Former General Counsel - South Asia at GE, John Thaliath has joined manufacturing company Zetwerk as General Counsel.

Thaliath is a law graduate from the University of Mysore and has an LL.M. from London School of Economics (LSE).

He is the Founding Principal of School of Law, Christ University Bangalore. He has previously worked with Trilegal, Orange County (California), TE Connectivity and Intel Corporation.

Thaliath was appointed as General Counsel of GE South Asia in May 2020. He was also GC for GE Global Research.

Speaking to Bar & Bench about what made him make the shift from a big conglomerate to a growing unicorn, Thaliath said,

"It's a new economy in India and I felt I needed to participate and MNC structures don't allow you to participate in such a new economy which is shaping and playing out in India and therefore I thought I should take the plunge. The startup economic model is very different from the MNC model. The risk participation opportunity is more in startups. With risk comes reward."

On taking the plunge, Thaliath said,

"I am super excited about this move. I don't think in the General Counsel (GC) community, startups are a well understood model. Many are apprehensive before committing to startups. But I think the GC community should consider and give it a shot so long as the business model is sound. Even for India's growth curve, it is important that people who have the ability to contribute to the startup growth with a very good corporate governance structure, give startups the shot."