Rajan Luthra

Rajan Luthra

Sales, Marketing & Technology

Downstream, Upstream
 
United States, Canada, Asia

1. What is your profession? Or if you are retired, what was your profession?

Vice President Sales, Marketing & Technology

2. What are your areas of expertise?

Downstream Subsegment: Refining

Downstream Discipline: Corporate  Development, Marketing, Commercial

Upstream: General Management, Executive, Corporate Development, Commercial, Sales, Marketing

Upstream Area: Onshore

3. Current Employer:

MOGAS Industries Inc.

4. Previous Employers:

Shawcor, Siemens, Eicher Motors

5. How did you end up in the Energy Industry?

Fate. It wasn't planned. After completing my undergrad in Mechanical Eng., I worked for an automotive company in sales, hated the job and the culture. Quit the job and joined Siemens. At Siemens, I designed steam turbines for nuclear power plants, was blown away by the complexity and nuances of the energy sector. Always wanted to pursue an MBA so joined UT Austin, wanted a job in consulting but graduated in 2010 when US was coming out of recession so there were limited jobs and changing both industry and function was very difficult. Ended up working for Dresser (acquired by GE later) and then Shawcor. Rest is history.  

6. Why do you like working with Start-Ups?

It requires a lot of courage to be an entrepreneur. I just love the excitement, the passion, and the energy around bringing a new idea/concept to fruition that may in future change the world for better.

Okay, now for some fun things about Rajan…

7. What are three of your interests outside of work?

  • Reading

  • Traveling (have a personal goal of traveling at least two new countries every year but Covid messed it up)

  • Racquetball/Cricket

8.  What are your top 3 accomplishments (personal or professional)?  Don’t be shy!  Give ‘em to us.

  • I was one of the youngest Vice Presidents within Shawcor (maybe the youngest). I grew from Business Analyst to Product Manager to VP Marketing within 4 years.

  • Lead the development of Goal, Strategy and five year Plan at MOGAS, now executing the plan and making it a reality - on track to achieve an ambitious goal.

  • Led the first ever acquisition for MOGAS.

9.  If I were a superhero, my superpower would be               .

to be able to travel anywhere in the universe and explore where life exists.

10. When I was 5, I was pretty sure I'd be a                 when I grew up.

Commercial Pilot 

11. If I weren't so damn good at what I do now, I'd probably be                 .

an Entrepreneur

12.  My favorite song is               by            .

"Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams and "When you say nothing at all" by Ronan Keating

13.  If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd          .

I won't start a company but invest in a diversified portfolio of start-ups. I don't believe I will be satisfied by just working on one business idea.

14.  The best piece of advice I've ever been given is                              .

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance (5Ps).