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She figured it out at 25. What's your excuse?
Most people on this show figured out the game was rigged at 45. After a layoff. After a reorg. After watching someone half their age get promoted because they "had more runway."
Samriddhi Chakraborty figured it out at 25.
She describes her corporate career as "a black box of templated synergy." She views growth through what she calls a "Kafka-esque PnL lens."
If you've read Kafka, you know what that means. Absurdity. Bureaucracy. Systems that exist to perpetuate themselves.
If you haven't read Kafka, you've definitely lived it. Every reorg that changed nothing. Every strategy deck that said everything and meant nothing. Every alignment meeting that misaligned three more teams.
Sam quit with no backup. Built a fractional practice in India. Not the US. Different market, different compliance, different rules. And she calls herself "fractional everything."
Now she's 43 with 18 years of proof. Launching Evango Group. Six books coming out this year.
If she can build this in India at 25, what's your excuse?
The 2 AM Moment
Sam's breaking point came at 2 AM on an office floor.
Five or six people still working. Manager screaming at the top of her voice: "This is how we're gonna do it. We have to templatize it."
Sam had suggested an alternative approach. Something that might actually work. She was rebuked. Publicly. Told she was wrong in front of the team.
The message was clear: the boss is always right. Even when they're not.
"Self-actualization doesn't come the way it's supposed to come. Like a movie moment. It came at 2 AM on an office floor."
No inspirational music. No mentor showing up with wisdom. Just exhaustion, bad management, and sudden clarity that this system wasn't built for her.
That moment didn't make her angry. It made her clear.
The Fear Was Real
"I was shit scared."
That's how Sam describes the morning after her last day in corporate. No job lined up. No backup plan. No 9 AM meeting to join.
Just silence. And fear.
But here's what she did with that fear:
"What I wanted to do then, and I still do now, is monetize or capitalize on my fear."
Not ignore the fear. Not push through it. Monetize it.
Fear tells you what matters. Fear shows you where the stakes are real. Fear keeps you sharp when you'd otherwise get comfortable.
Sam didn't wait until she felt ready. She felt terrified and moved anyway.
Her First Client: The One Agencies Rejected
When Sam left corporate, she stopped chasing the shimmer brands. The prestigious names that make your LinkedIn look impressive. The clients agencies fight over.
Instead, she found someone agencies wouldn't touch.
"He doesn't fit into our system. He doesn't fit into our culture. He's too basic for our standards."
That's what agencies said about her first client.
What Sam saw: he had the money. He had the pain. And nobody was paying attention to him.
She reached out cold. Diagnosed his problem. Closed the deal same day.
"It actually gave me a broader realization that I can look beyond the shimmer, the shine, and the brightness and look at people who actually have the money. Because everybody deserves to get a good brand. And I can be that."
Your best clients aren't the ones everyone's chasing. They're the ones with budget and pain who feel ignored by the market.
"Fractional Everything"
Sam doesn't call herself a fractional CMO. She's "fractional everything."
When you're running your own practice, you wear every hat. Technical. Revenue. CFO. Operations. You have to understand what's happening across the entire business because your job is to ensure all the teams inside a company are in sync and not in silos.
"For that to happen, I have to speak everybody's lingo separately. The vision is the same — the company has to grow — but the different units are playing very different roles."
Her core offering through Evango Group: revenue architecture and cross-border expansion. She works with her business partner to fix funnels, address leakages, and ensure teams are aligned.
The fractional model isn't about being limited to one function. It's about bringing senior-level thinking to companies that can't afford or don't need a full-time executive.
The Pricing Lesson
"The day you start treating yourself like a brand, you will know what price to price at."
Sam sees new fractional executives undersell constantly. They're so desperate for any client that they cave on pricing before the conversation even gets difficult.
Her advice: "You cannot suddenly charge a thousand and bring it down to 200. That's what your worth is."
The fix isn't better closing. It's better qualifying.
"In an age of instant gratification, learn how to qualify better."
When you qualify well, you don't need to discount. You're talking to people with budget, pain, and urgency. Price becomes a conversation, not a negotiation.
When Feedback Becomes Free Labor
"Feedback is important. Implementing feedback is equally important. But you should know your value. And when feedback becomes free cheap labor... no."
There's a line between implementing client feedback and doing free work.
Clients will always ask for more. A small tweak. Then another. Then another. Suddenly you're doing 30% more work for the same fee.
Sam's approach: know your value. Draw the line. Say no when no is the right answer.
The irony? The executives who struggle most with boundaries are the ones who had the most authority in corporate. They're used to endless resources and teams. Now every hour they give away is an hour they can't bill.
Protect your time. It's your only inventory.
"Fractional Doesn't Work Here"
Sam hears this objection constantly. In India. In every market.
Her response: "Check the revenue."
That's it. That's the whole answer.
Stop debating whether fractional "works" in your industry or geography. Look at the numbers.
Is your current model generating the revenue you want? Are you paying for full-time headcount when you need fractional expertise?
If the revenue isn't there, the structure is broken. Doesn't matter what you call the solution.
The question isn't whether fractional works in your market. The question is whether you're willing to try something different when what you're doing isn't working.
Key Takeaways
1. Position yourself before you prospect. Sam's first client came after she quit and rebranded herself. Not before.
2. Your best clients might be the ones the market ignores. Agencies rejected Sam's first client. She closed him same day. Budget and pain matter more than prestige.
3. Monetize your fear. Don't wait until you feel ready. Use the fear as fuel.
4. Learn to qualify better. The fix for pricing problems isn't better closing. It's better qualifying.
5. Know when feedback becomes free labor. Draw the line. Say no when no is the right answer.
6. Check the revenue. If someone says fractional doesn't work in their market, ask them to check their numbers first.
About Samriddhi Chakraborty
Samriddhi Chakraborty is the founder of Evango Group, a cross-border revenue architecture firm based in India. She's a "fractional everything" who has been building independent practices for 18 years after leaving corporate at 25.
She's also a published author with six books releasing this year.
Connect with Sam:
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UNRIGGED is a podcast for corporate refugees who figured out the game is rigged and decided to build something else.
Hosted by Kirk Coburn, who created the fractional executive category over 15 years ago and founded a firm that's served 2,000+ clients.
New episodes every week. Real stories from real fractionals. No motivational BS. Just process.
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