My Most Influential People: Mum’s Tough Love, Mr Pleat, Dad & Munger — Monsoon Pabrai on Money & Impact

S03-EP07 - Monsoon Pabrai At 29, Monsoon is an Indian-American fund manager and founder of Drew, managing ~$25M across 100+ clients. In this conversation she unpacks the 4 most influential people in her life (without myth or hype): a tiger-mum who engineered discipline, a history teacher (Mr Pleat) who sparked real-world curiosity and financial literacy, a North-Star dad (Mohnish) whose integrity and philanthropy shaped her compass, and Charlie Munger, whose's “no self-pity, no envy” mindset anchors her investing and life philosophy. ✨In this episode we explore: Building a people-first investment firm (Buffett-style 0/6/25 fees, no management fee on main funds) Finding purpose through Dakshina, the family education nonprofit changing social mobility in India Managing other people’s money with care (families on Zoom, transparent communication) Why integrity beats shortcuts (anti-bribery stance, doing hard things the right way) Career path: UC Berkeley → Dalton Investments → beauty-tech startup → launching her own fund ✨Highlights✨ 👩‍🔬 Harina (Mum) — Engineer, tough-love “tiger mum” who paused her Physics PhD to coach Monsoon through high school; instituted structure, study discipline, and tech-free nights that led to straight A’s. 🌟 Mohnish (Dad) — “My North Star.” Modeled uncompromising integrity, philanthropy and clear principles; annual rural-India trips; taught business culture, ethics, and the meaning of independence. 📚 Mr Pleat (AP U.S. History) — Treated students like future decision-makers; brought the financial crisis and real-world literacy into class; returned large parent gifts on principle; funny, curious, and deeply invested in students. 🧠 Charlie Munger — Philosophy of “no self-pity, no envy,” multidisciplinary thinking, independence over money, and partnership wisdom. @peopleareeverything Find out more about Monsoon here:- 🌐 www.drewinvestments.com 💼 LinkedIn @monsoon-pabrai 📘 Facebook @monsoon.pabrai 🐦 Twitter @Typhoon_Girl #PeopleAreEverything #PodcastInterview #ValueInvesting #WomenInFinance #YoungFounder #InvestingMindset #IntegrityMatters #FinancialLiteracy #EducationChangesLives #Philanthropy #CharlieMunger #WarrenBuffett #MohnishPabrai #BerkshireHathaway #ImmigrantStory #ImpactDriven #FounderLife #Nonprofit #LifeLessons #Mentorship If you care about values-driven finance, education, and impact, this one’s for you.