Show Notes
Akshat Dhawan is the CEO and Founder of Rally Sports - a Dubai-based startup redefining how athletes connect, compete, and build community across the Middle East. In this episode, Akshat opens up about his journey - from growing up in the UAE, India and studying in the UK, to taking the unconventional path of entrepreneurship in Dubai. He shares what it was like to go from riches to broke, rebuild from the ground up, and discover that freedom always comes with risk.
We dive into: 💼 Why he turned down the corporate route for startups 🧠 The mindset shift from victimhood to ownership 🎓 What no one told us about startups at university 🔥 Why failure is often the best teacher 🌆 Why Dubai is the ultimate playground for entrepreneurs
This is a raw, honest look into ambition, ego, humility, and the courage to start again when the world expects you to play safe.
Get in touch in the comments below or head to... Instagram: @sachthepodcaster Twitter: @sachin_jha23 Email: [email protected]
*Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and thoughts expressed in this podcast are my own and do not represent those of any employer, organization or affiliate. I am not a licensed expert, and all discussions are based on personal experiences, insights, and publicly available information. This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional advice. Always do your own research and seek guidance from qualified professionals where necessary. Listener discretion is advised.
More from Decoding Wisdom
Conor Daly is an American IndyCar driver, the son of former Irish F1 and IndyCar driver Derek Daly, and stepson to IndyCar's president, raised inside a family that lived and breathed motorsport. As a teenager he moved alone to Europe to chase Formula 1, racing GP3 and GP2 against some of the best young drivers in the world, reaching podiums and fighting for championships before one incident and a missing million dollars brought his European career to an end almost overnight.
Will Bosisto is an Australian professional cricketer who averaged 276 at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup, captaining a side that included future Australian cricketers such as Travis Head, Cameron Bancroft, and Ashton Turner. He was once compared to Ricky Ponting before he'd played a single first-class match. He went on to represent Western Australia, only to be delisted at a point when he believed his career was heading in the right direction. Rather than let that setback define him, Will moved to South Australia, rebuilt his game from the ground up, and found the mental clarity he'd been missing as a young player. In this episode, he talks through that period with real honesty: the gap between reputation and readiness, the coaching that reshaped how he thinks under pressure, and the quiet work that goes into recovering from a professional knockback. It's a conversation about patience, self-trust, and staying true to your process when the path forward isn't handed to you. Will is now making his comeback through franchise cricket, competing across leagues in Bangladesh, Nepal, Canada, and Europe, proof that a setback is never the end of the story.
Bjorn Brost left the corporate world to solve a problem most of us walk past every day. He now teaches elderly people how to use technology - not because they lack intelligence, but because nobody ever slowed down long enough to show them how.
Marcus Ericsson is a former Formula 1 driver (2014 - 2018) for Caterham F1 (2014) and Sauber F1 (2015 - 2018) and current IndyCar driver for Andretti Global. He drove 97 Formula 1 Grand Prix without a single realistic shot at winning. He was replaced by Kimi Raikkonen, written off, and quietly pointed toward the exit. Then he went to IndyCar - and won the 2022 Indy 500, entering a club of fewer than 80 people in history.
Emma McCabe is a business, mindset and personal branding coach from Ireland who turned a string of rock-bottom moments into a blueprint most people only dream about. She dropped out of college in her final year, went broke twice, moved to Bali with next to nothing on two separate occasions, and built a multi-six figure coaching business entirely from her personal brand. She grew her Instagram from zero to 60,000 followers in under six months and generated €131,000 from a single reel. She is also the co-founder of Ireland's 1% Movement Hub - a community built for driven entrepreneurs who want location freedom, a magnetic personal brand, and the sales skills to match.