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Vikram Mansharamani

Vikram Mansharamani, Ph.D.

Global Trend-Watcher, Harvard University Lecturer, & Investor - Author, Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst

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Price range

  • $40,000
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Expert

  • Agriculture
  • Economy
  • Food
  • Future
  • Geopolitics
  • Global Economics
  • Risk Management
  • Trends
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Experience

  • Colleges and Universities
  • Finance
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  • About

    Vikram Mansharamani first gained widespread attention with his book Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst. Since then he’s gone on to show business leaders and investors how to look at the world differently in order to manage risk and navigate radical uncertainty. His strategies help them peer into the future on crucial areas like China, food, the global economy, Africa, housing, investing, financial cycles, energy, and much more. So valuable are his insights that LinkedIn named Vikram #1 on their 10 Top Voices for Money, Global Economics, and Finance for both 2015 and 2016. Worth magazine listed him on their “Power 100” list for 2017 – one of the 100 most powerful people in global finance.

    Vikram believes that the future doesn’t have to surprise us – and won’t – if we regularly step away from our expertise and look at the world through multiple lenses. He calls this the generalist’s mindset. When encountering information that seems irrelevant most people think, “So what?!” Generalists think instead, “Isn’t that interesting,” and look to connect disparate dots. When they do, the conclusions they draw and decisions they make may be very different from the more narrow-focused “experts.” Vikram shows audiences practical ways to use this approach to spot opportunities and reduce risk.

    From 2009 until 2017, Vikram was a Lecturer at Yale University where he taught three popular classes: “Financial Booms and Busts,” “Economic Inequality,” and “Adventures in Business Ethics.” He is now a Lecturer at Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences where he teaches a course called “Humanity and Its Challenges.” His research is focused on navigating complex uncertainties and risk.

    Vikram Mansharamani is a global equity investor with more than 20 years’ experience investing in public and private markets. He served as a Managing Director of SDK Capital (and its predecessors) until 2011 and founded Kelan Capital in 2017.

    Vikram is currently a regular contributor to Worth magazine and a columnist for the PBS NewsHour. He has also contributed to BloombergMarketWatchCNBCForbesFortuneThe New York TimesThe Wall Street JournalThe AtlanticYaleGlobalThe South China Morning PostThe Korea TimesThe Khaleej Times,and The Daily Beast, among others. Vikram contributed the summary chapter for the book A Force for Good (2015) synthesizing lessons drawn from the collection of essays written by the world’s most prominent thinkers on the role of finance and capitalism in today’s increasingly interconnected and unequal world.

    He is a frequently sought-after speaker by a wide range of organizations. And while corporations from virtually every industry have sought his insights, he continues to have a very strong following in the investment community. He regularly speaks with those focused on allocating large pools of capital. Audiences of sovereign wealth funds, family offices, endowments, foundations, and registered investment advisors have found tremendous value in his unconventional thinking.

    As a consultant Vikram helps clients analyze the business impact of global trends, with a particular emphasis on economic, political, and social risks that might generate instability. He conducts many executive education seminars for senior leadership teams on how to integrate disparate (and seemingly contradictory) information into actionable analysis to drive business decisions. His thematic analysis and risk management is always focused on identifying opportunities within the risks.

    He earned a Ph.D. and MS from the Sloan School of Management at MIT, an MS in Political Science from MIT, and a BA from Yale University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

  • Video Clips
  • Topics

    Keynote OR Breakout | Educational | Technical

    Food is emerging as one of the future’s most volatile assets. Shifting political, economic, climatic and societal change all factor into the equation. Vikram Mansharamani applies his multi-lens bubble-spotting approach to the key drivers of food prices in a global marketplace. He suggests that the era of cheap food is over and describes the geo-political and geo-economic ramifications of such developments – from Wall St. to Pudong. Audiences will leave with an understanding of the dynamics of land grabs, water scarcity, and the implications of food (in)security for national defense.

    Keynote OR Breakout | Educational | Inspirational | Technical

    Europe falling apart?  China collapsing?  Treasury bubble popping?  Japan economic implosion? Social networking bubble?  Alternative energy dynamics creating geopolitical unrest?  Vikram Mansharamani applies a unique combination of practitioner experience and academic perspective to help audiences navigate the seemingly unending cross-currents of global economic, financial and political developments.  While audiences often find themselves agreeing with Mansharamani each step of the way, they’re frequently surprised by what turn out to be unconventional conclusions.

    Keynote | Educational | Motivational

    The overwhelming uncertainty plaguing the business and economic environment has led to widespread confusion and anxiety across corporate America. In this online briefing, noted financial expert and trend-watcher Dr. Vikram Mansharamani helps attendees make sense of today’s many crosscurrents. After describing how we got to the world we’re in, he proposes scenarios about what may unfold as well as the implications for the audience’s specific industries. What are the implications of the coronavirus outbreak and how will it (if at all) change the geopolitical and geoeconomic trends that were in place before the pandemic? How will it affect the U.S.-China rivalry or the future of global supply chains? And lastly, Dr. Mansharamani will address and discuss the forthcoming U.S. recession. 

    Keynote | Educational | Technical

    Blinded by expertise and single-minded focus? It happens. But in a fast-paced world driven by complex and diverse factors, connecting the dots is often more important than developing the dots. “The future doesn’t have to surprise you,” so says Vikram Mansharamani, global trend-watcher, Harvard Lecturer, author, and investor. Mansharamani shows audiences how to look differently at their industry and business with the goal of helping them spot risk and capture opportunities others miss. The overwhelming flood of political, economic, technological, social, and market forces that bombard us every day is distracting. It prevents us from paying attention to what really matters. Our usual response to the noise is to focus narrowly or turn to specialists for help. But is that the right path? Have we been blinded by focus? Has the mantra of expertise and specialization misled us? Vikram thinks the pendulum has swung too far. He offers scores of compelling real-life examples that show how a narrow lens can lead us to miss the most important signals – the ones we’re least primed to see. The advice he offers is counter-intuitive. He advocates opening up to get a broader view; to zoom out. He calls the logic the generalist’s approach. Breadth, Vikram argues, is as important as depth. Generalists win by paying attention to more than their area of expertise. Vikram’s generalist framework for looking at the world differently is at the center of what he delivers in his speeches and can be focused on just about any subject.

    Keynote OR Breakout | Educational | Inspirational | Technical

    “The future doesn’t have to surprise you.” So says Vikram Mansharamani, global trend-watcher, Harvard Lecturer, author, and investor. Mansharamani shows audiences how to look differently at their industry and business with the goal of helping them spot risk and capture opportunities others miss. The overwhelming flood of political, economic, technological, social, and market forces that bombard us every day is distracting. It prevents us from paying attention to what really matters. Our usual response to the noise is to focus narrowly or turn to specialists for help. But is that the right path? Have we been blinded by focus? Has the mantra of expertise and specialization misled us? Vikram thinks the pendulum has swung too far. He offers scores of compelling real-life examples that show how a narrow lens can lead us to miss the most important signals – the ones we’re least primed to see. The advice he offers is counter-intuitive. He advocates opening up to get a broader view; to zoom out. He calls the logic the generalist’s approach. Breadth, Vikram argues, is as important as depth. Generalists win by paying attention to more than their area of expertise. Vikram’s generalist framework for looking at the world differently is at the center of what he delivers in his speeches and can be focused on just about any subject. A few examples: 

    • The Generalist Advantage
    • The Future of Energy 
    • The Future of Globalization 
    • Navigating Economic Uncertainty by Bubble-Spotting 
    • Global Consumption Boom 
    • Food & Fuel Dynamics 
    • The Economic, Social & Technological Disturbances Rocking Our Industry **This speech is tailored to the specific industry of the host organization.**

    Breakout | Educational | Inspirational | Technical

    In a globally dynamic environment, boom and bust cycles are more frequent than in the past.  It seems there’s always something that has reached unsustainable levels.  The trick, of course, is recognizing it and taking action before the bubble bursts.   In direct contrast to the views espoused by most academics, Vikram Mansharamani makes a persuasive case that it is possible to identify financial (and other) bubbles before they burst.  He draws on entertaining and engaging examples from art markets, architecture, and popular culture – as well as economics and politics – and powerfully demonstrates that you do not need to be an expert to effectively anticipate the future.  Audiences walk away empowered to think independently and to connect obvious dots to generate not-so-obvious conclusions. 

  • Testimonials
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    “Vikram was very well received by our audience. Politically related speakers can be tough to book, not knowing how they’ll connect with different audiences. Vikram shared the same beliefs as many of our audience members but he was still able to push their way of thinking.”

    GROWMARK Cliff D
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    “Vikram has been a speaker at several of our client events in the past. His dynamic and entertaining talk on the boom & bust cycles is not only very engaging but it really pushes the audience to think outside the box. He leaves us inspired about 'connecting the dots.'”

    The Carlyle Group Managing Director
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    “Easily one of the best I've seen, Vikram's presentation was a clear standout among the dozens of conferences I've attended over my twenty years in the investment industry. I found his conversational style remarkably engaging and his perspectives the most innovative and fresh-thinking I've seen to date. His message was thought-provoking, informative, and I'd even say inspired; a rare combination indeed.”

    FirsTrust, LLC Christopher C.

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Easily one of the best I've seen, Vikram's presentation was a clear standout among the dozens of conferences I've attended over my twenty years in the investment industry. I found his conversational style remarkably engaging and his perspectives the most innovative and fresh-thinking I've seen to date. His message was thought-provoking, informative, and I'd even say inspired; a rare combination indeed.
FirsTrust, LLC Christopher C.