Startup Executive Earning Dh200,000 Monthly Shares Wealth Wisdom and the Importance of Saving for Rainy Days

Harsh Garg balances a demanding career as the vice president of strategy and mergers and acquisitions at Ralliant, an industrial technology company headquartered in North Carolina. Alongside his corporate role, he co-founded Golchi, a travel-bottle start-up that successfully raised over $400,000 from 5,000 backers on Kickstarter. Outside of his primary ventures, he also serves as a strategic mentor at Founder Mode Bootcamp, a 12-week accelerator programme designed to help teenagers aged 13 to 20 launch and fund their own businesses.

After spending 12 years in the US, the Delhi-born engineer relocated to Dubai with his family in December 2024. Today, he earns an annual income of approximately Dh2.5 million ($680,000) through his corporate salary and a diversified investment portfolio spanning US equities, bonds, gold, and real estate.

Reflecting on his upbringing, Harsh Garg notes that growing up in a middle-class family instilled strong financial discipline. His parents taught him to value money not just for convenience, but as a tool for personal evolution and upskilling. Earning his initial income of about $500 a month designing bridges and highways after graduating from IIT Kanpur taught him the importance of living within his means and maximizing financial value.

Driven by a desire for strategic business growth, he pursued an MBA at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. His current financial strategy combines stable corporate income with diversified investments to build a reliable safety net, allowing him the flexibility to pursue entrepreneurial ventures like Founder Mode Bootcamp.

Offering financial advice to his younger self, Harsh Garg emphasizes that money should be an outcome of passion rather than the primary driver. He encourages everyone to experience entrepreneurship at least once and stresses the critical importance of saving for unforeseen financial challenges.