Navin Thukkaram

SkyKick

Board Member / Lead Investor

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

Advisory Board Member

Transcend Therapeutics

Investor

NT Capital Partners

NT Capital Partners invests in early stage companies both in the U.S and Sweden. Relevant investments include SkyKick, GetAround, X Shore, Qwiki, Bodhala, and Barry's Bootcamp Nordics.

Founder

X Shore | 100% Electric Boats

Served as a Board Advisor to the CEO on a range of board-level issues.

Board Advisor

Bodhala

First angel investor and board advisor to Bodhala CEO. Company acquired in a highly successful strategic exit in 2021.

Qwiki, Inc.

Chief Operating Officer, Board Member, and seed round investor of Qwiki, a New York-based mobile technology company that won TechCrunch Disrupt and ultimately was acquired by Yahoo! in July 2013 (reported at ~$50 million).

Chief Operating Officer, Board Member

Vulcan, Inc.

Generated $2B+ of profits (per WSJ) at Vulcan Capital Private Equity, the investment fund of Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen.  Served on the boards of Vulcan Energy (GP of NYSE: PAA), PAA/Vulcan Gas Storage and Vulcan Resources Florida (acquired by Breitburn).

Director, Vulcan Capital Private Equity

I help entrepreneurs fundraise, scale and exit based on experience from $3 billion+ in exits and investing & raising $700M+ over the years. I advise companies like SkyKick, where I'm a board member and lead investor. 

Previously, partner at Vulcan Capital, the investment fund of Paul Allen, and board member / COO / seed investor of Qwiki, winner of TechCrunch Disrupt and acquired by Yahoo! for $50 million.

Some media highlights: featured on CNBC Squawk Box, Fox News, Fortune, and Sweden's SVT and DI Digital...keynoted events for Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Citibank, BNP Paribas... Serve on the Advisory Board of CSIS, formerly: member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Trustee of Hampden-Sydney College, and member of the Executive Panel for the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations.

Princeton, BSE, and Harvard Business School, MBA. Love golf and skiing.

Your next chapter isn’t waiting for permission. It’s waiting for you.

People look at someone’s life from the outside and assume it was one smooth storyline—
a clean rise, a few lucky breaks, a straight path forward.

Mine wasn’t.

When I first moved to New York, I was working 120-hour weeks, sharing a small apartment with two roommates, and trying to convince myself that exhaustion was a virtue.

Then—six months into my very first job—the firm got bought, and suddenly I was back to square one.

Every chapter after that came with its own plot twists:
office politics, difficult bosses, missed opportunities, a global financial crisis…
more chaos than clarity.

But here’s what I learned:

You don’t wait for your life to sort itself out. You turn the page.
You choose to write the next chapter even when the last one didn’t end the way you wanted.

Most people get stuck re-reading the chapter they didn’t like.

They replay the setback.
They cling to the identity that no longer fits.
They accept the story someone else wrote for them.

You don’t have to.

If I was able to pivot, rebuild, and reinvent myself—more than once—you can too.

And maybe the real question isn’t “Can I?”
but “What am I afraid to write next?”

Because the story is already there.
You just need the courage to start a new page.

What’s your next chapter?

Exit Coach with $3 billion in exits | Served on 6 boards | Founder @ NT Capital Partners | MBA, Harvard Business School; BSE, Princeton University

Why do some regions win the innovation race… while others fall behind?

In my latest episode of Ripple E-ffects with Dan O’Keefe — Connecticut’s Chief Innovation Officer and Commissioner of Economic Development — we dive deep into how Connecticut is using private-public partnerships, targeted investment, and workforce reinvention to carve out a new path. 

We talk about:
• Bringing private-sector agility into government and how 25+ years of tech investing shapes public innovation strategy. 
• Why the next wave of economic leadership won’t belong to those who only produce ideas—but to those who build ecosystems.
• How you can apply this mindset shift in your own work: stop waiting for perfect conditions, start building leverage now.

If you’re leading things—businesses, teams, ideas—this conversation is for you.

🎙️ Listen in, link in comments.

Would love to hear:

What’s the number-one barrier you face when trying to build something bigger than yourself?

Drop your thoughts below—I’ll pick a few in my next post to unpack together.

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

One of the most underrated forms of leadership?

Giving back.

Not with grand gestures or big donations—but with your time, your honesty, and your experience.

Some of the most meaningful moments in my career haven’t come from wins—but from sharing the lessons behind the losses. The missed calls. The tough decisions. The hard-earned clarity.

Whether it’s giving a talk, mentoring a younger founder, or just having a real conversation—I’ve come to see this as a responsibility. One we all carry, especially those of us who’ve been lucky enough to learn (and unlearn) along the way.

Sharing your story might feel small to you…
But to someone else, it could be the exact thing they needed to hear.

We all have that power—the power to spark curiosity, to unlock possibility, to quietly shape someone’s future.

And that’s a legacy worth leaving.

Who’s someone that gave you a meaningful nudge on your path?

The year is coming to an end. 

Be honest—did you stretch yourself, or did you coast?

This is the question I ask myself every year.
Not “Was I busy?” or “Did I hit the goals on my spreadsheet?”.

But: Did I actually grow?
Did I push into the uncomfortable places?
Did I become someone I’m genuinely proud of?

Most people don’t like this kind of reflection because it forces accountability.
It forces you to notice where you’re playing small.
It forces you to see the moments where you settled… when you could’ve stepped forward.

But here’s the truth I’ve learned:
You can’t repeat the same year 10 times and call it progress.

So as I look toward next year, I’m setting goals that challenge me—not just in business, but as a partner, a friend, and a human being.

I’m asking myself tougher questions:
• What would I pursue if I wasn’t afraid of failing publicly?
• Where am I still hiding behind “success”?
• What deserves more of my time—and what deserves less?

If you want a better year, start with a better standard.
Not a longer to-do list.
A higher bar for who you’re becoming.

Let’s make next year a year we actually evolve.

What’s the real work you need to do next year?

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

While Thanksgiving is a great day to celebrate with friends and family, it usually leads to overeating in the name of enjoyment. But what if a little 

Open article: 5 Health Tips for Thanksgiving by Navin Thukkaram • 1 min read

The strongest people I know don’t just train their bodies — they train their minds.

A lot of high achievers think resilience is something you earn after enough success.

It’s not.

Resilience is something you practice — the same way you train a muscle.

When I look back at the moments that stretched me the most — starting over, changing careers, moving across the world, taking risks I wasn’t “ready” for — it was never strategy that got me through.

It was mindset.

And the truth is, mindset isn’t built in the easy seasons.
It’s built when you willingly step into discomfort:

When you drag yourself into a cold, dark gym before sunrise.

When you sit alone in stillness and actually listen to what’s going on inside.

When you ask mentors hard questions you don’t fully want the answers to.

When you take on challenges that scare you just enough to wake something up.

If you want a stronger life, you need stronger inner architecture.

And that comes from training — consistently, intentionally, and long before you need it.

What builds mental resilience the fastest?

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