Name: Nicholas Biswas | Company: Lenovo | Country: Dubai
(May 01, 2023) Born and brought up in Kolkata, Nicholas Biswas always knew from a young age that he had a passion for gaming. Which is why when he began setting career goals for himself, he naturally veered towards his passion. Currently, as regional business manager for Gaming in the MEA region for Lenovo, Nicholas is living his dream as he oversees the region’s gaming business development and strategic direction.
Growing up in Kolkata, Nicholas studied in Don Bosco School before doing his graduation in Finance from St Xavier’s College before he moved to Dubai in 2008 and made it his second home. He subsequently did his MBA in International Business from American University, Dubai and a Management Development Program from IIM Ahmedabad. “I always had a fascination for technology, especially gaming right since I was in college. I loved playing on the PlayStation and gaming PC. Hence, this opportunity to work with Lenovo to manage the gaming PC business ticks all my boxes,” smiles Nicholas, who always wanted to work with Fortune 500 companies. “Which is why all my career jumps have been with similar companies. I began my career with Panasonic Middle East before joining Sony Middle East. I eventually moved to the smartphones segment with Samsung before joining HTC managing their Gaming VR (New Tech) and now Lenovo.”
What kept him ticking was his intention to stick to his plan while moving up the ladder. He also complimented his journey by constantly learning and developing himself with various management development programs to adapt and help him transition to leadership roles. “Even now, I am pursuing my Chartered Market Technician (CMT) from CMT Association , headquartered in New York City,” he says, adding, “I’d recommend that everyone who is kickstarting his/her career takes a step back and reflects to determine what their vision and long term goal and then stick to the plan. In short, having that vision and end goal in life is critical in one’s professional journey.”
Talking about his current role, Nicholas says, “My main role is to develop the Gaming PC ecosystem in the MEA region for Lenovo Legion by managing sales and business development. Also working with various e-sports federations in the territory to help push gaming and e-sports here. I work with different brands like Intel, AMD, and Nvidia to drive our core business and also in the education verticals to help schools implement e-sports in their curriculum.”
While Nicholas has the good fortune to pursue his passion as a career choice, he also makes time for other areas of interest. “I usually like to start my day around 5:30 am and either hit the gym or go for a run inside my community after which I head home for some meditation and journaling before I leave for work around 8 am. A couple of evenings a week I play football and golf,” he says, adding, “My work also involves a fair bit of travel. So I ensure I stick to my routine whenever I am in Dubai.”
His weekends are strictly for family and Nicholas tries to avoid all business trips over the weekends. “We have our extended family here so our weekends usually involve family brunches and movies and shopping with my wife and daughter,” says Nicholas, who also has a side hustle of trading in US stocks for which he sets aside some time each week.
He also ensures he travels to India at least a couple of times a year to visit his father and sister, who continue to live in Kolkata. “I have some of my best memories from Kolkata; especially my college days. St Xaviers is where I had the opportunity to become more mature and independent. Those three years gave me the opportunity to interact with friends from different parts of India and gave me an insight into how truly diverse our country is. It also gave me the confidence to dream big,” he says, adding, he proudly wears his Indianness on his sleeve. “Brand India is perceived with a lot of respect here. We have a very strong and well educated population and several major organisations are today headed by Indians.”
Takeaways:
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Dream big and pursue your passions to make it happen.
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Be clear of what your goals are and plan your journey accordingly.
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Keep the hunger to learn alive. No matter which profession, constantly keep learning and updating yourself to transition to leadership roles with relevant courses and certifications.
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Set some time aside for yourself despite your busy schedule.