Silicon Subcontinent: Recent Episodes
Aman Sidhant, Shryans Goyal
Silicon Valley is more than a location; it's a mindset. Join Kai & Shryans on Silicon Subcontinent, where we discuss India's growth as an economic powerhouse from an entrepreneurial lens. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/silicon-subcontinent/support
Abhishek Sethi is a co-founder of gradCapital, where he is investing in the next generation of Indian entrepreneurs - current and recent college students.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:45 Why are BITS, Manipal, and IIT Roorkee producing so many successful founders?
7:45 What is the biggest constraint while building a company?
10:33 Democratizing access to capital with gradCapital
13:30 Founders v/s the World, and what gradCapital looks for in founders
15:27 Grit
19:06 Abhishek's career before starting gradCapital
24:06 Biotech research and translation to businesses
27:24 How does one start a VC firm to fund startups?
38:45 Abhishek's venture into biology, finding the laws of motion for water beetles (and why this is important)
49:30 As a founder, maximise upside instead of mitigating risks
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Cathy Guo is an investor, author, and founder. She currently manages Indian investments for Antler, the world's fastest growing VC firm.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:48 Cathy's journey from China to India via the West, writing Myth of the Entrepreneur, and who an entrepreneur really is
5:07 Entrepreneurship in India v/s the U.S., and how "mission-focused" companies should think about giving back
9:16 Cathy's perspective on Indian Entrepreneurship today, and how yoga ties into this
12:37 Antler and its vision for early stage investing in India
18:42 The mental models Antler uses to identify investments
23:43 Identifying exceptional people
26:07 What separates a VC business from a traditional business?
28:49 Common characteristics of great founders
32:48 Exciting spaces in India (hint: a big one is crypto)
34:02 What is DeFi?
38:01 Developments in crypto this cycle, and Cathy's work at Dunya Labs
42:01 Opportunities in crypto
44:46 Government intervention in crypto
49:40 How can India benefit from crypto?
53:47 Cathy on her First Principles
59:46 Promises of Immortality
1:02:17 Meditation
1:07:32 What problem would you solve if money was not a constraint?
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Rohit Mittal is old fashioned in some ways, and extremely progressive in others. His company, Stilt, is enabling immigrants to lead easier lives in the U.S., and he hopes that some of his customers will go on to work on future-facing problems in climate change and biotech. Having said that, he still prefers taking notes on pen and paper, and prints documents out instead of reading PDFs online. We learnt what it takes to start a company in the U.S. as an immigrant, the role of luck (and preparation) in becoming successful, and how Stilt is going to revolutionize financial services for the under-served in America. Some sound bites -
On starting a company or even a project: Don’t ask for permission. Everything is allowed.
Remove all distractions that don’t help in building the company.
Change your network to be amongst people working on their own companies.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:58 What Stilt is and How it was Started
6:24 Choosing the First Problem to Solve {Takeaway - Constrain a Problem so much that the Solution becomes Straightforward}
8:33 Starting a Company in the U.S. as an Immigrant
12:53 The Risks Rohit had to Take {More here}
14:29 Getting the First Round of Funding as Someone Without Many Connections
24:08 First steps with Stilt
26:00 Getting into Y Combinator, and facing Impostor Syndrome
35:17 Luck = Preparation + Opportunity, Taking Asymmetric Bets, and the Importance of Consistency while Working on a Startup
42:27 The Present and Future of Stilt
46:06 Growing Stilt, and the Operational Aspect of Running a Company {Takeaway - A lot of doing something new is just Method Acting}
50:43 Rohit's Connection with The Indian Startup Ecosystem
54:03 If Money Wasn't An Issue, What Problem Would Rohit Work On?
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After experiencing homelessness and surviving on bananas, nothing fazes Abhinav Das any more. Abhinav started a company before starting a company was cool. At EVOMO, his first startup, Abhinav, aimed to solve the transportation problem in India. The skills he learnt while building his own truck came in handy when he started Orangewood Labs, where along with his co-founders Aditya and Akash, Abhinav is democratizing access to robotics and automation for businesses of all sizes. Tune in as we discuss how to make the most of limited resources, the not-so-sexy parts of being a founder, and building from India for the world.
Timestamps: 00:40 What drew Abhinav to robotics? 01:40 Abhinav's inspiration for EVOMO, his first company 03:10 Initial days of struggle and trying to find grants 05:30 Traveling to rural India to understand the need for affordable vehicles 06:50 Deep tech funding in 2010 and initial days of the company 08:10 Abhinav's Y Combinator experience 09:10 How being in the middle class shaped Abhinav's perspectives 11:50 Importance of quitting on time 13:00 Learning new skills to broaden horizons 14:30 Abhinav about Aditya and Akash, his co-founders 17:15 Inefficiencies in the furniture industry and building CNC machines 19:00 The beginning of Orangewood Labs 20:20 The importance of hustling and not moving mindlessly with trends 23:25 How the Y Combinator experience has changed over the years 29:30 Orangewood's pivot from furniture to robotics 33:40 Recurrent financial instability in a startup 35:30 Thinking big 37:00 Getting investors 41:30 Raising money in the USA 44:40 Future plans for Orangewood Labs 48:20 Advice for students and aspiring entrepreneurs
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Rahul Subramaniam is living the Indian dream! After growing up in America, Rahul moved to India about a decade ago. Rahul has started two companies in India — Athena Education, that mentors students for college abroad, and Florence Capital, a microcredit service for women in India. Rahul is passionate about the Indian growth story and has worked extensively to understand the education and fintech landscapes in India. In this episode, he discusses what shaped his decision to move to India, and how he he manages two companies side by side.
0:55 What made Rahul move to India from the U.S.
4:40 How traveling impacted Rahul's life
8:00 What India can learn from China
11:00 Starting Athena Education
18:30 Athena as a Venture Opportunity
21:20 About Athena’s Growth
26:50 Operational Challenges at a Startup
33:15 How to Spot Smart Students
36:50 Florence Capital
41:00 How Florence became an Organization for Women
44:30 Differences between Florence and Athena
47:30 Bootstrapping Florence
50:20 Florence in the next five years
52:10 Advice for Budding Entrepreneurs
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Abhishek Singh is the CEO of MyGov, President & CEO of the National e-Governance Division, and MD & CEO of the Digital India Corporation (DIC) at the Government of India. After an illustrious career as an IAS Officer that saw him work extensively with Chief Ministers and Governors in Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh, Abhishek is now leading the Indian Government's efforts to build digital services for all Indian citizens. In this episode, we discuss how India is shifting from providing Software Services to building Software Products, how the Government is democratising business opportunities for new companies, and what Abhishek thinks is the future of entrepreneurship in India.
0:00 - Intro and Abhishek's journey from IIT to IAS
10:00 - How India is becoming a Product-based Software economy
18:00 - Indian Government's Policy Changes to Support Startups and Manufacturing
25:42 - The Government's Initiatives to improve the Ease of Doing Business in India (hint: https://www.mygov.in & https://www.startupindia.gov.in/)
29:02 - Operating the Government like a Startup and New Initiatives like DigiLocker
39:02 - Which Digital Initiatives will have the Most Impact in the Future, and how Startups can take Advantage
46:23 - Abhishek's Day-to-Day, how he chooses what to work on, and Engaging Citizens 44:39
54:08 - What it will take for India to become the next Silicon Valley (or as Abhishek calls it, the Indian Valley)
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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Angad Daryani is an entrepreneur building one of India's hottest climate tech startups — Praan. After building 3D printers from scratch and working with Ramesh Raskar of MIT Media Lab, Angad studied Electrical Engineering at Georgia Tech, where he built a filterless purification device and soon became popular on his college campus. This device would eventually lead to Praan.
Today, when he's not solving fluid dynamics problems or raising VC money, you can find him translating innovative solutions from a Western context to an Indian one. We chat about his life, his interests, and what it takes to solve one of the most important problems we face not just as a nation, but as a species -- Climate Change.
If you're interested in solving Climate Change, go to https://www.praan.io/jobs or https://www.praan.io/connect
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro to Angad and Praan
5:14 Angad on the impact of a 1.5C rise in temperatures
13:30 Angad on carbon capture versus re electrification of the grid
20:20 Early life, Mentors, and Problem Solving
40:29 Mental Models at Praan
54:20 Engineering Challenges at Praan
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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This clip was taken from Episode 2 of Silicon Subcontinent with Meeta Sengupta
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This clip was taken from Episode 2 of Silicon Subcontinent with Meeta Sengupta
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More details at https://www.thehindu.com/education/maths-physics-no-longer-mandatory-for-engineering-entry/article34056089.ece
This clip is taken from Episode 2 of Silicon Subcontinent with Meeta Sengupta
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/silicon-subcontinent/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/silicon-subcontinent/support
This clip is taken from Episode 2 of Silicon Subcontinent with Meeta Sengupta
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/silicon-subcontinent/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/silicon-subcontinent/support
This clip is taken from Episode 2 of Silicon Subcontinent with Meeta Sengupta
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Meeta Sengupta is a prolific writer, speaker, and a pioneer in education policy. After a career in banking, she was inspired to work in education policy. In over two decades of experience with education policy in India, England and the US, she has found time to spur the creation of ISB and also write short stories for children. In this episode, we discuss the incentives in the Indian education system and how they shape the entrepreneurs of our country. We also chat about the spaces in education that she's excited about, including AI-enabled learning and biohacking, and how India's entrepreneurial future must be built atop progressive education policy.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro, and Meeta Sengputa’s journey from Banking to Education
13:40 - What Indian Edtech Startups get right and wrong, and how the Govt., VCs, and NGOs affect education in India
26:23 - Indian Govt. announcing that Math and Physics are not ‘essential’ for engineering entrance exams, and the talent arbitrage between India and Western Countries
36:18 - How education policy influences entrepreneurship in India, and whether India should promote risk taking and entrepreneurial skills in its curriculum
49:55 - Future Opportunities in EdTech, and the Moment Where Learning Happens
If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to amansidhant@gmail.com
This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
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Join Aman & Shryans in their conversation with Nikunj, a Berkeley graduate from India working as a quant at Bridgewater Associates. As an investment associate at the world’s largest hedge fund, Nikunj knows a thing or two about the financial markets and how they shape human behavior. In this episode, we discuss the millennial mindset in India, how Indian startups compare to their American counterparts, and what Indian businesses a future billionaire should start, among other things.
Timestamps:
00:10 - Introduction
01:28 - Working remotely (and going on a cross country trip while at it)
03:20 - Are more companies likely to continue remote work after lockdowns are lifted?
05:08 - Life before Berkeley for Nikunj
07:41 - Deciding between Berkeley and an IIT after getting a good JEE rank
11:45 - If given the opportunity, should someone study in India or the US?
13:52 - Why the India's Education System is more 'rigid' compared to the American System
15:30 - Experience while double majoring at Berkeley, the path from Apple to Bridgewater, and the applications of an engineering mindset to various fields
21:10 - Did people at Bridgewater anticipate the GameStop incident?
23:15 - Comparing the startup scene in India and the US
26:56 - The consumer mindset in India, and the shift from the previous generation to this one
30:00 - Indian businesses implementing India-specific solutions
31:05 - The opportunity for a new generation to use new ideas for the Indian market
32:05 - More capital available for Indian businesses due to the US-China Trade War, and the Government easing regulations in response
35:28 - What are the biggest areas of opportunity for new businesses in India?
41:19 - Is there scope for a quantitative hedge fund in India, that trades the Indian markets?
52:13 - Outro
If you're interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to amansidhant@gmail.com
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