Capital as adviser after Disney exit
Former Disney CEO returns to VC firm, stays on as Disney adviser till 2026.
MUMBAI: From castles to capital, Bob Iger isn’t done building just changing the blueprint. Bob Iger has taken on an advisory role at Thrive Capital, marking a return to the New York-based venture firm he briefly joined in 2022. Founded in 2009 by Josh Kushner, Thrive Capital has been positioning itself at the intersection of technology and long-term value creation, an area where Iger’s experience in scaling global entertainment businesses is expected to add weight. Kushner, 40, welcomed Iger back, highlighting his ability to blend technology with human-centric storytelling, particularly in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.
Iger is no stranger to Thrive. He had earlier joined the firm as a venture partner in September 2022, after stepping down as CEO of The Walt Disney Company and concluding his tenure as executive chairman in 2021. That stint, however, was short-lived. In November 2022, Disney’s board brought him back to steady the ship, replacing Bob Chapek following a turbulent period for the company.
Now, with his latest exit from Disney’s top job last month, Iger appears to be revisiting the venture world, this time with a clearer runway. Still, the Disney chapter isn’t entirely closed. Under his agreement with the company, he will remain until the end of 2026 as a senior adviser to new CEO Josh D’Amaro and will continue to serve on the board for his current term.
The move comes as venture firms increasingly seek operators with deep industry experience to navigate what Kushner described as “the most consequential technology shift” of the era, driven by AI. For Iger, whose career has hinged on blending creativity with scale, the transition from Hollywood to high-growth investing seems less like a pivot and more like a plot twist.
