Prof. Vikas Shah MBE is the archetypal entrepreneur. Having started his first business aged just 14, he is now (at 37) regarded as a leading businessman, philanthropist and public intellectual. In this highly personal and emotive talk, Vikas brings us into a part of his life he has rarely shared. He describes the build-up to a moment that changed everything, a 10 year recovery journey, and how he had to learn to save his own life. Professor Vikas S. Shah is an Honorary Professor of Business & Entrepreneurship at the University of Manchester Alliance Business School and Professor of Entrepreneurship for the MIT Sloan Lisbon MBA. His portfolio career includes being CEO of Swiscot Group (a diversified international trading business), a venture investor in numerous technology startups and businesses internationally, and co-founder of 53 Degrees North (a feature film studio). He is also the Chairman of Manchester’s FutureEverything.

Vikas’ online publication – Thought Economics – features his interviews with an incredible list of global talent including Will.I.Am, Buzz Aldrin, Noam Chomsky, Sir Richard Branson, F. W. de Klerk, Bear Grylls, Moby, Philippe Starck, Sir James Dyson, Garry Kasparov, Ai Weiwei, Maya Angelou, Usain Bolt, George Takei, Hans Zimmer, Jack Welch, Ed Catmull as well nearly 20 Nobel Prize Winners and the Presidents and Prime Ministers of nations including Mexico, Portugal and the Maldives. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.