PNN
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 16: Family businesses in India account for over 70% of the national gross domestic product and employ hundreds of millions of people, safeguarding decades of institutional knowledge and community trust. Yet, despite this economic footprint, fewer than 13% last through the third generation. This mortality rate stems rarely from market dynamics and almost universally from transition failures, where incoming leaders step into complex family ecosystems without the specialized preparation required to navigate them. To address this gap , Gyan Vardhan Gupta and Dr. Nupur Pavan Bang have built Stepping In, a 10-week leadership programme for next-generation members of Indian family enterprises.
Most second generation family business members enter their enterprises backed by top-tier academic credentials and external corporate backgrounds, only to encounter unwritten governance dynamics, interpersonal complexities, and unspoken generational expectations. With an estimated 60 to 70 percent of Indian family business patriarchs expected to initiate succession discussions over the next five to ten years, the coming decade represents a decisive generational handover. Stepping In enters the market to provide structured, practical preparation tailored to this transition, offering an accessible online format without requiring relocation.
Gyan Vardhan Gupta, Founder of Stepping In, an IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus with prior experience at Amazon, conceptualized the initiative following his own transition into his family enterprise.
Reflecting on the need for the programme, Mr. Gupta stated, "I stepped into my family business with every credential you could want. And I still wasn't prepared for what I actually walked into. I looked for something structured to help me navigate it. It didn't exist. So I built it."
Leading the programme is Dr. Nupur Pavan Bang, Founder of Bodhi Advisory and Nurturing Group, former Academic Director at the Thomas Schmidheiny Centre for Family Enterprise at ISB, and a global inductee into the Family Business Hall of Fame, Family Business United, UK. Having advised numerous family businesses across the country on governance, succession planning, and conflict management, Dr. Bang leads each session directly alongside Gupta.
Emphasizing the urgency of succession readiness, Dr. Nupur Pavan Bang added, "In all these years of studying Indian family businesses I have seen that their biggest challenge is not the market or the business itself. Their biggest challenge is transition. Stepping In exists because the preparation for it should not be optional."
The curriculum is structured around a sequential developmental arc moving from Self to System, Credibility, Entrepreneurship, Ownership, and ultimately Stewardship. Over 10 weekly three-hour evening online sessions every Thursday and select Sunday workshops, participants analyze real Indian family business case studies rather than theoretical models. Key modules explore critical dilemmas, including the decision to join the business, setting up protective governance frameworks, holding difficult generational conversations, and driving internal operational change without disrupting family cohesion.
The programme is designed for individuals evaluating whether to join their enterprise, newly inducted members seeking structured clarity, and members preparing to assume executive leadership. To ensure intimate, high-impact peer cohorts, admissions are selective, with all applications reviewed directly by the programme leads. Interested candidates can register interest at steppingin.co.in and will be contacted personally by the programme team within 24 hours.
About Stepping In
Stepping In is a 10-week structured leadership programme designed for next-generation family business members in India. Built around real Indian family business case studies, a selective peer cohort, and a deliberate developmental arc from Self to Stewardship, the programme provides the specialized preparation required to successfully navigate generational transitions in the family business ecosystem.
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