In Conversation With Rangam Sharma, Senior Associate, Trilegal

Tell us a bit about yourself. What made you choose a career in law? And how was the experience of studying law? 

I graduated from Symbiosis International University in 2016 and have been working as a corporate and technology lawyer since then. As much as I would like to say that being in corporate law was an informed choice, fact of the matter is that it was an accidental career choice. I was certain that I wouldn’t want to deal with numbers (little did I know that I would be looking at share capitalisation tables and complex formulas built in transaction documents almost daily) and my choice to be in law school was mostly driven by my aversion to my high-school science curriculum.

I did everything I wanted to try in law school. I participated and won several moot court competitions, authored articles and a book, assisted in establishing the training and placement cell, interned with different firms.

If you could suggest one reform in the legal education system, what would it be?

An overhaul in the legal education system is long due. Some of the changes that could be looked at includes squeezing in the 5 year programme into 8 semesters and the last year can be reserved for long term trainings. Law schools could consider getting industry experts to teach capsule courses. The subjects can be made a little more relevant keeping in view the job market. I would love to see a course on legal due diligence, venture capital and private equity financing being taught by law firm seniors. I know that I benefitted a lot from these courses in my law school.

Please tell us about your specialization and the array of work you handle in your current role?

I am a Senior Associate at Trilegal and part of Yogesh Singh’s team who co-heads the corporate practice of the firm. I represent clients on cross-border transactions and advise them on a wide range of issues. We are trusted advisors to several companies, and I see my role as that of a business enabler.

I routinely work with investors and emerging growth companies on fund raise mandates at all stages. I enjoy dealing with technology companies due to my familiarity with extant data laws. A typical day entails overseeing legal due diligences, drafting and reviewing transaction documentation, participate in negotiations and at times addressing board of directors of companies.

What advice would you give law students seeking the best internships in their area of interest?

Triple check your resume, demonstrate related experience (a course that you have taken or a prior internship in the area) and have a strong cover letter. Have a more balanced resume with good grades and do try to have a hobby outside law.

You specialise in private equity, strategic investments, and venture capital transactions. What to your mind have been the top trends dominating the PE/VC space in the last two years?

The surplus liquidity coupled with innumerable measures taken by India has certainly taken the Indian PE/VC markets to record-breaking levels and India is currently home to ~95 unicorns (with several soonicorns in the pipeline). Companies in digitally accelerated sectors like fintech, SaaS, EdTech, Insurtech continues to hold the attention of the investors and the trend is here to stay. We are also seeing a lot of traction in the consumer tech space. 2022 seems to be a busy year for deal makers. What’s also interesting is that the “founders are now after ‘intelligent money’, they are actively conducting diligence on their investors to see what incremental value the investor can add” Interestingly, it has been a defining couple of years from an exit standpoint as well and we did see several initial public offerings (such as Zomato, PolicyBazaar) and marquee deals like PayU/BillDesk transactions. This would reinstate the faith of the investors in the Indian ecosystem.   

Many Congratulations on joining the BW Legal World Elite 30 Under 30 Club of Achievers 2021. What to your mind has helped you get to where you are and what advice would you have for others who want to set off in a similar direction?

While I am humbled to be on the list, I firmly believe that success is subjective and may be very different for everyone. My strong advice to anyone who is reading this, is to take a step back and define what success means to them. For some it may mean doing marquee deals and for some it could be teaching kids in a school. Perception of success is often influenced by people around you. Don’t follow the path because someone else did.

Remember to breathe, find time to do what you like and meet quality people. The best investment that you could do in your life is towards building your social capital. Lastly, there is a thin line between pre-planning and obsessing about future. Understand the difference, if you start obsessing- reboot, speak to friends and your mentors.

 As a final note, would you please recommend to our readers your favourite book that left a lasting impression on you?

I just finished reading Himalayan Blunder (Brigadier Dalvi), Bad Blood (John Carreyrou), and the Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel). The overarching theme that I am hooked to currently is organisational decision making. The Himalayan Blunder in many ways pointed out the colossal systemic failure which led to India’s defeat in the Sino-Indian war. Bad Blood is about a bad decision by a founder in Silicon Valley and series of misinformed/reckless decisions taken to cover up their first mistake. Psychology of Money explores the premise that no decision is ‘crazy’, every decision that we take (financial or otherwise, and our associated risk appetite) is a function of our previous experiences.