Meet The Foodies Some eat it for nutritional values, some for taste and some love to experiment. So, why leave entrepreneurs?

A meal well-done needs precision, knowledge, detailing and creativity. A wrong element could ruin the dish, leaving a bad taste. Similarly, to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to take risk and an out-of- the box approach. Food is an essential part of who you are.

Some eat it for nutritional values, some for taste and some love to experiment. So, why leave entrepreneurs? From snake meat to fried grasshopper and bettle soup, some entrepreneurs have experienced et al. From donning the chef's hat to berserk binge eating, entrepreneurs have had different culinary experiences. Let us explore the foodie that lives in some of these great minds!

The Quintessential Street Food Lovers!

For Rana Atheya, founder & CEO, DogSpot.in it is all about experimenting with food. Though, his heart beats for Mughlai, he is open to all foods – be it the dumplings in Gurgaon, Bun Maska in Lucknow or salads, chicken & prawn fries in Bhubaneshwar. For comfort, he turns to street food.

A self-confessed foodie, he says that travelling has made him quite a foodie. "I taste food from stalls, "thelas', or small sit out cafes," says Atheya.

Atheya can draw parallels from cooking great food and being an entrepreneur. "Cooking good food involves consistency in gaining experience, trying it out and learning. One needs to be very patient to create something which is deliciously presentable. I relate to all these and many more things when it is about learning entrepreneurship lessons from good food." He stays away from counting his calories, but works out an hour a day.

You know someone knows their food, if they describe it well! Waqar Azmi, CEO, SutraHR calls himself a crazy foodie. Always on the go, he hardly gets the time to have a hearty meal. Juicy, meaty rolls are his weakness and also comfort food. Caught up between long, stressful meetings, he doesn't mind getting his hands on one or two during the day.

Travel is an intrinsic part of his work. He believes in titillating in taste buds with a new city every time and boasts of knowing more food places than locals. The food he most relates to is street food – which also represents his personality – quick, convenient and hassle free. On happy days, he doesn't mind preparing barbeque on his office's terrace. Mouth-watering indeed!

His appetite for different cuisines has made him taste snake meat, bettle (an insect) and fried grasshopper. Not sure if we recommend that culinary adventure! "Being a foodie, I need to maintain a very healthy and balance lifestyle. I keep a strong check on the portion size."

The Rice and Cola Dish?

A few years back, when a late night hunger pang hit Loveleen Bhatia, Co-Founder & CEO, Edureka, with no elaborate food available, he satiated his hunger by doing what most of us wouldn't even think of doing – mixing rice with Coca Cola.

That was some experiment! Barring this one odd time, Bhatia wears by the traditional yet appetizing homemade "daal-chawal'. Well, why not! It's desi, nutritious and filling! "Every time I eat home food, it makes me happy and content – two moods that are extremely important for me. Nothing like mild, simple and tasty food I can relate to, in order to calm my nerves and indulge at the same time. A conscious effort to keep dinner light helps him stay healthy.

Sushi "fied'! Tanvi Malik, Co-founder, Faballey. com is a sea food lover. High in fiber, low in calories and amazing to taste, Sushi is her go-to food. Once a while she indulges in guilty pleasures like tempuras, ebifurai, korokke. Perfect for cheat days, me thinks!

A fitness enthusiast, she doesn't mind upping her carbs at times, and biting into a pizza or popping in some fries. "I try to follow a food regime on work trips, but with rushed meetings and business dinners it doesn't always work out very well. So instead, I focus on working out regularly even while travelling to offset the unhealthy eating which may follow." A large portion of her food includes flax seeds, goji berries, cold pressed juices and kale salads. She maintains the balance both in food and work!

The Simpleton Foodie

Sujayath Ali, Co-Founder, Voonik is a simple guy and that very well reflects on his food choices. Being a vegetarian, he loves to gorge on everything possible in South Indian menu card. He prefers to add in a bit of extra spice to whatever he eats.

A dosa lover, he is not too fussy and can anything that is vegetarian. In a perpetual war with time as an entrepreneur, he relates most to "Maggi noodles' - simple, always available and consistent taste! He once tasted something called as a "vegetarian chicken', not really sure what that really means! A yoga enthusiast, he believes in positivity!

This article first appeared in the Indian edition of Entrepreneur magazine (August 2016 Issue).