Serial Entrepreneur Aditya Khurjekar: You Always Invest In People

MEDICI CEO Aditya Khurjekar is always building new verticals and developing opportunities in Web 3 and AI.

He’s now at Prove following an acquisition.

Before MEDICI, Khurjekar founded Money20/20, one of the largest global fintech events. He additionally advised companies like Blume Ventures, Luge Capital and 1000Farmacie.

Khurjekar has a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Temple University and started his career at Bell Labs — a research and development facility famous for producing 10 Nobel Prize laureates. He also had a notable seven-year tenure at Verizon, where he was the founder of the mobile payments joint venture that Google acquired.

Khurjekar will join other fintech leaders, participating in Benzinga's Fintech Deal Day event in NYC on Nov. 13. 

A Relentless People-Centric Entrepreneur

Despite a solid corporate track record, Khurjekar had an entrepreneurial drive to set out independently and follow the vision. His first venture, Money20/20, was a quick success, as it was acquired after just two years.

According to Aditya, the experience of building and eventually selling Money20/20 was a profound learning opportunity. It validated his belief that “innovation conversations” should be accessible to a broader audience, and that transformative innovations often emerge when seemingly unrelated fields collide. Money20/20 was a testament to the power of cross-industry dialogue, allowing innovators from various domains to come together and spark new ideas.

Reflecting on this experience, he acknowledged that reality differs from what we typically see in popular culture.

“It’s always different when you read books about successful founders versus you having experienced it yourself,” he stated in an interview.

Still, Khurjekar didn’t grow complacent. Instead, he used this momentum to create a new venture. Exclusive, high-ticket conferences had limitations, so he founded MEDICI Global, intending to create a more inclusive platform for innovation conversations. MEDICI Global sought to transcend silos and foster interactions among innovators from diverse sectors.

After its acquisition by Prove Identity, Khurjekar is now focusing on creating a digital identity business to serve AI-enabled markets.

“We should keep it in perspective and allow it to take us forward,” he says, comparing AI's transformative power to pivotal innovations like the wheel or atomic fission.

Model for Success 

Khurjekar sees three pillars in his approach. At the baseline, he sees technology, scientific process and data-driven decisions.

“The scientific process isn’t just for scientists in a lab,” he notes. “It’s for anyone who needs to make an important decision based on evidence."

Above, he places the need for creating a positive impact.

“If you are investing in someone who wants to make atom bombs for a living and you don’t believe that that is the right thing for humanity, then you don’t invest in that person, no matter how smart or good they might be," he noted.

Finally, he places people at the top, emphasizing that everything revolves around them.

"You always invest in people, not what they do. It is the people who are making good or bad decisions."

What better place than Benzinga's Fintech Deal Day & Awards event to meet entrepreneurs like Aditya Khurjekar and learn about the latest trends in business and technology. Join Benzinga's Future of Digital Assets in NYC on Nov. 14, 2023, to stay updated on trends like AI, regulations, SEC actions & institutional adoption in the crypto space. Secure early bird discounted tickets now!

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