The Spotlight: Recent Episodes
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At The Spotlight, we go behind the scenes and identify and highlight the upcoming disruptors from the startup space!
Rajat Mehta is a driving force behind mobilizing Jain community investments in startups. He shares valuable insights into angel investing and harnessing the strength of communities. Offering practical advice for founders seeking funding, he delves into topics ranging from managing cap tables to utilizing social proof effectively. Learn what investors look for, how startups can demonstrate their potential, and the varying scalability of different types of businesses.
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In an age where conventional career paths are being taken over by emerging paths such as content creation, YouTube, and influencer roles, discover how even with a modest following of just 1000 true fans, people can now start their journey as influencers. Parth Chadha delves into how Stan is reshaping the industry by bridging gaming enthusiasts and content creators with their fan base, enabling monetisation opportunities. This episode offers an exclusive look into what's next for the influencer world.
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Discover how Harkunwar recognized the gap between traditional architectural education and industry demands, leading him to establish Novatr, a trailblazer in equipping students with cutting-edge skills. Novatr is not only revolutionizing architectural education but also achieving remarkable sustainability, aiming for an impressive ARR of $40 million with just $1 million in funding. Tune in to explore the journey of building a sustainable Edtech business in a rapidly evolving industry landscape.
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Explore the exciting realm of early-stage investments with Sunicon Ventures, a venture fund with a wealth of experience in driving innovation across various sectors, including Blockchain, AI/ML, Consumer, Healthcare, EdTech, and FinTech. Saloni dives into the company's beginnings, what makes a startup attractive for investment, what investors seek in the early stages before products are ready, and the warning signs founders should be aware of when pitching their ideas.
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While Google Maps reigns supreme in city navigation, what about those pesky potholes or hidden forest trails? What3words is tackling the trickiest of location challenges and is shaking up the geotagging game with over $200 million in funding. Chris Sheldrick talks about the disruptive potential of this platform and its competition with established industry giants.
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1Kosmos is like having a digital ID on your device that lets you access your bank application or your employer’'s computer systems without needing a password. Mike Engle is a serial entrepreneur and in this freewheeling conversation, he shares his lessons from his three decade long journey.
Delve into the fascinating journey of Arvind Agarwal, a seasoned Private Equity investor who is now marrying his wealth of experience in traditional investing with the realm of impact investing. Impact investing involves strategically investing in companies that aim to make a positive difference in society or the environment. Explore the nuances of Arvind's transition and gain valuable insights into the distinctions between a PE investor and a Venture Capital (VC) investor.
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Sudip is a luggage industry veteran having working in leadership roles with luggage companies for more than a decade. In this candid conversation, he shares the journey of becoming an entrepreneur at such a late stage in life and how he is fundamentally changing the business model of the luggage industry by using smart technology.
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Entrepreneurs globally are pioneering new categories to address both lifestyle and chronic diseases through the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda. Gynoveda is one such innovative startup revolutionizing women's health by seamlessly blending Ayurveda with cutting-edge technology.
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Internal Combustion engine vehicles are on their way out, and soon all vehicles will be electric. For commercial EVs, it's smarter to swap batteries than wait for them to charge due to limited charging stations and the need for constant vehicle uptime. Sheru is a disruptive EV startup focused on swapping EV batteries and providing energy storage solutions for power companies.
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The e-rickshaw industry is experiencing rapid growth, and a critical requirement is a reliable battery-swapping infrastructure. Varun talks about the large opportunity in battery swapping, using smart tech to build an asset-light multi-location chain of charging points and how they are enabling entrepreneurship as a part of their business model.
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Smita and Ram launched a not-for-profit initiative to help artisans and farmers access affordable credit. This initiative evolved into Rang De, a social P2P lending platform offering people the chance to invest in loans for those seeking to improve their livelihoods, providing both financial and social returns.
FinBox has built the pipes that help fintech companies ingest user data, apply decision-making engines and run their workflows through an orchestration engine. Rajat discusses building pipes for the fintech space and creating a global business.
Rohit is building an intelligent and automated platform that can provide both pre-built and customized connections for financial services. Think of it like a plug-and-play system that makes it easier to integrate with various banking and finance tools. He talks about his journey of solving deep tech infrastructure challenges in banking and financial services.
OkCredit offers a free digital ledger solution along with financial products for the unorganised sector. It has raised almost 85 million dollars to date from top VCs. Harsh shares his journey from the humble beginnings of OKCredit to where it is today and how it reached here.
This episode delves into the immense potential of language translation services, a booming $56 billion global industry, and how it relates to the complex US healthcare sector. Sunny Singh is currently the founder of RoundGlass which is a combination of a social enterprise and a for-profit wellness business. He narrates his journey of building a healthier and more joyful world through technology-driven solutions and social endeavours.
Uday Narang brings to the table both his personal background as a hedge fund manager and his family background of running one of India’s leading auto components manufacturers. He shares his journey of building Omega Seiki, his management philosophy, and he decodes the major trends in the EV industry.
Veira Group is an Original Device manufacturer - they design and manufacture televisions for other brands. Sharan Maini is from the second generation of the Veira Group promoters, taking forward his father’s legacy in manufacturing televisions. He talks about the journey of the group from making 10 radio sets a day to manufacturing thousands of televisions a day.
Shlok is a creator and social influencer who’s now creating a D2C brand in the mobile accessory space. He shares his journey of becoming a creator straight out of college instead of taking up a job, and how the creator economy works.
Magenta Mobility is doing everything to enable the transition from ICE engines to EVs without actually manufacturing EVs. Maxon and Darryl talk about their journey of building up Magenta from scratch with almost no external funding for the first few years, and about staying true to their game plan to build an EV ecosystem platform.
Adarsh and Kushagra had been working with global energy companies when they decided to take the plunge into entrepreneurship more than a decade ago. In this conversation, they talk about their journey of building Sunsource through a sustainable path of generating revenues and about the vision they are chasing to fight climate change at scale.
Xceedance is building a unified suite of services and products for insurance companies, helping them in their digital transformation journey and creating cutting-edge products for the next-gen customer. Arun was recruited as a very young India CEO for Berkshire Hathaway Insurance, which paved the way for him to eventually start Xceedance.
What you must not miss:-
- Building a 100 million dollar business without funding
- The Backend technology powering insurance businesses
- How tech will impact insurance
XYXX Apparels is among the most well-funded innerwear startups, having raised more than 30 million dollars to date. Yogesh talks about the market opportunity in the innerwear space and the long-term vision he is chasing.
Don’t miss:-
- Fallacy of building consumer brands
- Theory of naming XYXX
- Customer acquisition strategy
- Learnings as a founder
This is the era of vertical Saas - instead of building all-purpose Swiss army tools, successful companies are building focused tools that are the best in the world for one focused niche. IBS Fintech is disrupting the space of treasury management by offering a purpose-built Saas tool that is outcompeting global giants.
Don’t miss:-
- Founding thesis
- Making a treasury
- Unique brand positioning
- Future roadmap
Virtual Forest is a startup helping appliance companies build more energy-efficient products. Omer has had a fascinating journey- from first running a family business to now building a funded technology design startup. He talks about the impact that is possible just by adopting superior motor technology in products like air conditioners, fans, washing machines and Electric Vehicles.
What you must not miss:-
- Founding thesis
- Reasons for having co-founder
- Carbon capture technology
- Models of manufacturing
KPO or knowledge process outsourcing is a fast-growing industry that has been a major contributor to India’s services export revenue. It offers India a sustainable way to generate employment and grow the GDP. Ashish has had an amazing journey of building not just startups but also two of India’s most respected private universities - Ashoka University and Plaksha University. Benori Knowledge is a global provider of custom research and analytics solutions.
What you must not miss:-
- How did Evalueserve scale up?
- Finding the first customer.
- Revenue plans.
Once every 2-3 decades, we experience an era of technological change that completely transforms how we live. In the 90s it was the connected computing devices, and right now we are going through another such transformation in the space of mobility. Micelio was conceived as the first-of-its-kind catalyst in the electric mobility value curve. Its mission is to power innovation and drive long-term, sustainable change in the clean mobility space.
What you must not miss:-
- How does Micelio make it happen?
- Funding journey
- Passion for clean mobility.
Fashion is a two and a half trillion dollar industry globally, with a complex supply chain that includes diverse stakeholders ranging from yarn manufacturers to designers to apparel manufacturers to big brands like H&M and Zara. Locofast addresses the broken textile supply chain through a platform connecting vendors and suppliers. They have expanded rapidly and partnered with 700 plus suppliers.
What you must not miss:-
- Uniqueness of Locofast.
- Vision behind this startup.
- Finding the right solutions.
The older you get, the more you realize the importance of a good sleep in making you more productive. There are numerous flaws in the traditional mattress markets such as overhead costs, inflation and material information. To solve these, Kabir Siddiq built the digital first brand - SleepyCat. His aim was to offer a premium 'all-in-one mattress' product with a direct 'factory-to-consumer' model. Listen on to this insightful conversation about starting up and scaling up.
What you must not miss:-
- Learning consumer behavior.
- Challenges faced.
- Scaling up.
Water is an industry ripe for innovation and requires game-changing technologies to ensure a sustainable and better future for all. Uravu Labs literally creates water out of thin air. Swapnil talks about the journey of building the technology stack to make it possible and the business opportunities they are chasing. Listen on to this insightful conversation about building a deep-tech startup in India
What you must not miss:-
- The technology behind Uravu Labs.
- Challenges faced.
- Managing costs.
You would be surprised to learn that most companies outsource their payroll processing. Neeyamo started as an HR outsourcing firm and is now a leading technology-enabled global payroll and EOR solutions provider for MNCs worldwide. Rangarajan talks about the journey of building up Neeyamo and some of the fascinating disruptions we can expect to see in the space of payroll.
What you must not miss:-
- Productizing the payroll solution.
- How does the payroll platform work?
- Global Competitors.
- Diversifying journey.
Age is not a factor in trying to forecast entrepreneurial success but experience does and it often comes with age. D P Mangal started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 62 with Lagnam Spintex, manufacturer of high-quality cotton yarn using the most advanced technologies in the world. The company now expects an annual turnover of 325 cr, of which 180 cr are from exports.
What you must not miss:-
- D P Mangal’s Journey - from Finance Specialist to C.E.O
- Supply chain of the textile industry
- Challenges in exporting
Seekho is a leading upskilling platform that plans to prepare Indians for the careers of tomorrow. The Gurgaon-based startup has created a novel AI engine to customize learning and make job matching more effective. Listen on as Arihant speaks about the platform bridging the gap between CVs of employees and JDs of employers!
What you must not miss:-
- Semester at sea
- Experiences at Freshworks
- Why industry professionals are keen to mentor
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision may seem risky for the equity market, but Bridgewave promises to be groundbreaking. Bridgeweave aims to help everyone make better investment decisions by providing the best possible information and ideas in the most convenient way.
What you must not miss!
- Flagship products of Bridgeweave.
- Trends in wealth management.
- Understanding the crypto-market.
In India people wwere inclined to import performance wear brands. Zymrat is an innovation-led D2C performance wear brand with technology at its core with an extensive focus on superior raw materials. Tune in to know how this D2C platform became a game-changer for the activewear market in India!
What you must not miss!
- Finding the product-market fit.
- Initial hurdles.
- Anticipating consumer trends.
Courseplay is the scalable learning technology solution for enterprises to deliver delightful learning content, engage hard-working employees, automate tedious workflows, and accurately measure impact for employees using any device. Tune in to know how this B2B platform aims to meet changing industry demands as well as bolster personal growth!
What you must not miss!
- How did Courseplay start?
- Monetization strategy
- Business model
There was an upsurge in the video wave with brands exploring formats like social commerce, video commerce or live commerce to increase their customer base. Most brands are falling short in effectively engaging with their customers and Hyperstate with its flagship product Kappa is trying to fill this gap.
Hyperstate creates AI-driven pipelines and frameworks in the digital economy to enable instant scale, data capture and create actionable insights. They launched their SaaS product Kappa as an internal tool and it is India’s first no-code SaaS platform powering customer experience.
What you must not miss!
- Building the video chatbot.
- Technical challenges.
- Important for customer engagement
- Integration system of Kappa
The world of cryptocurrency is complex. Bhagaban started Defy with the aim to build a fair, efficient and transparent system that enables investors to take charge of their finances. Defy puts the user’s needs at the heart of the conversation. A crypto user can communicate with other users and learn along the way. Bhagaban speaks about the complexity that crypto investors face and how Defy solves it.
Key Takeaways:
- Scaling the business.
- Challenges faced in the crypto exchange business.
- User acquisition plan for Defy
The real challenge for the SME sector lies in day-to-day cash flow management. A large number of start-ups today have started providing financial services to SMEs, often functioning as an alternative to banks.
Numberz is a Fintech Saas start-up streamlining the day-to-day banking activities of SMEs. Aditya, an alumnus of the Indian School of Business, speaks about his vision of spotting the right opportunity in the Fintech sector.
Key takeaways:-
- Learnings from previous stints.
- Converting the thought to Numberz.
- Fundraising Journey.
The care for chronic disease management addresses pain points at scale and has the potential to become a large business globally.
Akshay Datt speaks with Jogin Desai, Founder & CEO of Eyestem, a leading cell therapy company in India that aims to set a new benchmark for quality and affordability in this domain.
Dr. Desai has previously served as the CEO of Cenduit and has extensive experience in growing and nurturing businesses. He founded Eyestem in 2016 to develop cell therapy in order to address Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), an eye disease that causes vision loss.
Tune in to this episode to hear Dr Desai speak about how Eyestem plans to pioneer the development of the cell therapy industry.
Key Takeaways!
- Developing the product.
- Targeting incurable diseases.
- Commercializing Eyestem.
In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt talks with Smriti Tomar, Founder and CEO, Stack Finance, a Bengaluru-based investing platform. An alumnus of NIT-Bhopal, Smriti worked as a data analyst specializing in the banking and financial sector, before venturing to Stack in 2020. Stack Finance is working to make investments more accessible and affordable to India's youth. Stack enables young and old to save for their future aspirations while educating them about investing sensibly. Tune into this episode to hear Smriti speak about how Stack Finance offers personalized investment plans for retail investors based on their goals and risk-taking abilities. Key Takeaways: The start-up journey. Product evolution during YC incubation. Personalizing the product for users. User journey of Stack.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced everyone to lead a new normal life where people have found various ways to entertain themselves. The online gaming industry is having exponential growth in India. It is necessary to have a safe and legal platform to entertain people. In this episode of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Saurabh Gupta and Siddharth Swarnkar, Founders of Tamasha. live. Both of them are graduates from IIT Bombay with a desire for entrepreneurship. The idea arose from the fact that gaming communities lack a platform for playing, engaging, and earning. They use multiple platforms to interact with one another and make payments and there is no way to meet new people. Tamasha is a gaming platform with a unique blend of community, engagement, and transaction layers that work in tandem. Tune in to this episode to hear Saurabh and Siddharth talk about how Tamasha. live makes it meaningful for creators to express themselves and for people across the country to communicate. What you must not miss! Customer acquisition strategy. Fundraising journey. Ways for users to monetize. Implementing the College Ambassador programme.
“When health is absent ... wealth becomes useless”. The pandemic made everyone understand this deep-rooted connection between health and wealth. Businesses were hit hard and employers realized the importance of employee health and insurance. In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Sanchit Malik, Co-founder and CEO of Pazcare, a Bengaluru based InsurTech start-up that aims to restructure employee benefits management in India. In a previous stint in 2013, he co-founded Townscript which was later acquired by Bookmyshow. He then launched Pazcare in 2021 which enables small and midsize businesses to provide employee benefits seamlessly. They intend to break all the conventional norms of the insurance sector by bringing everything together on a digital platform. Tune in to this episode to hear Sanchit speak about how Pazcare continues to provide, manage and upgrade employee benefits plans through an AI-driven platform. Key takeaways! Covid accelerated Pazcare’s growth...! Onboarding the first few customers. How is Pazcare different from other players in the industry?
If I were to choose the most hectic and time-consuming process in an organisation, it is definitely going to be training sales representatives, which takes somewhere around 6-8 months. In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Shruti Kapoor, CEO, Wingman, an AI platform that helps salespeople by guiding them to interact with prospective customers. Shruti, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, has an extensive experience in sales across various industries. She started Wingman in 2018 with an aim to bridge the gap between coaching and action, and solve the issues faced by sales managers to guide their reps. Wingman’s AI-driven platform helps in auditing and analysing every call and getting real-time insights on a sales rep’s performance. Tune in to this episode to hear Shruti speak about how Wingman brought change among the salespeople to make them do better on the fly. Key takeaways! Wingman's approach to solving problems. Working Model of Wingman Finding the product-market fit. Experience at Y Combinator and subsequent fundraising journey.
“Nothing was more satisfying than passing on one’s knowledge and wisdom to the future generation and contributing towards a better tomorrow.” In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Achin Bhattacharya, Founder and CEO, Notebook, a mobile-first digital learning product that combines video and text content to deliver best-in-class education according to Board curricula. Achin has held prominent positions at GE, PwC, KPMG, and Deloitte in India and abroad. He founded Notebook in 2018 to provide access to learning for primary and secondary school education in India. Since its launch, they have attracted about 1.71 million users, of which 60 per cent are from non-metro cities. Tune in to this episode to hear Achin speak about how he pursued his dream to make inclusive education a reality in India. Key takeaways! Association with BSNL. Understanding the student behaviour. Personalized learning for students.
If anything has become omnipresent in recent years, it is using technology to simplify businesses. In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Dhaval Udani, Founder and CEO, DanaMojo, India’s first exclusive online payments solution platform for NGOs. Dhaval is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and has previously worked with Give India, both as a volunteer and the CEO. Banking on this experience, he started DanaMojo in 2016, intending to simplify and manage online payments for NGOs, thereby allowing them to focus on increasing their donations. Tune in to this episode to hear Dhaval speak about how DanaMojo is transforming the way NGOs interact and engage with their donors. Key takeaways! How do NGOs get listed with DanaMojo? Purpose of The Giving Marketplace.
E-commerce disrupted the way we shopped by moving countless people away from physical stores in favour of shopping online. Live commerce takes us a step further by combining online shopping with live streaming. In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Vipul Jain, Founder and CEO, Degpeg. Vipul is a seasoned marketer who has worked with numerous companies before starting his entrepreneurial journey. In a bid to bring a new era of e-commerce, he started Degpeg in 2021. Degpeg is a cloud-based B2B social commerce platform that enables multi-streaming on various social platforms and allows for online shopping from these live streams. Tune in to this episode to hear Vipul speak about how Degpeg is transforming the digital shopping experience. Key takeaways! Learnings from Vipul’s previous ventures Degpeg’s pricing model The future of live commerce in India
In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt talks with Kartik Mandaville, Founder and CEO, Springworks, a Bengaluru-based HR Tech start-up that is simplifying the HR function. An alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University, Kartik worked for Science, a US-based venture capitalist and private equity firm, before starting Springworks in 2014. Springworks is a unique Blockchain portfolio company, which is building a professional reputation network using AI and Blockchain technology to eliminate frauds from user profiles. Tune in to this episode to hear Kartik speak about how Springworks with its unique products is revolutionizing the HR landscape. Key takeaways: The whole CMU experience. Verification via Blockchain Springworks’ product portfolio How to build a winning company culture?
It’s the worst nightmare for an enterprise if its systems are hacked. With more than 3000 cases of hacking per day, it becomes a huge business opportunity in India. In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Pankit Desai, Co-founder and CEO, Sequretek, a Mumbai-based start-up that offers cybersecurity solutions for enterprises. In this digital era where any system is prone to hacking, security becomes the utmost priority for companies. Keeping this vision in mind, Sequretek was founded in 2013 by Pankit Desai and Anand Naik. It offers a unique suite of security services that aims to secure enterprises. Tune in to this episode to hear Pankit speak about how Sequretek aims to leverage India’s security market with its end-to-end cyber-security offerings. Key takeaways! Revenue model: A combo of subscription-based model and a perpetual license model Fundraising journey Plans for global expansion
The last two years have brought a lot of disruption that has led to massive innovation, especially in the education sector. We can definitely say that, what demonetisation did to FinTech, COVID did to EdTech. In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Sarvesh Shrivastava, Founder and Managing Director, Eupheus Learning, a Delhi-based start-up that is helping students to gain access to better education using modern digital tools. A veteran in the Indian education sector, Sarvesh realised a gap in the way school teaches and the way students learn at home. He started Eupheus Learning in 2017 to bridge this gap and today has successfully onboarded more than 20000 schools and over 4 million students. Tune in to this episode to hear Sarvesh speak about how Eupheus is transforming the Indian education sector. Key takeaways! Fundraising journey Building learning solutions to expand internationally Acquisition and subsequent expansion to lower-tier schools
In India, managing corporate treasuries is a task and many organizations still rely on heavy paperwork to reconcile their financial statements. In this week’s edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt talks with Mohan Krishnan, Founder, Global PayEX, a Mumbai-based company whose AI-powered cloud platform aids organizations towards optimizing the working capital. Mohan is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and a serial entrepreneur who has extensive experience of more than three decades in the IT industry. He has previously served as a co-founder of the Indian IT services giant Mphasis. In his current stint, he is heading Global PayEX. Backed by JPMorgan it is an AI-driven working capital optimization platform that has partnered with several leading global and regional banks. Tune in to this episode to hear Mohan speak about how Global PayEX empowers corporates by providing automation solutions to enhance transparency and benefit stakeholders. Key takeaways! Strategic alliance with JPMorgan. Business growth during COVID. Plans for global expansion.
In India, 90% of students study in colleges in tier 2 and tier 3 cities and unfortunately, most of them do not have access to updated study material. This week’s edition of The Spotlight brings to you the journey of Bhanu Pattajoshi, Founder, Goseeko, a start-up that is on a mission to change the way students gain knowledge. After working for the country’s leading media companies for almost two decades, Bhanu started his entrepreneurial journey with Glossaread in 2016. Soon enough, he recognized the gap in the Indian higher education system and pivoted. With Goseeko, it becomes easier for undergraduate students in tier 2 and tier 3 cities to afford and access study materials as per their needs and on a single platform. Tune in to this episode to hear Bhanu speak about how Goseeko is chasing this massive opportunity of improving learning outcomes for these students by offering a convenient, accessible, and affordable EdTech product. Key takeaways! Freemium business model. Scaling a social impact venture. The choice between picking money and choosing the fundamentals of your business.
Senior citizens are the fastest-growing population segment in India and the COVID crisis has exposed the gaps in our medical infrastructure, putting a huge question mark on the access of health for the elderly. In this episode of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Saumyajit Roy who with Emoha Elder Care is aiming to create a lifeline for India’s elderly. He is an alumnus of the Indian School of Business and has worked in the eldercare industry for over a decade before kicking off his entrepreneurial journey. It was when his parents faced a medical emergency in his absence, he realized that there is a huge opportunity to develop a tech-based, holistic eldercare service platform. In 2019, he started Emoha, a subscription-based eldercare platform that delivers single-click access to a range of health, emergency, and social-engagement services. Tune in to this episode to hear Saumyajit speak about how Emoha is rewiring and reinventing eldercare services in India with love and tech. Key takeaways! The military buddy system. How does a community doctor model work? How did Emoha help senior citizens to cope during the COVID crisis? Plans to expand to other services and cities.
“Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur.” – Varun Khurana, Crofarm In this edition of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Varun Khurana, Founder and CEO, Crofarm, who has been on a quest to identify industry niches and build businesses in them. Varun is a graduate of IIT Delhi and is a three-time entrepreneur. His previous ventures, Wirkle Technologies and Mygreenbox were acquired by Location Labs and Grofers, respectively. During his stint as CTO at Grofers, he observed the poor state of the supply chain in the agriculture sector. This paved the way to his third venture Crofarm, which aims to cut agricultural wastage and help farmers get the right price for their produce. Tune in to this episode to hear Varun speak about how Crofarm is disrupting the fresh produce market by optimising the delivery of perishable products without compromising on their quality. Key Takeaways: Building and scaling multiple tech start-ups. Understanding market direction and making strategic exits at the right time. Challenges faced in the perishable products delivery industry.
With many platforms entering the Indian market, investing in stocks has become easy. But, what about, if one wants to diversify their portfolios and invest in the global stock market? This struck as an area of potential to our guest on this week’s edition of The Spotlight. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Viram Shah, Co-founder and CEO, Vested Finance, outlines his journey of simplifying the US stock market for global investors. Coming from an entrepreneurial background, Viram always wanted to create value. Stemming from his own desires to invest in global companies, he started Vested Finance in 2018, while pursuing his MBA from UC Berkeley. With a simple mission to increase accessibility and reduce the cost of investing in global stocks. Tune in to this episode to learn how Vested is removing barriers and helping investors leverage the power of an internationally diversified portfolio. Key takeaways Building and scaling an International Investment Advisor company. Navigating international and domestic banking regulations.
Career planning is a tough nut to crack. Had it been easy, there would have been lesser dropouts, career gaps and restarts. In this episode of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Prateek Bhargava, Founder and CEO, Mindler, a Delhi-based start-up that has developed a tech-enabled ecosystem for school students to plan their careers and seek mentorship. Prateek is an alumnus of ISB, Hyderabad and MDI, Gurgaon and has worked with some of the big names in the corporate sector. He has always believed that having the right career advice at the right time is extremely crucial. He, along with his mentor Prikshit Dhanda observed that this is the biggest pain point for students and their parents and started Mindler in 2015. Tune in to this episode to hear Prateek speak about how Mindler simplifies the puzzle around career choices for the younger generation. Key takeaways! Why choosing the right college/discipline after school is important? The current state of the Indian education system and institutions. How to address the high demand for quality career coaching?
Nature has always been a solution to all our problems. Be it personal care or medicines, nature always has an answer. As far as we can go back in time, people in India have always relied on Ayurveda. In this episode of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Dhruv Bhasin and Dhruv Madhok, Founders, Arata. They have worked in the corporate sector before setting off their entrepreneurial journey. The idea behind Arata came as a fruit of the discussion the founders had regarding how toxic and harmful hair styling gels are. Understanding the consumers’ inclination towards organic products and clubbing it with homemade and natural recipes, they founded Arata in 2018. Tune in to this episode to hear Bhasin and Madhok speak about how Arata, with its sustainable and eco-friendly products, is on its way to being India’s answer to The Body Shop. What you must not miss! The idea behind Arata Building an online presence Fundraising journey
What letters were in the 20th century, emails are in the present day. It has become the backbone of communicating at work or otherwise. In this episode of The Spotlight, Akshay Datt speaks with Niraj Ranjan Rout, Founder, and CEO, Hiver, a Bengaluru-based company, whose SaaS product enhances Gmail’s features to help its users manage their business processes from their inbox. Niraj is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and has worked in tech companies before starting his venture in 2007. All along he faced technical challenges when it came to emails. He started Hiver in 2012 with Nitesh Nandy, which caters to the collaboration and knowledge sharing needs of an organization through email. Tune in to this episode to hear Niraj speak about how Hiver is simplifying email management for its clients. Key takeaways: How proper handling of emails can improve productivity. How Hiver facilitates knowledge management. Fundraising journey.
In this episode of The Spotlight, we have the amazing journey of a company that started with the idea to give India its first video streaming platform, but ended up helping its clients to unlock the real potential of their video content. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Vinayak Shrivastav, CEO and Co-founder, Toch.ai, takes us through his journey. He is a graduate of London Business School and has worked for a prominent Venture Capitalist firm before taking the entrepreneurial plunge. In 2016, he started Toch with an aspiration to become the next YouTube of the Indian market. However, after a minor setback, Vinayak launched the reboot version of Toch with a vision to build a solution that unlocks the potential of videos by making them more engaging and monetizable, making it a pioneer in its niche. Tune in to this episode to hear Vinayak speak about Toch is redefining video content by implementing tech in the real world. Key takeaways! Definition of a good founder Plans of global expansion Effects of COVID on business
In this episode of The Spotlight, we have a founder who is on a mission to improve the quality of air we breathe. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Dr. Srikanth Sola, CEO, Devic Earth, takes us through his amazing journey. He is a graduate of Stanford University and a former cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. It was the love for his country and the will to serve people that brought him back to India. He joined the Department of Cardiology at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Bangalore, where he was astonished to see the rising cardiac cases due to air pollution. He took this as his personal mission and started evaluating and developing technologies that can help in improving air quality. He founded Devic Earth in 2018 and since then has served many companies with its affordable product offering. Tune in to this episode to hear Dr. Sola talk about how this green tech company is tirelessly working towards providing clean and breathable air. Key takeaways: Experience of working in the US vs India. Subscription model. Fundraising journey.
In today’s episode of The Spotlight, we have a founder who is on a mission to bring healthcare to your doorstep. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Shyatto Raha, Founder and CEO, MyHealthcare, recalls his 23-year journey at a prominent media house, which groomed the entrepreneur he is today. From starting as a research intern to heading the e-commerce business unit, Shyatto has been there and done it all. It was when he took a business trip to Indonesia, he realized that the healthcare system was completely broken in hospitals. He started working on this gap and brought MyHealthcare to existence in 2017; a digital platform with a mission to bridge the gap between healthcare providers and patients. Tune in to this episode to listen to Shyatto speak about how MyHealthcare is working towards streamlining the healthcare delivery system in India. Key takeaways: Working in a corporate vs start-up. His thoughts on B2B2C model. Importance of making patients’ experience better.
On today’s episode of The Spotlight, we have a founder whose tryst with technology started at a very young age and has always put his heart into innovative and disruptive technology. Hailing from a small town, Tumkur in Karanataka, Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-founder and CEO, Unocoin, started programming in 1995 when he was in Class 7 and soon graduated to building animations and programs. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Sathvik recalls how his journey took a different turn when the internet arrived in India. He would spend his summers at cyber cafes to understand how the computer works and understanding its fundamentals. After graduation, this computer prodigy started working with Cognizant Technologies which gave him an insight into how MNCs worked. After his MBA from the University of Melbourne, he started VentureNext in 2008, which was involved with custom scripting for businesses in the virtual world called SecondLife. It was in 2012, he was introduced to Bitcoin which led to his next venture, Unocoin, India’s first bitcoin platform, which today is serving 1.2 million customers. Tune in to this episode to hear Sathvik unfold the world of crypto and the technology behind it. Key takeaways: Cryptocurrency 101. RBI’s take on cryptocurrency. Future of crypto in India.
“When you teach, you learn.” Staying true to his love for academics and teaching for nearly 2 decades of his career, our guest on The Spotlight is a retired professor, angel investor, startup mentor and co-author of the book ‘Funding Your Start-Up and Other Nightmares’. In this episode, we are in conversation with Dhruv Nath who wears many hats. After serving as a professor at MDI, Gurgaon, he became the director of Lead Angels Network in November 2020, an angel investment platform that is providing time and money to early-stage startups, supporting them with funds and the much-needed guidance they require to grow amidst COVID-19 crises. As the pandemic altered a lot of things in our lives, redefining ‘Normal’, Lead Angels saw a unique opportunity to invest in early-stage, up and coming startups, providing them exposure and innovative solutions in the new world. He shares insights from his initial working days as a Senior Vice President at NIIT which is among world’s leading training companies. A keen-learner, and someone who believes in incorporating personal experiences into his teachings, he talks about his rewarding days as a professor. Well, he is the most excited talking about his role as an angel investor and the workings of angel investing. Tune in to the episode to listen to the powerhouse of a man talking about teaching, startups, investment, mentoring and everything in between. From the episode: Days at MDI and the phenomenal learning experiences. Lessons on creating digital Start-Ups and Fintech. Angel Investing, chances of being successful at it, and the risks involved. Scaling-Up hacks for aspiring founders.
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Our guests today, yes you heard it right. In today’s episode of The Spotlight, we have not one but two co-founders who are on a mission to solve the problem of lack of accessibility and awareness for healthcare in Bharat, on the other hand, making it affordable for the Bharat user. Rajat Garg and Dr Manuj Garg are the co-founders of India’s largest Healthcare Content company, https://www.myupchar.com/ (myUpchar.com), providing healthcare-related information in a plethora of Indian languages with an aim to reach tier 2 and tier 3 India. In this chat, they recollect their individual journeys to Stanford University. Dr Garg has a PhD in Economics from Stanford University and went on to be a Management Consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in San Francisco during which he largely worked on healthcare delivery in India for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Rajat, on the other hand, went on to pursue an MS in Electrical Engineering. They share their interestingly accidental story of coming together to launch myUpchar and rethinking technology to take healthcare in every part of India. Dr Garg calls it a ‘happy accident.’ Bitten by the bug of starting up, these two passionate entrepreneurs followed their heart to revolutionise the healthcare scenario in Bharat. Tune in to the episode for conversations on a range of topics spanning from startups, technology, healthcare, discovering yoga, connecting with patients from the remotest areas, to scaling out, building supply, pitching to investors, hearing rejections, to finally raising funds, monetizing the platform and fulfilling medicinal requirements. Key highlights of the episode: The potential of content and technology to deliver healthcare awareness. Intellectual fulfilment at a prestigious graduate school. Building a healthcare consultation platform. Getting angles onboard. Creating a positive impact by solving health issues in Bharat.
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We are in conversation with Prithvijit Roy - CEO and Co-founder at BRIDGEi2i Analytics Solutions. BRIDGEi2i is a rapidly growing analytics solution firm based out of India and USA. In this episode host Akshay Datt talks to Prithvijit about his early childhood days growing up in Calcutta and then later studying at ISI Delhi as a student of quantitative economics. Prithivijit also shares about his corporate work life - working in big large corporations such as GE & HP where he incubated and built two of the largest business analytics services organizations. Having grown up in an entrepreneurial environment Prithvijit, always had an inclination towards entrepreneurship & starting something of his own. Thus after almost 12 years of solid corporate experience, Prithvijit took the courageous leap of faith and dived straight into the genesis of BRIDGEi2i.
We talk to him about his journey thus far and learn some great insights about maintaining successful co-founder relationships. Especially about dealing with the tough questions - How to decide roles & how to navigate the equity split.
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“A global event changes the way people live, behave and consume.” Our guest today on The Spotlight, Ratnesh Verma, founder of Pidge, is someone who reinvented himself after reaching the peaks of the corporate world. Pidge is an on-demand, safe & secure, delivery ecosystem. Ratnesh grew up in an academically oriented atmosphere, with a lot of emphasis on education. He graduated from University of Delhi, while simultaneously pursuing a professional degree in corporate and economic laws. He then went on to complete The Stanford LEAD, an extensive one-year long program on corporate innovation from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He believed that gaining work experience could help him accumulate larger perspectives as well as knowledge of the real world and didn’t want to get degrees for the sake of getting degrees. He knew it would add more to his learning.
His first most professional role was at Hyatt Regency, Delhi as a financial controller, and he continued working there for 21 years. This opportunity opened ways to exceptional learning experiences and continued motivating him to always try his best and push boundaries.
He was the first Indian to have been given an opportunity to work at Hyatt internationally. Working for internal and external audits, he lived out of a suitcase.
Ratnesh talks about his remarkable life experiences, how marriage played an influential role in his life, his defining moments, turning points, his professional journey across the spectrum of hotels, lessons on starting up, and how COVID-19 has impacted the hotel business.
Listen to the entire conversation full of inspirational anecdotes and bright entrepreneurial insights.
Key takeaways:
Experiential offerings for consumers. Value chain hotels and focusing on building consistent products. Impact of COVID on the hotel industry. Man is a social animal, and travel will not go anywhere. Adapters will be the survivors and those who don’t adapt will perish. Running a hotel in a post-COVID world.
This week on The Spotlight, we are in conversation with Ajay Bulusu the Co-Founder@ NextBillion AI. Ajay’s story starts much like the story of any South Indian Bhramin boy in Hyderabad - pursuing engineering. Studying in the UK and passing out during recession Ajay talks about getting his first job on his own merit. Albeit at a small firm, but with Ajay’s determination to make it large it was not long before he worked for big names such as Google, Indeed, American Express & Grab.
With a career spanning across the globe right from the US to Tokyo Ajay shares some great stories about his time in Google, working in Tokyo and building up map technology from the ground up at Grab.
Tune in as Ajay shares more about the genesis of NextBillion AI & shares some harsh truths about entrepreneurship.
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Someone with no prior experience in media whatsoever, he has garnered a unique path of his own, helping Indian millennials with ‘all things finance’. No matter how bumpy the road gets, our guest today keeps moving forward with a determined mindset. Finshots has now 2,00,000+ subscriber base and the community continues to grow. ‘Finshots’ are 3-min fun, crisp and insightful reads on a variety of news and discussions from across the nation and globe. In this episode, the co-founder of Finshots, Bhanu, spills the beans, talks about his engineering days from IIT Roorkee, his rigorous interview experience at IIMA and where the idea of Finshots stemmed from. An IIMA alumnus, he would read business and finance news during his prep for the CAT exam. He is making financial news simple and accessible, educating people through the 3-minute long daily newsletter on the most important Financial and Business buzz in an easily understandable language. A man with a calm demeanour, he takes us through his journey of building a content platform from getting it off the ground and breathing it into existence. Key Takeaways from the episode: Teamwork and complimenting each other’s strengths. Lessons on Market Research and Analysis. Learnings from growing a content platform from scratch. Creating short-form content and building a strong subscriber base. Financial Advisory and targeting a potential audience.
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Someone who quit his well paying job at a billion-dollar company in order to make the heartland of India a financially stable place. Our guest today on The Spotlight is Manish Kothari, the man on a mission to create an investment mindset in the people of India. His venture, Zfunds, is successfully selling financial services. Growing up in a Marwari family hailing from the city of Kolkata, he was always aiming for starting his own business one day. He recollects his corporate days, where he worked in companies like Citibank, IIFL, and was the business head for mutual funds at PolicyBazaar before starting Zfunds. In this episode, Manish shares with us his expertise in banking, investing, insurance, financial advising and mutual funds. With a vision to educate more and more people, he wishes to expand the overall investor base and encourage consumers to invest their wealth properly. Tune in to the full conversation for insightful facts from the man disrupting the Indian investment mindset. From the Episode: What an MBA teaches you, beyond academics How to invest your wealth in the right place Understanding ‘mutual funds’ How to scale up the mutual fund distribution space
Well, we all have been confused at one point or the other, when it comes to making career choices. A commerce student, our guest today was, in his own words, an average student at school. The freedom from his parents, of making his own choices and paving his own path, shaped him as an individual. Like any other commerce student, he had applied for the CA exam but ended up with the realisation that he did not like it. As a football enthusiast, he wanted to pursue the sport full-time but unfortunately, things didn’t turn out as planned. Anand Sinha went on to pursue his graduation from Christ University, Bangalore. He gives us a gist of life in Bangalore in this candid chat. Previously a National Sales Head of Zomato, he eventually started his own. His company, Pressplay, a media-tech startup didn’t go very far but it did get 1 MN+ app downloads and 100+ content partners on board. He shares the experience of rejoining Zomato and becoming the Global Head of Zomato Gold. In the quest for his calling, however, he further went on to build Leapclub, a powerful, private network for women leaders that changed the game. Anand shares with us impactful insights and the journey of building this professional network of women role models. Let’s hear it from him in this intuitive conversation. Key takeaways from this episode:Working in early-stage startups Perseverance and resilience- the qualities that make an entrepreneur Significance of having a route map and a vision as an entrepreneur Lessons for up and coming founders Scaling up your business Taking feedback from potential users and creating lasting connections
Don’t we all want our everyday life affairs to be simpler? Don’t we want to eliminate that “procrastination ka keeda” from our lives? We all secretly desire to have a simpler life where our very own “jaadu” takes care of the routine tasks. We all want to believe in magic and are certainly curious to find simpler ways of living. Today, on The Spotlight, we have someone who has an intriguing story to tell. His fascination for all things AI is mind-bending. He is the founder of India’s number 1 domestic robots brand, Milagrow Robots. We are in conversation with Rajeev Karwal whose vivid imagination has made lives simpler. In this episode, we are exploring the world of Robots with him! A veteran, he shares the experience of working with big companies like LG, Reliance Digital, Philips, Onida, Electrolux, and Chellarams in the last 36 years. He was the president of the Consumer Electronics Association of India from 2000 to 2002 and has also served various National Industry bodies like CII, FICCI to name a few. Redefining the conventional, the IMT Ghaziabad alumnus explored the wonders of his mind and launched India’s first Floor Robots, Pool Robots, Lawn Robots, Massaging Robots in the year 2007. He was the first one to have launched the world's first-ever Live Mapping Robots, Air Purification Robots, Home Safety Robots and Alexa enabled Robots. Let’s get right to it and delve into the world of Robotics and All things fascinating! What you can expect from the conversation: Lessons in Selling through thick & thin Owning your job role and taking strategic risks Effective ways of Brand building Marketing innovatively How to make a sustainable business in Robotics
“It pays to stay authentic and talk to millennials in the language they understand” - Hitesh Dhingra. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhingrahitesh/?originalSubdomain=in (Hitesh Dhingra) is the founder of https://www.themancompany.com/ (The Man Company) - an exclusive men’s only grooming brand. He is a 4x Entrepreneur who has been a pioneer across various industries. Right from starting an eCommerce site, a dating site & now The Man Company Hitesh has a proven track record of identifying unmet consumer needs and capturing the early adopters market. In this episode of The Spotlight, our host Akshay is in conversation with Hitesh to learn more about what it takes to capture the millennial market.
Key takeaways from the show:
How to bootstrap and save resources. Generating VC Funding. How to connect with the Millenial consumer
This week on The Spotlight we are in conversation with Geetansh Bamania - the Founder & CEO of RentoMojo. An IIT-M alumnus & a serial entrepreneur Geetansh is a problem solver. In fact, he is an entrepreneur with a track record of seeking business opportunities in challenges! In our candid conversation with Geetansh, we speak to him about his childhood, studying at IIT-M, his journey towards entrepreneurship & starting a cost heavy business & then scaling it to 150x within a span of just 6 years. (Yep, we are referring to RentoMojo) Tune in to know all about Geetansh’s journey from being a founder to a CEO. Here are our key takeaways from this episode: How to solve capital problems. Why & how to approach VC funding. The importance of having a shared vision. Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.
“Normal is Boring.” As a 16-year old boy, he was fascinated by business stories and forging a different path. Fueled by his curious mind, our guest today, Krishna Jonnakadla went on to explore a variety of sectors from accountancy to technology to media and fashion. He is now the Founder of Maharajas of Scale, a not-for-profit podcast focused on Indian Entrepreneurs and co-founder of FLIT, the Fashion Locator In Town which he set up to scale independent and designer brands in Fashion and Lifestyle in India. He also happened to venture into a successful online media company and was the Co-Founder and Member of the Board at Mango Mobile TV. His maternal family being of a business background, as a kid, he would enjoy his summers at his mother’s native place in Tirupati, city in Chittoor district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. From a very young age, Krishna was negotiating with high-end people and had a strong conviction to become an entrepreneur as he grew up. Interestingly, he also possesses skills like editing, dubbing, distribution and on the economics of the film-making world. In our conversation with him, Krishna shares with us his not so linear rather a tortuous journey. Having undergone a few messy situations in life, he has bounced back from them courageously. Listen to our candid conversation with the unbeatable guy. Here are our insightful takeaways from the episode: How to scale your startup BIG. Being unstoppable and experimenting with new ventures. Changing between streams and handling transitions in your career. Tips on content delivery, monetizing and setting up a subscriber base. Birthing a business model that disrupts.
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Starting his first venture at the age of 16, selling art online on Ebay, our guest this week is someone who has always aspired to be an entrepreneur. Now a serial entrepreneur with 2 successful businesses, this curious minded and bold leader is set to conquer the challenging market of instant coffee with a D2C brand that is all the rage since its very inception! Well, we are in conversation with Bharat Sethi - Founder CEO of Rage Coffee. Tune into our candid conversation as Bharat talks about starting his first business as a student, about his life in college, travelling to Russia for summer school, the inception of PosterGully - an online consumer brand for millennials to shop clothing, wall decor affordable art. Bharat shares some riveting stories of sleepless nights and his constant hustle to grow PosterGully to 15 Million unique visitors then exiting the company through a successful acquisition.
He further talks about his second venture - iDecorama, a company he grew to 7x revenues, the genesis of newest venture - Rage coffee and his vision to create a Rs. 500 Cr ARR company by 2025.
Our key takeaways from this conversation:
The impact of non-academic learning of a college education. An entrepreneur’s experience of raising capital and; Bharat’s take on fund-raising how to approach big investors.
It is said that “the secret to life is to fall seven times and get up eight times”. This is especially true if you are an entrepreneur - and our guest this week is a testament to this. Growing up in Indore, Ankur Joshi of Nuclei had simple dreams of earning a salary of 2-3 lakhs and living an independent life. To his surprise, his first job via his college placement was with Deutsche Bank with a salary that blew his mind! Nevertheless, 4 years down the line, Ankur felt uninspired and restrained in his job and hence quit to explore new avenues. Over some beers with friends he made the bold decision to start his first venture, a food-tech company in Pune. With 3 other co-founders and rating himself a 1 on 10 in business planning, Ankur failed to scale his business, learning some valuable lessons in the process. Not defeated by his failure, he launched his second venture - a tech product that was aimed at the Pharma Industry. But it was not long before Ankur realised his solution while a great product lacked the potential to be scaled. And he had to quit again. Still determined to keep going, he moved to Bangalore and started working for Tapzo. A company that was India’s first all-in-one app product. Although unprofitable, Tapzo was eventually acquired by Amazon. By now Ankur had already seen a few failures. However, with failure comes learning, and after all the setbacks Ankur had faced he had some solid learnings to back him up. Thus with an undeterred spirit, and powered by his learnings Ankur once again started a new tech venture - Nuclei. Today Nuclei is going strong with several clients not just in India but also in SEA and Middle East. Their vision - "To build a well respected global product company out of India." Tune into our candid conversation with Ankur to know more about his journey - about all the ups and the downs. Here are our key takeaways from this chat: Is it wise to have multiple Co-Founders? Should one start a business with friends? How to get VC funding in the early stages of your business. Ankur’s learnings that are now his guiding principles.
“You cannot chase success at the cost of your personal happiness” - Parthip Thyagarajan Chasing his passion for writing, Parthip Thyagarajan started his career in media with a summer job at The Independent - a newspaper. It is here that he realised his true calling was media and he single mindedly pursued his passion. This led to a 4 year stint with the Times of India Group and then to the genesis of WeddingSutra.com - India’s first Wedding Portal. In this episode of The Spotlight, we chat with Parthip about his journey of transition from a successful corporate career to starting his own dot-com business. Something that Parthip had never thought he would be doing, until a call from a friend swayed his mind! Launching WeddingSutra in the year 2000 and growing it from a team of 2 to now a team of 30, Parthip talks about his exciting entrepreneurial journey as a publisher and being the voice of India’s Wedding Industry. Here are our key takeaways from this conversation: Career opportunities for the youth in media & publishing The future of the events industry Chasing happiness and success
“Okay Google! turn on the lights!” Or Since we are all about podcasts, how about “Hey Siri! play The Spotlight!” Getting the job done through a simple voice command is just brilliant. An experience that is super easy and convenient for the consumer. But have you ever thought about what goes into making our lives this easy?! Well that's the sort of questions we are going to answer on this episode of The Spotlight.
We are in conversation with Arpit Chabbra the CEO & Co-Founder of IOTfy - a startup that's bringing together IoT, Hardware, Cloud, and Mobile technologies to revolutionize the way we use consumer durables.
Join us as we speak to Arpit about his passion for engineering, studying at the NSIT, working for Yamaha, starting his first venture at the young age of 24, being a serial entrepreneur, tasting failure & knowing how to pivot to come out successful. And last but not least to better understand the role & scope of IOT.
Here are our key takeaways from this episode:
Studying at NSIT & how to enrich your experience of an engineering degree. Knowing how to pivot in a failed startup. How to explore opportunities for new ideas.
This pandemic has put businesses on an accelerated path to digital transformation. For larger organisations, achieving digital integration is relatively easy. But, for SMEs it poses unique challenges. That’s where our guest for this episode Sriram Subramanian of ShoppinPal comes to the rescue! With a product tailored to make world class tech solutions available to SMEs without burning a gaping hole in their pocket, ShoppinPal has been powering growth for businesses in the retail ecosystem. Join us for a chat with Sriram Subramanian to know more about his entrepreneurial journey, right from his days at the prestigious UC Berkeley to working for amazing businesses like HP and Paypal, then returning to India to adopt two beautiful daughters & set up his own SAAS startup. Show credits: Host: Akshay Datt Production: Vanya Shruti Voiceover Artist: Vanya Shruti
“AR is the most powerful thing people are using during COVID-19” - Meghna Saraogi An Indore girl with aspirations of becoming the next M.F.Hussain to leading the AR revolution in the jewellery retail industry - we speak to Meghna Saraogi about studying at a design school, becoming a graphic designer, starting a fashion social network & then taking a leap into the world of retail-tech. Meghna’s journey from design to tech was a product of her fashion insecurities that she turned into an opportunity. She was a total stranger to all things tech, but had a burning conviction of creating a product that adds value & set out on a journey to create an app that would solve it’s users fashion dilemmas - StyleDotMe. But Meghna’s entrepreneurial journey had its fair share of challenges and it was when StyleDotMe was running short of funds, Meghna pivoted & introduced a revolutionary AR tech-powered product Mirrar, that is set to disrupt the way consumers shop. Having seen success in the jewellery industry Meghna now has her goals set on other segments such as eyewear & wristwatches. Here are our key takeaways from this exciting conversation with Meghna: The experience of studying in a design school. How to seek mentorship & co-founders. Starting a career in AR.
“Entrepreneurs don’t fail, businesses do” Sudeep Singh In this episode of The Spotlight, we are in conversation with Sudeep Singh - Founder & CEO of MPowered. An astute entrepreneur who has always been a step ahead of times with his uncanny ability to spot trends. Sudeep is also a master of sales and has proved this by becoming an AVP at Kotak Investment Banking at just 24 years! Guided by his passion for all things tech, Sudeep finally took the leap into entrepreneurship with A1 Technology Inc. in New York, successfully scaling the business and then finally exiting it with a successful sell-off deal. Now with Mpowered - a new age asset management solution, Sudeep is chasing his vision of real estate liabilities into income-generating assets for their owners & stakeholders. Here are some of our key takeaways from this exciting & enriching conversation with Sudeep: How to sell big ticket items. Challenges of working in the US Investment Banking sector. How to unlearn & relearn. Building a solid core team as an entrepreneur.
“Only when you ask customers, will you be able to build something that they need” - Preksha Kaparwan. As a rebellious army kid wanting to escape traditional education systems, and yet driven by an incredible yearning to travel the world, Preksha Kaparwan spent her childhood exploring various career paths - from being an astronaut to being an air hostess. She finally locked in on a plan to graduate from the prestigious IHM Pusa College of Hotel Management. It is here that Preksha discovered the incredible life of a chef & pursued it with passion and joined the small community of Indian female chefs. From getting accepted into a largely male team and a demanding work environment to leading a team of 28 and working 22 hour work shifts, Preksha made her mark in the hotel industry before she quit & became a techie! Today, Preksha is the Co-Founder & CMO at Alphaa AI, a San Francisco based startup that is on a mission to make analytics accessible to everyone via conversations. Wondering how a Preksha went from being a chef to a techie? Tune in to this episode of The Spotlight and know more about her incredible journey!
“In India, dining out is an event, smallest of things can ruin it, and smallest of things can make it better”– Ankit MehrotraWhen his fear of failure vanished with one examination, a spark of entrepreneurship was ignited. This South Delhi boy’s story of an engineering degree, love for finance, days of doing odd jobs to survive and culminating into a successful investment banker is one for the movies. The young man however has been experimenting with business since his early days. Ankit Mehrotra is a University Of Essex alumni with a degree in Engineering, a CFA charter holder and is a co-founder of Dine Out, one of India’s largest Dining out and Restaurant Tech platform operating across the B2C and B2B domain processing more than 100M diners and $800 worth of transactions across its network of 50,000 partner restaurants in 20 cities. In this episode of The Spotlight, Ankit talks about being a young professional during the 2008 recession, conceptualising Dine Out, starting out, acquisitions and creating an ecosystem for the food industry. Here are our key takeaways from our conversation with Ankit: Taking an idea from concept to business Common mistakes that start-ups may make Maintaining the vision of your business Understanding your niche, and Creating new avenues within your industry
“We are leveraging the power of Ayurveda using the power of digital” - Arjun Vaidya. Arjun Vaidya the CEO of Dr. Vaidya’s launched a D2C brand harnessing the knowledge of Ayurveda accumulated over 150 years and passed down through 6 generations of his family. His goal is to leverage the power of Ayurveda using the power of digital to make it available in every nook and corner of India & the World. This Brown University Alum is a passionate patriot who aspires to be the flag bearer for taking Indian Ayurvedic science to consumers across the globe. In a conversation this week with the host Akshay Datt, Arjun talks about his childhood, studying abroad, working with Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy Group & re-branding & scaling his grandfather's legacy through the Dr. Vaidya brand. Here are our key takeaways from this episode: Making the transition from college academics to corporate life. Advantages of studying abroad. Launching & scaling a D2C business. What not to do in branding. Leveraging customers as a lever for growth.
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“I do not limit myself from thinking insane things, and trying to figure a logic on if you can do it” - Nakul Kumar Nakul Kumar is the Co-founder of Cashify, a re-commerce leader in India with a focus on smartphones. Nakul is an MDI Gurgaon graduate and a serial entrepreneur. His first business was in the waste management domain where Nakul successfully started and managed the operations of a waste management plant and made gold from garbage. Today Cashify is the official buyback partner for top brands in smartphones such as Apple, Samsung & Xiaomi to name a few. Apart from buyback they also sell refurbished smartphones, smartphone accessories & smartphone repairs. Originated in 2013 Cashify now has over 15 Lakh customers & over 1 Million App Downloads. In this episode of The Spotlight, Nakul talks about starting a business as a freshly graduated student without a clear business plan or any funding options. Nakul’s power-packed story is guaranteed to inspire many to set upon their own entrepreneurial journey. Key takeaways from the show: How to start a business without a concrete business plan or funding. How to build credibility as a domain expert when you are just a fresh graduate. How to raise VC Funding through networking events. Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on coming up with new business ideas.
“No matter what, set audacious goals. When you set audacious goals you will meet them.” - Piyush Suri. A 1st generation serial entrepreneur, Piyush Suri is the CEO & Chief Storyteller at 5BY7 a premium corporate gifting & promotional products company. In this episode of The Spotlight, we sit down for a chat with Piyush to explore career paths in the branding & merchandising space. Here are the key takeaways from our conversation with him: Exploring opportunities to find the most suitable career path How to create brand engagement through merchandising How to bootstrap and grow your startup How to ensure that you have a predictable pipeline of customers Future of branding & brand extensions
“Culture ke naam pe dresscode chipkana - is not something I am a big fan off!” - Pranay Prakash. From a student who had to drop out of his military training due to an injury, to starting his first job as a field recruiter and the journey that he took to becoming the Head of Supply Chain HR at Delhivery (India’s leading fulfilment platform for digital commerce). Here is Pranay Prakash’s success story captured through a candid interview on The Spotlight. Here are the key takeaways from this episode: How young graduates & freshers can shape their careers Using technology as an enabler to empower existing workforce & systems Insights into logistics operations as a career path Two key soft skills required to excel in the logistics industry. Bringing equality & breaking stereotypes in recruitment