Rahul Gandhi
Principal
BIO
Rahul is a Principal at High Peaks based in the firm’s New York City office. Prior to joining High Peaks, he was a Senior Manager on AOL’s Corporate Development team where he helped evaluate, manage, and structure numerous high-profile acquisitions and investments for the company. Rahul’s previous experience also spans across investment banking for Banc of America Securities and venture capital for both Genacast Ventures and Comcast Interactive Capital.
THE REST OF THE STORY
I currently reside in Brooklyn Heights with my wife and our Puggle (a mix between a Pug and Beagle) named Samosa. Outside of my life in venture capital, I am an avid traveler (having been to over 30 countries and every continent except for Antarctica), below average golfer, devout and mostly disappointed Philadelphia sports fan, and passionate foodie. I also enjoy reading a variety of books, but my all-time favorites are Life of Pi and A Confederacy of Dunces. Since my career as starting catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies never really panned out, I satisfy my sports fix by playing in numerous recreational leagues for softball, flag football, wiffle ball, and volleyball.
STUFF YOU WOULDN’T KNOW
First Job:
I started a small sports trading card business with my best friends from grade school when I was 13. We bought and sold cards at trade shows and online using both AOL and Prodigy. Unfortunately, my prized Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card is only worth about $5 today. My first “real” job though was working as a sales associate at a clothing retail store called Structure while I was in high school.
Greatest Life Experience:
In college, I studied abroad for a semester on a program called Semester at Sea. In those four months, I lived on a ship and traveled to some of the world’s most fascinating and culturally diverse places, including Cuba, Brazil, Vietnam, Kenya, India, and China.
Most Humbling Life Experiences:
My wife manages an alternative livelihoods project in Afghanistan for an international development firm based in Washington D.C. The goal of her project is to reduce poppy production by providing farmers with alternative economic opportunities through other high value crops, private-sector development work, and cash-for-work labor. She spends around three months out of the year in Afghanistan in an extremely dangerous area and recently lost a close friend and colleague on her project. Watching her go through this experience was incredibly humbling for me — I was not only reminded that our lives are extremely fragile, but also inspired by people like her who selflessly commit to making the world a better place in the face of danger. This puts any complaints that I have in perspective.
Random Fact:
My parents named me after a famous Indian politician who may eventually become the Prime Minister of India. Needless to say, I face a major uphill battle for any relevancy on Google.
