Kartik Akileswaran and Jonathan Mazumdar on Growth Teams and Structural Transformation

Charter Cities Podcast

Many countries need radical structural transformation, specifically in more developing nations, and Growth Teams and made it part of their mission to empower developing countries to create jobs and grow their economies. Today, we are in conversation with the cofounders of Growth Teams, Kartik Akileswaran and Jonathan Mazumdar. The pair are here to discuss how their business is playing its part in creating economic stability in countries around the world. Our conversation begins with a breakdown of Growth Teams, how the company works, and why Kartik and Jonathan chose to build it. After taking a look at our guests’ professional backgrounds, we dive into the definition of structural transformation, assess its importance, discover why it’s so difficult to facilitate and brainstorm ways for governments to stand true to their promises of transformation. We also learn how Growth Teams gets involved in government outreaches, how it’s doing things differently to achieve better results, the countries it is working with, and everything the business has planned moving forward.

Key Points From This Episode:

• What Growth Teams is all about and how Kartik and Jonathan came to found it
• Kartik and Jonathan's professional backgrounds
• The importance of structural growth and economic development
• Why the aforementioned issues are neglected by governments and policymakers
• Defining structural transformation
• The factors that make structural transformation difficult to facilitate
• Our guests’ advice for how governments can uphold their transformation reforms
• How labor mobility fits in
• Why government outreach programs have low skills retention, and how Growth Teams is fixing this
• A look at Growth Team's involvement in government outreaches and how it evolves during the process
• The countries that Growth Teams is working with and the company's plans for the future

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Kartik Akileswaran on LinkedIn

Jonathan Mazumdar on LinkedIn

Growth Teams

‘Governance and Development'

The perspective of growth-enhancing governance’

‘Which World Bank Reports Are Widely Read?’

Pockets of Effectiveness

Charter Cities Institute

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