True North: Architecting an Extraordinary Life with Author/Pilot and Former McKinsey/Google/Cisco Executive Darren Pleasance
Get Ready to Be Inspired to Build the Life You Want!
By definition, our alumni community is made up of highly driven, hardworking, intelligent people. For many of us, it’s easy for our careers and families to consume most of our time, talents and energy.
However, how many of us are being fully intentional to architect the life that we want: a life that we live to the fullest where we are passionate about (1) how we spend our time, (2) the people with whom we do and (3) and how we make a difference.
Join AJ Gandhi (HBS MBA 1998) and his good friend Darren Pleasance for a fireside chat and evening reception to talk about building an extraordinary life. Darren’s bio:
- Post UC Santa Barbara: Private Aviation Pilot
- Former McKinsey Partner, Senior Marketing & Sales Executive at Google and Cisco
- Newly appointed CEO of Aircraft Owner’s and Pilot’s Association (largest and most influential private aviation organization in the world)
- Wonderful family man, husband and father
- Lives in Bend, Oregon and travels the world both as pilot and passenger in some pretty dope airplanes
- Author of True North: A Handbook for Inspired Living (published 2023)
“I’ve experienced some of the most extreme highs and lows that life can dish out. The guidance that Darren provides in True North is spot-on for anyone looking to build a life that keeps them energized while navigating the inevitable challenges that come our way.”
-Drew Bledsoe, former NFL quarterback, founder/owner of Doubleback Winery
This event will be hosted at the fabulous offices of McKinsey & Company on the 48th Floor of 555 California Street in San Francisco
This event will be co-hosted by Harvard Business School Association of Northern California, Harvard Club of San Francisco, Penn Club of Silicon Valley, Kellogg Alumni Club of San Francisco Bay Area, Columbia Alumni Association NorCal, Yale Club of Silicon Valley, Yale Club of SF, UCLA Bay Area Bruins Network, Oxford Alumni Network of NorCal, Cornell & London Business School, UC Berkeley Hass, UC Berkeley International, Brown Club of Greater San Francisco and Wharton Club of Northern California and MIT. Come meet fellow alumni who may live or work near you in the Peninsula Bay Area, make new friends, and have relaxed and interesting conversations.
Date: Monday, December 9, 2024
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. PST
Location: Offices of McKinsey & Company, 555 California Street, 48th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104
Tickets:
VIP Member: Free
HBSANC Member: $39
HCSF Member: $39
HBS Non-Member: $49
Affiliated Clubs $49
General Public: $59
**All tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable
**There will be no live streaming and no recording available for this event
**Registration closes on Friday, December 6th 2024 (or when sold out) Logistics regarding entering the venue will be sent to you a few days prior to the event.
Organizers:
Anjai "AJ" Gandhi
AJ is a B2B GTM executive and currently serves as Chief Growth Officer at Marlin Equity Partners ($9B+ AUM Private Equity Firm).
Over his career, he has led growth acceleration strategy and go-to-market productivity improvement at 100+ companies primarily in the technology industry.
Previously, AJ was a member of the GTM leadership team at RingCentral and salesforce.com. He also spent many years in management consulting (Bain, McKinsey and The Alexander Group) and has been an executive in 2 venture-backed companies. AJ earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS Business Administration from UC Berkeley.
AJ serves on multiple non-profit Boards including the HBS Club of Northern California and is based in Hillsborough, CA.
Shalini Agarwal
Shalini is a seasoned Product Leader, advisor to Bay Area startups, and has successfully incubated and exited 0 to 1 product for Google Cloud and Google Workspace. In her 16+ years at Google, she has built disruptive experiences across many verticals, most recently leading the Gemini Generative AI efforts spanning Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets and more.
Shalini has a track record of building high performing teams and being first to market in applying new technologies. Prior to Google she was an Associate and McKinsey & Company. Shalini holds a Bachelors and Master of Engineering in Computer Science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Shalini is located in San Francisco, CA.