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In this episode of #DamaniTalks, we sit down with Kshitij Saxena, founder of AutoNinja and now General Partner at Relentless VC, a venture fund specializing in SaaS and B2B marketplace startups. Kshitij's journey is packed with insights, from starting his entrepreneurial journey with a gaming startup to creating AutoNinja—a CRM tool for car dealerships, which was later acquired by ICICI Lombard.🚀 We dive into how Kshitij’s early fascination with coding set the stage for his ventures, the lessons learned from building a successful SaaS company in India, and his transition into the world of venture capital.With over a decade of experience as both an entrepreneur and investor, Kshitij shares why he believes SaaS is the most promising software opportunity, how AI and large language models (LLMs) are reshaping the landscape, and the importance of perseverance in entrepreneurship. He also offers a clear thesis on building and investing in early-stage companies, while reflecting on his own evolution from being a software founder to becoming a first-check investor in ambitious startups.Sabine Hossenfelder: https://www.youtube.com/@SabineHossenfelderPeter Zeihan: https://www.youtube.com/@ZeihanonGeopoliticsIn this episode, you’ll learn:- Kshitij's entrepreneurial journey from building small arcade games at 11 years old to creating India’s leading CRM tool for car dealerships.- How understanding revenue models and the market helped him build Auto Ninja into a profitable business.- The process of evaluating founders and startups at Relentless VC.- The impact of large language models on SaaS and the future of software.Why you should watch:Kshitij Saxena’s journey is a masterclass in grit, adaptability, and vision. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, an established founder, or someone interested in the mechanics of venture capital, this episode is packed with actionable insights. Learn how Kshitij built successful companies, navigated a strategic acquisition, and is now supporting other founders on their own startup journeys.If you're curious about how to grow in the B2B and SaaS space or how to approach the early years of company building, this episode is a must-watch!#DamaniTalks #ShowMeDamani #KshitijSaxena #VentureCapital #SaaS #StartupJourney #FounderStories #B2BMarketplaces #Entrepreneurship #AI #RelentlessVC #AutoNinja #IndianStartups #ICICILombard #TechInnovation #BusinessStrategy #Investing #StartupLessons #GTM #VentureInvestor #ScalingStartups #BusinessInsights

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In this episode of #DamaniTalks, we chat with Aditya Singh, co-founder of BookMyForex and managing partner at All-In Capital. Aditya shares his journey from building India’s first online forex marketplace to transitioning into venture capital, offering insights for entrepreneurs and investors alike.

Growing up in a traditional banking family, Aditya launched BookMyForex, revolutionizing how forex services were offered online. He discusses how he scaled the business, navigated capital challenges, and eventually exited through a sale to MakeMyTrip.

Post-MBA, Aditya entered the VC world, investing in over 30 startups before co-founding All In Capital. He explains the unique approach behind the fund, focusing on non-obvious founders and the importance of building lasting relationships with portfolio companies.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

1. How Aditya scaled BookMyForex and managed the challenges of a capital-heavy, low-margin business model.
2. His insights on venture debt, working capital, and how startups should (or shouldn’t) use debt, drawn from his time at Stride Ventures.
3. How All-In Capital uses a unique framework to identify both obvious and non-obvious founders and how they’ve built a unique venture partner network.
4. The importance of maintaining a work-life balance, and how fitness plays a crucial role in Aditya’s routine.

Why You Should Watch:

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, investor, or founder looking to learn from someone who’s been on both sides of the table, Aditya’s story offers practical advice on everything from scaling businesses to managing investments. Learn from his experiences on scaling businesses, managing investments, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Gain valuable insights from one of India’s rising venture capitalists and hear how he’s shaping the next generation of startups with All-In Capital!

DamaniTalks #AdityaSingh #BookMyForex #AllInCapital #VentureCapital #StartupJourney #Entrepreneurship #VentureDebt #ScalingStartups #FounderAdvice #Innovation #WorkLifeBalance #FitnessAndSuccess #IndianStartups #Podcast #InvestmentInsights

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In this enlightening episode of #DamaniTalks, we explore the incredible journey of Deepak Daftari, a self-made millionaire in India’s almost unknown domain name industry.Starting with humble beginnings, Deepak shares how he faced multiple rejections after studying in Australia—including being denied a U.S. visa twice—only to rise above the challenges and launch eSiksha, one of India’s first online education platforms in the 90s.Deepak’s venture into the world of virtual real estate transformed him into the .com King, a title earned through sheer determination and innovative thinking. From bootstrapping his way to success to navigating the early days of the internet in India, Deepak’s story is filled with actionable insights and inspiration for entrepreneurs at any stage.In This Episode, You’ll Learn:- How Deepak turned adversity into opportunity, creating a successful online education platform when the internet was still in its infancy in India.- The key strategies he used to break into and dominate the domain name industry, earning him the prestigious title of .com King.- The importance of resilience, innovation, and a visionary mindset in building a lasting business empire.-Deepak’s perspective on the evolution of the digital landscape and where he sees opportunities for growth and innovation in the future.Why You Should Watch:If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, tech enthusiast, or simply someone looking for a dose of motivation, Deepak’s story is a powerful reminder that success often comes to those who dare to forge their own path.Learn from one of India’s pioneering figures in the digital space and get inspired to take your own ventures to the next level.Gain valuable insights from a true industry leader and bootstrapped millionaire!#ShowMeDamani #DotcomMillionaire #DeepakDaftari #Entrepreneurship #DomainNames #Podcast #SuccessStory #Innovation #Bootstrapping #OnlineEducation #India #eSiksha

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In this eye-opening episode, I sit down with 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐢, the dynamic Founding Partner at 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐕𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥, who has been instrumental in shaping India's venture capital and venture debt landscape. Tarana's journey from her beginnings in India to a thriving career on Wall Street and her subsequent return to India, becoming a pivotal figure in India’s startup ecosystem, is a testament to her expertise and the global perspective she brings to the Indian startup scene. 🎙️ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫: 🚀 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚’𝐬 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲: From her early days at Morgan Stanley during the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) boom and meltdown to establishing India’s first venture seed fund with SeedFund, and eventually becoming a partner at InnoVen Capital. Her journey is a treasure trove of unique insights. 💼 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐭 𝐯𝐬. 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥: Tarana breaks down the key differences between venture debt and venture capital, providing practical advice on when and how startups should consider venture debt and what sets it apart from traditional bank loans. 🎯 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 M𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬: Explore the crucial role fund managers play in the success of startups, and how Tarana’s strategic insights have supported numerous founders on their journey to success. 💡 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: Get a peek into Tarana’s approach to angel investing and the unique value she brings to the table for startups in India. Her approach is not just insightful but also inspiring. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡? Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, or simply curious about the financial world, this episode is packed with insights to help you understand the evolving landscape of venture funding in India. Understanding this landscape is crucial for anyone navigating the startup ecosystem, as it can provide valuable insights and strategies for success. Tarana shares candid stories, expert advice, and valuable lessons essential for this journey. Don’t miss out on this chance to learn from an industry leader who has seen it all—from the highs of the MBS boom to the realities of the financial meltdown and the exciting growth of India’s startup scene. 📈 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲! #𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐋𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐢 #𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 #𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐭 #𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 #𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 #𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 #𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 #𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 #𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐬 #𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬

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Welcome to episode 56 of #DamaniTalks! In this episode, I engage in a captivating discussion with Srikanth A.V., the founder of Neo Wealth Partners, who has witnessed the remarkable transformation of India’s economy from a GDP per capita of $300 to nearly $3000. Join us as Srikanth shares his extensive experience and insights into the evolution of wealth management in India over the past few decades. In this deep dive, we explore: - The early days of Srikanth’s career and his firsthand experiences during pivotal economic reforms. - The challenges and milestones of India’s growth in the financial sector. - Practical advice for investors and wealth managers navigating today’s economic landscape. Don’t miss these invaluable lessons from a veteran in the field. Tap into Srikanth’s journey to gain perspectives on managing and growing wealth in a rapidly changing economy. Watch now to get equipped with strategies that could add 100-200 basis points to your portfolio! 🔗 Stay tuned for more insightful discussions by subscribing to our channel and hitting the bell icon for notifications! #WealthManagement #IndianEconomy #FinancialGrowth #InvestmentStrategies #NeoWealthPartners #FinancePodcast #ShowMeDamani

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In this captivating episode of #DamaniTalks, I have the privilege of sitting down with Rahul Veerwal, the visionary CEO and founder of GetWork. GetWork, India’s premier fresher hiring platform, is a testament to Rahul's unique journey. It connects talent from tier 2, 3, and 4 cities with top companies, a feat that was once unimaginable. Rahul shares the remarkable story of building GetWork, the hurdles they overcame, and their groundbreaking use of AI in revolutionizing the hiring process.Key Points Discussed:1. Meeting in Turkey:• 🌍 The unique journey began when I met Rahul at an event in Turkey, a rare encounter that changed everything.• 🎓 Rahul, fresh out of college, pitched his vision for GetWork, leading to a transformative partnership.2. The Power of GetWork:• 🚀 GetWork is not just a platform, it's a beacon of hope for students from smaller cities, connecting them with job opportunities in top companies and bridging a significant gap in the market.• 📊 The platform provides a SaaS product to colleges, tracking students’ progress and ensuring they are job-ready by graduation.3. Revolutionizing Recruitment with AI:• 🤖 GetWork's most significant innovation is GetWork.ai, an AI-powered tool that has transformed the recruitment landscape. This tool, developed by GetWork, streamlines the entire recruitment process, making it faster, more efficient, and less prone to human error.• 📞 The AI can screen resumes and conduct calls at a rate of 2,000 calls per minute, drastically reducing time and human error.4. Success and Future Vision:• 💼 GetWork has grown from a small startup to a company with 65 members, generating significant monthly revenue.• 🌐 The future of GetWork is not just about growth, it's about global expansion and becoming a major competitor to LinkedIn in the recruitment space. This vision is a testament to the company's ambition and potential.5. Rapid Fire Round:• 🔥 Stay tuned for the rapid-fire round at the end, where Rahul answers fun and insightful questions about his journey and personal life.3 Exploratory Questions:1. How did Rahul’s unique hiring and AI development approach set GetWork apart from traditional recruitment methods?2. What were the key challenges faced during the early stages of GetWork, and how were they overcome?3. How does GetWork plan to scale its AI-powered recruitment platform globally while maintaining quality and efficiency?📌 Check out GetWork: https://getwork.org📌 GetWork AI Waitlist: https://getwork.ai📌 GETWORK - Startup Turkey 2019 Demo Day: https://youtu.be/cnMUtkMGWZs📌 Startup Turkey 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAgdRV0Y8Dw📌 How to Stop Worrying and Start Living: https://www.amazon.in/How-Stop-Worrying-Start-Living/dp/8175993952/📌 Connect on Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/showmedamani📌 Follow on Instagram: https://instagram.com/showmedamani#DamaniTalks #GetWork #RahulVeerwal #HiringRevolution #AIRecruitment #StartupJourney #TechInnovation #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #CareerDevelopment

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Welcome to Episode 54 of Damani Talks! Dive into an enlightening conversation with Abhishek Agarwal, Managing Partner at RockStud Capital, as we explore his journey from 2006 in the UK to becoming a trailblazer in the venture capital space.

In this Episode:

• Early Career Challenges: Learn about Abhishek's initial struggles and his experience of losing 10 lakh rupees in a single day.
• Resilience in the 2009 Meltdown: Discover how Abhishek navigated the turbulent times of the financial crisis and what it taught him about perseverance and the financial world.
• Successful Ventures: Hear about his first two startup investments that have returned all the capital invested, showcasing his knack for picking winners.
• Innovative Funding: Gain insights into his unique approach to managing a fund that blends listed and startup portfolios and delivers a 1.4x DPI (140% return in cash!).
• Future Outlook: What lies ahead for Rockstar Capital III and the vision for the next phase of growth.

Join us for this riveting journey into the heart of startup challenges and investment strategies, a journey full of candid reflections and valuable lessons.

Like, comment, and subscribe for more deep dives with industry leaders on Damani Talks.

This isn’t just a conversation; it’s a masterclass in venture capital and resilience.

DamaniTalks #VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy #FinancialInsights #StartupGrowth

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🌟 Out Now: #Damanitalks Ep. 53 with Mohit Gulati, managing partner at ITI Growth Ventures!

🌍 Mohit spills the beans on his life's rollercoaster ride 🎢 - from challenging norms to conquering the finance world 💼.

Every minute is packed with raw, unscripted stories 📖 and hard-earned wisdom 🦉 that'll leave you inspired and motivated.

Catch this electrifying episode on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, and Google Podcast 📻.

🎧 This is an extraordinary adventure of learning and discovery! 🌟 🚀 Get ready for a thrilling journey with the fire beneath ITI Growth Ventures. 🚀

showmedamani #venturecapital #arthagroup #funding #startup #itigrowthventures #podcast #new #trending

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🚀 Welcome to an extraordinary journey in this latest episode of #DamaniTalks. We're honored to host Akshay Chaturvedi, the visionary CEO of LeverageEdu. In this episode, we delve deep into his life story, uncovering the motivations, challenges, and triumphs that have shaped his remarkable career.📈 From his formative years at #KPMG to becoming a trailblazer in global education, Akshay's journey is filled with invaluable lessons on leadership, perseverance, and strategic innovation.🌍 We discuss:- Akshay's personal and professional motivations- The strategic pivot of LeverageEdu- Managing a diverse investment landscape with angels, #VCs, #CVCs, and more- The driving force behind Akshay's intense work ethic- Balancing personal life with the demands of building LeverageEdu- Plus, a rapid-fire round that reveals more about Akshay's unique perspectives and future ambitions.🔥 Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a student dreaming big, or simply someone ----looking for #inspiration, this episode is a must-watch. It's not just a conversation; it's a ---masterclass in navigating the complexities of the #start-up world and making an impact on a global scale.👉 Don't forget to watch till the end for some rapid-fire questions that add a fun twist to our deep discussion!👍 If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, and subscribe to our channel for more -inspiring content. Your support helps us bring these incredible stories to you.#leadership #Innovation #Education #Entrepreneurship #GlobalImpact #StartupLife #VentureCapital #WorkLifeBalance #DamaniTalks

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As #DamaniTalks completes its 50th episode, we bring you a leading personality from the Fintech industry - Shinjini Kumar, Co-Founder of SALT (mysaltapp)

She had a 17-year stint with the RBI, Paytm Bank, and later led Citibank's consumer bank for India – each role would make the holder proud – a position that one would retire from.

Yet, she found herself a challenge that got her jumping into the founder role.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• Shinjini’s early days in Bihar. After studying English literature, what prompted her to move into the financial sector?
• Shinjini took up the role of the payment at RBI; why did that space fascinate her attention? After 17 years at the RBI, what were her key takeaways from this experience? Would Shinjini encourage the youth to take up the challenge of working as a government employee?
• How did Shinjini overcome the expectation mismatch on her job responsibilities at PwC? What was her experience like seeing the best of the corporate and government world?
• Why was building a Paytm bank the next challenge for Shinjini? What was her experience working with Vijay Shekhar Sharma? What triggered her to to quit the payments bank just before the launch? What are her thoughts on Paytm’s IPO?
• When did Shinjini know she wanted to quit her employment stint and take up entrepreneurship? Where did the idea of her startup - SALT germinate? How do the startup’s services cater to women?
• How did Shinjini choose her investors? What are the differences between being an intrapreneur and an entrepreneur? Where does Shinjini see SALT in the next 5 years?

Shinjini’s book recommendation:

• The Grapes of Wrath By John Steinbeck

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Luck is when hard work, preparation, and perseverance meet with opportunity. Most founders get the hard work and perseverance right, but very few achieve all 3…

On the XLix (49th) episode of #DamaniTalks, we had 1 such rare founder!

Founder & CEO of WealthDesk, Ujjwal Jain's life journey is a series of forward-looking decisions that got him to founding a top-level fintech startup!

Key takeaways from this episode:

• Ujjwal speaks about growing up in Kolkata, in a middle-class Marwari family. Why did he pursue engineering when he knew that Finance was his calling?
• After Jadavpur University why did Ujjwal not pursue jobs with the likes of Google and Microsoft, and chose a stint with D.E. Shaw?
• What does WealthDesk do, and what is WealthBasket all about? It took three years for the team to build the platform; when did Ujjwal know that he was ready to go live?
• Why did full-service brokers like Motilal Oswal, JM Financial, Anand Rathi choose to partner with WealthDesk, despite being in a similar space? How is WealthDesk helping discount brokers like Paytm Money, Zerodha and Upstox? How is Ujjwal creating a “win-win” for all the different classes of brokers onboard?
• How is WealthDesk different from competitors like - Smallcase?
• How did Ujjwal convince his consumers to pay for a service that is otherwise easily available? How is Ujjwal building a brand name for himself?
• How and why did Ujjwal decide to pump in his own $1M instead of raising funds? Ujjwal’s experience of raising $3.88M.
• If Ujjwal could turn back time, what are the things he wishes to have done differently? Where does he see WealthDesk in the next 5 years?

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As the heath-tech startup ecosystem sees increasing interest, funding, and valuations in India, We delved deep into a conversation with a Doctor turned VC investor for a refreshing perspective on the space!

Our guest Pankaj Jethwani, Executive Vice President of W Health Ventures, sheds light on the following:

• What motivated Pankaj to become a doctor? What was his trigger to change from being a doctor to becoming part of Management? What is the value of an MBA from Wharton?
• Pankaj’s experience in the non-profit, social & healthcare space. How did Pankaj get into Iora Health? What were the key differences between the healthcare space between India & the US? What was his experience like working in a high-flying US startup?
• Pankaj’s background and role with W Health Ventures? What is W Health's investment focus? What areas is Pankaj looking at personally? Did Pankaj’s on-the-ground experience in healthcare and management consulting experience help him pick founding teams?
• How does Pankaj choose the founders he wants to invest in? How does W Health Ventures help businesses, over and above the capital? What does he look for in a company before investing?
• What is The Breakfast Revolution, and what does the program include? Over the years, Pankaj has served 2,20,000 children over 20 million fortified meals; how does he continue making such an impact?
• How does Pankaj get the best mentors for himself? Pankaj’s advice to budding entrepreneurs. Where does Pankaj see W Health ventures in the next 5 years?

Pankaj’s book recommendations:

• Venture Deals by Brad Feld
• The New Business Road Test by John Mullins
• Super Founders by Ali Tamaseb
• The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary

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Most people believe that an affluent entrepreneurial family provides one a leg up in the entrepreneurial journey. But like any star-kid will tell you, these comparisons are for the outsiders who are looking in.

The reality for someone like Dhruv Toshniwal, scion to the Banswara Syntex family and now the founder of The Pant Project, is vastly different.

Watch this episode to learn:

• Why did Dhruv decide to go abroad and study finance? How did his US experience help him in his entrepreneurial journey?
• Why did Dhruv choose to move to Mexico from the US? What were his key learnings from this experience? What made Dhruv come back to India after spending 9+ years there?
• What prompted Dhruv to start from the factory floor of his family business Banswara Syntex Ltd.? How does he grow an already established business? How is Dhruv steering the Banswara ship into startup-friendly waters? What were the opportunities he came across and what challenges did he face?
• What was the idea behind building Dhruv’s first startup – Aanswr Fashion? What has been his experience working with his brother, and how do they decide the next pivot?
• What is The Pant Project? Why did Dhruv decide to move from B2B to D2C? What is Dhruv’s go-to-market strategy? How are his brands co-existing with each other?
• What’s the difference between TPP, Aanswr, and Banswara Syntex Ltd.? How does he balance running all three businesses?
• Is Dhruv expecting to raise money, and from whom? Where does Dhruv see The Pant Project in the next 5 years and what are the areas Dhruv is investing in? What is his advice to budding entrepreneurs?

Dhruv’s book recommendations:

• Zero To One by Peter Thiel
• Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• Bhagavad Gita

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In 2020, the pandemic resulted in a 55% dip in students traveling overseas to study. How did this university admissions platform grow by 4x even during these trying times?

Our guest Akshay Chaturvedi, Founder and CEO of Leverage Edu has done it all!

Today, Leverage Edu has over 3 Mn monthly users, 75,000+ 1:1 counseling sessions & 2000+ admission applicants, every month.

Key takeaways from the episode:

• Why did Akshay decide to work at AIESEC before his MBA? Why did Akshay decide to pursue an MBA? How did his ISB experience shape him into the person he is today? Why did he decide to join Draper University? What was the experience like getting mentored by top VCs of Silicon Valley?
• How was it like landing a job at and working with one of the big four’s - KPMG? In just 7 months, Akshay received many awards here; how did he manage to create an impact in a short time? What is babajob.com? What was Akshay's role here? How did he get invited by Hon'ble Prime Minister as part of Committee formed for #India2022 Policy Building?
• What was the trigger that took Akshay from roles in various ventures to starting out on his own? What was Akshay's first entrepreneurial stint? How was Akshay finding some of the best mentors like Vijay Shekhar Sharma to guide him?
• How was Leverage Edu conceptualized? Why did Akshay decide to pivot from a platform that connects students with mentors to a university admission platform? What motivated him to start a business in higher education?
• How does Leverage Edu cater to the government's changing policies? How did Covid impact their business operations? What is Uniconnect all about?
• What was it like for Akshay to get his first fundraising round after 8 years? How does one get the 'who's who' of the Indian startup ecosystem to invest in your startup? What is Akshay's advice to budding entrepreneurs about fundraising?
• What got Akshay to start investing in startups? What is he looking for in startups? How does Akshay maintain a balance between multiple things while building a startup? Where does Akshay see Leverage Edu in the next 5 years?

Vivek's book recommendations:

• Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE by Phil Knight
• The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone
• The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information by James Dale Davidson

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Vivek Bajaj, co-founder of StockEdge impressed and convinced the crème de la crème of the VC universe to invest in his company, which was bootstrapped for a decade while charting impressive growth!

Today StockEdge is India's fastest-growing equity market and mutual fund research platform!

Key takeaways from the episode:

• What was Vivek's role in JM financials? What was it like being the first commodity analyst for the firm and what led him to realize it was time to leave and start his trading desk?
• What was it like to come back to Kolkata and start a trading desk? What was the feedback Vivek received?
• What does Kredent mean? What were his key responsibilities here?
• What was the thought process behind launching different startups together?
• What does Elearnmarkets do? Why did Vivek pursue a freemium model and how did he manage to achieve a 3x growth rate during this period?
• Where does Stockedge come in? What's the difference between Elearnmarkets and StockEdge? How is Stockedge benefiting traders and investors?
• Did Vivek face any challenges post the covid outbreak? What was the feeling like when StockEdge got over 2 million app downloads on the play store and app store combined?
• What was the need for Vivek to raise money? How did he get an ace investor like Ramesh Damani to invest in his startup? How does Vivek choose which strategic investor to get on board and when to bring them? How does he safely say no to investors?
• What was the thought process like making a deal with Kotak securities? How did the deal happen?
• What are the opportunities for Kredent as a brand? Where does Vivek see StockEdge in the next 5 years? What are the most common mistakes people make while investing? What are Vivek’s thoughts on the market, and how has he positioned his startup?

Vivek's book recommendations:

• Zero to One by Blake Masters and Peter Thiel
• Bloomberg by Bloomberg by Mike Bloomberg
• Modern Monopolies by Alex Moazed

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DamaniTalks XLiv features Dharmil Sheth, co-founder of PharmEasy

Dharmil Sheth is a serial entrepreneur, who has built India's first health tech unicorn with a valuation of $4 billion – PharmEasy. Prior to PharmEasy, he founded BoxPlay Sports, 91streets and Ekagrata. Dharmil holds an MBA from the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad.

The foundation of India's largest medicine delivery platform- PharmEasy, dates back to 2015 when Dharmil Sheth started a mobile application where users took a photo of their prescription and PharmEasy delivered their pharmaceutical requirements to their doorstep, at a 20% discount. Today, it is a unicorn with over 17 million active users and is worth $4 billion!

Key takeaways from the episode:

• How did Dharmil’s internships at Techno Gravity Solutions and MakeMyTrip.com help him with his entrepreneurial plunge?
• What did his first venture BoxPlay Sports provide? How was the idea behind Dharmil's 2nd venture-91streets born? What were the high and low points that eventually led to shutting down the company?
• As a founder member, what gave Dharmil the idea to start Ekagrata? What is the vision behind Ekagrata? How does Dharmil balance his time between Ekagrata while building a billion-dollar company?
• Why did Dharmil & Dhaval start PharmEasy? What were Dharmil’s early years at PharmEasy like? How does Dharmil differentiate PharmEasy's service from others and ensure longevity despite a competitive market?
• What were the challenges in building a startup in one of the highest regulated industries in India? How does Dharmil manage that conflict between meeting the regulations and driving growth?
• What was Dharmil's experience raising $872M over the years? If he were to define the elevator pitch for PharmEasy now, what would it be?
• How did the Medlife acquisition impact PharmEasy? What transpired the deal of acquiring a publicly listed company- Thyrocare? Why did Dharmil choose to acquire when he has the bandwidth to build?
• Where does Dharmil see PharmEasy in the next 5 years?

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In this week's episode of #DamaniTalks I spoke to Kailash Katkar, Founder of Quick Heal a man who built a ₹1800 crore IT security company without a college degree!

Kailash created a global empire spread across 60+ countries starting from a small one-room bootstrapped computer repair services company – He has been an inspiration to many!

Key takeaways from the episode:

• Why did Kailash drop out of school? Why did he decide not to pursue higher education? What sort of challenges did this bring about in his entrepreneurial journey?
• How did Kailash's interest in repairing calculators come about? How did Kailash land his first job in a Radio and calculator repair store? What were the key takeaways from his experience here? What was the trigger that told him to leave and set up his own venture?
• What did his first venture- CAT Computer Services, provide? Where did his interest in computers come from? What was the feeling like of generating a turnover of Rs.1 lakh after a year during that time?
• Why did Kailash transition his company to Quick Heal? How did he convince his brother to join the company? Why was Kailash installing antivirus software on his client's computers free of cost initially? Apart from the antivirus software, what else did Quick Heal start providing?
• Why did Kailash decide to pivot from hardware to software business? What are some of the most significant learning about running a B2B software business? What prompted Kailash to hire better managers for Quick Heal? According to him, what is the importance of getting the right managers in place?
• Why was Kailash not able to take a bank loan during that time? Why did Kailash decide to take VC funding? What was it like raising money from Sequoia Capital in 2010? How did they add value to Quick Heal? What was the feeling like to be the first Indian cybersecurity company to be listed on BSE and NSE? Where does Kailash see Quick Heal in the next 5 years now? What is his advice to budding entrepreneurs?

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Episode XLii of #DamaniTalks featured Prashant Pitti, co-founder of EaseMyTrip.

Prashant graduated from IIT Madras worked with HSBC and Capital One in the United States before coming back to India and co-founding EaseMyTrip in 2008.

Initially, a B2B travel brand, EaseMyTrip became a household name in the mid-2010s with its no-fee pricing and superior customer service. EaseMyTrip went public in 2021 at its current market cap is ₹4,500 crores (~$750m). EaseMyTrip provides a comprehensive range of travel-related products and services for end-to-end travel solutions. This includes airline tickets, hotels and holiday packages, rail tickets, bus tickets, and taxis.

Key takeaways from the episode:

• What was the personal motive behind quitting leading banks like Capital One or HSBC and starting a travel portal?
• What was the EaseMyTrip USP that gave it an edge over its much better-funded competition?
• How did EaseMyTrip's marketing strategy significantly reduce CAC while multiplying its AOV?
• How did empowering the front-line CSR agent increase customer loyalty?
• Why did EaseMyTrip choose to run a business on customer capital, refusing VC investment offers?
• Why did EaseMyTrip founder go public? They did not take any primary capital infusion in the IPO. Instead, they choose to sell their secondary stake in the company – why the aversion to outside capital?
• What is it like working with your own brothers? How does Prashant maintain a balance between his professional and personal life?
• If Prashant could turn back time, what are the 2 things he wishes he could have changed in this journey?

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Arcatron Mobility builds the next generation of innovative physical aid devices to enhance people's lives with limited mobility and elderly care needs. Last year Arcatron launched a premium range of products to COVID-protect its customers. The success of this new line has wholly revolutionized the trajectory of the company, with its product consistently featuring at the top of eCommerce store product rankings!

Ganesh Sonawane is the co-founder & CEO at Arcatron and is changing the game for those in need through his innovation. Before Arcatron, he was working with Bajaj Auto Ltd as an R&D Assistant Manager. Ganesh completed his Engineer's Degree from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut.

Key takeaways from the episode:

• How did Ganesh's education help him in his entrepreneurial journey? Why did he decide to build an innovative wheelchair for his college project? Why did Ganesh refuse the grants to develop the design further during that time?
• What was Ganesh's role at Bajaj? What were his key takeaways from this experience? Why was losing out on a 1st-year bonus at Bajaj Ganesh's favorite mistake?
• What does Arcatron mean? How did Ganesh choose his co-founders? Why did Ganesh start Arcatron Mobility?
• What was the experience like providing wheelchairs to military rehabilitation centers? How did Ganesh help Saravana Kumar- a national-level wheelchair table tennis player in his tournament?
• What was COVID19's impact on Arcatron? What made Ganesh decide to expand his product portfolio outside of assisting the differently-abled?
• How did Arcatron transform itself from a struggling business to one that is doing over $1m in quarterly revenues?

Ganesh's book recommendations:

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
• Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini
• The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone

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DamaniTalks has completed a glorious year!

In last week's #AskMeAnything episode, I answered your queries on the journey of fundraising. From inception to the ups and downs to the teamwork and the moment when it all comes together!

Key takeaway's from the episode:

• What should be the exact time of fundraising? Does the team size matter to the investors? Is it ok to approach seed round before launching the product?
• Is it necessary for the founder to work full-time to raise the fund? How can solopreneurs raise pre-seed funding?
• What is the ideal turnaround time for VC firms to invest in startups? Do founders have to create a prototype for fundraising?
• How is raising money for a venture fund different from raising money for a startup? Are Indian LPs able to generate returns from funds in India?
• What attributes have I found to be a good trait in startup founders? What are my thoughts on strategic investors? What are some tips for entrepreneurs on how to evaluate their potential investors? Scalability before Profit or Profit before scalability?

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In this week's episode of #DamaniTalks we had Dr. Srikanth Sundararajan, General Partner at VenturEast. With over 33+ years of entrepreneurial and investor experience, he has had an impressive journey!

VenturEast is one of the longest-standing venture capital fund managers in India, investing since 1997 and managing close to $325+ million. They have 100+ investments in Technology, Healthcare, and Clean Environment

Key takeaways from this episode:

• How did Dr. Srikanth's education help him develop managerial skills? What was his role at Hewlett-Packard? What made Dr. Srikanth chose this role and the company in 1988?
• After working at Informix, why did Dr. Srikanth decide to leave and build something of his own? Where did the name Pretzel Logic Software Inc come from? What was the genesis of the idea? Why did Dr. Srikanth decide to move on from Pretzel after 9 years?
• What was Dr. Srikanth's experience like having held CXO level roles at some of the biggest names in the technology space? When did he begin investing in startups? What was Dr. Srikanth's key learning from his time at Helion Advisors? Why did he leave Helion Advisors and start teaching in IIT?
• Why did Dr. Srikanth decide to join Ventureast as a general partner instead of going out on your own? What are the exciting companies in VenturEast’s current portfolio? What are his focus verticals?

Dr. Srikanth’s author recommendations:

• James A. Michener
• Irving Stone
• P. G. Wodehouse

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This week on the Damani Talks episode, we had Munaf Kapadia joining us. Munaf is an entrepreneur, writer, digital marketing maverick, and the founder and “Chief Eating Officer” (CEO) at The Bohri Kitchen.

Munaf and Nafisa Kapadia have been instrumental in making The Bohri Kitchen a household name. This mother-son duo made Bohri cuisine famous by inviting patrons to their home on weekends, to enjoy home-cooked Bohri meals in a traditional Thaal.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• What was Munaf's goal post-graduation at that time? How did his education help you in your entrepreneurial journey?
• What was Munaf's role at Google? Landing a job at Google is a dream for most people; how did he get hold of this? What triggered Munaf to leave a well-paying job at the multinational giant and hack it out as an entrepreneur? What was Munaf's most significant takeaway from his journey with Google?
• What was the idea behind TBK at the initial outset? How did Munaf go about getting your first set of customers?
• How did Munaf spread the word into the Bollywood community? How did Munaf go about opening 6 delivery kitchen outlets in Mumbai? What were some of the biggest challenges?
• How did the pandemic affect his business? What is the business model currently? What was the thought behind raising outside capital? If Munaf could change anything in his journey, what would it be?
• Why did Munaf decide to shift his focus from TBK and look for a full-time job? What is the shift like from being the founder of a company to working for a fast-food giant like McDonald’s?

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In these trying times, entrepreneurs are eagerly trying to define the "new normal" for their respective businesses. We have come across numerous queries on the fundamentals of maintaining business continuity in such uncertain times.

In this week's #DamaniTalks #AskMeAnything special episode, I tried to answer as many questions as possible on "How to maintain business continuity amidst the global pandemic"

Key takeaways from this episode:

• What is the outlook for the next 3-12 months? What are my thoughts on cutting salaries? How much should the pay cut be? How should entrepreneurs curtail cost without downsizing?
• What actions can be taken to meet the needs of the stakeholder and address doubts/concerns? Have the investor's expectations changed during the lockdown? Should founders look to hold off immediate fundraising aspirations?
• How does one achieve work balance with the team while working from home? How to maintain the best communication line with your team virtually? What are the things that worked for me during this time, and what are the things that did not work?
• What is the biggest mistake that founders make during this time? What is my view on some of the industries in the current scenario? What are the industries/verticals that I'm currently focusing on in the next 7 months?

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HobSpace is a platform for extracurricular activities (online and offline) for kids between 3-14 years. The brand has partnered with schools and specialist trainers to provide training and conduct lessons based on children's hobbies and sports requirements.

Priya is the Co-founder of Hobspace and has over six years of experience working with corporate giants such as Goldman Sachs and S&P Capital IQ. After seeing an opportunity in experiential and cognitive building blocks-based models, she co-founded Hobspace, a platform to provide a holistic learning experience for children.

Here's what you can take away from this episode:

• Why did Priya decide to pick up entrepreneurship? What were Priya's key takeaways from this experience from working at S&P Capital and Goldman Sachs? What was it like working for a fast-growing company?
• What was Priya's role at Pharmeasy? What was it like for Priya to work with her husband? How did the inspiration for Hobspace come in when she was working for Pharmeasy?
• What was the initial idea behind hobspace? How did Priya meet your co-founders, Harsh Jain and Bhaskar Raju Konduru? What was the skillset she was looking for in her co-founders?
• How did the pandemic affect Hobspace? How was the shift from physical to virtual classes? How is Hobspace different from other extracurricular activity platforms?
• What were the reasons behind the pivot? What are the steps Priya had to take while making the pivot? What was the discussion Priya had with the stakeholders (internal and external) regarding the pivot? What's the result today?
• What are the different activities children can explore on Hobspace? How was Priya's experience of raising funds for the first time? Where does Priya see Hobspace in the next ten years? What's the next market she's looking at for Hobspace?

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Founders of early-stage startups face many financial constraints at the onset. Mismanagement of personal finance is a common reason why many companies are forced to wind up their businesses. So, I'm here to help you out!

In this special episode, I covered the topic of 'Personal Finance for founders'

Takeaways from this episode:

• Why did I choose this particular topic? What are some financial constraints that early-stage startup founders are unaware of?
• How do early-stage startups protect against mismanagement of funds? How should one know which functions to not invest in that drain and might not yield a return?
• Is it acceptable for founders building a product to do a part-time job? When should a founder start drawing his/her monthly salary? What parameters should early-stage startups use to decide the right salary for a founder?
• Does getting a safe note affect valuation? How should one define what expenses should be expensed out from the company and what shall not? If a company is running on a freemium model, what is considered as traction for early-stage startups?
• How much personal funding too much risk for a founder? At what stage can a founder look at becoming an angel investor? What are the cardinal rules of saving and investing when you're an entrepreneur?
• What measures or precautions should a new or early-stage founder, with limited savings or personal funding to rely on, take? What are the common challenging monetary situations founders find themselves in?

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Abhishek Agarwal is an angel investor-turned-fund manager with 13+ years in the Indian Financial Market and Start-up Ecosystem. He started his career as a research analyst and is now the Founder of Rockstud Capital. He has a proven track record of successfully investing in both Startups and Listed Equities space.

Rockstud Capital is India's first hybrid fund that invests in early-stage startups and listed equities traded on NSE in India.

Key takeaways from the episode:

• What does Pioneer Investcorp do? What was Abhishek's role there? Why did he choose to specialize in the cement sector? How important was this role for Abhishek in developing his entrepreneurial career?
• What was Abhishek's role in Fortune Interfinance? What was the switch like from a research analyst to a director? What were the challenges for setting things up in the family business? What was the trigger that told Abhishek that he must branch out on his own? How is being an intrapreneur different from being an entrepreneur?
• What was Abhishek's first investment? Where is this company today? Why did Abhishek decide to move from investing and syndicating from angel networks to set up his own fund? how many investments did he make before starting Rockstud Capital?
• How was the idea behind Rockstud Capital conceptualized? What does Rockstud mean? What was the genesis of launching a hybrid fund when the VC fund itself was a new concept in India? What was the whole experience like raising capital for the first time?
• What was the thesis Abhishek was going after when he was looking to invest in companies? What was the most challenging startup that he invested in? What are Abhisheks top 2 favorites in listed equities and startups?
• When should a founder press the accelerator when it comes to PR? After screening a bunch of startups, what's Abhishek's biggest advice to founders?

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Anindya Datta is a PHD turned professor turned founder turned upcoming producer. He is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Mobilewalla, a global leader in consumer intelligence solutions.

Mobilewalla provides innovative data solutions that help data and marketing professionals better understand their customers. The offering enables their clients to build precise AI models that better analyse and predict consumer behavior and drive business results.

Key takeaways from the episode:

• What was it like to be at IIT Karagpur at that time? What role did Anindya’s extensive education play in his entrepreneurial career? How crucial was Anindya’s experience of being a faculty at Georgia tech?
• How was the idea behind Chutney Technologies conceptualised? What did Chutney Technologies do? How did Anindya get some of the best investors like Vinod Khosla on board? What is his learning from Chutney Technologies that he still carries with him today?
• What did Walking Stick Solutions do? What was the trigger that told Anindya to shut Walking Stick? How would Anindya describe his experience at Walking Stick in one word? What did he learn from your experience here?
• How was the idea of Mobilewalla born? Did Anindya know that Mobilewallla would be as big as it is today? Why did he decide to pivot to mobile audience measurement?
• What is Mobilewalla today and what does it do? What size should a business be before they approach Mobilewalla? How has Covid19 changed their business strategy? What's Anindya’s biggest lesson from the pandemic?
• How does Anindya manage to lead a team that is scattered globally? What is the key to creating a good work culture? Where does he see Mobilewalla in the next 3 years?

Anindya’s books recommendations:

• The New New Thing by Michael Lewis
• Double Indemnity by James M Cain
• The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain

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Pawan Raj Kumar is the co-founder of Hoi Foods and a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of solid experience as an entrepreneur. With Pawan at the helm, Hoi Foods is building a strong network of cloud kitchens using a highly scalable and disruptive model of standardized food supply chain

Since its inception in 2017, Hoi Foods has come a long way - with over 150 active cloud-kitchens serving 5,000+ meals in a day across Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru.

Here's what you can learn from this episode:

• What industry was Pawan's family business into? Why was it important for Pawan to start as a welder? Does he bring some of that experience when he's looking at hiring management people for his ventures today? When did Pawan know that he wanted to start something of his own?
• How was Active Karma Ventures conceptualized? What was the one learning from his time at Karma that continues to guide him today? What was the trigger that told him that he should shut this business?
• How important was it for Pawan to move out of the business for a couple of years before returning? How does one get business from the likes of McDonald's, Pizzahut, and Dominos, as you did? Why did Pawan decide to leave and start something of his own again?
• What is Supa Star foods known for? What was it like shifting from institutional business to consumer business? As an entrepreneur, how does Pawan balance what the customer wants and what the company needs?
• How was the idea of Hoi conceptualized? Where does the name Hoi come from? What was the original idea behind building Hoi Foods? Where all does hoi pure currently deliver?
• How did Covid affect Hoi Foods? How does his past experience help in situations like Covid? What was his experience like fundraising? What was his goal after raising funds? What are the top 3 qualities he looks for in founders to invest in?

Pawan's book recommendation:

• The goal by dr. eli goldratt
• Pour Your Heart into It by Howard Schultz
• The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey
• Winning In The Digital Age: Seven Building Blocks of a Successful Digital Transformation by Nitin Sheth

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Sevamob is an AI-enabled mobile-based platform that provides comprehensive primary healthcare to organizations in India and the US. Sevamob's care includes general health, vision, dental, nutrition, cardio-metabolic, infectious disease and ENT.

Shelley, an MBA degree holder from Cornell, is the Founder and CEO of Sevamob. He has previously worked with IBM and co-founded the profitable mobile technology company

Key takeaways from the episode:

• Being a part of IBM for 10 years, what were Shelley's key takeaways from his experience there?
• What was Shelley's motivation behind building his first startup, Saasmob? What were the biggest takeaways from this Saasmob journey?
• How was the idea behind Sevamob conceptualised? How did Shelley decide the speciality services he wanted to have in Sevamob? What is the price point for Sevamob?
• How did Shelley convince his first set of customers to back his technology? How many countries is Sevamob available in currently? What was Shelley's pitch like during his first round of funding?
• How does Shelley manage to run his company based out of another country? What are the 3 major differences between running a business in the US as compared to India? Where does Shelley see Sevamob in the next 10 years?

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To mark International Women’s Day 2020, we had some incredible women entrepreneurs on #DamaniTalks.

This episode features Mahima Kaul - Co-founder of Coutloot, Priya Goel Sheth - Co-founder of HobSpace, Ankita Sheth - Co-founder of Vista Rooms and Prerna Kalra - Co-founder of Daalchini.

Key takeaways from the episode:

• What were the 2 biggest challenges that they faced in becoming the founder they are today?
• What was the moment when it came together? The eureka moment.
• What is the most ridiculous question that they have gotten asked as a ‘founder’?
• How do these women manage to maintain a work-life balance question?
• Looking back, what is one thing that they wish they understood about entrepreneurship before they got started?
• What's their advice to budding female entrepreneurs?

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ConfirmTkt is an online train ticket discovery and booking engine that delivers a seamless search and booking experience to travelers. They are now acquired by an online travel aggregator ixigo for an undisclosed amount.

Dinesh Kumar Kotha is the Co-founder & CEO of ConfirmTkt. Before starting ConfirmTkt he was a Software Development Engineer in a company known as o9. He also worked as an Application Developer(Java) in IBM.

Here's what you can learn from this episode:

• What was his role in o9 Solutions and IBM? How was the idea behind his first startup Meterup conceptualized? When did he realize Meterup was not going to scale?
• How was Confirmtkt born? What was the trigger that told him to leave his well-established job and work on Confirmtkt full-time?
• How did he meet his first investor- Pravin? What were his expectations when he came to pitch at Nasscom? How much money did he raise in the timeframe of Confirmtkt?
• How did Dinesh cut the burn rate in the initial stage and make a new path for the company? How did he build his first 100 users? How did he go from a 1k a day company to a 3crore a day company?
• How did the ixigo conversation take place? How did he work out the modalities with the acquisition during the pandemic?
• What are the 3 things he is proud of during his tenure with Confirmtkt? If he had a chance to do it all over again what would he do differently?

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Vahanalytics is a data analytics startup that allows organizations to track their vehicle fleet operations. The startup aimed to promote safe driving behavior among drivers and fleet owners by utilizing sensor data from smartphones and from tracking hardware in-built into vehicles. In 2019 Bike taxi app Rapido acqui-hired Mumbai-based Vahanalytics. The entire tech team of Vahanalytics had been moved to Rapido to set up the data science department.

Shivalik Sen is the co-founder of Vahanalytics. He is an engineer who set up his own driver analytics platform which was creating better drivers and safer roads by using cutting edge big data and machine learning techniques. Vahanalytics got acquired by Rapido and Shivalik went on to build his own models from scratch to build a better customer experience for Rapido.

Here's what you can learn from this episode:

• What did Driven do? What were the challenges Shivalik faced at Driven?
• How did Shivalik meet his co-founders? What convinced Shivalik to finally pivot?
• What did Vahanalytics do?
• What was Shivalik's experience raising VC money? How did Shivalik manage his investors?
• What were the biggest challenges Shivalik faced at Vahanalytics? What were his key takeaways from his experience?
• What was the trigger that told Shivalik that he must sell Vahanalytics?
• How was the transition from Vahanalytics to Rapido? What are some of the data science problems Rapido is solving?

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Kratikal is one of the leading cybersecurity companies known for its state-of-the-art security solutions which includes cyber-attack simulation and awareness tool, email authentication and anti-spoofing solution; anti-phishing, fraud monitoring & take-down solution; phishing incident response, risk detection & threat analysis and code risk review.

Pavan Kushwaha is the co-founder of Kratikal. He is also an information security researcher, trainer and speaker. He has worked with National agencies and has been solving various Cybercrime cases. Pavan has trained over 10000 students from over 112+ nations on cybersecurity and has been acknowledged by many website companies as an information security professional.

Here's what you can learn from this episode:

• What was Pavan's childhood like? How was the startup ecosystem in his village on the outskirts of Agra?

• Pavan's experience as an instructor in Udemy and organizing workshops for students

Why did Pavan register Kratikal right after college? What does Kratikal do currently?

• What solutions does Kratikal offer to different organizations? How does Kratikal make money from its different products?

• How did Pavan find his first set of customers? How does Pavan keep himself motivated?

Pavan's experience fundraising. Where does Pavan see Kratikal in the next 5 years?

• How did Kratikal support their clients even during the pandemic? How can a start-ups identity the need for cybersecurity?

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Mumbai-based Karza Technologies is a banking and business intelligence solution provider, set out to create products that empower lending institutions and corporates with cloud-based solutions for informed and intelligent decisions.

Omkar Shirhatti is the co-founder of Karza Technologies. Before co-founding Karza Technologies, he served as a senior consultant at Ernst and Young, a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction, and advisory services. he holds a prolific experience of over 12 years in the fields of fraud investigations and background checks

Here's what you can learn from this episode:

• How did Omkar's education help him in his entrepreneurial journey?

• Why did Omkar join the fraud investigation team EY? Why did he join EY over becoming an entrepreneur right away?

• What was the trigger that pushed Omkar to become an entrepreneur in this field?

• What products does Karza provide? How does Karza solve the challenges of the BFSI Sector?

• How is Karza score different from other credit bureau scores?

• How did Omkar meet his co-founders? Omkar's decision on adding a co-founder.

• How did Covid affect Karza? What was Omkar's experience in fundraising?

• What are the things Omkar does that help him achieve his best productivity?

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Livspace is an online retail platform for in-home designs & furniture for home improvement. The platform enables users to fill out forms, book professionals & receive quotes for the designs. The company provides installation services.

Ramakant Sharma is the co-Founder of Livspace and an active angel investor. Before founding Livspace, Ramakant was a core team member and Vice President of Engineering at Myntra, leading fashion e-commerce. He has around 11 + years of experience in software product development, product management, entrepreneurship, and online marketing.

Here's what you can learn from this episode:

• Ramakant's journey from IIT-K to Myntra to Livspace

• Why those that do not "start-up" are really the ones taking the most risk

• The growth of e-commerce ARPUs from ₹100 ARPU to ₹8-10 lakhs and where it is headed

• Why you should be selling solutions and not products/services

• How can founders being a business in areas where they have no prior knowledge

• The secret sauce behind the success of Livspace

• How to calculate LTV in spaces where there will be 1-2 lifetime transactions

• Principles of current age economics

• Why Ramakant became an angel? What is he looking for in founders? How to reach out to him?

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Kredily is a SaaS platform to help HR Professionals manage their data efficiently. Kredily aims to become India’s largest free platform for salaried employees.

Devendra Khandegar is the Founder & CEO of Kredily. He is an IIT Kanpur alumnus who earned a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the institute & then went on to pursue his MBA from IIM Lucknow. He has leadership, fundraising, and managerial experience from working in different roles with Axis Bank, GVFL Ltd, and Jasdan Wind Energy

Here's what you can learn from this episode:

• How did Devendra's education at IIT Kanpur and IIM Lucknow help him to develop entrepreneurial skills?
• What was Devendra's role at Axis bank? How did his experience in AXIS Bank help him in his journey to Kredily? Which sectors did Devendra handle in AXIS bank?
• What companies/sectors did Devendra invest in GVFL Limited? Which were his favorite investments from GVL Ltd? Why?
• What were the roles Devendra essayed at TracxnLabs? What inspired Devendra to leave a well-established workplace where he was heading a key role and hack it out as an entrepreneur? What was the biggest takeway from his TracxnLabs journey?
• Why is Kredily different from dozens of HRMS platforms in India? What are the different services Kredily provides to HR Managers?
• Devendra's experience with fundraising? Was it difficult for him to raise funds during the pandemic?

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ASAPPP provides customized products and services that have enabled them to deliver highly efficient business solutions to their worldwide clients through unmatched expertise and cutting edge technology.

Avinash Gupta took the 3rd plunge into entrepreneurship by founding ASAPPP in 2017. In his early days, he started selling digital cameras below the market price in India. After pursuing his education in IIT Bombay he revived AVN Marketing, which was the same company that would later metamorphose into Bookmycab. He sold Book my cab in 2016 and is now a co-founder of ASAPPP.com and an investor.

Here's what you can expect to learn from this episode:

• How was the Indian startup ecosystem in Bihar? How did Avinash decide to pursue M.Tech in IIT Bombay after founding AVN Marketing and running it for a year?
• What was Avinash's role at Financial Technologies and in the project for the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius?
• How was the idea of Bookmycab born? What was Avinash's mission at the outset initially?
• How did the market change when Ola and Uber entered the fray? What were the biggest Challenges Avinash faced?
• What was the trigger that told Avinash that he must sell Bookmycab? What was the biggest takeaway from this BookMyCab journey?
• What is the USP of ASAPPP? What made Avinash choose this type of business?
• What type of businesses is Avinash investing in? What are some of the companies he has invested in?

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LeapClub is on a mission to get more women in leadership positions through a private and community-led professional network.

Ragini founded LeapClub in Jan 2020 along with her cofounder Anand Sinha. She was previously working in Zomato for 6 years, during her tenure there Zomato Gold was founded which broke the internet and redefined the path for Zomato.

Here's what you can expect to learn from this episode:

• Why did Ragini decide to go to the UK to study and not the US? (Lancaster University)
• How did Ragini's experiences growing up as an army child do something for her career?
• Why did Ragini choose to join Zomato which was less than 6 years old at that time?
• How was Zomato gold created?
• How Ragini is building on the Zomato gold legacy with LeapClub?
• Why did Ragini choose to open a Women's only club?
• Ragini's experience raising money and how she convinced her investors?
• What the LeapPaid membership is all about?

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Plum provides health insurance and benefits marketplace for employers. They offer coverage for employees, spouses, children, parents, and siblings. Employees can also customize insurance plans with multiple health benefits.

Abhishek co-founded Plum in 2019, the 3rd startup under his belt. He has previously worked at McKinsey, Google, Swaylo, and graduated from IIT Kanpur and Stanford Business School. Join us on Thursday at 9 pm

Key takeaways from this episode:

• How did Abhishek's education help him in his entrepreneurial journey?
• What did Swaylo do? What was Abhishek's role there? How was his first experience with a startup was at Swaylo?
• What was RentZeal? What was Abhishek's inspiration for RentZeal?
• What was Abhishek's role at Google? What was his experience like leading the launch of Google Pay? What was his takeaways from Google’s work culture?
• What is Hypertrack? What does one need to accomplish to become a co-founder 3 years after a company has been established? How was Abhishek's first experience of raising VC money like? How did he develop a patent for “Systems and methods for receiving sensor data from a mobile device?”
• What does Plum do? What made Abhishek decide to start a company in a space where you have no experience? How did COVID19 affect operations/valuation?

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Alteria Capital is India’s largest Venture Debt fund, focused on innovative startups backed by strong VC sponsors. They provide financial solutions to help entrepreneurs transform and grow their businesses to their full potential.

Ajay Hattangdi founded the company in 2018 and has been an expert in the venture lending space since 2005. Alteria Capital marks the 3rd startup he has founded under his belt. He has also founded a non-profit called Praja Foundation, which conducts research and provides information on civic issues to citizens, media, and government.

Here's what you can expect to learn from this episode:

• Why did Ajay go to the U.S. for his education and make the conscious decision of returning to India, even though he could have gotten a higher paying job among other perks?

• What made his first job at Citibank a high-stress environment, and why wasn't it what he thought it be like? What life lessons did he take away from his 12-year experience at Citibank?

• How did Ajay convince his superiors at Citibank to invest in a new line of business — venture debt. What were the challenges of establishing this project in India at a time where there were only a handful of venture capitalists?

• Why did Ajay quit his comfortable job at Citibank to start his own venture debt fund? How did he convince his wife and his peers that this was a good idea? How long did it take to do the market research and talk to experts in the industry?

• Why is the team such an important factor when starting a business? What is the difference between a bad-performing employee and a bad employee?

• How does Alteria get ahead of its competition and not just provide startups with capital, but a holistic approach to supporting their portfolio companies?

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Everest Fleet is a fleet management company of 800+ cars that run under Uber in Mumbai and Bengaluru. They are now one of the leading players in the fleet market in the short time since their establishment.

Siddharth founded Everest Fleet in 2016. He is an angel investor-turned-philanthropist and entrepreneur, with 100+ startups in his portfolio. He strongly believes in social causes and giving back to society.

Here's what you can expect to learn in this episode:

• How did growing up in an entrepreneurial family helped him learn about being a businessman every day, learning about the volatility and the highs and lows of running a business.

• Out of 100+ investments, which investment is his most memorable one? Why does he prefer investing in younger founders?

• A founder's role should be to focus on growth and innovation rather than management. What is the importance of good delegation, and what qualities should a leader look for in his team?

• How did Siddharth figure out how to efficiently run the Everest Fleet cars 24x7, despite others believing it wasn't possible? What are the benefits and drawbacks of this approach?

• How did Everest Fleet adapt to the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown in just 4 days? How did they convince their drivers, law enforcement, and their customers that they were ready to handle the situation?

• How did their response to COVID-19 essentially develop a new service line and open them up to a whole new customer base?

• Siddharth’s Book recommendations: Measure What Matters by John Doerr, and The 3G Way

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Repup.co is a B2B SaaS hospitality platform that provides services from booking confirmations to upsells and all the way through to driving positive online volumes.

Pranjal Prashar is a second-time founder who started Repup with his co-founder, Vineet in 2015. Repup recently merged with Hotelogix and AxisRooms. His first company, Piquor, provided photo booths for locations/functions such as malls, weddings, etc.

Here's what you can expect to learn in this episode:

• Why is this the right time for startups with innovative technologies to test their resilience in the market? How his father's job exposed him to a lot of travel from very early on and building a company around his past travel experiences.

• How did his job as a consultant at Aujas Networks help him understand entrepreneurs and their plights? What did he use from his experience to develop and hone his entrepreneurial spirit? What kind of work experience should founders have before they start their own ventures? Why should you work at small, medium, and large organizations?

• What are the benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing your manufacturing to a third party? Why is it never a good long-term solution? How did his first entrepreneurial venture with Piquor help segue him into starting Repup? What did his client, ITC, mention that made the idea for Repup click?

• What made Pranjal and his team decide to shut down their SME vertical and focus only on mid-size companies and enterprises? Why they didn't just reduce the prices of their service. Why does Pranjal believe that if you don't try 100 times, chances are you haven't succeeded yet? How did cold-calling Sanjay Mehta lead to onboarding him as an invaluable mentor, and eventually, funding?

• How did Pranjal convince his investors that India wasn't the market for them, and what were the benefits and challenges of targeting the global market? What did they change about their strategy and their business going global? What do they need to consider before entering a market?

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Posistis a platform that lets owners automate their cloud kitchen operations and manage restaurant business efficiently. They are trusted by over 8000+ clients and are present in 20 countries.

Ashishco-founded Posist in 2011 with his wife, Sakshi. Posist has been his 3rd (and most successful) venture yet. Ashish is a fine example of the journey of a founder going against the grain. He started his first company with no prior work/management experience straight out of college. He exited the telecom space when most players were beginning to enter it. He wrote off his investment in running a restaurant to focus on his strengths and founded Posist.

Here's what you can expect to learn from this episode:

• Can you start and (successfully) run your own business right after you graduate – without ANY other work experience? What made Ashish decide to hire two of his college batchmates and do precisely that? How did he run and sell it successfully?
• Why did Ashish choose to exit his first company, TechnoApex Software, after learning that telecom is one of India's highest regulated sectors? When is it okay for a founder to "give up?" How was the experience of being a part of the Delhi start-up ecosystem?
• How Ashish built Posist from the ashes of a failed venture? Why was it better to quit the restaurant and write off the money lost rather than trying to chase it?
• Why is it more important to have empathy when building a business, rather than a new/unique idea?
• How did support from investors and accelerators like Morpheuschanged Ashish's opinion on funding? Why did the brutal honesty from the investors make him realize their true value?
• How did becoming an angel investor make Ashish introspect and realize his mistakes as a founder?

Ashish's Book Recommendations:

• Small Giants: Companies That Choose to be Great Instead of Big by Bo Burlingham
• What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful! by Mashall Goldsmith
• The Hard Thing about Hard Thing: Building a Business When There are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz

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Indus Net Technologies is an award-winning, full-service, digital service company that helps enterprises with everything digital. They serve 4200+ clients worldwide across 40+ countries.

Abhishek founded the company in 1997 and has traversed the entrepreneurial field bootstrapped from the start. He describes himself as an entrepreneur, software architect, marketing geek, angel investor, and visionary.

Here's what you can expect to learn from this episode:

• How can completing a degree just for the sake it be more harmful than beneficial to your career? How did quitting engineering college to pursue B.Com change his outlook on the future? According to Abhishek, how has the start-up ecosystem evolved in Kolkata?
• What are the benefits (and challenges) of coming from a family with a background in business? How did having a business mindset help him from an early age? How did his family react to him moving from a jute trading family business to an internet business?
• Why did Abhishek's mentor have him prove his sales acumen by selling properties rather than digital services? Why did taking on this challenge excite him?
• What was the passion that drove Abhishek to become an entrepreneur? How did Abhishek found INT on a whim, when the idea occurred to him at an exhibition in 1997? When Abhishek just founded the company did he expect it to be as big as it is today?
• How does Abhishek manage to bring a bunch of entrepreneurs under one roof? How does Abhishek ensure that the vision that he has for INT continues to stick? What does he look for in entrepreneurs? What is INT offering to entrepreneurs?
• How was Abhishek introduced to angel investing by connecting with someone he shared working space with? Which was the first company that he invested in? What are the benefits of networking without an ulterior motive?

Abhishek's Blogger Recommendation:

• Anderson Horowitz's blog
• Naval Ravikant on Twitter

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Unicorn India Ventures was founded in 2016 and has made around 30 investments in that time. They mainly focus on startups in the technology space.

Anil Joshi co-founded the fund in 2016 after his experience with Mumbai Angels. He believes in investing in founders and their team and backing technology risks. Going from marketing to being an EA, to President of Mumbai Angels, and founding Unicorn India Ventures he has had an incredible journey so far!

Here's what you can expect to learn from this episode:

• Why did Anil decide to start his career in marketing after studying engineering? How did his experience in marketing help him get a variety of founders and investors at the same table, and help both sides understand each other?
• What is the value of being an EA? How did his experience help him in developing holistic skills?
• What was Anil’s role in Mumbai Angels? What was his goal when he initially joined Mumbai Angels? What was the thought process behind join Mumbai Angels without any finance background? What was the decision like going from the investor side to the services side of the business? How did he manage to take Mumbai Angels from 6 deals to 75 deals?
• Why did he decide to finally bite the entrepreneurial bug and founded Unicorn India Ventures? What were the names options for fund 1 before he shortlisted Unicorn India Ventures? How did he meet his co-founder, Bhaskar, and how he was convinced to start the venture with him?
• What is Anil's investment style? Why is he more inclined towards technology start-ups? What does Anil like to see in founders, and why he thinks giving up is NEVER an option?
• What are the 3 lessons Anil wishes he had learned sooner as a VC? What is Anil’s advice to budding entrepreneurs?

Anil's Book Recommendations:

• Dream with Your Eyes Open: An Entrepreneurial Journey by Ronnie Screwvala
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu
• What Shall We Do With All This Money? by Jayesh A Parekh

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Kabaddi Adda is the place for all enthusiasts looking for Kabaddi news, videos, players interviews, match reports, & insights! They also provide deep analytics and insights for cricket teams such as the Chennai Super Kings.

Apart from being the co-founder of Kabaddi Adda, Suhail is a TV Presenter, Anchor, and Expert Analyst for over 15 different competitions, and is recognized by viewers across the nation. In the past, he also has experience as a cricket coach and a professional cricketer.

Here's what you will learn in this episode:

• What was it like for Suhail growing up in a sports family? With a full family of motorsport professionals and enthusiasts, what made him choose cricket instead? Why did Suhail decide to coach an Australian Cricket team?
• What was his experience starring in Veeram (2014), a top-grossing Kollywood film with superstar Ajith? Did Suhail expect his movie to be as big as it is? How did he experience South Indian fandom? Why did he decide to stop starring in movies and shifted to Star Sports instead?
• Does Suhail’s coaching training help him in his role as an anchor? How did his knee injury get him started on the journey to being a national TV Presenter/Anchor?
• What does Kabaddi Adda do? How was the idea behind Kabbadi Adda conceptualised?
• Why did the founders choose Artha Venture Fund as the sole investor in their company? What was it like for first-time entrepreneurs meeting the first-time fund managers? What does Artha bring to the table that other investors didn't?
• How was a contact sport like kabaddi affected by COVID-19? What is supercric? What is the correlation between spercric and Kabaddi? What is Ghar se Panga and Retro Live, and how did it serve as Kabaddi Adda's adaption to the pandemic?

Suhail's Book Recommendations:

• The Compassionate Samurai: Being Extraordinary in an Ordinary World by Brian Klemmer

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Apollo Finvest is a technology company with an NBFC license. They enable fintech's to offer fully digital and compliant loans to their customers, like the AWS for loans.

Mikhil is currently the Managing Director of Apollo Finvest, and his journey only gets more interesting the further back you go. He is the Cofounder of PharmEasy and has worked at Hotstar and CouponDunia (as the 6th employee)!

Here's what you can expect to learn from the discussion:

• What was Mikhil’s role at CouponDunia? What was the culture like there? What did Mikhil's stint at CouponDunia teach him about customer-centric development by increasing customer interaction? What was it like getting acquired by Times Internet?
• What inspired Mikhil to start PharmEasy? How did interacting with customers at an early stage help them identify their target audience? How did he manage the expectations of a varied group of 12 investors? What did it take for Mikhil to get his first few customers? How was the conversation like internally when the competition started coming in? What was it that triggered Mikhil’s decision to exit PharmEasy?
• What was Mikhil's role in taking Hotstar from 10 million to 300 million monthly active users? How did he choose his dream team of 200+ people in engineering, product, and HR?
• What makes Apollo Finvest the AWS of loans? How did he achieve VC-style returns of up to 30x with a listed company like Apollo Finvest? What is Apollo Finvest's new feature – SONIC?
• What is Mikhil's advice for budding entrepreneurs and young founders?

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PiggyRide provides mobility solutions for schools and children. They also offer parents the ability to pay the school tuition through easy EMIs. They're the perfect service for urban parents.

Manish founded PiggyRide in 2019 as the third venture under his belt. He is the founder of Koovs, which is now a listed company on AIM stock exchange, and Pokkt.

Here's what you will learn from this episode:

• Why did Manish choose to start his own company instead of pursuing an engineering degree? How did his education help him in his entrepreneurial journey?
• What was his idea behind starting his first start-up Koovs? Why did he decide to pivot Koovs? What was his experience like raising a million-dollar seed round back in 2009?
• Why did he decide to list Koovs in the UK? What was it like raising 20 million dollars? What follows the extensive excitement (and paperwork) that goes into preparing for an IPO? What made him decide to exit a company?
• Why did he decide to jump from an e-commerce company to a tech company- Pokkt? What was it like joining a company as a co-founder? What are the different strategies used to run a B2B company vs. a B2C company? What was it like to exit his 2nd company?
• Where did the inspiration of the idea behind PiggiRide come from? How did Manish produce the name ‘PiggiRide’? Why did he decide to invite Rohan (Koovs colleague) as a co-founder? How does PiggyRide help parents shoulder the responsibility and security of their children?
• Manish's learnings from being an entrepreneur for 10 years and a founder of 3 startup ventures? What is his advice for budding founders/entrepreneurs?

Manish's Book Recommendations:

• The Captain Class by Sam Walker

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LenDenClub is India's largest peer-to-peer lending and borrowing platform. They provide personal loans from ₹5k up to ₹5L – all within 24 hours.

Bhavin founded LenDenClub in 2014 when he identified the gap in the market while working with NBFCs.

Here are some of the topics we discussed:

• How did Bhavin’s education help him in his entrepreneurial journey? What was the biggest learning for Bhavin from his first experience in a start-up? What's the difference between being an executive and being a founder? What prior experience does he think all founders should have?
• What does LenDenClub do? Why was the idea behind this start-up? Why did he choose to open a company that is regulated under RBI considering his past issues with RBI?
• How did Bhavin meet his co-fou8nder Dipesh? What qualities did Bhavin look for before choosing him as a cofounder? How has the relation with his cofounder matured over the past few years?
• How did LenDenClub reach ₹100 crores in lifetime loan disbursals during the pandemic? What use-cases do people usually borrow small-ticket loans for? How did he go from 1 loan a month to 7500 loans a month? What drives Bhavin to do this?
• What was it like raising money in a heavily regulated area? What was easier about raising the second round over the first round?
• How did COVID-19 and demonization affect LenDenClub, a company that operates in a highly regulated industry? What are his learnings after 5 years of operation? What are the most critical moments in his journey with LenDenCLub?

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Sanjay Mehta is a man that needs no introduction to people familiar with the venture capital ecosystem in India. He has founded over 5 companies, and invested in 100+ start-ups to date.

100X. VC is Sanjay Mehta's latest venture that aims to invest in 100 start-ups using iSafe Notes in India - within a year. 100X.VC is sponsored by Sanjay's family office - Mehta Ventures.

In today's episode you will learn:

• What were the challenges Sanjay faced when he decided that he was going to take up entrepreneurship over an established job? What has Sanjay learned from his successful and unsuccessful ventures till date? How does he use this knowledge even today? What would Sanjay do differently as his first venture?
• When did he decide to become an angel investor and start advising other companies? What was the investment strategy he started with?
• What was Mehta Ventures all about? What's the difference between Mehta Ventures and 100X. VC?
• How does maintaining an active online presence help Sanjay get access to the best deals? What are some ways in which you can leverage your online presence to expand your knowledge and network? What is his view on the online fitness and wellness sector?
• What has Sanjay learned from his exits from two unicorns – OYO Rooms and EOS Blockchain? Why does he believe that "the investment in failure is the route to success."? What did Sanjay see in Ritesh- founder of OYO?
• What's an investment he should have made but he did not? What are his top 3 industry picks for start-ups? What does 100x do? What's the best way founders can reach out to Sanjay?

Sanjay's Book Recommendations:

• Zero to One by Peter Theil
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

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Agnikul is an Indian aerospace start-up that aims to deliver small satellites to space - like a taxi for satellites. Their goal is to design a product that makes getting to space easier, so we can focus on living in and working from there.

Srinath founded Agnikul after cold-calling IIT professors while he was in LA, hoping to find someone who believes in his idea and shares his passion. After reaching out to 150 people, he finally got a reply from one of them, and the rest is history.

In today's episode you will learn:

• What does Srinath do for Agnikul? What was it like moving from LA to Madras to pursue his dreams? How did Srinath change career paths from managing portfolios to Aerospace Engineering? What were some of the challenges he faced and how did he overcome it?
• How did Srinath meet his co-founder, Moin? What are the key qualities founders should look for in their cofounders?
• How did he convince a professor from IIT Madras to incubate Agnikul with no background in aerospace or IITs? How did Srinath's convince his first set of investors to invest in his start-up?
• What was it like to raise funds from Artha Venture Fund among others? What was the importance of investors' contacts for Agnikul, and how did it propel them forward? What is the role that his investors have played in his journey?
• How did PM Modi's sweeping changes at ISRO open more doors for homegrown start-ups like Agnikul? What is his plan for launching Agniban? What does a mobile launch platform mean? Does Srinath have any reusability plans in the pipeline?

Srinath's Topic Recommendations:

• Dark matter, and why it occupies most of the universe?

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BabyChakra is an online parent platform for pregnancy and childcare. They have over 6000 doctors on their platform and just launched a line of baby-safe sanitary products.

Naiyya Saggi is the founder and CEO of BabyChakra. She has incredible experience and a strong passion for her company, translating into the great work they're doing!

In today's episode, you will learn:

• Naiyya grew up in Calcutta. How did she land up as a founder and CEO of Baby Chakra? In between, she became a lawyer, got into consulting, and even went to Harvard on a full scholarship!
• Why did Naiyya come back to India to become an entrepreneur? Has she faced any troubles or biases as a solo female founder? What's the motivation behind opening a parenting platform before being a parent herself?
• How did she raise capital from the likes of Mumbai Angels, Round Glass, and Equanimity? What did it take to convince a bunch of angels to invest in Baby Chakra? How has each investor helped build Baby Chakra in getting to where it is today?
• What led to Baby Chakra witnessing a massive surge in viewership and engagement overnight? How did Naiyya understand her target segment? Did becoming a parent change Naiyya's outlook and the way she looks at entrepreneurship?
• Why is Baby Chakra planning to target tier 3 cities for the distribution of its products? What's Naiyya's advice to entrepreneurs that stay bootstrapped to avoid investor pressure? What advice does Naiyya have for fellow entrepreneurs?

Naiyya's Topic Recommendation:

• GPT3

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Vista Rooms provides experiences to customers at exquisite properties across India. They started as a budget hotel platform like OYO Rooms but decided to pivot their strategy, branding themselves as a luxury homestay brand.

Pranav Maheshwari is the CTO at Vista Rooms. Market conditions forced Vista Rooms to pivot before discovering their right target audience, creating, and becoming a category leader!

In today's episode, you will learn:

• What was the genesis of this idea? How did he meet his co-founders? What was it like launching in a start-up space filled with well-funded competitors? How was Pranav convincing people to use Vista Rooms?
• Why did Vista Rooms decide to pivot after raising money? What were the internal and external changes that were required when shifting from selling at ₹2,000/night to ₹20,000/night?
• How did he manage to scale from 10 cities to 40 cities in just 1 year? When is Vista planning on going internationally? What was a conscious decision made by Pranav on geographic expansion?
• How has COVID-19 impacted their business operations? What are "Workcations," and how are tech founders using them? How do they ensure the hygiene Covid checklist is maintained on every property?
• What is Pravan's experience completing 5 years at Vista Rooms? How does he protect his brand from fake publicity? What is Vista's most significant achievement, according to Pranav?

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Coolberg launched the first non-alcoholic beer in India with a vision of catering to a new category of drink that is modern, trendy, and aspirational.

The idea of Coolberg came about when Pankaj wanted a beverage that made the customers feel like it was an experience, rather than the boring colas on the market. He co-founded Coolberg in 2016 with his wife, Yashika.

In today's episode you will learn:

• Why did Pankaj work for a multinational bank before becoming an entrepreneur? What is his advice to any entrepreneur that is just starting off their career? What are the key takeaways of this experience? What was the trigger that got him to leave Citi Bank and kickstart a start-up in the FMCG space?
• What is Coolberg, and how was it born? What was the pre-research Pankaj did before the company started? When did he get his first bottle out in the market? How did Pankaj go about convincing distributors to buy Coolberg? How did Pankaj manage to bootstrap Coolberg for a year? How did he maintain his own inventory during the early stages of his business?
• What variants does Coolberg have in the market? What is the price point of Coolberg? What was it like to have 4-5 brands like Heineken and others to enter the category after Coolberg was born?
• What strategies has Coolberg, as an FMCG company, develop to adapt to the pandemic? What is the new shipping model that Coolberg has adapted to? How did he take care of his distribution networks during the pandemic?
• What is it like being married to your cofounder - literally? How does Pankaj manage work conflicts in key decisions?
• How did the idea of raising VC money come up? What is Sanjay Mehta's role in the success of Coolberg? How crucial are investors to a company's acceleration and overall success?

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Beardo is a retailer of men's grooming products. Offers products such as beard oil & growth oil, beard wax, face wash, beard combs, soaps, lotions, and others through its platform.

Ashutosh is the founder of Beardo, which Marico Limited just acquired! He started his journey with Beardo in 2015 with co-founder Priyank Shah.

In this episode you will learn:

• How was the idea of Beardo conceptualized? When did Ashutosh know it was the right time to start a men's grooming brand like Beardo? How did he produce the strategy behind his business model? What were the reasons behind Beardo not having an offline presence?
• Where did Ashutosh meet his co-founder, Priyank? How did he overcome the multiple challenges that came up while building Beardo? What was Ashutosh's journey like growing Beardo 40x until its acquisition? What was it like to negotiate a deal with Marico? How did he communicate the acquisition back to his investors?
• Why did Ashutosh decide to continue his business from the city of Ahmedabad? What are his thoughts on the start-up ecosystem there?
• How did Beardo manage to create the result it did with the least amount of money? How did he maintain positive unit economics and keep their burn-rate low? How did he ensure that the business would last for 12-18 months even with 0 sales?
• Why did Ashutosh decide to invest in start-ups? What niche is he looking to invest in? What is Ashutosh's advice for founder and budding entrepreneurs?

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Zilingo is an online marketplace offering a product catalog including apparel, home decor, beauty accessories, and more. Sellers can list their products on their platforms.

Avik is the Head of B2B at Zilingo and is currently working on expanding their presence in the Middle East and Europe. He started his journey as an angel investor with the Hiraco family office.

Here are some of the topics of discussion:

• What was it like to advise a family building wealth through diamonds to invest in tech companies? What were the roadblocks Avik faced in getting access to quality deals? How was Avik's trip visiting the Morpheus for the first time? What were his key takeaways from this experience? What did Avik learn from his first write-off?
• What is Avik's role at Zilingo? Why did Avik choose to work for Zilingo after developing the knack for VC investing with the Hiraco family office? How did Avik land the job with a fast-growing startup and become a part of the core team?
• What were the key challenges that he faced at Zilingo? How did he resolve these challenges? What can Zilingo do for individuals who want to sell their products and go one leg above their competition?
• What is it like for Avik to be on both sides of the board as a VC and a key man in a startup? What is Avik looking for currently in companies to add to his portfolio? What is Avik's advice to fellow entrepreneurs looking to start, and how (or when) they should scale their ventures?

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Daalchini is an operator of smart vending machines. Their app allows users to discover Daalchini kiosks near them and place orders from the catalog. They provide ready-to-eat Indian food to offices, apartments, and educational institutions through vending machines.

Prerna discovered the technology on a trip to China, where she was surprised to see vending machines providing home-cooked food. She specializes in Product Management. Conceptualisation & Building innovative products in Indian Payment industry.

Here are some of the topics of discussion:

• When did Prerna join Paytm? What was her intrapreneur role inside Paytm? What was it like working with Vijay Shekar Sharma? What were Prerna's learnings from working at Paytm and with VSS that she took into her entrepreneurial career?
• What was the trigger that inspired Prerna to start Daalchini? How does the Daalchini model work? How does it ensure quality for micro food transactions at a national scale? What is Prerna's 5-year vision for Daalchini?
• What does Daalchini provide to home chefs? How can home chefs or entrepreneurs link up with Daalchini? What is the additional income that home chefs make on Daalchini's website?
• What is the process like for organizations/individuals to own a vending machine? What is the payback period and ROI for individuals who want to set up a vending machine?
• How did Daalchini pique the interest of marquee angel investors? How does Prerna keep herself updated and ahead of her industry? What is Prerna's best advice to entrepreneurs?

Prerna's Book Recommendation: * The entrepreneurial bible to venture capital by Andrew Romans

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Coutloot is a local language social commerce offline to online (O2O) platform which lets anyone sell online across the country directly to buyers who can simply bargain and shop online from the sellers.

Jasmeet came up with the idea when he realized he didn't have any room left in his closet for his new clothes which he didn't use but didn't want to throw away either. His larger-than-life personality is always a breath of fresh air as you'll find out in this talk.

Here's are some of the topics we discussed:

• What is CoutLoot? How does it empower small sellers from its platform? What was the original business plan for Coutloot? Why did they decide to pivot? When is it essential to pivot a business model? How does one pivot a fast-growing startup? How COVID-19 impacted Coutloot's operations, and what are they doing to adapt to the pandemic?
• How did Jasmeet's Unilever experience help him in his founder journey? What is his recommendation for college graduates who want to get started with entrepreneurship right away?
• Jasmeet's experience pitching to his first set of investors. How did he stand out from the crowd? How does Jasmeet handle rejection from investors? What was his reason behind rejecting some investors?
• What did Jasmeet take from each set of investors that helped him build Coutloot to where it is today? How did he use that set of advice in his business? What is his advice to funders about fundraising?
• What is Jasmeet's advice for founders and budding professionals? Where does Jasmeet see Coutloot in the next 5 years?
• What was his experience raising money from Chinese VCs? How do they differ in their thoughts and approaches from other VCs? What is his takeaway from the Chinese startup culture?

Jasmeet's Book Recommendation:

• Jugaad Innovation by Navi Radjou

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Fynd is the only platform in India that has been funded by Kae Capital, Google, and exited to Jio!

They are an online retailer of multi-category fashion products. Fynd's product catalog includes apparel, footwear, innerwear, jewelry, accessories, and more.

Harsh Shah is one of the three co-founders of Fynd. At Fynd, he brings his valuable experience in technology and entrepreneurship to the table and oversees the supply side of operations, including managing partnering brands and stores. Harsh completed his graduation from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He's also an active angel investor with a portfolio of 15+ startups.

Here are the topics we discussed:

• How did Harsh convince his initial investors to invest in a startup catering to a small, price-conscious and hesitant audience in India? How did he leverage his alum network to kickstart Shopsense?
• What led to pivoting Shopsense into Fynd? How did he convince Shopsense investors to continue investing in the company's new path? How did he convince his investors to take a haircut on their investment?
• Why did Fynd become one of the 2 Indian startups to raise money from Google? What role did angels, family offices, venture capital funds, Google, and Reliance Jio play in Fynd's progress? How does a founder manage different investors on their cap table?
• Why did the founders decide to sell a majority stake to Reliance Jio? What is it like to work with one of the largest Indian corporate houses known for its petrochemicals business and not for its technology prowess? How did the founders convince all the different sets of investors to accept the offer? What did it feel like once the money hit the investors' bank accounts?
• How is Harsh giving back to the venture community? How many angel investments has he made? What is he looking for in the founders he wants to back? How can founders reach out to him? What is Harsh's advice for other founders that are just beginning their journey?

To catch the next live episode, follow me on Instagram at www.instagram.com/showmedamani.

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