Fund the publication without selling its judgement
I lead a trade-publishing enterprise that must make its commercial relationships visible while preserving the editorial choices readers are paying to encounter.
Open toBoard appointments · Executive opportunities
Readers should be able to see who is paying for a piece of work and who is deciding what it says. The enterprise has to fund that distinction rather than ask editorial colleagues to defend it without commercial support.
Selected leadership work / 01
Correcting the sponsorship disclosure in a package I had approved
In 2018, as COO, I approved a commercial interview package intended to give clients a repeatable publication format.
Fund the publication without selling its judgement
In 2018 I approved a commercial interview package without making the sponsorship distinction sufficiently clear in every item. Ten interviews were reviewed: six carried clear disclosure and four did not. We corrected the four and changed the packaging, with ₹23 lakh and seven weeks committed to the work. I had treated a saleable format as an adequate publishing proposition before asking whether the reader could understand the relationship behind it. That was an operating decision I owned, not a problem to leave with an editor after publication.
I now lead Zevralqi Trade Journals in Mysuru. The company has 220 employees and ₹76 crore FY2025–26 revenue across subscriptions, sponsored content and events. Six executives work within a board-approved ₹63 crore operating plan and a separate ₹5.5 crore capital programme. I report to a board chaired by Nirmal Qevzathi and work with editorial head Roshni Zaqverli. My executive directorship began in April 2021. A beneficial 0.08% holding is included within the employee vehicle’s allocation and would need disclosure for any outside role.
Later decisions concerned keeping a print option for a defined subscriber group and declining a forum sponsor’s control over speakers and questions. Neither could be settled by invoking publishing values without examining the commercial consequence. The selected print account carried ₹24 lakh incremental receipts and ₹18 lakh printing and postage before other costs; the forum needed a smaller format after a ₹1.8 crore conditional sponsorship was declined. I want the company to explain those choices with their costs and limits intact. A possible outside-board role would require unfinished governance preparation and an appointment-specific assessment alongside my existing executive seat. Twenty-four proposed annual days must be tested against actual responsibilities before acceptance.
Commercial interviews corrected where disclosure was unclear
Four of ten reviewed sponsored interviews required correction; six already carried clear disclosure.
A print decision examined through its own subscriber account
Two thousand print add-ons produced ₹24 lakh annual incremental receipts against ₹18 lakh printing and postage before other costs.
A sponsor’s editorial-control condition declined
The forum plan was reduced from ₹2.6 crore to ₹2 crore after declining the conditional ₹1.8 crore proposal.
Editorial authority supported by enterprise responsibility
Six executives and a separately chaired board hold the commercial and operating account around the publishing proposition.
Current focus
A publishing model whose commercial relationships readers can understand
Conversations I welcome
Enterprise leadership and one assessed outside-board contribution
The leadership record
Trusted with consequential decisions.
In the boardroom
Zevralqi Trade JournalsExecutive Director alongside Chief Executive Officer · April 2021–present
Formation
Bachelor of Arts in EnglishTavqezni Letters College · 1993
Mallika puts the commercial consequence beside the publishing choice. The board can see what we are giving up and what remains unproven before approving the next commitment.
Nirmal QevzathiFictional Board Chair, Zevralqi Trade JournalsThe full record ↗
Contact
Enterprise leadership and one assessed outside-board contribution
