Between power and purpose: Alok Sama on life lessons from Masayoshi Son

Having occupied a front-row seat to one of technology's most audacious visionaries, Alok Sama learned an unexpected lesson: don't try to be Masayoshi Son. The former President of SoftBank Group International believes that Son, who "describes himself as a crazy guy who lives in the future," possesses something inimitable.

"Don't overdo it, don't aspire to be a Masayoshi Son, because there's this intangible factor that, let's just face it, I don't have it. I don't even aspire to it," Sama tells YourStory CEO and Founder Shradha Sharma in a conversation.

"I just admire it and love being by his side. I've learned a lot from him... in terms of how he thinks about businesses, but this intangible quality he has, that's very elusive."

The Price of Power

Sama, whose journey took him from being a gold medalist at St Stephen's College to a 16-year tenure at Morgan Stanley, speaks from experience. At SoftBank, he played a pivotal role in investments, including Ola Electric, Paytm, and FirstCry, before moving on to his current positions as Senior Advisor at Warburg Pincus and Director of Baer Capital Partners.

The author of "The Money Trap" describes his life as "a series of fortunate accidents sprinkled with challenges." One such challenge emerged during his tenure at SoftBank, when he and Nikesh Arora, then considered Son's heir apparent, faced a smear campaign.

"If you aspire to this game of money and power, then you'd better toughen up because there will be people who take shots at you... And I probably never toughened up as much as I should have," Sama reflects. The experience took its toll: "I lost a lot of sleep over it and maybe my health suffered too. There's nothing good about that sort of experience."

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Yet from these trials, Sama gleaned insights about resilience—a quality he particularly admires in Son. "If you're a startup founder, whatever you're doing in life, being knocked down, bouncing back, which he's done, that's a remarkable quality. And that he has in common with most successful people," he observes.

The lessons learned in the corridors of power came at a price. "You need a lot of resilience in a very different way, not just dealing with failure, but people coming at you in ways that are going to be hurtful at a very personal level," he explains.

Speaking of visionary leaders like Son, Sama notes, "They're futurists, and they really do live in the future. And people like that, the Leonardo da Vincis of the world, they come along once in a lifetime. So, don't be inspired by them... be grounded," he advises, suggesting there's only so much in life one can control.

His journey has come full circle: from a backbencher during his college days in Delhi, to a frontbencher as a learner in life, Sama's path led him to complete a creative writing course at NYU—perhaps fitting for someone who discovered that the path to fulfilment lies not in emulation, but in authentic self-discovery.