Founder Thesis: Recent Episodes
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Dickens said, it was the best of the times, it was the worst of the times. The words never been truer.
Best because there’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur.
Worst because the clutter is mind-numbing.
The Podium aims to break through the noise to bring you the stories of success & failure, grit & struggle, bouquets & brickbats and more from some of the most brilliant entrepreneurs in India.
Head over to ThePodium.in to find out more!
How did a Google engineer turn a 90% revenue loss into a $XXM ARR LegalTech success story?
Madhav Bhagat's SpotDraft journey reveals the secrets of AI timing, opinionated product strategy, and global SaaS scaling.
From losing $900K in collections with his NYC nightlife startup DrinkLink to building SpotDraft into a leading contract lifecycle management platform, Madhav Bhagat's entrepreneurial journey is a masterclass in resilience, pivot strategy, and AI-first thinking.
After leaving Google where he helped scale Google Classroom to millions of users, Madhav co-founded SpotDraft with the vision of democratizing legal technology. What started as a tool for freelancers evolved into an enterprise-grade CLM platform that now serves major companies like PhonePe, Airbnb, and Panasonic. The company has achieved double-digit millions in ARR with 60% revenue coming from the US market.
In this candid conversation with host Akshay Datt, Madhav shares how SpotDraft reduced contract implementation times from 2 years to 60 days, leveraged AI cost reductions from $40 to 4 cents per contract, and built an opinionated product that outcompetes giants like icertis and Docusign. He reveals why being early to AI wasn't always an advantage, how non-technical teams now ship code using AI agents, and why focusing on mid-market customers over enterprise deals became their winning strategy. This episode offers invaluable insights for SaaS founders navigating AI adoption, international expansion, and building sustainable competitive advantages in crowded markets.
What you'll learn from this episode:
👉How Madhav built SpotDraft from Google exit to $XXM ARR in LegalTech
👉Why AI timing matters more than being first, and lessons from pre-GPT to post-GPT era
👉SpotDraft's opinionated product strategy that reduced implementation from 2 years to 60 days
👉Secrets of scaling SaaS globally with 60% US revenue from India base
👉How AI agents are transforming organizations and enabling non-technical teams to ship code
👉Why mid-market focus beats enterprise deals in competitive SaaS markets
legaltech #startups #AIstartups #saas #startupfounder #AI #B2BSaaS #startupjourney #entrepreneurship #indianstartups #founderstory #artificialintelligence
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
How did a founder who sold millions of cars and managed billions in real estate become the CEO competing with Palantir for government healthcare contracts?
In this episode, we explore Avinav Nigam's journey from Cars24 to building TERN Group, an AI-powered healthcare recruitment platform solving the global nursing shortage.
Avinav Nigam has built companies worth over $10 billion in enterprise value across three different industries - and his latest venture might be his most ambitious yet. After co-founding Cars24 (India's used car unicorn) and IMMO Capital (a European real estate investment platform), Avinav is now tackling the global healthcare crisis with TERN Group, an AI-native recruitment platform that's already generating ₹250 crores ARR in just 24 months.
What makes this story remarkable isn't just the impressive metrics - 40% month-on-month growth, 88% conversion rates, and competing with enterprise giants like Palantir for government contracts - but the deeply personal mission driving it. After witnessing his colleague's death due to healthcare system failures and seeing talented Indian nurses exploited by unethical recruitment agents, Avinav built a zero-cost platform that charges employers instead of workers.
In this candid conversation with host Akshay Datt, he reveals how AI is revolutionizing healthcare recruitment, why he believes "AI replaces humans who don't use AI," and his vision for becoming the future of human mobility across borders.
Key Highlights
👉How Avinav built three successful companies across cars, real estate, and healthcare - reaching $10B+ enterprise value
👉TERN Group's explosive growth: ₹250 crores ARR, 40% MoM growth, and 88% conversion rates in 24 months
👉Why charging employers instead of healthcare workers created a more profitable and ethical business model
👉 How AI-powered interviews assess 80 nursing specializations across 28 different attributes with human-level accuracy
👉 The global healthcare worker shortage crisis: 15 million workers needed by 2030 and how TERN is solving it
👉 Competing with Palantir and other enterprise giants for billion-dollar government healthcare contracts
CrossBorderBusiness #AIFirstCompany #HealthcareWorkforce #TalentMobility #EthicalRecruitment #MarketplaceModel #RealEstateInvesting #StartupJourney #FutureOfWork #GlobalTalentShortage #B2GContracts #CompoundedCompanies #DigitalTransformation #InternationalExpansion
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
How did a serial entrepreneur who built AI solutions for Toyota and Honda before ChatGPT existed become India's pioneering AI-first venture capitalist?
In this episode, we explore Rahul Agarwalla's bold prediction of 100 AI unicorns emerging from India and his contrarian investment framework that's reshaping the startup ecosystem.
Rahul Agarwalla, Managing Partner at SenseAI Ventures, brings a unique perspective to AI investing - having built and sold three AI/ML companies since 1996, including enterprise solutions used by Fortune 500 giants like Toyota, Honda, and Canon. As India's first AI-focused VC fund, SenseAI has deployed over ₹200 crores across 31 investments, achieving four successful exits while pioneering the shift from AI infrastructure to applications.
In this candid conversation with host Akshay Datt, Rahul reveals his VDAT framework for evaluating AI startups, explains why most "AI wrappers" will fail, and shares controversial takes on outcome-based pricing, founder requirements, and market timing. With AI startups capturing 57.9% of global venture capital in 2025, Rahul's insights on building sustainable AI businesses, navigating the India-US corridor, and identifying the next wave of AI unicorns provide essential guidance for founders and investors riding the AI revolution.
Key Highlights:
👉How Rahul built AI solutions for Toyota and Honda before the ChatGPT era and transitioned to become India's first AI-focused VC
👉The VDAT framework: Why variety, data, architecture, and team are the only metrics that matter when evaluating AI startups
👉Why "AI wrappers" will fail and how to build defensible AI-native applications that OpenAI can't replicate overnight
👉SenseAI's contrarian bet on applications over infrastructure and why outcome-based pricing will replace traditional SaaS models
👉The roadmap to 100 AI unicorns from India and why technical founders are non-negotiable for AI success
👉Market insights on AI tooling opportunities and the shift from foundational models to specialized vertical solutions
Subscribe to the Founder Thesis Podcast for more deep-dive conversations with India's most innovative entrepreneurs and investors. Follow us on LinkedIn for exclusive content, founder insights, and startup ecosystem updates. Visit founderthesis.com to discover more inspiring founder stories and actionable insights from India's leading entrepreneurs.
#AI #venturecapital #AI startups #IndianStartups #StartupEcosystem #AIinIndia #TechEntrepreneur #DeepTech #StartupFunding #AIInvesting #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #AIVentureCapital #AIApplications #AIInfrastructure #OutcomeBasedPricing #AIWrappers #VDATFramework #DefensibleAI #AIUnicorns
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
How did Ankit Mehta build IdeaForge into India’s leading drone technology company?
In this episode, host Akshay Datt explores his journey of creating mission-critical drones for defense, public safety, and industrial applications.
Ankit shares how IdeaForge scaled through India’s funding winter, developed cutting-edge autonomous systems, and positioned itself as a leader in the rapidly growing drone market.
Key Highlights:
👉How Ankit Mehta built IdeaForge into India’s top drone startup
👉Surviving India’s funding winter and focusing on sustainable growth
👉The role of autonomous drones in defense and public safety
👉Overcoming government procurement challenges for defense contracts
👉The future of drone technology in India and the global market
#DroneIndustry #DefenseTech #DeepTech #IndianStartups #HardwareStartups #PatientCapital #BootstrapStory #IPOJourney #DefenseProcurement #MadeInIndia #DroneManufacturing #TechEntrepreneurship #IITFounders #MissionCriticalTech #IndigenousTechnology #StartupInsights #TechPolicy #DroneRegulations #HardwareVsSoftware #TechFounders #IndianDefense #StartupStrategy #EntrepreneurshipIndia #DeepTechStartups #DefenseContracts #TechInnovation #startupjourney
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
"Infrastructure always beats applications."
This is the core philosophy that made Sharad Sanghi one of India's most successful tech entrepreneurs.
While others built consumer apps, he built the data centers that powered them. Now at 56, he's doing it again with AI infrastructure, showing why betting on the plumbing beats betting on the applications.
Sharad Sanghi is a pioneer who built India's technology infrastructure backbone. He founded NetMagic in 1998, India's first data center company, scaling it to ₹3,600 crores revenue and 19 data centers before selling to NTT Communications for $116 million. Under his leadership, the company grew to serve 1,500+ enterprise customers with 300MW of IT capacity. After a successful exit, he's now building his second unicorn - Neysa, an AI cloud platform that raised $50 million in just 6 months. With degrees from IIT Bombay and Columbia University, and experience building the early internet backbone in the US, Sharad brings 30+ years of infrastructure expertise to India's AI revolution.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Infrastructure-First Strategy: Building foundational technology layers creates more defensible businesses than applications
👉Crisis Management: Survived dot-com crash and 2008 financial crisis through disciplined focus on profitability over growth
👉Zero Layoff Philosophy: Maintained employment through multiple economic downturns, proving empathy drives long-term success
👉80-20 Cloud Strategy: Competed with hyperscalers by focusing on 20% of features that 80% of customers actually use
👉AI Market Opportunity: India's transition from labor arbitrage to product innovation creates massive global opportunities
👉Supply-Constrained Business: Data center and AI infrastructure businesses benefit from demand exceeding supply
👉Second Innings Mentality: Starting a new venture at 56 proves age is irrelevant when solving transformative problems
This insightful conversation was conducted by Akshay Datt, serial entrepreneur and host of Founder Thesis, India's leading startup-focused podcast featuring deep conversations with disruptive founders.
#DataCenter #CloudComputing #AIInfrastructure #StartupPodcast #TechEntrepreneur #IndianStartups #AICloud #Infrastructure #Entrepreneurship #TechFounder #CloudAI #DataCenters #AIRevolution #TechLeadership #StartupJourney #IndianTech #AIAdoption #TechInnovation #CloudInfrastructure #aibusinessideas
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
"80 to 90% of income for all artists, even Arijit Singh and Shreya Ghoshal, comes from live events only. YouTube pays barely 1-2 paise per stream today."
This shocking revelation from Gaurav Dagaonkar exposes the broken economics of the music industry. While millions stream their favorite songs, artists make almost nothing from digital plays - a problem that led him to build Hoopr, India's leading music licensing platform.
Gaurav Dagaonkar is the Co-founder and CEO of Hoopr, India's leading music licensing platform serving over 200,000 creators and 125+ enterprise clients including Myntra, ITC, and Marico. An IIM Ahmedabad MBA who rejected corporate placements to pursue music, Gaurav spent over a decade as a successful Bollywood music director working on films like Joker, Heartless, and Lanka. His YouTube channel Songfest has garnered half a million followers. After experiencing the industry's broken economics firsthand, he built Hoopr, which has raised multiple funding rounds and revolutionized how creators access licensed music. Host Akshay Datt explores how domain expertise combined with business acumen created this remarkable entrepreneurial success story.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Industry Economics: Music streaming pays artists only 1-3 paise per play, forcing 80-90% of artist income to come from live performances
👉Market Opportunity: Only 1-2% of venues comply with music licensing laws, representing a massive untapped market
👉Customer Validation: Hoopr interviewed 150+ creators and 50+ brands before building their platform, ensuring strong product-market fit
👉Revenue Model Innovation: Rejecting minimum guarantee models in favor of transparent unit economics created sustainable growth
👉Creator Impact: Independent artists can earn more from a single micro-sync license than years of streaming revenue
👉Copyright Complexity: Indian artists gave away both publishing and master rights, unlike Western markets where artists retained publishing control
entrepreneurship #startup #musicindustry #creatoreconomy #iimahmedabad #bollywood #musictech #foundingindia #musiclicensing #startupjourney #businessbuilding #artistrights #copyrightlaw #digitalcreators #musicbusiness #startupfunding #productmarketfit #indianstartups #creativeindustry #founderstory #musicentrepreneur #techinnovation #platformbusiness #revenuemodel #sustainablebusiness #startuplife #entrepreneurmindset
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
"Cash is just a commodity. What truly attracts top entrepreneurs is the connection you build."
Ashish Taneja completely flips the traditional investor-founder power dynamic in this eye-opening conversation with host Akshay Datt, revealing why the best founders actually choose their investors, not the other way around.
Ashish Taneja is the Founding Partner & CEO of GrowX Ventures, one of India's pioneering deep tech venture capital firms. A Chartered Accountant who transitioned from being the India CEO of Vertex (a major UK BPO firm) to venture investing, Ashish has bootstrapped GrowX from angel investments in 2008 to managing ₹400+ crores across institutional funds. His portfolio includes a spectacular 17x return from spacetech company Pixxel, and notable exits to companies like Reliance and NASDAQ. With 49 investments and 9 successful exits over 15+ years, Ashish has become a leading voice in India's hardware and deep tech ecosystem.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Deep Tech Focus: India's future lies in hardware-first companies solving complex problems in space, defense, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing
👉Patient Capital Thesis: Deep tech requires 4-6 year investment horizons versus software's 18-month cycles
👉Dual Valley Strategy: Successful deep tech investing means navigating both technology risk and commercialization risk simultaneously
👉Founder-First Philosophy: The best entrepreneurs choose their investors based on value-add, not just capital
👉Barbell Portfolio Strategy: Combining high-risk seed deep tech bets with lower-risk Series B growth investments
👉Bootstrap Mentality: Building a VC fund through personal savings, consulting revenue, and reinvested returns rather than institutional money
VentureCapital #DeepTech #SpaceTech #HardwareStartups #IndiaVC #StartupFunding #TechInvesting #DefenseTech #Semiconductors #PatientCapital #FounderThesis #AkshayDatt #GrowXVentures #AshishTaneja #StartupEcosystem #AngelInvesting #SeriesB #SeedFunding #TechEntrepreneur #IndianStartups #VCStrategy #InvestmentStrategy #TechFounders #StartupJourney #ModernIndustrials
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
"Energy is the only input cost that can be systematically optimized over time."
A game-changing perspective from battery tech pioneer Sheetanshu Tyagi that's reshaping how India's quick-commerce giants think about profitability. This insight is driving EMO Energy's transformation from a hardware company to an Energy-as-a-Service platform.
Sheetanshu Tyagi is the Co-Founder & CEO of EMO Energy, a deep-tech startup revolutionizing India's EV battery landscape. With over a decade of experience at world-class companies including Rivian (as one of the first 50 employees), Ather Energy, and Ola Electric, Sheetanshu has been at the forefront of the global EV revolution. He holds 8 patents for innovative automotive systems and has successfully raised $7.86 million for EMO Energy, achieving a valuation of ₹203 crores. Under his leadership, EMO has deployed over 2,000 battery packs, covered 18.3 million kilometers, and established partnerships with industry giants like Blinkit, BigBasket, and Domino's.
Host Akshay Datt explores Sheetanshu's journey from a 2BHK startup to building India's most advanced battery technology platform.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Hardware-First Philosophy: EMO's contrarian approach focuses on superior mechanical and thermal engineering rather than expensive specialized cells
👉Fast Charging Breakthrough: 20-minute charging capability with 5+ year battery life, solving the critical downtime problem for commercial fleets
👉Immersion Cooling Innovation: Proprietary liquid cooling technology maintains uniform temperature within 1°C across all cells
👉Energy-as-a-Service Model: Transitioning from 90% hardware revenue to 50%+ software and services, offering systematic energy cost optimization
👉Strategic Market Focus: Targeting high-utilization commercial fleets rather than consumer market, doubling rider productivity to 140-160 km/day
👉Sodium-Ion Future: Predicting India's potential to bypass lithium dependency and build sovereign battery technology using locally available materials
EVBattery #StartupIndia #DeepTech #ElectricVehicles #BatteryTechnology #EnergyStorage #Entrepreneurship #TechStartup #Innovation #FastCharging #EMOEnergy #IndianStartups #CleanTech #SustainableMobility #VentureCapital #HardwareTech #EVInfrastructure #BengaluruStartups #FutureOfMobility #StartupJourney #TechFounder #electricmobility
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
India’s real economic engine isn’t in big cities - it’s in the 400 million+ people building, trading, and growing across Middle India.
In this episode of the Founder Thesis Podcast, host Akshay Datt speaks with Jyotsna Krishnan (Managing Partner, Elevar Equity; CEO and Co-Founder, Epic World) on how to invest, build, and scale startups for India’s underserved majority.
With 15+ years in impact investing, Jyotsna shares how Elevar Equity has backed 50+ companies, catalyzed $3B+ in follow-on capital, and impacted over 60 million low-income households - proving that profit and purpose aren’t mutually exclusive.
She also introduces Epic World and Epic Intelligence, a data platform designed to map the $10 trillion informal economy of entrepreneurial households in India.
Key Insights:
👉Elevar’s customer-backward investment thesis
👉Why India’s middle 70% is the biggest untapped market
👉Building startups with distribution, dignity, and deep context
👉Epic World’s vision to productize ground-up insights
👉Why Middle India needs its own startup playbook
👉The real size of India’s economy - beyond GDP metrics
ImpactInvesting #IndiaStartups #FounderThesis #MiddleIndia #VCIndia #SocialImpact #CustomerCentric #InclusiveGrowth #InformalEconomy #StartupIndia #MSME #StartupPodcast #VCPodcast #BusinessStrategy #InvestmentStrategy #StartupEcosystem
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
"I have this fundamental belief that you make abnormal returns not when you are right but when people don't agree with you."
This contrarian mindset from Jaydeep Barman perfectly captures how Rebel Foods built a $1.4 billion unicorn by doing what everyone thought was impossible: decoupling restaurant brands from physical real estate.
Jaydeep Barman is the Co-founder and Group CEO of Rebel Foods, the world's largest internet restaurant platform operating 450+ cloud kitchens across 100+ cities in three countries. Under his leadership, the company processes 3 million orders monthly, generates ₹1,800+ crores in annual revenue, and achieved unicorn status at a $1.4 billion valuation. A former McKinsey Associate Partner with an MBA from INSEAD, Jaydeep pioneered the multi-brand cloud kitchen model that revolutionized how restaurants operate.
In this candid conversation with host Akshay Datt, he shares the journey from a failed Kolkata roll startup to building a category-defining global company.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Contrarian Strategy: Being misunderstood by competitors created a protective moat during Rebel's early growth years
👉Cloud Kitchen Economics: 12-15 month payback periods with 25-30% monthly profits, dramatically better than traditional restaurants
👉Multi-Brand Innovation: Single kitchens operating 15+ brands simultaneously, maximizing asset utilization
👉Technology Moat: Proprietary Rebel OS automates cooking processes, ensuring consistency across hundreds of locations
👉Global Expansion: Strategic approach to international markets, focusing on structural advantages rather than rapid scaling
👉People Philosophy: Hiring for "founder mentality" over CVs, creating an intentionally "abnormal" company culture
CloudKitchen #StartupFounder #FoodTech #Unicorn #RebelFoods #EntrepreneurJourney #StartupStrategy #FoodDelivery #BusinessModel #StartupPodcast #FounderStory #IndianStartups #RestaurantTech #VentureCapital #BusinessStrategy #Entrepreneurship #StartupLessons
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
How do you build a $100 million enterprise tech company - without raising a single dollar from venture capital?
In this episode, host Akshay Datt speaks to Rajesh Sinha, Founder of Fulcrum Digital and Culinary Digital, shares his remarkable story of scaling two global businesses to ~$100M ARR - fully bootstrapped.
From building a customer-funded SaaS + services hybrid model to leading the shift toward autonomous AI agents, Rajesh reveals his frameworks for disciplined growth, tech innovation, and global expansion.
He also unpacks how AI agents - powered by SLMs (Small Language Models), governed by secure enterprise frameworks, and orchestrated via Fulcrum's proprietary FT Rise platform - are set to reshape the future of business software.
Whether you're a startup founder, enterprise AI strategist, or services operator, this conversation is packed with insight on how to scale without capital, differentiate in crowded markets, and win in the age of AI.
Key Topics Covered:
👉How to bootstrap a $100M SaaS and digital services company
👉The evolution of Fulcrum through 5 tech eras: Web 1.0 → AI economy
👉Why vertical and horizontal AI agents are the future of work
👉How Fulcrum is using SLMs vs LLMs for cost-effective AI delivery
👉The mechanics of AI agent governance, pricing, and orchestration
👉Fulcrum’s global delivery model: India, Brazil, Argentina, and beyond
👉Navigating enterprise sales, customer concentration risk, and culture
👉Why Rajesh now sees the value of investors - but didn’t need them
BootstrappedStartup #AIAgents #DigitalTransformation #TechEntrepreneur #StartupGrowth #CustomerFunding #IntelligenceAmplification #PlatformBusiness #EnterpriseAI #FounderThesis #TechServices #ScalingWithoutVC #AIStrategy #BusinessAutomation #TechLeadership #StartupPodcast #Entrepreneurship #SaaS #GlobalBusiness #techinnovation
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel
"Venture debt is like an umbrella - you buy it before it starts raining, because once it starts raining, everything becomes expensive."
This analogy perfectly captures the strategic timing required for startup capital - smart founders raise debt when they don't need it, not when they're desperate.
Vinod Murali is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Alteria Capital, India's largest venture debt fund managing ₹4,500 crores across multiple funds. Widely recognized as the pioneer of venture debt in India, he has over 17 years of experience in the space and has personally backed more than 220 startups including unicorns like Spinny, Rebel Foods, Country Delight, and OneCard. His firm has deployed over ₹7,500 crores to date, making him one of the most influential figures in Indian startup financing. Before founding Alteria, Vinod spent nearly a decade building India's first venture debt business at Silicon Valley Bank and later InnoVen Capital.
Key Insights:
👉Private Credit Evolution: Venture debt sits within the ₹2 trillion private credit ecosystem, filling the gap between traditional banking and equity financing
👉Indian Market Adaptation: India required a complete rewrite of the Silicon Valley venture debt model due to its execution-heavy versus IP-heavy nature
👉Risk Framework: Successful venture debt relies on evaluating four key risks - selection, performance, payment, and resolution
👉Capital Timing Strategy: The best time to raise debt is when you don't need it, not during crisis situations
👉Portfolio Performance: Alteria has achieved less than 0.5% losses across their ₹7,500 crore deployment
👉Regulatory Arbitrage: The shift from NBFC to AIF structure unlocked better capital access and tax efficiency for venture debt funds
VentureDebt #StartupFunding #IndianStartups #PrivateCredit #StartupCapital #VentureCapital #AlteriaCapital #StartupAdvice #Entrepreneurship #StartupStrategy #VinodMurali #FounderThesis #AkshayDatt #StartupFinance #VentureFinancing #StartupEcosystem #BusinessStrategy #StartupGrowth #FinancialStrategy #startuppodcast
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
In this powerful episode of Founder Thesis, host Akshay Datt speaks with Kalyan Rao Konda, Co - founder of QualiZeal, a quality engineering firm transforming how global companies approach software testing and quality assurance.
With over two decades of experience in QA, Kalyan shares his journey - from the early days of reactive testing to today’s proactive, “shift-left” quality engineering model. He unpacks what it takes to build a world-class IT services company, grounded in deep client-centricity, employee empowerment, and a willingness to sacrifice short-term wins for long-term trust.
We also explore how AI is revolutionizing software testing, including:
👉How QualiZeal’s proprietary “Humanities AI” platform augments engineers (not replaces them)
👉Solving modern QA challenges like AI hallucinations
👉Improving productivity by 25–30% with AI co-pilots
Kalyan candidly breaks down the economics of IT services-from pricing, utilization, and accelerators to gross margins and client segmentation. He explains why value buyers win, how accelerators and COEs give firms a strategic edge, and how to stand out in a crowded, commoditized market.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Kalyan offers hard-won insights on:
👉Founding a company at 45
👉Sales strategies that emphasize relationships (“People buy from people”)
👉Navigating legal challenges while scaling
👉Finding your niche and staying the course
This is a must-watch for anyone building in quality engineering, IT services, AI-powered testing, or enterprise SaaS.
QualityEngineering #SoftwareTesting #AIinQA #ShiftLeftTesting #QAPlatform #FounderThesis #ITServicesBusiness #EnterpriseSaaS #StartupJourney #SoftwareQuality #AIinSoftwareTesting #ClientCentricity #HumanitiesAI #BusinessOfQA #Entrepreneurship #Founderthesis
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
"Each rack can deliver 2 crores of revenue versus 6 lakh rupees from data centers."
This striking comparison from A.S. Rajgopal reveals why cloud services generate 10x more revenue per rack than traditional data center hosting - a fundamental shift that's reshaping India's digital infrastructure landscape.
A.S. Rajgopal is the Managing Director & CEO of NxtGen Cloud Technologies, one of India's leading sovereign cloud providers. With nearly 30 years of corporate experience at Dell, Microsoft, and Reliance Communications, he built and led Reliance's enterprise division to over ₹1000 crores in revenue. Since founding NxtGen in 2012, he has grown it to serve 1000+ organizations with a 44% EBITDA margin and 24% year-on-year growth from existing customers alone. An alumnus of Kellogg and Yale executive programs, Rajgopal is now raising $400 million to build India's largest AI GPU infrastructure, positioning NxtGen at the forefront of India's digital sovereignty movement.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Data Sovereignty: Indian enterprises are shifting from cost-focused to compliance-focused cloud adoption due to data localization requirements and foreign jurisdiction risks
👉Infrastructure Evolution: AI workloads require 10x more power density (100-600 kilowatts per rack) compared to traditional servers, demanding complete data center redesign
👉Business Model Transformation: Cloud services generate 10x revenue per rack compared to traditional data center hosting while requiring higher but more profitable investments
👉Open Source Strategy: Leveraging Red Hat OpenStack/OpenShift reduces customer costs by 10x compared to proprietary platforms while maintaining enterprise-grade capabilities
👉India AI Opportunity: The government's ₹10,000 crore AI initiative creates a ₹20,000 crore market opportunity for sovereign GPU cloud providers
DataCenter #CloudComputing #AIInfrastructure #DigitalIndia #Entrepreneurship #TechFounder #SovereignCloud #GPUCloud #IndiaAI #Datacenter #CloudServices #TechEntrepreneur #DigitalTransformation #AIRevolution #TechInfrastructure #IndianStartups #EnterpriseCloud #TechLeadership #FounderStory #CloudStrategy #AIComputing #TechInnovation #DigitalSovereignty #CloudInfrastructure #TechPodcast
"Craft does not define size... craft is defined by technique, innovation, and quality."
This insight from Ishan Varshnei challenges the common misconception that craft businesses can't scale. His scientific approach to brewing has proven that maintaining artisanal quality while achieving commercial scale is not just possible, but profitable.
Ishan Varshnei is the CEO of Latambarcem Brewers, housing craft beer brand Maka Di and functional beverage brand Borécha. He has built a dual-brand beverage empire generating ₹30 crores annual run rate, with 80 lakhs monthly revenue from kombucha alone and 400% projected growth this year. After bootstrapping with ₹25 crores family funding for 4 years, he raised ₹12.5 crores in Pre-Series A and is targeting ₹500 crores revenue within 5 years. Ishan holds advanced degrees in Nanoengineering from UC San Diego and Materials Science from Columbia University, and previously worked as a Business Analyst at a Blackstone portfolio fund.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Product-First Philosophy: Spending only 10% on marketing vs competitors' 40-50%, focusing on product excellence over promotion
👉Regulatory Navigation: Successfully operating across multiple Indian states with varying alcohol policies and taxation structures
👉Scientific Innovation: Developing patented SCOBY technology for kombucha using metagenomics and 16S rRNA sequencing
👉Sustainable Growth: Building profitable unit economics before scaling with external capital
👉Distribution Mastery: Achieving 30% revenue from quick commerce and 30% from institutional sales within 6 months
👉Family Funding Dynamics: Leveraging family investment for patient capital and long-term vision alignment
BrewingBusiness #BeverageStartup #FermentationInnovation #IndianEntrepreneurs #StartupJourney #BootstrappedToFunded #QuickCommerce #FounderStory #FounderThesis
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
"We have zero customer acquisition cost with a hardware business."
This seemingly impossible statement from Amit Gupta reveals a counterintuitive truth: asset-heavy businesses can create stronger competitive moats than asset-light ones. While Silicon Valley preaches software scalability, Amit proved that owning physical infrastructure can lead to supply-constrained growth where customers queue up for your product.
Amit Gupta is the Co-founder and CEO of Yulu, India's largest shared electric mobility platform with 45,000+ vehicles facilitating over 80 million rides and 20+ million monthly deliveries. Previously, he co-founded InMobi, one of India's first profitable unicorns valued at $1+ billion, where he drove global expansion across 70+ countries and helped build a $200 million revenue business. From mobile advertising networks to electric vehicle fleets, Amit has mastered the art of building category-defining companies in completely different industries.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Asset-Heavy Advantage: Physical infrastructure creates defensible moats that digital competitors cannot easily replicate
👉Supply Constraint Strategy: Being supply-constrained with high demand beats demand-constrained growth models
👉EBITDA vs EBIT: Understanding the financial progression from operational profitability to full profitability in asset-heavy businesses
👉Purpose-Built Design: Custom-designed vehicles for commercial use achieve 10x better unit economics than generic products
👉Regulatory Arbitrage: Strategic product design around regulations (sub-25kmph) expanded addressable market significantly
👉Second-Time Founder Lessons: Technology focus vs business expansion - applying learnings across different industries
👉Zero CAC Achievement: Network effects in physical infrastructure leading to organic customer acquisition
Chapters:
0:00:00 - Introduction: From Family Business to Tech Entrepreneur
0:18:32 - Early Career: Software to Banking to Startups
0:26:36 - M-Khoj: SMS Search to Mobile Internet Pioneer
0:49:22 - InMobi Success: Building India's First Profitable Unicorn
1:07:21 - Glance Innovation: Lock Screen Revolution Within InMobi
1:17:37 - Yulu Genesis: Personal Traffic Frustration to Mobility Mission
1:25:28 - Product Evolution: Bicycles to Electric Vehicles Pivot
1:39:14 - Technology Deep Dive: IoT, Predictive Maintenance & Security
1:51:52 - Business Model: Asset-Heavy Strategy & Unit Economics
2:12:14 - Scaling Strategy: Direct Operations vs Franchise Model
2:24:51 - Second-Time Founder Wisdom: Key Transferable Lessons
ElectricVehicles #SharedMobility #StartupIndia #Unicorn #AssetHeavy #Hardware #IoT #UrbanMobility #Sustainability #SecondTimeFounder #Entrepreneurship #TechStartups #MobilityTech #IndianStartups #VentureCapital #Scaling #ZeroCAC #SupplyConstrained #RegulatoryStrategy #PhysicalInfrastructure #EntrepreneurAdvice #startuplessons
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
"When UPI happened, it was like, very clear now, this is something that will change everything."
This powerful statement from Deepak Chand Thakur encapsulates the monumental shift the Unified Payments Interface has brought to India's financial landscape. It wasn't just another payment system; it was a revolution that reshaped commerce, financial access, and technological innovation —a revolution that Deepak and NPST have been at the heart of.
Deepak Chand Thakur is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Network People Services Technologies Ltd. (NPST). He has guided NPST from a bootstrapped startup to a publicly listed entity on the mainboards of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Under his leadership, NPST achieved FY24 revenues of ₹130.08 crore, a 216% year-on-year increase, and a net profit surging by 310% to ₹26.71 crore. The company's SME IPO in 2021, which Deepak recounts was valued at ₹50 crore, saw it deliver approximately 9000% returns to its early investors and reach a peak market capitalization of around ₹5000 crore.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉UPI's Genesis & Evolution: A deep dive into how UPI was conceived, its evolution from IMPS, and why it became a uniquely successful global model for digital payments.
👉NPST's Role in UPI: How NPST became a crucial technology service provider, bridging the gap between NPCI and banks to facilitate UPI adoption and build scalable solutions.
👉The Tech Behind Scale: Understanding the microservices architecture NPST employs to handle massive transaction volumes, like processing over 5.5 crore transactions daily for a single banking partner.
👉Innovation Beyond MDR: How the absence of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI payments spurred innovation towards creating value-added services and new revenue models.
👉JAM Trinity's Impact: The foundational role of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) in creating the digital backbone that enabled UPI's widespread success in India.
👉Future of Payments: Exploring what's next after UPI, including digital currency (e₹), ONDC, and BBPS.
Chapters:
00:00:49 - Introduction: Deepak's Journey to Becoming a Fintech Founder
00:07:36 - Understanding NPCI and India's Early Payment Ecosystem
00:15:11 - NPST's Bootstrapping Strategy & Early Days Before UPI
00:22:33 - The UPI Revolution: Impact and NPST's Pivot
00:39:14 - Deep Dive: UPI Architecture, Evolution from IMPS & Global Uniqueness
01:07:07 - The Business of UPI: No MDR, Scarcity Driving Innovation
01:19:01 - UPI Going Global & The Foundational JAM Trinity
01:32:55 - Beyond UPI: Exploring BBPS, ONDC & Account Aggregators
01:53:31 - NPST's Business Model in the UPI Era: PPaaS & Value Creation
02:03:48 - The NPST IPO Journey: Fueled by Fintech Growth
02:14:37 - Life After IPO & The Future of Digital Payments in India
UPI #FounderThesis #DigitalIndia #FintechIndia #PaymentsRevolution #NPCI #DigitalPayments #MakeInIndia #StartupIndia #TechInnovation #IndianFintech #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #PaymentGateway #Fintech
"The sooner you can get to a level where you can actually make yourself redundant, I think that's when you start building an institution."
This powerful insight from Rohit M A encapsulates a core theme of our conversation: sustainable growth isn't just about a visionary founder, but about building systems and teams that can thrive independently. It’s about transitioning from being the indispensable force to the architect of an enduring enterprise.
Rohit M A is the Managing Partner at PeerCapital, an early-stage tech-native venture capital fund. Before co-founding PeerCapital, he was instrumental in scaling Cloudnine Group of Hospitals from a single unit to a national leader with 42 locations and revenues exceeding ₹1200 crores. With over 23 years of entrepreneurial and management experience, and having angel invested in 70-75 companies, Rohit brings a deep operator's perspective to venture investing. PeerCapital's first fund is close to $40 million, focusing on "consumption enablers" and providing "valuable capital" to founders.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉The Operator-to-VC Journey: Understanding the mindset shift and challenges when transitioning from building a company to funding many.
👉Scaling with Process & Data: How establishing robust processes and leveraging data were critical to massive growth, moving beyond founder-led decisions.
👉"Valuable Capital": PeerCapital's thesis on providing more than just money – offering strategic, operational, and intellectual support.
👉Fundraising Realities: The candid truth about how difficult fundraising is, both for founders seeking capital and VCs raising funds from LPs.
👉Institutionalizing a Business: The importance of professional management, board governance, and preparing a company for long-term success, including being public-listing ready.
👉Focus on the Problem: Why VCs (and founders) should obsess over the problem being solved rather than getting fixated on a single solution.
Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction: Rohit M A's Entrepreneurial Path
00:02:13 - The Genesis & Early Vision of Cloudnine Hospitals
00:10:03 - Scaling Cloudnine: From 1 to 42 Hospitals & Key Metrics
00:17:00 - Transitioning to Professional Management & Making Yourself Redundant
00:52:46 - Leveraging Data & Technology for Operational Excellence
01:10:45 - The Cloudnine Fundraising Journey: From VCs to Private Equity
01:24:23 - The Shift to Venture Capital: Founding PeerCapital
01:26:34 - PeerCapital's Investment Thesis: "Valuable Capital" & Founder Fit
01:33:04 - The Surprising Realities & Challenges of Running a VC Firm
01:49:17 - How PeerCapital Evaluates Startups for Investment
02:00:47 - What Kind of Founders Should Approach PeerCapital?
#FounderThesis #VentureCapital #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #ScalingBusiness #HealthcareInnovation #TechInvestment #OperatorVC #StartupFunding #BuildingInstitutions #LeadershipLessons #IndianStartups #VCInsights #FounderJourney
"Founders often wear a mask of 'irrational optimism' for their team; a necessary front when leading through uncertainty."
This insight from Ashish Munjal delves into the often unspoken psychological aspect of entrepreneurship, where maintaining a strong, positive exterior is crucial for team morale and navigating the startup journey's inherent challenges, even when founders internally grapple with difficulties.
Ashish Munjal is the Co-Founder & CEO of Sunstone, one of India's leading higher education service providers. Recognized in the Times 40 under 40 (2022), he is steering Sunstone to impact nearly 20,000 students across 14 cities and over 27 colleges, with projected gross sales of around ₹300 crore by the end of the year discussed in the podcast. His mission is to make quality, job-oriented higher education accessible, particularly for students in Tier II & III cities.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Viral Growth & Engagement: How Crown It achieved massive user engagement (50% MTU/MAU) with near-zero paid marketing, relying heavily on organic referrals.
👉Bold Business Models: The strategic thinking behind Sunstone's initial "Pay After Placement" model to build trust and cut through market clutter.
👉The Power of Pivots: Lessons from Crown It's evolution (deals to data monetization, then enterprise) and Sunstone's strategic shifts (like removing pay-after-placement for UG courses) for long-term sustainability.
👉Offline-First in EdTech: How Sunstone's offline-centric approach proved resilient and attractive to investors, especially when the online EdTech wave faced scrutiny.
👉AI in Operations: Practical examples of how AI is already being used at Sunstone for lead qualification, CV automation, and even creating initial drafts of educational content.
Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction: The Entrepreneurial Itch
00:01:49 - The Crown It Journey: Building a Viral Deals App & Growth Hacks
00:15:35 - Challenges of Gamified Rewards & Why Crown It Pivoted
00:40:47 - The Shift to Education: Identifying the Core Problem for Sunstone
00:48:44 - Sunstone's Innovative Higher Education Model
00:56:19 - "Pay After Placement" & Navigating Sunstone's Early Challenges
01:06:56 - Sunstone's Unique Operations: The University Track vs. Sunstone Track
01:13:18 - Cracking Student Acquisition & The "Easier" Part: Placements
01:23:08 - Funding Journey: Navigating EdTech Investor Waves
01:27:48 - Lessons as a Two-Time Founder & Angel Investing Thesis
01:38:10 - Signalling Credibility to Investors: Early Stage vs. Series A
01:42:52 - AI in Action: Automating Operations & Replacing Resources
FounderThesis #EdTechIndia #HigherEducation #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #IndianStartups #SerialEntrepreneur #StartupLessons #GrowthHacking #EdTechTrends #BusinessPivots #VentureCapital #AIinBusiness #Podcast #InnovationInEducation #leadershipjourney
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
"SaaS as we know it is DEAD."
This might sound controversial, but as Manav Garg explains, the old model of simple workflow automation is being rapidly superseded. AI agents are now capable of executing complex tasks based on simple commands, fundamentally changing how businesses operate and what they expect from technology.
Manav Garg is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of Together Fund, an operator-led VC firm managing over $250M AUM and backing ambitious early-stage Indian SaaS and AI startups. Before this, he founded Eka Software Solutions in 2004, building it over nearly two decades into a global leader in commodity management software. He scaled Eka to $34 million in revenue with $9 million in profit by 2014, raised over $55 million, navigated a complex pivot to the cloud, and ultimately exited the company. He is also a co-founder of SaaSBOOMi, Asia's largest SaaS community, and is passionate about building India as a Product Nation.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉The challenging journey of pivoting an already profitable company (Eka) to the cloud.
👉Learnings from bootstrapping, fundraising, M&A, and scaling enterprise SaaS globally.
👉The Operator-VC model: "Paying it forward" with capital plus know-how.
👉Why "People Buy From People": Building trust is paramount in enterprise sales.
👉The Founder Exit journey often involves an identity crisis, not just financial calculations.
Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:03:32 - Early Career: Commodity Trading & Learning Lateral Thinking
00:10:50 - Spotting the Gap: The Founding Idea for Eka Software
00:19:29 - Starting Eka: Solo Founder, Seed Funding & Early Choices
00:25:33 - Zero-to-One: Building Eka Profitably From Year 1
00:34:20 - Scaling Up: Raising VC & Growing Through M&A ($34mn ARR)
00:40:55 - Facing Crisis: The Commodity Crash & The Cloud Pivot Decision
00:48:58 - Navigating the Difficult 3-Year Cloud Transition
00:53:07 - The Exit Journey: Deciding to Sell Eka & The Process
01:05:04 - SaaSBOOMi & Founding Together Fund (The Operator-VC Model)
01:10:09 - Investing Thesis: AI Wave, Market Size & Evaluating Founders
01:19:34 - Key Lessons from 20 Years: Pricing, Sales, Product Love & Processes
01:33:11 - Why SaaS is Dead & The Future with AI Agents
FounderThesis #SaaS #StartupIndia #IndianStartups #VentureCapital #OperatorVC #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #EnterpriseSoftware #CloudComputing #FounderJourney #StartupExit #Entrepreneurship #Bootstrapping #SalesStrategy #ProductManagement #TechIndia #MakeInIndia
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
"Raising more money often means you made more mistakes."
This counter-intuitive take from Vinod Kumar Meena challenges the common startup narrative where fundraising equals success. He argues that true success lies in capital efficiency and building a sustainable business, not just chasing the next round.
Vinod Kumar Meena is the Co-Founder & COO of KukuFM, India's leading audio content platform. An IIT Jodhpur graduate and Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia honoree, he has scaled Kuku FM to over 6 million paying subscribers, targeting over ₹1000 Crore ($150M) in ARR, demonstrating phenomenal growth in the vernacular content space after raising over $70M.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Why Silicon Valley startup advice can be detrimental in the Indian context.
👉The critical role of content exclusivity and understanding 'Bharat' for monetization.
👉Mastering digital distribution, influencer marketing, and why 'ads are content'.
👉The 'science' behind engaging mobile-first content (fast-paced, escapism).
👉Why gut calls often trump logical debates in decision-making.
👉Building a 'default alive' business vs. a VC-dependent startup.
👉AI's role as an enabler in content, not (yet) a replacement for creators.
Chapters:
(0:00:00) - Intro: Vinod's Journey from Village to IIT & Entrepreneurship
(0:07:30) - Early Startups, EdTech & Selling to Toppr
(0:18:08) - Why Vinod Left EdTech & The Power of Travel
(0:23:23) - Genesis of Kuku FM: Identifying the Vernacular Audio Gap
(0:29:45) - Building Content Supply & Cracking Monetization for India
(0:46:40) - Deep Dive: Monetization Strategy & Exclusivity
(0:51:30) - Unique Distribution Tactics: Influencers & Content-as-Ads
(01:06:30) - Mobile-First Content Science: What Engages 'Bharat'?
(01:17:50) - Challenging Startup Norms: Fundraising, Gut Calls & Silicon Valley Myths
(01:49:25) - AI in Content: Hype vs. Reality & Future Outlook
(01:55:35) - Final Advice: Build a BUSINESS, Not Just a Startup
FounderThesis #StartupIndia #IndianStartups #ContentBusiness #VernacularContent #AudioPlatform #Podcast #Entrepreneurship #StartupAdvice #Monetization #DigitalMarketing #InfluencerMarketing #BuildingForBharat #MakeInIndia #MediaTech #ContentStrategy #Fundraising #VentureCapital #BootstrappingMindset #Leadership #businessstrategy
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
"When people think of AI, they think it's probably happened in the last 10 years or 20 years, but it's a journey of 70 plus years."
This quote from Vinay Sankarapu challenges the common perception of AI as a recent phenomenon.
Vinay Sankarapu is the Founder & CEO of Arya.ai- An Aurionpro Company, one of India's pioneering AI companies established in 2013. An IIT Bombay alumnus, Vinay led Arya.ai to become a profitable (EBITDA positive for 3+ years) enterprise AI player focusing on the BFSI sector, achieving significant scale (~₹50-100 Cr revenue range) before its acquisition by Aurionpro Solutions. He was named in Forbes 30 Under 30 (Asia) and is now also leading AryaXAI, focusing on making AI interpretable and safe for mission-critical applications.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉AI's True Timeline: Unpacking the 70+ year evolution from Alan Turing to modern LLMs.
👉Core Concepts Demystified: Neural Networks, Deep Learning, Backpropagation, CNNs, RNNs, Transformers explained simply.
👉The Deep Tech Journey: The challenges and pivots involved in building an early AI startup in India.
👉Explainability is Key: Why making AI understandable (XAI) is critical for trust and adoption, especially in regulated industries.
👉Future of AI: Insights into AI agents, verticalization moats, responsible AI governance, and the changing SaaS landscape.
AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #DeepLearning #AIHistory #TechHistory #NeuralNetworks #LLMs #Transformers #ExplainableAI #XAI #ResponsibleAI #AIEthics #AIGovernance #StartupIndia #IndianStartups #Entrepreneurship #FounderThesis #DeepTech #BFSI #FintechAI #podcast
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
"B2B sales is not selling a product. It's building up a relationship."
This insight from Dhruv Verma underscores a core theme of our conversation: in the high-stakes world of B2B, particularly with large enterprises, trust and deep understanding built through relationships are paramount, often trumping product features alone.
Dhruv Verma is the Founder & CEO of Thriwe, a global B2B consumer benefits marketplace he started in 2011 (initially as GolfLan). Facing extreme hardship early on, including selling his house to keep the company alive, Dhruv pivoted and built Thriwe into a leader serving over 15 million customers globally. The company is profitable and achieved revenues of ~$32 million (approx. 300 Cr INR), while Dhruv and his team retained ~65% equity.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉The immense power of resilience and learning from failure, including knowing when to cut losses decisively.
👉Why pivoting from B2C to a B2B focus unlocked significant growth and product-market fit.
👉The art of B2B sales: building deep trust and offering intuitive, innovative solutions beyond just delivering value.
👉How strategic acquisitions and building a strong tech stack create competitive advantages.
👉The importance of maintaining founder control and building a sustainable, profitable business over chasing valuations.
Chapters:
0:00:01 - Early Drive: Making Money Since School Days
0:07:14 - Corporate Stints & Early Failed Ventures
0:09:05 - Idea Spark: Golf & Mass Affluent Benefits
0:12:41 - Launching GolfLan
0:15:14 - Painful Failure & Selling House
0:18:24 - GolfLan B2C Model & The Breakage Problem
0:27:41 - The Profitable B2B Pivot
0:35:28 - Expanding Beyond Golf: Becoming Thriwe
0:41:17 - Building Supply, Tech Edge & Creative Products
0:51:14 - The Art of High-Value B2B Relationship Sales
1:07:21 - Rebranding Lessons & Founder Control
1:10:48 - Angel Investing & Tier 2/3 India Focus
FounderThesis #AkshayDatt #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #B2BSales #LoyaltyPrograms #CustomerEngagement #Pivoting #BusinessStrategy #Resilience #Bootstrapping #Profitability #StartupJourney #Leadership #Innovation #GolfLan #IndianStartups #TechStartup #GlobalBusiness #FounderStory #Podcast #businesspodcast
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
"If you're going to find something, think of building this for the next 20 years. Think very long term."
This powerful advice from Tarun Mathur underscores the importance of long-term vision in entrepreneurship, reminding founders that enduring companies aren't built overnight but over decades.
Tarun Mathur is the Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer at Policybazaar for Business, India's leading online insurance marketplace. With an impressive 17-year journey since co-founding the company in 2008, Tarun has been instrumental in its growth, including the launch and leadership of its B2B arm, Policybazaar for Business. His experience spans analytics, revenue management, strategic initiatives, and various insurance verticals within the company.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Mission-Driven: Policy Bazaar was founded with a mission to protect middle-class India through transparent, accessible insurance, focusing initially on term life insurance.
👉Evolving Sales Model: Realizing insurance is a complex purchase, Policy Bazaar shifted from a purely digital model to an assisted one, incorporating call centers and advisors to build trust and aid understanding.
👉Product Focus: While starting with auto insurance, the focus evolved to high-importance protection products like health and term life insurance, educating the market along the way.
👉B2B Expansion: PolicyBazaar for Business targets the underserved SME/MSME sector, offering protection products like liability, cyber, and group health insurance, tailored to business needs.
👉Data-Led Product Innovation: Customer conversations and claims data are rigorously analyzed to improve user experience, develop relevant product propositions, and refine pricing with insurance partners.
👉Building for the Long Haul: Success stems from a long-term vision, customer obsession, focusing on product proposition, and consistently showing up over many years.
Chapters:
00:00:00 - Intro: Tarun Mathur's Origin Story
00:06:43 - The Genesis of Policy Bazaar
00:12:00 - Early Challenges & Securing Funding
00:15:37 - Selling Insurance Digitally: The Pivot to Assisted Sales
00:19:03 - Understanding Insurance Distribution Models (Agent vs Broker)
00:25:34 - Evolution of Product Mix: Auto, Health & Term Life
00:35:08 - Building Policy Bazaar for Business (B2B)
00:45:54 - The Cyber Insurance Opportunity & Product Innovation
00:55:48 - B2B vs B2C Customer Acquisition Strategy
01:00:45 - The Journey to IPO
01:04:14 - Entering the Reinsurance Market
01:23:28 - Policy Bazaar's Secret Sauce: Customer Obsession
01:35:42 - Advice for Young Founders
FounderThesis #Insurtech #InsuranceIndia #StartupIndia #IndianStartups #Entrepreneurship #AkshayDatt #Fintech #DigitalInsurance #B2B #SME #MSME #TermInsurance #HealthInsurance #CyberInsurance #IPO #BusinessStrategy #CustomerObsession #ProductManagement #DataAnalytics #Leadership #StartupAdvice
Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel.
"Behind the scenes, it's a Climate AI. It's a very deep Climate AI engine that we have built, which drives all of these workflows."
Rohit Toshniwal pulls back the curtain on the sophisticated technology needed to tackle complex environmental challenges, highlighting how Artificial Intelligence is becoming essential for managing sustainability data and driving climate action. Rohit Toshniwal is a serial tech entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Sprih, which builds a Carbon Intelligence and Management platform using Climate AI to help organizations catalyze climate action. An IIT Kanpur graduate, Rohit previously co-founded Arkin Net, acquired by VMware for over $100 million, and helped scale that business within VMware to ~$250 million in revenue.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Why tracking environmental and social impact is becoming critical for businesses, driven by regulations, investors, and customers.
👉 Understanding Carbon Dioxide Equivalence (CO2e) as a key metric for environmental performance.
👉 How strong performance on sustainability metrics can unlock preferential financing and attract talent.
👉 The role of technology, particularly Climate AI, in simplifying complex data collection, analysis, and reporting for climate action.
👉 Lessons from building and selling Arkin Net, and scaling it post-acquisition.
👉 The importance of long-term vision and the right partners for building sustainable businesses.
Chapters:
👉 00:00:51 - Intro: Rohit's Journey into Green Tech & Sustainability
👉 00:04:30 - Understanding Corporate Impact: Beyond Finance
👉 00:09:39 - Why All Companies Should Track Climate Impact
👉 00:15:07 - Deep Dive: Understanding Carbon Reporting & CO2e
👉 00:20:13 - Climate Performance, Capital Access & Business Advantage
👉 00:26:05 - Introducing Sprih: Climate AI for Carbon Management
👉 00:39:50 - The Market Opportunity in Climate Tech & Carbon Intelligence
👉 00:57:25 - Rohit's Early Career: From Cisco to Startups & VMware
👉 01:02:42 - The Arkin Net Story: Building & Selling for more than $100 Million
👉 01:06:30 - Scaling Post-Acquisition: Growing to $250M within VMware
👉 01:11:31 - Engineer's Take: How to Build a $250M Business
👉 01:18:29 - Building Philosophy: Focus on Roots, Not Flowers
Sustainability #ClimateTech #CarbonReporting #ClimateAI #CarbonIntelligence #Sprih #FounderThesis #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #TechFounder #FounderJourney #BusinessStrategy #VMware #IITKanpur #NetZero #ImpactInvesting #ClimateAction #IndianStartups
"The customer is the CEO of the company; he can fire everyone."
This core belief drove Harshvardhan Lunia's journey in building Lendingkart. He emphasizes that obsessively solving the customer's problem—be it the need for speed, transparency, or convenience—is the ultimate key to building trust and a successful financial services business.
Harshvardhan Lunia is the Founder & CEO of Lendingkart, a fintech platform transforming SME lending in India. An ISB graduate and Chartered Accountant, he leveraged his background in banking and SME credit advisory to launch Lendingkart in 2014. Lendingkart has since disbursed over ₹20,000 crores to more than 3 lakh customers across 4,500+ towns and cities in India, achieving a total AUM of ₹7,500 crores (with ₹5,500 crores via co-lending) by FY24.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
✅SME Lending Pain Points: Traditional lending for SMEs suffered from slow processes (3-4 months) and lack of transparency, creating a market gap. Lendingkart focused on speed (hours/days) and transparency from day one.
✅Data Over Tradition: Realizing traditional financial statements were often adjusted for tax purposes, Lendingkart pioneered using bank statement analysis and cash flow data for underwriting.
✅Tech-Driven Underwriting: The platform evolved from rule-based systems to sophisticated algorithms trained on billions of data points to assess risk and determine loan terms, achieving high predictive accuracy (97.5%).
✅The Rise of Co-Lending: Partnering with banks and larger institutions (co-lending) became crucial post-COVID, allowing Lendingkart to scale distribution while sharing risk and capital. By March 2022, 80% of business was co-lending, reaching a 25/75 (own books/co-lending) AUM split in FY24.
✅Distribution is Key: While underwriting and collections tech are vital, building trust and reaching customers across India (distribution) is the ultimate differentiator in the absence of a large legacy brand or branch network.
✅Fundraising Conviction: Raising capital involves storytelling and unwavering conviction in your vision, especially when building something new. It's an exam where you must clearly articulate why your approach will work. Harshvardhan even shared his unique approach of pitching using a whiteboard instead of presentations.
Lendingkart #HarshvardhanLunia #FintechIndia #DigitalLending #SMEFinance #MSME #NBFC #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #IndianStartups #FounderThesis #BusinessPodcast #VCFunding #CoLending #DataAnalytics #Underwriting #FinancialInclusion
"ESOPs aren't lottery tickets; they're a calculated risk with a potential for real wealth creation."
This seemingly simple statement from Satish Mugulavalli, Founder and Managing Partner of Hissa, encapsulates the core message of this episode: shifting the perception of ESOPs from "paper money" to a strategic tool for both companies and employees. We unpack the often-confusing world of ESOPs, going beyond the jargon to reveal the real-world mechanics and benefits.
Satish Mugulavalli is the Founder and Managing Partner of Hissa, a platform revolutionizing private market transactions in India. Hissa facilitates ESOP liquidity for employees and provides access to growth-stage private companies for investors. Satish is building a 150Cr fund with a 150 Cr greenshoe option. They have already closed 30 crores in their first round. The platform has generated over 5Cr in revenue till date.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
✅Discounts are Normal: Understand why ESOP transactions often happen at a discount to the last valuation, and why it's not necessarily a red flag.
✅Tax Implications: Learn the crucial difference between perquisite tax and long-term capital gains, and how it impacts your decision to exercise.
✅The Founder's Perspective: Discover why companies offer ESOPs in the first place, and how they view them as a strategic tool.
✅The Employee's Perspective: Get practical advice on evaluating an ESOP offer and understanding your potential upside.
✅Building the Future: Hear Satish's ambitious vision for creating a transparent and efficient private market exchange in India.
✅The right questions to ask as an employee.
Chapters:
- 0:00:00 - Introduction: Demystifying ESOPs and the Rise of Hissa
- 0:03:15 - Satish's Journey: From Startup Ecosystem to Private Markets
- 0:05:36 - Hissa's Dual Approach: SaaS Platform and Investment Fund
- 0:11:05 - Target Market: Identifying the Right Companies for ESOP Liquidity
- 0:20:30 - The Hissa Fund: Investment Strategy and Fundraising
- 0:39:23 - Understanding Valuation Discounts in Secondary ESOP Transactions
- 0:58:11 - ESOP 101: Grant, Vesting, Exercise, and Tax Implications
- 1:02:37 - The "Why Exercise?" Question: Balancing Risk and Reward
- 1:07:38 - Employee friendly ESOPs
- 1:11:51 - Building the "NSE/BSE of Private Markets": Hissa's Long-Term Vision
- 1:18:00 - Hissa's Go-To-Market Strategy: Reaching Founders and Companies
- 1:25:00- Future of ESOPs
ESOPs #StartupIndia #PrivateMarkets #Hissa #SatishMugulavalli #FounderThesis #Equity #Compensation #Vesting #StockOptions #Startups #Investing #Finance #India #Liquidity #TaxPlanning
"You have to be good at collections if you want to be a good lender."
This was just one of Shruti Aggarwal's amazing insights in this episode: lending profitability relies on responsible repayment, not just customer acquisition. Shruti Aggarwal is the Co-Founder of Stashfin, a digital lending platform in India. She has built a profitable fintech with a loan book of ₹2000 crores and monthly disbursements of ₹300-400 crores. Stashfin operates with remarkable efficiency, generating ₹800 crores in revenue with only 170 employees. Shruti is a CA, holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, and has experience at Merrill Lynch.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
✅Underserved Market: Stashfin focuses on the Indian middle class, often underserved by traditional banks, with small-ticket, unsecured personal loans.
✅RBI Regulations: The evolving regulatory landscape has impacted growth and capital requirements but ultimately promotes a more sustainable lending environment.
✅Technological Efficiency: Stashfin leverages technology for extreme operational efficiency, automating processes to minimize costs.
✅Customer Retention: 90% repeat business demonstrates the success of Stashfin's customer-centric approach and product convenience.
✅Leverage Control: Understanding and managing leverage is crucial for NBFCs, and recent RBI guidelines aim to limit risk.
Chapters:
0:00:00 - Introduction: Shruti Aggarwal's Entrepreneurial Journey
0:05:51 - Returning to India & Identifying the Credit Gap
0:11:18 - Choosing the NBFC Model: Control and Responsibility
0:17:01 - Stashfin's Profitability and Unit Economics
0:23:43 - Impact of RBI's PPI Guidelines on Credit Line Cards
0:28:58 - Overview of RBI's Fintech Regulations (2016-2024)
0:41:17 - The Chinese Loan Apps Issue and Regulatory Response
0:48:36 - The Importance of Leverage in Lending
0:53:54 - Stashfin's Funding Strategy: Diverse Sources
01:15:04 - Technology-Driven Efficiency at Stashfin
01:27:20 - Stashfin's Underwriting and Fraud Prevention
01:33:36 - Future Opportunities in Indian Fintech
FintechIndia #DigitalLending #NBFC #RBI #PersonalLoans #IndianEconomy #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #FinancialLiteracy #LendingRegulations
"The solution to every problem lies in the market, not the boardroom."
Ashok Vashist shares a powerful lesson on the importance of staying grounded and understanding customer needs directly, rather than relying solely on theoretical discussions in boardrooms. This principle has guided WTI's success.
Ashok Vashist is the Founder of WTI Cabs (Wise Travel India), one of India's leading B2B mobility solutions providers. He built WTI from scratch, starting with ad-hoc services in 2009, to a 400Cr revenue company which had an IPO in 2024, and is now expanding globally. Ashok's story is a testament to resourcefulness, customer-centricity, and the power of a "hungry" team.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉Niche to Scale: WTI started by dominating a neglected niche (ad-hoc corporate transport) before expanding into broader mobility services.
👉DCO Model Evolution: The interview provides a unique perspective on the rise and fall of the Driver-Cum-Owner model in the Indian mobility landscape.
👉Customer-Centricity is King: WTI prioritizes long-term relationships and bespoke solutions for its corporate clients.
👉Building Internal Strength: Ashok champions financial prudence and building internal liquidity over reliance on external funding.
👉Org Structure by Capability: Organizational design should be based on the capabilities of the team, not just abstract process frameworks.
👉Global expansion: A strong B2B focussed expansion strategy to grow into a global mobility major.
Chapters:
0:00:00 - Introduction: Ashok Vashist's Journey Building WTI
0:03:43 - The Origin of WTI and the Early Days
0:05:41 - Finding Opportunity in the Ad Hoc Market
0:08:50 - Scaling Up: From Ad Hoc to Process-Oriented
0:17:34 - The DCO Model: Origins, Benefits, and Drawbacks
0:29:28 - The Future of Fleet Aggregation: Beyond DCO
0:35:56 - Expanding into Car Rentals and MSP Services
0:40:39 - The Commonwealth Games: A Defining Moment
0:45:08 - Organizational Structure: People Over Process
0:50:37 - Going Public: The SME Board and Beyond
0:58:45 - Global Expansion: The Dubai Strategy
01:03:51 - Culture, Hunger, and the Importance of Staying Grounded
01:09:16 - Building sales culture, and the power of honesty
IndianStartups #FounderJourney #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy #CustomerCentricity #OrganizationalCulture #CompanyCulture
"We realized that just lending is not the answer. You need to solve a problem for the small business owner."
This quote from Tashwinder Singh encapsulates the core philosophy driving Niyogin's approach. It's not just about providing capital; it's about understanding and addressing the holistic needs of small businesses in India, moving beyond simple transactions to genuine problem-solving. This sets the stage for a discussion about a more nuanced and impactful approach to fintech.
About Tashwinder Singh: Tashwinder Singh, CEO of Niyogin, is a financial services veteran with a track record of building and scaling businesses. He spent 18 years at Citibank, culminating in leadership roles before transitioning to the world of private credit at KKR, where he managed ~$1 billion in annual disbursements in India. Now, he's leading Niyogin's ambitious journey to revolutionize lending for small businesses, growing their loan book from ₹100 crores to a targeted ₹800 crores in the near future. His experience spans corporate finance, consumer banking, and the complexities of the Indian credit market.
Key Insights from the Conversation:
👉The Power of Partnerships: Niyogin's model heavily relies on strategic partnerships with a wide range of institutions, enabling them to reach a vast network of MSMEs and leverage existing distribution channels.
👉Beyond UPI: While UPI is a success story, Niyogin recognizes its limitations in rural India and focuses on addressing the unique challenges of cash-based economies and integrating cooperative banks.
👉Technology as an Enabler: The acquisition of iServeU and its technology platform (including soundbox technology) is central to Niyogin's strategy, providing both financial inclusion solutions and SaaS revenue streams.
👉Risk Management: Niyogin's approach to partner-originated loans, including risk cover, showcases a focus on sustainable growth and minimizing NPAs.
👉The Importance of Distribution: Niyogin's direct selling agents combined with strategic partnerships with institutions, gives them a wider and deeper reach.
Chapter Headings with Timestamps
00:00:00 - Introduction: Tashwinder Singh's Journey from Citibank to Niyogin
00:03:15 - The IL&FS Crisis and its Impact on Indian Credit
00:07:40 - Joining Niyogin: Identifying the Opportunity in MSME Lending
00:12:25 - Niyogin's Business Model: Lending, Distribution, and Technology
00:18:50 - Building the Loan Book: Targets and Strategies
00:24:30 - iServeU Acquisition: The Technology Backbone
00:31:10 - The Soundbox Strategy and Bank Partnerships
00:38:00 - Addressing the Challenges of Rural India: Beyond UPI
00:44:45 - Risk Management and the Zero NPA Approach
00:51:20 - The Future of Niyogin: Monetization and Growth Plans
00:57:00 - Competition and the Evolving Landscape
01:01:05 Key Learnings and Advice for Entrepreneurs
Fintech #India #MSME #Lending #SmallBusiness #RuralIndia #UPI #FinancialInclusion #Credit #iServeU #Niyogin #TashwinderSingh #Investment #Banking #Technology #SaaS #Soundbox #DigitalPayments #Entrepreneurship #Startup #BusinessPodcast #FinancePodcast #KKR #Citibank #LoanBook #NPA #CooperativeBanks
From a $10,000 first customer to multi-million dollar contracts, hear the incredible growth story of Locus!
In this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast, Founder and CEO Nishith Rastogi shares key strategies on how a shift from B2C to B2B helped fuel its success in the on-demand economy. Gain key insights into their go-to-market strategy, AI integration, and the importance of building strong customer relationships. Get actionable insights for your own entrepreneurial journey!
Akshay Datt, a serial entrepreneur who has run ventures in employability training and hiring, hosts the Founder Thesis podcast. He has interviewed 500+ founders to date.
Connect:
Nishith Rastogi:https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishithrastogi/
Akshay Datt:https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-datt/
Founder Thesis: www.founderthesis.com
Yamini Bhat is a rare breed - a female founder of a tech startup, but beyond that her achievements are simply phenomenal - Vymo is a global Saas company doing double digit million in ARR, and has raised $45mn till date.
In this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast Yamini Bhat recounts her fascinating transition from McKinsey consultant to the founder of Vymo, a cutting-edge sales automation platform.
Learn about the challenges she faced, the lessons learned, and the breakthroughs and strategies that helped her scale the company globally.
Akshay Datt, a serial entrepreneur who has run ventures in employability training and hiring, hosts the Founder Thesis podcast. He has interviewed 500+ founders to date.
Connect:
Yamini Bhat: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yamininatti/
Akshay Datt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-datt/
Founder Thesis: www.founderthesis.com
In this episode, we dive into the entrepreneurial journey of Arvind Parthiban, CEO & Co-Founder of SuperOps, a $50M SaaS company. Arvind highlights the critical role of product marketing in startup success and emphasizes the importance of purpose-driven entrepreneurship.
Akshay Datt, a serial entrepreneur who has run ventures in employability training and hiring, hosts the Founder Thesis podcast. He has interviewed 500+ founders to date.
Connect:
Arvind Parthiban: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvind-parthiban/
Akshay Datt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-datt/
Founder Thesis: www.founderthesis.com
The global cross-border payments market is on a remarkable growth trajectory, expected to hit $290 trillion by 2030. Amidst this booming landscape, discover how Srivatsan Sridhar successfully navigated the challenges and founded Skydo, a platform which addresses traditional pain points around high fees, delayed settlements, and compliance hurdles and makes international transactions hassle-free.
Akshay Datt, a serial entrepreneur who has run ventures in employability training and hiring, hosts the Founder Thesis podcast. He has interviewed 500+ founders to date.
Connect:
Srivatsan Sridhar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srivats80/
Akshay Datt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-datt/
Founder Thesis: www.founderthesis.com
In this episode, Divakar Vijayasarathy shares his inspiring entrepreneurial journey, from overcoming early struggles to building a global financial powerhouse. Tune in for invaluable lessons on scaling businesses, mastering tax dynamics, and creating lasting value in the professional services sector.
Divakar is the Founder of DVS Advisory Group, a tax advisory, business advisory and PE firm that has grown to an annual revenue of $300mn and has 18,000 clients across 40 countries. He is a published author of 17 books related to Tax.
Akshay Datt, a serial entrepreneur who has run ventures in employability training and hiring, hosts the Founder Thesis podcast. He has interviewed 500+ founders to date.
Connect:
Divakar Vijayasarathy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/divakar-dvs/
Akshay Datt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-datt/
Founder Thesis: www.founderthesis.com
In this episode, we delve into Rajul Garg's inspiring journey from his beginnings as a budding entrepreneur to a successful venture capitalist.
Rajul is the founder and managing partner of Leo Capital, a venture fund that invests in early-stage technology companies. A serial entrepreneur turned investor, Rajul co-founded GlobalLogic, a digital engineering services company that was acquired by a Japanese company for $10 billion. He also co-founded Pine Labs, a merchant commerce platform valued at $6 billion, which plans to launch an IPO soon. In addition, he ventured into the edtech space by co-founding Sunstone Eduversity.
Akshay Datt, a serial entrepreneur who has run ventures in employability training and hiring, hosts the Founder Thesis podcast. He has interviewed 500+ founders to date.
Anand Jain lost his father when he was just 12. This experience caused him to step into an entrepreneurial role very early in life and Anand has literally done it all - from selling detergent door-to-door, to repairing and assembling computers to writing software. Despite no academic track record to speak of, Anand ended up getting hired by a tech company in the Silicon Valley in peak dot com era.
And while he could have settled for the American dream and made big dollars, he decided to come back to India and chase impact instead.
In India, he set up the original restaurant discovery website before Zomato, and if things had worked out differently - that startup would be a peer of Zomato and Swiggy today.
But the best is yet to come and Anand is currently the co-founder and product head at Clever Tap - which is a 100-million-dollar Saas company with a strong focus on serving India. This puts CleverTap into a category of its own with hardly any peers.
This conversation is proof that adversity leads to the best kind of resilience and Anand’s humility and depth of insights will leave you hungry for more.
Stay tuned for this very special episode of the Founder Thesis podcast with your host Akshay Datt.
It’s no secret that the business model of the internet is basically advertising. Think about what you spend time doing online - there’s a high chance that 80% of the time you are viewing ads.
And you might think that the business of serving ads to consumers is done and dusted, but there are still opportunities for startups to win ad dollars away from the googles and the Metas of the world, and one such startup is Adonmo.
Adonmo started life as a company converting cabs into ad spaces by installing screens on them. And this was a smart move if you think about it - the offline advertising market is the last great untapped opportunity, and cabs are the perfect way to run hyperlocal ads that dynamically change based on location and time of day.
But life had different plans for this young startup, and they went through multiple near-death experiences before finally emerging as a dominant offline hyperlocal ads platform that has raised more than 40 million dollars from the likes of Zomato and others.
Listen to the rollercoaster story of Adonmo’s journey straight from its amazing founder Sandeep Bommireddi in this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast, with your host Akshay Datt.
I can bet that almost all of you who are listening to this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast would have interacted with Vehant’s products.
The next time you go into an airport or an office building, take a look at the brand name on the baggage scanner that they are using - there’s a very high chance that you will see Vehant’s logo on it.
But Vehant is so much more than a company that makes X Ray baggage scanners, and in this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast, your host Akshay Datt interviews Kapil Bardeja who founded the company pretty much straight out of college.
The humble startup that was born in the dorm rooms of IIT Delhi is today helping the government power futuristic smart city projects and bring India at par with the western world in terms of the security infrastructure.
Stay tuned for a deep dive into the business of security and safety and subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast on Youtube or any audio streaming app.
Globally, the market research industry is at least worth a hundred billion dollars! We really are living in a world where everything is market researched.
The ads you watch on TV, the packing designs of products you use, even the movies you watch - they have all gone through a validation process using market research. The reason for this is simple really.
When a company intends to spend millions of dollars on a product, they want to reduce the risk of failure. In this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast, your host Akshay Datt speaks with Rajiv Lamba - the founder of the market research tech company - Neurosensum and Surveysensum.
In this freewheeling chat about entrepreneurship and market research, Rajiv shares valuable insights about the business of market research, building a business with profitability as the primary goal, and b2b sales.
Stay tuned for the conversation and subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast on any Youtube, Spotify or any streaming app
If you want to understand the evolution of Entrepreneurship in India over the decades, then there is really no better story than this.
Srikumar Misra is the son of an entrepreneur who made the mistake of taking a bank loan backed by him home, and his untimely death ended up teaching the young Sri a valuable lesson about the risks of entrepreneurship.
And you might think that this experience would scar him for life, but it was actually the opposite - despite having a successful global career in the Tata Group, he decided to quit his well-paying job and come back to India to set up a consumer brand in the dairy industry in his home state of Odisha.
And after a 2-year struggle to raise funds to get his business off the ground - Sri finally succeeded in launching Milk Mantra which sells its products under the Milky Moo brand name and is one of the few profitable players in the premium dairy segment.
After scaling Milk Mantra, Sri was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug again and he is currently building Aarna Protocol - the first of its kind AI powered crypto investing platform.
This conversation is a gem in which Sri took us from the very offline and traditional world of selling dairy products to building a tokenized decentralised finance platform to invest in crypto currency.
Stay tuned and subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast with Akshay Datt.
Whenever we have featured founders who have scaled their businesses meaningfully, it is typically because they have been good at acquiring customers and increasing their lifetime value.
But Mayur Abhaya, our guest in this episode, has scaled LifeCell to an annual revenue of about 800 crores on the back of its strong supply chain & delivery capabilities.
Mayur’s father was a serial entrepreneur in the pharma and healthcare space and built Shasun Pharma into a 500-million-dollar global pharma manufacturing player. He also set up Lifecell as he saw the gap in the market for stem cell banking. Mayur joined the business when the topline was just 20 crores and over the last 16 years has expanded the business both geographically and in terms of product lines.
Today just one fourth of their turnover comes from the original business line of stem cell banking, and some of their business lines are around delivering cutting edge healthcare products to the Indian consumer at amazingly affordable prices.
If you care about health-tech then there is no better episode than this for a deeper understanding of the space. Stay tuned and subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast with your host Akshay Datt.
For a lot of people, hospitality is their ultimate entrepreneurship dream, and they aspire to start a restaurant or a cafe and quit their stressful corporate world career.
In this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast - we speak to a hospitality founder who has built and scaled a truly unique hospitality business and given a new age avatar to a very old business.
Most of you would be aware of the concept of clubs. Iconic clubs like the Gymkhana club in Delhi have a membership wait time that is measured in decades!!!
Vivek saw that there is a massive gap between such old-world clubs and the young India which also aspired for a third place where they can belong to a community, work, experience culture or just unwind. And that is the space that The Quorum club is filling.
In this fascinating conversation, Vivek explains what this industry looks like, the business model of Clubs, and the playbook of scaling a very heavily service oriented business.
Stay tuned to get a peek into the fascinating world of clubs and subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast for more such sector specific deep dives.
Some founders are born lucky - and some founders are born to fight against tremendous odds and adversities.
This is the story of Vinod Singh who was born in a village in UP which did not even have electricity, and yet through sheer grit and willpower - ended up becoming the CTO of a startup in the UK.
And you might think that this is the happy ending of the story, but like they say - picture abhi baaki hai.
Vinod then started a business that was initially built around leveraging the potential of IOT technology, and which eventually pivoted to selling software to speciality insurance companies. And that was the birth of Concirrus which went on to raise more than $40mn over the next couple of years.
But that is when things fell apart and the founders realised that they had diluted so much of their equity that they no longer had any control over the future of Concirrus and they were on the verge of declaring bankruptcy.
Stay tuned to learn what happened next as your host Akshay Datt speaks to Vinod Singh about his amazing journey as a founder and don’t forget to subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast.
If there is one takeaway from this conversation, then it’s simply this - Boring is beautiful.
ProcMart is in the boring business of managing non-core indirect procurements for manufacturers. And by taking care of this simple but time intensive task for companies, ProcMart will cross 1000 crores in turnover this year.
The credit for this massive achievement goes to Anish Popli - the founder of ProcMart who loves all things boring. In fact - he shares that their profit margins are actually much higher on simple boring products than on complex products.
This episode is proof that as a founder, you must have the maturity to not get distracted by shiny new things and sexy ideas but just keep your head down and execute well.
Stay tuned for this insightful conversation and subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast for more such counterintuitive insights from successful entrepreneurs.
It is rare for D2C startups to be bootstrapped because they need to burn cash to acquire customers initially. But the Just Herbs story is proof that there are clever growth hacks that can help you grow your D2C brand while remaining bootstrapped.
Arush Chopra was an aspiring actor who stumbled into a role in private equity which led to the start of his journey in the world of startups. He started Just Herbs with his wife and mother in 2014 out of his family home in Chandigarh. Today, Just Herbs outsells brands like Maybelline and Lakme in the lipsticks category and counts Marico as its primary backer.
This conversation is a gem for D2C founders and Arush shares some amazing insights around product channel fit, co-building with customers and running a profitable D2C startup.
Stay tuned for tons of insights and subscribe to the founder thesis podcast on any audio streaming app
About Arjun MalhotraArjun Malhotra is the General Partner at Good Capital, an India-focused, seed-stage venture capital fund that he co-founded with his late brother, Rohan Malhotra. Before becoming a full-time investor, Arjun co-founded Investopad, a startup incubator that became a vibrant community hub for entrepreneurs. The 12 angel investments made during this time, including in the future unicorn Meesho, formed a portfolio that generated a 138% IRR and has since returned over 50 times the initial capital. Recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, Arjun has led Good Capital to build a portfolio of over 25 startups, achieve successful exits like Simsim's acquisition by Google, and is now deploying a fund targeting over $50 million to back the next generation of Indian founders.
Key Insights from the Conversation The Contrarian Thesis: Good Capital's strategy is a direct rebuttal to the Silicon Valley playbook; it focuses on empowering India's massive network of intermediaries (agents, resellers, local stores) with technology rather than trying to replace them. * The Power of Constraints: Capital constraints in their early days forced a highly disciplined, high-conviction investment model, which Arjun now sees as a strategic advantage against the "silent killer" of making too many low-conviction bets. * Founder-Problem Fit: Arjun prioritizes founders who are "deeply entrenched in the problem statement" and on a "journey of learning," often preferring them over seasoned experts who might be constrained by conventional wisdom. * Betting on Unique Behaviors: Instead of top-down market sizing, Good Capital looks for unique, counterintuitive user behaviors that, if extrapolated, could unlock massive, previously unseen markets, as was the case with Meesho. * AI as an Augmentation Tool:* The firm's focus is on startups that use AI to "supercharge" human intermediaries—handling tasks they aren't good at—thereby combining human trust with technological efficiency.
YouTube Chapters & Timestamps[00:00] - An "Accidental" Journey into Venture Capital
[02:29] - The Investopad Experiment: From "Terrible Ideas" to Community Hub
[10:02] - Becoming Angel Investors & Building a 50x-Return Portfolio
[14:14] - The VC Playbook: Good Capital's Network-Driven Strategy
[25:06] - The "Silent Killer" of Optionality & The Launch of Fund I
[33:19] - The Art of Fundraising: Pitching LPs on a "Blind Pool" of Capital
[38:39] - The Contrarian Thesis: Why Good Capital Bets on Middlemen
[54:15] - How to Build High Conviction: Evaluating Founders, Ideas, and Markets
[1:04:16] - Learning from Mistakes: The "Anti-Portfolio" & Borrowed Conviction
[1:09:15] - The VC Mindset: How to Stay Sharp and Keep Learning
YouTube Hashtags#FounderThesis #ArjunMalhotra #GoodCapital #VentureCapital #StartupIndia #IndianStartups #Entrepreneurship #FounderJourney #StartupFunding #InvestmentStrategy #Meesho #ProductMarketFit #AngelInvesting #SeedFunding #MakeInIndia #StartupPodcast #VC #TechIndia #Investopad
Regular listeners of the Founder Thesis podcast would have heard so many stories of young founders who build their venture straight out of college and keep at it for a decade until they find success.
This episode is the exact opposite of that kind of Story.
Rajesh Shet had more than two decades of experience in the corporate world when he started SahiBandhu, and that is the reason why in just 4 years SahiBandhu has overtaken much older and better funded rivals to become the gold loan aggregator with the largest monthly disbursements. In fact, their closest competitor has raised almost 200 million dollars over the last nine years.
This phenomenal achievement is on the back a hyper focussed strategy that was executed to perfection by Rajesh and his team.
This phenomenal conversation is a deep dive into the market of gold loans in India, the gaps in the market, and how SahiBandhu hyper scaled by smartly filling those gaps
Stay tuned and subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast for more such deep dive conversations
There are two types of entrepreneurs that we celebrate. The first one is the founder who raised a lot of money and built a highly valued startup on the back of investor money.
The second type of entrepreneur - which we think is really the more special type of entrepreneur, is one who started from scratch and built up a business brick by brick on the back of his hustle and grit.
HP Singh is a great example of the second type of entrepreneur. He was a CA who accidentally got a chance to start a lending business in the nineteen nineties and has since then built up Satin Creditcare into one of the few listed micro finance companies in India - which today employs about 12 thousand people and has a market capitalization of 2,000 crores.
This is truly a story of the old-fashioned approach of building a business using grit, resilience and a bit of luck and HP Singh shares tons of lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Stay tuned and subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast on any audio streaming app.
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when I tell you that in this episode, we are featuring a Patel who built a business in the US? The stereotype says that he would be running a motel or a convenience store - but this Patel has built a b2b SaaS company that is almost a unicorn.
Nishant Patel moved to the US when he was just 14, and then went on to become a techie in the San Francisco Bay area at the peak of the dot com bubble in the year 2000. He was there when the term cloud was coined, and he was so fascinated by the promise of the cloud that he quit his job and started Raw Engineering - which was helping companies adopt cloud technologies.
He then achieved the rare feat of building not one but three product businesses within that services business, and the biggest of them is Contentstack.
Contentstack is a fascinating business - it’s a pioneer in the space of the headless CMS, and this episode is a deep dive that will help you understand the content space and how it has evolved over the last decade, and what is the secret sauce behind Contentstack because of which it has raised almost 180 million dollars and is near a unicorn valuation.
Subscribe to the Founder Thesis podcast for more such deep dives with tech leaders.
Amit Koshal’s entrepreneurial journey began while working on a groundbreaking product at Intuit. Now, at TWID, he’s disrupting payment networks by turning reward points into a currency for transactions—an idea refined over five years of experimentation and failures, eventually leading to the product-market fit. This conversation delves into his path as a founder and his vision for a "happily ever after."
Get notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.com
Read more about Twid:-
1.Twid Unveils Industry-First 'Reward Mandates' to Revolutionise Subscription Payment Setups, Anticipates 15 per cent-20 per cent Reduction in Payment Failures
2.From Points To Payments: Transforming Loyalty Programs For The Digital Age
3.How rewards-based payment app Twid lets you use loyalty points to shop, eat out, and travel
After a career in U.S. investment banking, Nikhil returned to India to build Imarticus, offering offline-focused boot camps to upskill fresh graduates. Unlike many in the space, Nikhil views Imarticus as an education business rather than an edtech company, with a fundamental focus on delivering real learning outcomes. This approach has helped the company grow and reach an annual revenue of 300 crores with very little outside funding. In this episode, Nikhil talks about how he built a successful education business and discusses the future of offline learning in today’s digital world.
Get notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.com
Read more about Imarticus Learning:-
1.Success Stories: How Data Science and Data Analytics Courses Have Transformed Careers?
2.Winning Stroke: Interview With Nikhil Barshikar, MD, Imarticus Learning
3.MY STARTUP IDEA: Imarticus Learning founder on his Eureka moment
4.Bridging the industry-academia gap: Minimizing wrong career choices
5.Celebrating a decade of excellence in professional education: Imarticus Learning completes 10 years
6.Imarticus Learning the first and only approved provider for world's top 4 accounting certifications
Every year millions of young people migrate for jobs or education, creating a big market for hostels and paying guest accommodations. However, succeeding in this business depends on managing the operational complexities and getting the small details right. Zolo, one of India’s largest co-living companies, has mastered this challenge, currently managing living spaces for 60,000 people. In this episode, Nikhil shares the management mantra that helps him lead Zolo’s 2,500 employees and explains how he made operational excellence the company’s core strength.
Get notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.com
Read more about Zolo Stays:-
1.Zolo Stays redefines living experience for students and singles
2.How Zolostays is using customer experience to create its niche in the crowded co- living market
3.We provide 60-70% more value to the stay compared to local PGs: Dr. Nikhil Sikri, Co-founder and CEO of Zolo Stays
4.Handling large teams across multiple verticals, we need to ensure that they are involved and know they are part of the team: Nikhil Sikri, Zolo Stays
5.A fresh take on urban living
Neeraj Khandelwal is a passionate Indian who aspired to serve his country as a civil servant. When his initial plan fell through, he channelled his determination into exploring new ways to fulfil this objective. He saw the transformative potential of cryptocurrency and invested in building India's crypto infrastructure, leading to the creation of CoinDCX. In this episode, he decodes how crypto will change the world and how CoinDCX is paving the way for this future.
Read more about CoinDCX:-
1.Blockchain critical for India: 40u40 2024 Neeraj Khandelwal, CoinDCX
2.Revolutionising Web3 integration: CoinDCX’s Neeraj Khandelwal reveals Okto Web3 SDK's game-changing role in India's Web3 mass adoption
3.CoinDCX’s money minters
4.Revolutionising Finance- AMA with Neeraj Khadelwal
5.Regulation, conducive environment among top factors to fuel crypto trading among Indian investors: Sumit Gupta of CoinDCX
6.Celebrating 6 years of building the future of Internet in India.
7.4 observations on India’s booming crypto sector from CoinDCX co-founder Neeraj Khandelwal
Anand is an IT veteran who started his career three decades back and in his last role was heading an IT services company. Noticing the pain his customers were facing in searching and interpreting data, he recognized the need for a fundamentally new approach to insight generation, which led to the creation of Findability Sciences. In this episode, he talks about how AI is impacting large enterprises and the value it can bring to businesses.
Get notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.com
Read more about Findability Sciences:-
1.AI is key for business growth as it enables data-driven decisions: Findability Sciences CEO Anand Mahurkar
2.Exclusive Interview with Anand Mahurkar, Founder and CEO, Findability Sciences
3.Fortune Magazine recognizes Findability Sciences as one of America's Most Innovative Companies
4.India’s AI roadmap in 2023: From CAGR 20% growth to creating endless job opportunities
Deepak Sahni shares his remarkable journey of building one of the largest diagnostics companies in the preventive space. Starting his entrepreneurial journey as a teenager, Deepak has consistently dared to dream bigger with each venture over the last two decades. In this episode, he reveals the secrets behind scaling Healthians to a revenue run rate of over 500 crores and raising 80 million dollars. This conversation is nothing short of a masterclass in entrepreneurship—perfect for anyone looking to take their big leap.
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Read more about Healthians:-
1.How a College Dropout Fought Back, Completed His Degree, and Built a Rs 240 Crore Turnover Health Lab Chain
2.How One Man’s Dream is Making India Healthier
3.Once A College Dropout, Now The CEO Of India's Leading Diagnostics Firm, Healthians, Meet Health-Tech Veteran, Deepak Sahni
4.COVID 19 – How a Crisis is Nudging us to Reinvent
Small businesses in India often face delays in payments from large corporations due to complex bureaucratic processes and stringent payment terms. The TReDS system, developed by the RBI, aims to resolve this. With TReDS, businesses can receive immediate payment by selling their invoices to a financier, who then collects the payment from large corporations. In this episode, Sundeep shares his experiences as a serial entrepreneur and provides insights into how TReDS is transforming B2B payments. Listen to learn more about this exciting development and its potential to reshape the business landscape.
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Read more about M1xchange :-
1.TReDS is financial lifeline for MSMEs, remedy for problem of late payments: Sundeep Mohindru, M1xchange
2.M1xchange Surpasses INR 1,00,000 Crore in Invoice Discounting Throughput
3.In conversation with Mr. Sundeep Mohindru- CEO , M1xchange
4.With 28 banks and NBFCs on board, how TReDS platform M1xchange financed Rs 3,000 Cr worth MSME invoices in 2 years
5.M1xchange offers cross-border bill discounting from GIFT city, says TReDS will boom
Priyanka Salot’s entrepreneurial journey began with her search for a good night's sleep. As a senior marketing leader at P&G, she made the bold decision to leave her corporate role and start The Sleep Company to help India sleep better. Drawing on her experience in building legacy brands at P&G, she guided The Sleep Company to the top of the market, securing over $50 million in funding. In an insightful conversation, she breaks down what it takes to build a strong brand and discusses the strategic decisions that enabled The Sleep Company's rapid growth.
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Read more about The Sleep Company:-
1.Work, sleep, repeat: The Sleep Company & the right doze
2.The Sleep Company Reaches 500 Cr Annual Recurring Revenue Milestone
3.How The Sleep Company is disrupting the way people sleep and sit in India
4.The Sleep Company’s comfort quotient
As solar panels become more affordable and government subsidies make them attractive, homeowners can now switch to solar energy for the same cost as their current electricity bills. In this episode, Shreya Mishra provides practical advice and insights from her entrepreneurial journey- she talks about her first venture, Flyrobe, and how she joined SolarSquare to build its retail side. She also sheds light on its go-to-market strategy, the challenges of scaling up quality and talks about India's target to equip 1 crore households with solar panels in the next 3 years.
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Read more about SolarSquare:-
1.Startup by IIT Grads Helps Indian Homes Run on Zero Electricity, Earns Rs 200 Crore in Revenues
2.How SolarSquare Is Helping Indians Harvest Solar Power With Its Full-Stack Solutions
3.‘Simplification, policy push has turbocharged residential rooftop solar’: SolarSquare co-founder
4.This Startup Earns Rs 200 Crore By Enabling Zero Electricity Cost For Households
Edul Patel founded Mudrex with a strong belief in cryptocurrency as the future of money. For the past 7 years, he has been building the infrastructure for its mass adoption. He estimates it might take another 10 years to see widespread use. This episode dives into the concept of money and the potential future of currency, offering thought-provoking insights for those curious about how the world works.
Read more about Mudrex:-
1.Bitcoin Pizza Day today: Mudrex CEO Edul Patel explains the significance
2.Rapid fire with YS Life: Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder, Mudrex
3.The Crypto 'Kuber': Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder, Mudrex
4.Explore Mr.Edul Patel’s Views on Recent Crypto Market Developments and their Effect
Every few years, a new trend in the startup world catches the attention of VCs and this episode features a founder who has successfully navigated multiple such trends in the Indian startup scene. Gaurav Agarwal began his entrepreneurial journey with ZipGo, a ride-hailing startup that competed with industry giants like Ola and Uber. After an exciting journey with ZipGo, which eventually led to its acquisition, Gaurav hopped on his next big adventure in the D2C space. With Nat Habit, he and Swagatika are building a brand dedicated to providing fresh and natural skincare products to Indians.
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Read more about Nat Habit:-
1.Nat Habit’s Personal Care Range Is Made From Fresh Ingredients To Nurture Natural Wellness
2.Nat Habit’s Swagatika Das on being an online brand and the road ahead….
Sriram started his journey solving security problems for Texas Instruments, but his passion for tackling hard issues led him to the world of entrepreneurship. Now, 17 years later, he’s taken on the challenge of building a platform enabling companies to provide convenient, safe transportation for their employees while minimising the number of vehicles needed. In this conversation, he talks about building Routematic and the innovative solutions he's developing to revolutionize employee transport.
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Read more about Routematic:-
1.Routematic bets on artificial intelligence to tap corporate commuters
2.Meet Routematic, a startup solving your daily office commute problems
- App-based, exclusive office commute cabs enter city
4.Routematic makes corporate commutation stress-free
5.Meet Sriram Kannan, an architect of no-GPS tech, who's Uber-ising employee transportation
Kunal is reimagining banking with Freo, a digital platform that covers all three key financial services: payments, savings, and lending. In this conversation, he spills the tea on the rollercoaster journey of his first business in talent assessments, which eventually got acquired, teaching him valuable lessons along the way. He talks how these experiences helped him hit the bullseye with Freo and also shares his take on the future of banking in India!
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Read more about Freo:-
1.Freo’s UPI credit: The new- age fintech redefining financial access
2.Freo: Aiming For The Digital Banking Hot Seat
3.From MoneyTap To Freo: How This Fintech Startup Is Tapping Into The Global $722 Bn Neobanking Opportunity
Romita was working as an analyst for a VC fund when she started working on weekends to build Foxtale. Foxtale quickly became a successful D2C brand, reaching a 250 crore ARR within 2 years of its launch. In this conversation, she explains how her background as an investor helped her become a successful founder and shares her big goals for the future.
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Read more about Foxtale:-
1.Where product reigns supreme: The story of skincare D2C startup FoxTale
2.Battling stereotypes, Romita Mazumdar of Foxtale is now a proud woman entrepreneur
3.How Foxtale is Aiming to Take a Bigger Share in the Skincare Market
4.What Strategy D2C Skincare Brand Foxtale is Following to Dominate In-Person Shopping Experience
5.This woman entrepreneur ditched investment banking to start a D2C skincare startup
Explore the critical role of high-quality schools in addressing the root causes of low education standards in India. While Edtech solutions provide temporary relief, Kunal argues that building and running schools is a lasting solution. He shares his journey, his significant challenges, and how he successfully scaled JBCN Education.
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Read more about JBCN Education:-
1.JBCN International School Expands its Footprint with the Inaugration of a New Campus in Mulund, Mumbai
2.Kunal Dalal
Hear how a pivotal moment during his child's school admission led Pankaj Bansal to create PeopleStrong, a pioneering HRTech company. In this conversation, Pankaj shares his journey, from winning prestigious clients to facing tough business challenges. Today, PeopleStrong competes with the biggest global names in HRTech, boasting massive profitability and putting Indian HRTech on the world map.
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Read more about PeopleStrong:-
1.PeopleStrong recognized as a Customers’ Choice in the 2024 Gartner® Peer Insights™ Voice of the Customer for Cloud HCM Suites for 1,000+ Employee Enterprises Report
2.PeopleStrong leverages Google AI to transform HR in Asia
3.This HR tech platform has adopted generative AI across employee lifecycle
Rohit Bhayana, founder of Lumis Partners, one of India's oldest venture investment firms, discusses his latest project, Oister Global. Oister Global is a leading institutional investor endeavouring to invest in a curated selection of top-tier alternative funds in India. Rohit talks about how private investing became mainstream in India, his journey building Lumis Partners, the operator mindset and the billion-dollar opportunity they're targeting at Oister Global.
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Read more about Oister Global:-
1.Oister Global Rolls Out INR 440 Cr Fund To Back VC/PE Funds
2.India's AIF Landscape Surges Towards Maturity: Bright Prospects Ahead
Once a tech wizard at Intel, Bhaktha Keshavachar shifted gears to co-found Ezetap that shook up India's fintech scene with its innovative digital payment solutions, and was eventually acquired by Razorpay. Now, at Chara Technologies, he is engineering a revolutionary Reluctance motor engine that's free of toxic rare-earth minerals.This nifty invention is not just eco-friendly and cost- effective, but is also set to slash India's import dependency and give a turbo boost to the nation's electric mobility dreams!
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Read more about Chara Technologies:-
- Why India's Chara Technologies is Ditching Rare-Earth Materials in Electric Motors - CEO, Bhaktha Keshavachar
2.As the EV market vrooms, this Bengaluru start-up tries to get its motor running
3.Trio Builds EV Motors With No Toxic Rare-Earth Metals, Cut Dependency on Imports
Did you know about 10 to 12% of India’s GDP goes into logistics? That's even more than what the software or automotive industries get! In this episode, we delve into the remarkable journey of Shiprocket as it shakes up the world of e-commerce. Akshay Ghulati talks about Shiprocket’s vision and how they're tackling unique challenges in India's market. Learn how Shiprocket makes e-commerce smarter and more efficient, especially in international shipping.
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Read more about Shiprocket:-
-
Shiprocket’s ‘back-to-the-future’ mission: Democratising ecommerce for Bharat
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Tech, Government support driving support in India’s exports: Akshay Ghulati
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D2C sales made smarter and swifter with Shiprocket Checkout
4.Shiprocket expands services to boost revenue beyond shipping
5.Shiprocket to upskill 100,000 Indian MSMEs for e-commerce
We’re living in the golden age of automobiles when they’re shifting from gas-guzzlers to clean, cool electric vehicles (EVs). This shift is creating room for new iconic brands to emerge. One such future iconic brand is the performance EV bike-maker Ultraviolette Automotive whose EV bike F77 has been turning heads. In this episode, Niraj Rajmohan and Narayan Subramaniam talk about their journey of building Ultraviolette as a globally aspirational motorcycle brand out of India.
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Read more about Ultraviolette:-
1.Inside Ultraviolette’s 6-Year Electric Revolution: How The Emotorcycle Maker Is Ready To Race It Out With KTMs & BMWs
2.“Electric is the way forward,” says Narayan Subramaniam, Ultraviolette CEO and head of design on the future of mobility
3.Ultraviolette: Racing into global markets with F77
4.EV firms focussed on high-tech products need more support: Ultraviolette founders
Building a successful SaaS business is both challenging and rewarding. There is a real risk that you may end up solving a problem so narrow that it has a very small market but if you focus deeply on solving a common problem, more people will choose your product over a one-size-fits-all solution. In this episode, Sanjay Ghare spills the beans on building Vervotech as a vertical SaaS in the travel tech domain. Vervotech helps travel agencies stay relevant on travel websites by providing smart information about the best deals and prices, so they can offer great options to their customers.
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Read more about Vervotech:-
1.The Digital Transformation of Hospitality: How Technology is Reshaping Guest Experiences
2.Vervotech aims to create standardization in the hotel industry through hotel mapping
3.Using artificial intelligence, this SaaS startup is helping travel agencies scale up their business
Discover the amazing success story of EcoSoul, a homegrown company that started small but quickly emerged as a global leader. By building eco-friendly products and strategizing effective global distribution, they've penetrated markets in over 70 countries, achieving a staggering $30 million in revenue with a mere $10 million in initial funding. Rahul Singh is a hands- on leader and in this episode he talks about his journey of building EcoSoul. He delves deeply into EcoSoul's supply chain development, a critical factor in its rapid growth.
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Read more about EcoSoul:-
1.Meet man who sold his house to create business made of waste, now owns company with annual turnover Rs 600 crore
2.‘We Sold Our Home For Our Dream’: Sustainable Kitchenware Biz Clocks $50 Million in Revenues
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EcoSoul: Making a Difference
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From waste to wealth: EcoSoul Home’s battle cry against plastic toxicity
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Ecosoul develops everyday products using sustainable materials
6.From the US to EU, how EcoSoul Home clocked over Rs 100 cr in GMV by exporting sustainable products
Delve into the massive and fast-growing staffing industry- a sector estimated to touch nearly $50 bn dollars by 2030. In this episode, V C Karthic shares insights about the industry, and offers insightful observations on entrepreneurship, company culture, management principles, and founder aspirations.
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Read more about Buzzworks:-
1.Buzzworks Business Services Pvt Ltd unveils the findings survey highlighting optimal work hours for productivity
Md. Imthiaz shares insights from his startup journey, reflecting on the lessons learned from his first venture, Hoppr, which raised 5 million dollars in 2012 but struggled to scale. Now, with a new focus on solving inefficiencies in logistics through a first principles approach, he talks about the value of a sharp, narrow focus in building sustainable businesses. This episode delves into the challenges of finding product-market fit and explores strategies for overcoming them in the dynamic landscape of entrepreneurship.
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Read more about Raaho:-
1.Digitising freight network for a better tomorrow
2.How Raaho Is Using Tech To Transform India’s Fragmented Commercial Trucking
3.How is Raaho building an Online market space for intercity trucking
Krishna Kumar shares his remarkable journey from a small village in Bihar to leading a company poised to achieve a turnover of almost 1500 crore. Kumar discusses the strategies for effective marketing and fighting competition in the global arena, highlighting Simplilearn's pioneering role in the Indian Edtech space since its inception in 2010.
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Read more about Simplilearn:-
1.How Simplilearn is shaping the future of workforce with digital innovation in education
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[The Turning Point] From blogging to setting up a corporate training startup – the inspiring story of Simplilearn
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Learn something new everyday: Rapid Fire with Simplilearn’s Krishna Kumar
4.Krishna Kumar, Founder & CEO Of Simplilearn.com Explains His Journey So Far With Simplilearn
5.How an Indian entrepreneur turned his blog into a global online training site for professionals
Discover how Stable Money is tapping into the lucrative market of Fixed Deposits, a product widely used by Indians for savings yet overlooked by most founders. Within just one year of operation, Stable Money has already secured 10 mn dollars in funding from some of the best VCs in India. In this conversation, Saurabh shares how he figured out the whitespace, why he believes hiring a Chief of Staff early is crucial for founders and the key factors behind their rapid growth.
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Read more about Stable Money:-
1.India’s first digital fixed-return investment platform Stable Money launched
2.How Stable Money is shining the spotlight on fixed deposits | Simply Save
3.Stable Money launches first fixed deposit marketplace
4.Digital fixed-return investment platform, Stable Money, unveiled
Aalesh Avlani challenges conventional labels by branding his company as a lending firm rather than a fintech. He draws nuanced distinctions between the two, highlighting the emphasis on loan collection that sets Credit Wise Capital apart. In this episode, he shares his perspective on the challenges of digitizing loan collections in India and why he advocates for a focused approach, building fewer products but penetrating deeply into the market, rather than spreading resources thin.
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Read more about Credit Wise Capital:-
1.Fintech lenders utilize technology and local partnerships to reach customers in smaller towns of India
2.Fintech Lending: The Path to Creating Financial Inclusion in India
Explore the intricate layers of venture debt, a unique blend of venture capital investing and private credit, where loans are tailored for VC-funded startups. Apoorva shares how venture debt transcends traditional lending by supporting loss-making companies, with returns stemming from interest payments and equity appreciation. This discussion offers both a bird's-eye view and a nuanced exploration of the venture debt business model.
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Read more about Stride Ventures:-
1.Why the venture debt market is bubbling
2.India’s venture debt market crosses billion-dollar mark in 2023; Consumer durables and Fintech get major attraction
3.India’s venture debt growth hinges on uptick in VC round: Stride Ventures
Dive into the evolving landscape of mergers and acquisitions in this episode. Maneesh talks about GrowthPal's journey of disrupting the business of buying and selling companies with its premium discovery service, featuring a unique blend of subscription and commission charges. He shares the driving forces behind company acquisitions and discusses buyer-seller relationship dynamics. From debunking myths to drawing parallels with dating apps, walk into the intriguing world of M&A trends and strategies with Maneesh.
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Read more about GrowthPal:-
1.Startup Mantra: M&A made easy with GrowthPal
2.Startup to Scaleup: Spotlight on GrowthPal that aims to reinvent M&A deal sourcing
3.Lending dominated fintech M&As in 2023 amid increased regulatory scrutiny: GrowthPal study
As one of India’s earliest venture capitalists, Rahul's journey spans from Flipkart's early days to backing successful ventures like Simplilearn, BigBasket, and Livspace, and eventually founding Stellaris. In our conversation, he shares insights on the importance of listening to both customers and founders, his approaches to identifying promising startups in a crowded market and seizing opportunities in consumer products, edtech, and gaming sectors. Rahul also discusses the key traits he looks for in founders, the changing landscape for traditional businesses, and how investing during tough times can lead to resilient ventures.
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Read more about Stellaris Venture Partners:-
1.In good times or bad, Stellaris Venture Partners has a steady startup investment strategy
2.Cos have to answer more difficult and important questions for late-stage funding today, says Stellaris Venture’s Chowdhuri
3.Early Partners of Fearless Founders With Audacious Goals
4.Gen AI will compel companies to rethink their value propostion: Alok Goyal Stellaris Venture Partners
5.We do not suffer from FOMO: Stellaris Venture Partners
6.Stellaris Venture Partners' chosen path: Make contrarian bets, but with deep conviction
From humble beginnings as a college contractor to navigating the startup world, Amit Bansal's story speaks of resilience and reinvention. In this episode, learn how he found his niche and established India’s foremost asset-light interior fit-out company, 91Squarefeet. He talks about how this innovative company is changing the way workspaces are designed by using independent contractors. Explore the nuances of finding product-market fit, achieving unit economic profitability, mastering the art of B2B sales, and implementing best practices for product development.
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Read more about 91Squarefeet:-
1.91Squarefeet to transform the future of work with 500 high-tech, sustainable offices
2.How office space can contribute to economic development of country, explains Amit Bansal, CEO and Co-Founder 91Squarefeet
3.This start-up uses tech to help brands build their brick-and-mortar network
4.Using AI, this retail store development startup is helping offline brands accelerate expansion
Ritesh Kumar had worked for a couple of years in investment banking after graduating from IIT Kharagpur when he decided to build his enterprise, and just like any truly great founder story, there were many twists and turns before they truly achieved their product market fit and started the journey of scale.
Ritesh is the founder of TranZact, which is helping Indian SMEs to be more effective and efficient through software that is built for them. In a way, Transzact is powering the dream of ‘Make in India’ and helping us compete with Chinese manufacturing.
In this episode, Ritesh talks to Akshay Datt about
- Identifying the right problem to solve as a founder
- The journey of getting your pricing right as a SaaS founder
- ‘Less is more’ approach of product building - focus on what really matters to your customers
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Read more about TranZact here:-
- TranZact raises $7 million from Tribe Capital and others
With over 2 decades of entrepreneurial experience, Raju's journey from bootstrapped beginnings with Way2sms to pioneering the hyperlocal news platform Way2News showcases his remarkable resilience and vision. Gain unique insights and lessons learned as Raju discusses conceiving business models, organic growth strategies, leveraging vernacular content, and capitalizing on events to drive engagement. Tune in for an insightful exploration of how Raju continues to disrupt and redefine the landscape of Indian news consumption.
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Read more about Way2News:-
1.Way2News taps into rising demand for vernacular content with local flavour
2.Way2News founder-CEO Raju Vanapala on serving hyperlocal news for Bharat
3.Why short news app Way2News positions itself as the ‘go-to’ platform for hyperlocal campaigns in South India
4.Today news isn't a matter of language, but rather how quickly it is available
- How Way2News transformed the hyper- local news ecosystem in India
Uncover a slice of India's startup history as we delve into the journey of Amit Singh, a former Jabong employee turned entrepreneur. Discover how he identified a market opportunity within the transportation sector, leading to the creation of Shuttl, a company aimed at revolutionising daily office commutes. With over $120 million in funding, they were on the brink of transforming the industry before the pandemic shifted their trajectory, ultimately culminating in their acquisition by travel-tech unicorn Chalo.
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Read more about Shuttl:-
1.Profitability is a moving goal post, says Shuttl CEO
2.Chalo acquires office bus service Shuttl
3.My first year at work: Most of the fun we had was after work, says Amit Singh, Co-founder, Shuttl
4.Shuttl propagates smart urban mobility through technology
We are a constantly evolving species, from discovering fire to inventing the wheel to now inventing AI - humanity is on a relentless path of progress.
And while each new technology may have a different flavour to it, the one broad outcome that remains constant is that we are constantly reducing barriers to access. Be it access to education or access to jobs or access to investment opportunities.
Today, thanks to platforms like hbits, you can access a real estate asset worth hundreds of millions of rupees through fractional ownership.
In this deep dive into the new era of real estate investing, your host Akshay Datt speaks to Shiv Parekh - the founder and CEO of hBits.
Stay tuned for a knowledge filled episode of the founder thesis podcast to understand how the business of real estate investments is getting disrupted by nimble tech-enabled startups.
Discover why microchips are essential for the AI economy and how they've propelled Nvidia to become the world's third most valuable company. Shashwath is the founder of one of India’s top microchip companies and in this episode, he goes deep into the semiconductor business. Gain insights into the importance of microchips for AI and their impact in shaping India's technological self-reliance.
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Read more about Mindgrove:-
1.Designed-in-India chips for the World
- Mindgrove Technologies’ Shashwath TR on Making India’s Most Secure Chip
3.Redefining Chip Design: Mindgrove’s Tailored Approach to Innovation
4.When the chips were down, they opted to stand up
Zaggle is a B2B SaaS Fintech startup helping companies digitise and optimize their payment and expense workflow using AI, ML and is on a mission to revolutionize banking for corporates. In this conversation, Raj shares his multiple journeys of finding market opportunities and how he scaled up each of his ventures.
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Read more about Zaggle:-
1.Tax-free allowances can be availed under new income tax regime too: Avinash Godkhindi, CEO, Zaggle Prepaid
2.Zaggle And Hyperface Strengthen Co-Branded Corporate Credit Cards With Multi-Wallet Functions
3.From Start To Stock Markets: Zaggle Founder Raj Narayanam On The 11-Year Journey To An IPO
4.We have been the cockroaches of the Fintech SaaS space: Zaggle’s Raj Narayanam
5.Valuation Is Temporary But Value Is Permanent: Founder, Zaggle
6.Raj N: The Odd One Out Setting Unprecedented Milestones in the FinTech Industry
Take a deep dive into digital lending with Fibe, the leading player in the unsecured lending space. In this episode, we unravel the ABCs of the lending business, exploring what drives their customer selection process, how they crafted the winning customer value proposition, their strategic brand positioning and their journey of scaling from 0 to 1.
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Read more about Fibe:-
1.Transforming the credit landscape: Fibe’s co-lending initiatives and technological advancements reshape borrowing experience
2.Customise and digitise your HR for impact: Insights into Fibe’s exciting journey with Akrivia HCM
3.Lendingtech Startup Fibe’s FY23 Net Profit Soars 9X To INR 36.3 Cr
4.Axis Bank, Fibe partner to launch India's first numberless credit card
- Guest Talk: Mr. Akshay Mehrotra, Co-Founder and CEO, EarlySalary
Addverb is breaking barriers by exporting cutting-edge robotic solutions worldwide, revolutionizing factory and warehouse automation. Sangeet’s daring spirit and innovative approach propel Addverb to outshine even established foreign competitors, cementing its position as a leader in the global robotics industry. Discover their inspiring journey from software giants to hardware innovators and their profound impact on the future of technology.
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Read more about Addverb:-
1.Addverb unveils three robots for varied use cases
2.Addverb's mega robot-making unit in UP touted to power 3,000 jobs
3.India's coolest start-ups: Meet the founders of automated solutions provider Addverb Technologies
4.Future of automation! Addverb’s trio of robots pave way for industry automation
5.Meet the four founders of Addverb, the company revolutionising warehousing and robotics whose biggest shareholder is Mukesh Ambani
6.Addverb's Bot Verse: Exploring The 'World's Largest' Mobile Robot Factory
7.Addverb: Automation company making robots in India, for the world
Fireflies.ai is an AI powered app that is transforming meetings across the globe and is on a mission to derive actionable intelligence out of conversations.
It was 2016, Krish had got admission for a masters program at Cambridge University after completing a stint as a product manager at the tech giant Microsoft. In the few free months he had before he was to join the course, he created some products as fun experiments with his cofounder, and those few months ended up becoming the start of the journey to build Fireflies.
He realised that there was a lot of value in conversations, and ended up spending the next 8 years in building a product to truly help companies capture that value.
In this episode Krish talks about
- How to find Product Market Fit
- How to make Product Led Growth work for your business
- How to using pricing as a strategic lever for growth
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Explore a new way of building startups- unlike traditional methods, Venture Studios doesn't wait for founders to pitch ideas. Instead, they have a clear vision and find founders to bring it to life. Pankaj Jethwani offers valuable insights into this strategy. Leading India's pioneering Venture Studio and spearheading a health-tech startup named W Health Ventures, he possesses extensive expertise in the domain.
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Read more about 2070 Health and W Health Ventures:-
1.We build ventures in spaces with large unmet needs: 2070 Health
- Healthcare startups must build trust through technology that keeps patients’ health at their fingertips: Namit Chugh, W Health Ventures
3.Pankaj Jethwani On W Health Ventures’ India Investment Playbook
4.W Health Ventures hosted an industry discussion on: Why time to scale healthcare in India is now
5.Ethical considerations in healthcare integration: Patient needs, consent, and safety – Dr Pankaj Jethwani, W Health Ventures
- Healthtech start-ups are using digital touchpoints to enhance customer experience, complete continuum of care
Maneet Gohil, started Lal10 as a side hustle while in college and after a roller coaster journey of multiple pivots, scaled it to a ₹200cr ARR business.
Lal10 is an asset light manufacturer. Think of it as an Oyo Rooms model for Indian craft manufacturing. They build the market connection and generate demand, and in the back end, digitize small scale factories to manufacture, thereby helping Indian handcrafted textile suppliers to make their inventory available on global platforms.
He talks about:
- How to scale a side-hustle successfully
- How the ‘Jugaad’ culture works in the Indian creative manufacturing sector and how to use it to make a profitable ‘dhanda’
- How to sell in dollars and spend in rupees
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Delve into the evolution of cybersecurity in this episode- with firsthand experience, Kiran sheds light on the ever-changing landscape of cyber threats and recounts the journey of BluSapphire, a full-stack threat detection and response platform for enterprises. Tune in to gain insights into the frontline of defence against digital adversaries.
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Read more about BluSapphire:-
1.Cybersecurity platform BluSapphire in expansion mode, unveils new office in Hyderabad
2.Cybersecurity platform Blusapphire raises $9.2m funding in series A round
Discover the secrets powering India's D2C boom with Kannan Sitaram, the mastermind behind Fireside Ventures. With a track record of backing powerhouse brands like Mamaearth and Boat, Kannan draws from his consumer goods expertise to guide D2C founders towards success. Dive into his playbook for achieving the elusive 500 crores revenue milestone in the D2C landscape.
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Read more about Fireside Ventures:-
1.Fireside Ventures aims to birth Indian mega-brands
2.Fireside’s Kannan Sitaram on gaming bets, fund status, D2C trends and more
3.India’s high-income households fuel new, unique brands: Q&A with VS Kannan Sitaram, Fireside Ventures
Shankar Prasad, CEO and founder of Plum Goodness - India’s leading home-grown clean-beauty, vegan brand Plum talks about
- The frugality mindset that every founder must have
- When to raise funds and how to use them
- How to scale while remaining true to your basic brand ethos.
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Read More:
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One has to listen to the consumers: Shankar Prasad, Plum Goodness
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I am yet to come across a dressing shelf which does not have 5 or 6 brands: Shankar Prasad, Plum Goodness
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Plum Goodness' Shankar Prasad's views on quick commerce beauty market and trends in the category
Discover Roshini Sanah Jaiswal's journey from starting Bangalore’s very first premium bar and night club to leading the India franchise of the global Hard Rock Cafe. Learn lessons in leadership and resilience as she recounts navigating countless challenges to turnaround one of India’s oldest liquor companies. Now, she's building Swanrose, a global D2C brand in the beauty and wellness space, her most ambitious project yet.
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Read more about Swanrose:-
1.From launching a preventive healthcare vertical to making a loss-making liquor company profitable amid the pandemic: the story of Roshini Sanah Jaiswal
2.The beauty business uses the most petrochemicals linked to numerous health problems: Roshini Sanah Jaiswal
3.Justhuman launches in India & the USA ushering in a new generation of clean beauty products, powered by Neurocosmetics
4.This Lady is Giving Her Male Counterparts a Run for Their Money
- Swanrose eyes disruption in hygiene and personal care space
Arjun Nair, co-founded Great Learning, an ed-tech company by bootstrapping it and took it to a $600m acquisition by Byju’s. He speaks to Akshay Datt about:
- Creating effective cohort based courses (using ‘flip classrooms’!)
- Bootstrapping with a maniacal focus on profitability
- Why they sold to Byju’s and the way forward
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Rohan Shravan’s journey is a testament to the never-say-die spirit of the Indian founder. He created the world's first Android tablet, Notion. And even though his dream of building a hardware devices company from India did not work out, he's now pioneering Tresa Motors, set to launch India's finest EV truck. Hear about his journey and his determination to make a difference on a big scale.
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Read more about Tresa Motors:-
1.Tresa Motors' axial flux motor, Lidar-enabled driver assistance aim at new standards for electric trucks in India
2.Tresa Motors unveils India's first electric truck for the global market: See Pics
3.Tresa Motors launches its first EV
Lokesh Daga built up what could arguably be called as the next generation of an Indian family run business. Nasher Miles makes cool and useful trolley bags for travelers who care both about looks and convenience. He shares D2C success hacks, the advantages of offline vs online, and the path to becoming a 1000 cr business.
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Read more about Nasher Miles:-
1.How Nasher Miles is Redefining Travel with Quality and Style
2.How luggage brands can drive engagement and sales through influencer marketing
3.Nasher Miles: Around the World on just eight wheels!
Shailesh Vickram Singh is an entrepreneur who believes that the current generation of global internet start-ups have reached their peak. His thesis is that the next generation of tech giants will be focussed on sustainability and tackling climate change.
He founded Climate Angels, a fund that focuses on investing in start-ups that are building a sustainable future through Innovation & Investment. Learn about what the future of climate-tech looks like from the lens of a seasoned investor.
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From college fest vendor to India's kitchen automation giant- Eshwar' tale embodies grit, hustle, and relentless optimism. He crafted Mukunda Foods from zero capital to Zomato-backed success. Learn how he revolutionised kitchen processes for leading restaurant chains.
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Read more about Mukunda Foods :-
1.Interview: Mukunda Foods CEO Eshwar K Vikas On Driving Innovation In Commercial Kitchen Technology
2.How Mukunda Foods' kitchen robots dish out dosas, noodles and more
3.‘Kitchen robotics will revolutionise food & beverages industry’
4.How Mukunda Foods is helping restaurants function smoothly in the current times
5.What transformation does the food-tech industry is looking at in 2023?
Wigzo is an automated customer data platform for D2C brands in which Shiprocket has acquired a majority stake. It has grown from an automated personalized email marketing tool to a platform that helps brands to understand massive customer data and use it intelligently.
What you can learn from this episode:
- The evolution of Mar-tech, from email automation to Customer Data Platform
- The journey of finding the right problem to solve
- Raising more funds vs getting acquired
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From personal skin allergy woes to pioneering India's first Ayurvedic start-up securing seed funding from industry leaders, The Ayurveda Company is bridging ancient wisdom with contemporary health to provide Ayurveda as a lifestyle choice. Param talks about the journey of discovering product- market fit and taking the brand from zero to one, and then from one to hundred.
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Read more about The Ayurveda Company:-
1.How The Ayurveda Co is bringing high quality, affordable ayurvedic solutions to the masses
2.Rapid fire with param bhargava, co-founder of the ayurveda company
3.How The Ayurveda Co carving a distinct path in the Ayurveda wellness landscape
4.Learning, wisdom and experience: How an ayurveda startup from India is winning on the global front
What began as a quest for efficiency is now a profitable solution trusted by Fortune 500 companies worldwide- Ganesh Shankar's journey from product manager to building Responsive is riveting. Responsive simplifies stakeholder communication, fostering trust, and strengthening brands for lasting success. Gain insights on B2B product development, sales strategies, and agile organizational building in this episode.
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Read more about Responsive:-
1.Responsive Extends Market-Leading AI Capabilities with Its Strategic Response Management Platform at Responsive Summit23.
2.RFPIO Rebrands Company to Responsive, Emerges as Breakout Category Leader in Strategic Response Management
Balance Hero is one of India’s largest lending apps for the underbanked. They are among the top market leaders in the small ticket loan providers.
And the most amazing thing about Balance Hero is that the founder (Charlie Lee) is a Korean who came to India to sell VAS services to telecom companies, and never left.
If you want to hear about the evolution of tech businesses and how to adapt to changing external circumstances, then this episode with @Charlie Lee of @BalanceHero is a must-listen.
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Read more about Balance Hero
Meet the entrepreneur from Gangnam whose True Balance …
Balance Hero banks on India's 1.3B with fintech
Balancehero India appoints ex-Hero FinCorp exec Jayesh Jain as Group CFO
Discover the incredible journey of an engineer turned healthcare innovator- Rohan Verma's entrepreneurial drive led to the creation of Breathe Well-being, a groundbreaking diabetes reversal platform. He talks about his roller coaster journey of building a bootstrapped health-tech business, facing multiple near death circumstances despite getting into the YC program, and eventually sticking through it to reach where they are today.
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Read more about Breathe Well-being:-
1.Healthtech Startup Breathe Well-being Secures $6 Mn+ To Help People Reverse Diabetes
Unlike its counterparts in the health-tech realm, Dozee doesn't just stop at powerful software. Equipped with a novel physical product, Dozee is a special technology that uses smart AI to watch over patient’s vital stats 24/7 without any physical contact. In this episode, Mudeet talks about cracking data collection in a data dark space, innovating using AI, perfecting the product, raising capital and future plans.
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Read more about Dozee:-
1.’Made-in-India Technology Dozee to Elevate Patient Safety Standards with RPM & EWS
2.Dozee bets on India's growing home healthcare market with new solution
3.How Dozee harnesses the power of AI for continuous patient monitoring and early warning system.
As one of the oldest early stage startup investors, Mumbai Angels has funded more than 200 startups till date. In this episode, co-founder and CEO Nandini Mansinghka dives deep into the nuances of fund raising from the perspective of investors, thus helping startup founders to be well-prepared to pitch to investors. She talks about the legacy of Mumbai Angels and how it has evolved from an informal network to being a part of a larger corporate group now. She also shares learnings from her own journey as a founder of a media-tech startup.
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Read more about Mumbai Angels:-
1.Mumbai Angels CEO Nandini Mansinghka On What Matters Amid the Funding Crunch
2.Mumbai Angels aims to double start-up investments this fiscal
3.Investment platform Mumbai Angels Network steps up game with two new funds
- 360 ONE acquires controlling stake in Mumbai Angels
In a country obsessed with beauty, hair and skin, Traya is a result when a wife decides to ensure that the husband needs to focus on his health. Founder duo Altaf and Saloni created an innovative product to prevent hairfall while focusing on technology for holistic healthy habits. They spill the beans on building Traya, using cohort marketing to innovate, navigating investor relations, fundraising tactics, and the art of cultivating a winning culture in a startup.
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Read more about Traya:-
1.Meet husband, wife who built healthcare company after facing personal health issues
2.Changing The Conversation Around Hair Loss: Saloni Anand Talks About Building Her Brand Traya
3.How Traya is Transforming Hair Health with a Holistic Approach
4.‘My Husband’s Hairfall Inspired These Hair Solutions’: Engineer’s Biz Finds 2.5 Lakh Customers
5.The Business Of Reversing Hair Loss; How Traya Is Fitting Into The Wellness Landscape
Learn about Rakesh Malhotra, the visionary entrepreneur who started Luminous, India's most trusted inverter brand more than 30 years ago. Hear firsthand about his journey of diversifying ventures and successfully navigating the market landscape. Discover Rakesh's invaluable insights on market penetration and his strategies for building businesses that stand the test of time, spanning across a multitude of sectors.
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Read more about Livpure:-
1.The business of sleep and why unicorns do not rest
2.How this water and air purifier brand forayed into mattresses during the pandemic
Explore the misconception surrounding zero brokerage in this episode. Tajinder sheds light on Finvasia's journey, from his Wall Street experience to the bootstrap beginnings of Finvasia. He also shares insights into disrupting the financial landscape with a portfolio of global fintech businesses based in India under Finvasia's umbrella.
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Read more about Finvasia:-
1.Finvasia: The Trailblazing Organisation Led by Visionary Virk Brothers
2.AI is at the heart of our strategy now and for the foreseeable future: Finvasia’s Sarvjeet Virk
3.Shoonya by Finvasia is India’s First Trading Platform to Offer AI-based Predictions & Signals for Individual Stocks in Exclusive Partnership with ‘I Know First’
Discover how technology is breaking down geographical barriers, allowing individuals to collaborate with the world's best companies from anywhere with a solid internet connection. Remote takes center stage as a key player, simplifying the global hiring process. Job talks about how to create value by solving complex problems.
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Read more about Remote:-
1.We’ve evolved with emerging tech to create efficient, data-driven, and employee-centric HR practices: Job Van Der Voort, CEO, Remote
2.Why remote skilled workers around the world can solve global talent shortage problem
3.A tech CEO who's rolling out AI across his company says it will give workers 'superpowers' because it's 'crazy powerful'
4.Remote launches new HR platform for companies with a ‘global-first’ approach
5.Tech talent shortage: How hiring international employees can help
Mintoak is a fintech SaaS platform doing the exact opposite of what most fintechs are doing- they are helping the legacy banks compete with nimble fintechs by arming them with an agile engagement platform for their business customers. In this conversation, Raman spills the beans on his unique thesis which has turned Mintoak into one of India's leading payment processors.
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Read more about Mintoak:-
1.India’s fintech SaaS platform Mintoak receives $20mn backing
2.Raman Khanduja, Co Founder And CEO, MintOak Innovations
3.Raman Khanduja of Mintoak opens up on its fundraise and more
This episode showcases an exceptional entrepreneur, Somdutta, a rare serial female founder, who despite staying low-key, is now onto her third venture. Starting her entrepreneurial journey during her graduate studies, she leveraged the acquisition of her first venture to fund her successful foray into the US e-commerce space. With Assiduus Global, she's revolutionizing cross-border e-commerce, providing technology that simplifies global product sales for brands.
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Read more about Assiduus Global:-
1.Trailblazing entrepreneurship: Assiduus’ voyage of vision and victory
2.The Global E-Commerce Conqueror: Dr. Somdutta Singh
3.Exclusive Interview with Somdutta Singh, Founder & CEO, Assiduus Global
4.Meet the serial entrepreneur who started an AI-powered global ecommerce accelerator
5.Assiduus, The Most Formidable E-Commerce Accelerator Partner D2C Brands Need For Global Domination Says Dr Somdutta Singh
6.I Always Wanted to Create a Solid Portfolio of Brands: Assiduus Global Founder Dr Somdutta Singh
Even though banking and finance have gone digital, many still rely on traditional methods for getting home loans. While this may be fine for expensive homes, it becomes costly and difficult to expand when it comes to affordable housing. Atul Monga is a fintech veteran chasing an ambitious mission to make affordable home loans accessible to Bharat by using an innovative asset light approach.
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Read more about Basic Home Loan:-
1.Navigating Fluctuating Home Loan Rates: BASIC Home Loan CEO Atul Monga On Seamless Mortgage Experience
2.Affordable housing market in India is valued at $300 billion: Basic Home Loan founder Atul Monga
3.Startup To Scaleup | Spotlight on BASIC Home Loan, a startup which aim is to make home loans accessible
4.Looking for a home loan? this startup is ensuring hassle-free loans with its automated platform
5.Our small-ticket loan customers have grown by 5-times: Atul Monga, BASIC Home Loan
Having faced initial setbacks, Iesh's decision to join a successful startup exposed him to a steep learning curve, where he absorbed crucial lessons from an accomplished founder. Two years later, armed with newfound insights, he took the plunge again, founding Powerplay- utilising his accumulated knowledge to achieve substantial scale and profitability.Iesh shares his lessons from both failure and success, and gives some truly useful advice to founders seeking to scale up.
Read more about Powerplay:-
1.How SaaS startup powerplay connects stakeholders in construction sector
2.Mr. Iesh Dixit, CEO & Co-founder, Powerplay, App to manage construction & architectural projects
3.Power of data revolutionizing construction industry
4.Mainstream and maverick: The construction technology trends that will modernize the industry in 2023
5.The contours of construction: Why is one of the in-demand industries still partially paralyzed?
Discover the journey behind building Intangles into a global SaaS business, focusing on mining valuable data from commercial vehicles. Much like an Apple Watch tracks and provides insights into one's body, Intangles helps vehicles in becoming "fitter" by identifying issues that, once resolved, result in substantial cost savings for fleet operators.
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Read more about Intangles:-
1.'The art of exploring.' Intangles CEO believes in power of curiosity to build & learn from experiences
2.Intangles uses AI to drive predictive analytics
3.This digital twin startup providing highly accurate predictive diagnostics for fleet operators, is powered by the intel startup program
EVage Motors stands at the forefront of innovation in the electric vehicle sector, positioning itself to be a significant disruptor, much like how Tesla revolutionized the global market. Inderveer Singh discusses the visionary approach to crafting the next generation of four-wheeled EVs.
Read more about EVage at:
1.Chandigarh-based EVage is driving towards a greener future with its made-in-India four-wheeler
2.EVage's Singh On India’s Commercial EV Revolution
3.Inderveer Singh Panesar Steers EVage’s Global Growth Vision After Highlighting Specialized EVs
Shauraya Bhutani brings to the table an exceptional combination of being both young and a veteran of the PE space, and he is the co-founder of the boutique investment bank - Capital Connect Advisors. He spills the beans on how to get your startup funded across different levels, and how to be more strategic about engaging with an investment bank to raise funds.
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Read more about Capital Connect Advisors:-
1.Investment banker Shauraya Bhutani makes it to Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30
2.India is emerging as a climate tech hub
Shreyans reveals a groundbreaking solution to address the inefficiencies in traditional lending. With the innovative platform Sheru, he is on a mission to reshape lending norms by considering a diverse range of assets, from stocks and mutual funds to cryptocurrency and NFTs.
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Read more about Finsire:-
1.Borrowers must be proactive in managing their loan repayments, says Shreyans Nahar of Finsire
2.Fintech startup Finsire raises $1.3 million in seed funding
3.How would a blockchain network help the lenders and borrowers
4.Future of secured credit cards in India and beyond
Pallav Pandey has been a key player in India's startup scene for two decades. Now, with his fourth venture, Uolo, he aims to become the go-to platform for distributing edtech products across India. Uolo's core belief is that there's no one-size-fits-all solution in edtech; instead, India requires a multitude of affordable options. Pallav is actively constructing the channels through which these diverse edtech products will reach a wide audience.
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Read more about Uolo:-
1.From 150 to 5,600 schools: how edtech startup uolo expanded across India
2.UOLO: Transforming B2B Edtech Industry One School at a time
3.New Breed Of Edtechs Will Emerge In Near Future: Co-founder, Uolo
4.You no longer live only once as UOLO bridges the gap between schools and teachers
Former investment bankers turned founders, Pawan and Paramdeep, break down the complexities of AI in this episode. Discover their story of transitioning to AI from edtech, building AI powered products for themselves and clients. If you are overwhelmed by the sudden barrage of AI related jargons and want to really understand the hype behind AI, then this episode is a must listen.
Read more about Shorthills AI:-
1.Generative AI as a stepping stone to an AI-centric tomorrow
2.The perils of leaving AI model training to AI models
3.Shorthills AI selected by NASSCOM in its Gen AI Foundry Programme
4.AI for Everyone: How open-source Language Models that power AI like Chat GPT are changing the game!
A former Indian Army major turned entrepreneur, Karthik recognized that India's strength lay in economic prosperity. He spent six years in disruptive startups before founding Jumbotail to disrupt traditional retail without disempowering the last mile retailers.
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Read more about Jumbotail:-
1.Jumbotail: The shop for shopkeepers
2.’We help transform kirana stores into convenience stores.’
3.How B2B marketplace Jumbotail has been able to maintain scale amid the Coronavirus crisis
4.“B2B and New Retail gaining significant traction”
This episode delves into the world of pre-owned mobile phones with Saket Saurav, founder of Refit Global, a leading player in the space. Discover the remarkable journey of scaling up this startup without external funding, reaching a topline of over 300 crores this year.
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Read more about Refit Global:-
- Setting standards: a delhi startup is trying to bring quality assurance to india’s refurbished device market
2.This Delhi- based startup nailing the second hand device market
- Meet Saket Saurav, old mobile phone dealer who earned Rs 200 crore, now aims for Rs 350 crore revenue
4.ReFit Global on India’s gadget refurbishment market – Myths, Insights, and more!
5.Who Is Saket Saurav, The Founder Of ReFit Global?
Discover the heartwarming journey of CarDekho, India's very own success story, born in a small town and fueled by the family values of Bharat. Amit shares deeply personal stories, invaluable insights from building up the gigantic yet nimble tech startup, and some essential principles for aspiring founders.
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Read more about CarDekho:-
1.Meet Amit Jain, Ratan Tata-backed CEO, went bankrupt, now owns Rs 10,000 crore company
2.Shark Tank India: Why CarDekho’s Amit Jain believes in ‘pehle banda phir dhandha’
3.Who is a perfect startup founder? Shark Tank India's Amit Jain tells us
4.'You don’t have to shift to Mumbai or Bengaluru to become a successful entrepreneur,' says CarDekho’s Amit Jain
A community startup is built on the back of a strong organically grown community base, hyper-focused on adding value to the community. Kunal Jain is one of the early pioneers in community building and he shares his journey of starting a community, bootstrapped, and how it became a full-fledged platform for analytics professionals with a global reach.
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Read more about Analytics Vidhya:-
1.Demand for data science professionals continuously increasing: Analytics Vidhya
Aatur makes a compelling case for the indispensable value that middle men bring to the table in business. With Alliance Insurance Brokers being one of India's largest offline insurance distribution companies, he shares his expertise on how middle man businesses can drive scale, enhance product quality, and respond more effectively to customer demands.
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Read more about Alliance Insurance Brokers:-
1.How Alliance Insurance Brokers is using AI to solve the corporate employees’ & SME’s insurance dilemma
- How to ensure the best insurance for employees
3.The Transformative Power of Marketing in India’s Insurtech Sector
Rishi's entrepreneurial success is built upon his remarkable ability to identify and make the most of opportunities. He first launched Careernet, a hiring business, and leveraged its profits to fuel subsequent ventures. His second venture centered around applying technology to the hiring process, while his most ambitious undertaking, IndiQube, involves shared office spaces for collaborative work.
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Read more about Careernet and IndiQube:-
1.Rishi Das, Co-Founder and Chairman of IndiQube Believes in Holding on to Core Values to Build a Successful Business
2.Winning Stroke: Interview with Rishi Das, Co-founder, and Chairman, IndiQube
3.This Bengaluru-based coworking space that housed Levis, Redbus, and Bluestone now handles 500 clients of all sizes
4.How has Covid-19 shaped the future of the workspace?
Oloid is changing the game in building security. They’re revolutionizing workplace access, bidding farewell to traditional methods like pin-pads, badges, and fingerprint readers by offering a seamless single sign-on solution. Mohit shares his journey of tackling the physical access challenge in building security.
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Read more about Oloid:-
1.This SaaS startup is modernising access control by integrating physical and digital identities
2.Oloid Closes $12M Series A Funding to Scale World’s First Software-Based Physical Access Technology
From Pune to Unicorn status, Mindtickle's incredible journey is a must-listen. Mindtickle was founded in Pune in 2012 by a group of initially business-clueless engineers. Discover how they achieved product-market fit and successfully scaled to become a unicorn in the US enterprise SaaS market, recounted by Mohit.
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Read more about Mindtickle:-
- Mindtickle Enters Unicorn Club With SoftBank-Led $100 Mn Series E
2.SaaS Unicorn Mindtickle Acquires US-Based Enable Us To Empower Salespersons
Delve into the fascinating world of mobile gaming with Afsar- he talks about their journey from a bootstrapped Indian startup to becoming a global gaming powerhouse. He shares insights into their unique approach to success, highlighting how they managed to build a massive gaming empire without relying on external capital.
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Read more about gameberry labs:-
1.Rolling it right: How Gameberry Labs built a profitable international gaming business
2.India’s mobile ludo games find enthusiasts across the world
3.Ludo Star is down and people are feeling 'lifeless' without it
4.Groww may pip Zerodha in active user count; ETSA 2023 winner Gameberry Labs on its bootstrap journey
If the term climate warrior could be used to describe a startup founder, then Puneet Jaggi would be the perfect candidate for the title. Prescinto is an enterprise SaaS startup building the smart operating system for green energy projects. Puneet shares his phenomenal vision towards climate change and Prescinto’s achievements so far.
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Read more about Prescinto:-
1.PV magazine speaks to Puneet Singh Jaggi, co-founder and director of Prescinto Technologies
- Radiance Renewables Picks Prescinto To Monitor Its Solar Assets
3.Prescinto enters European market with AI-powered PV efficiency software in Greece
Ayu Health is on a mission to fundamentally disrupt the patient experience at hospitals by using transparency and tech. Himesh shares his journey as a first-time founder, what he learnt from it, and how he changed his approach to shaping Ayu Health.
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Read more about Ayu Health:-
1.Upgrading hospitals: how this healthtech startup is preparing healthcare facilities for the post-pandemic world
2.Making affordable healthcare a reality for the middle-income group
3.Pandemic highlighted gaps in healthcare infra in India: Himesh Joshi, CEO & Co-Founder, Ayu Health Hospitals
4.Private healthcare suffers trust issues in India, we want to change that: Himesh Joshi, CEO, Ayu Health
5.After selling their previous startup to Quikr, Zefo founders are building an OYO for hospitals
Aneesh Reddy is a rare founder who dedicated 15 years to building his startup, Capillary. With determination and some naivety, they bootstrapped Capillary and even secured funding a few years later. But the roller coaster ride was just beginning, filled with lessons from overfunding mistakes and the challenges posed by the pandemic.
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Read more about Capillary Tech:-
1.What Aneesh Reddy is getting right about Capillary Technologies' push in the US
2.How customer engagement company capillary rejigged business to prepare for IPO
3.The amazing success story of an Indian garage start-up
Aneesh Reddy is a rare founder who dedicated 15 years to building his startup, Capillary. With determination and some naivety, they bootstrapped Capillary and even secured funding a few years later. But the roller coaster ride was just beginning, filled with lessons from overfunding mistakes and the challenges posed by the pandemic.
For more such interesting founder journeys, subscribe to our newsletter www.founderthesis.com
Read more about Capillary Tech:-
1.What Aneesh Reddy is getting right about Capillary Technologies' push in the US
2.How customer engagement company capillary rejigged business to prepare for IPO
3.The amazing success story of an Indian garage start-up
River is pioneering a scooter for entrepreneurs, giving them utility and lifestyle benefits in a single machine. Aravind shares his approach towards building a startup frugally and decodes their path to becoming a 100-million-dollar business.
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Read more about River:-
1.River Indie first ride review — A ‘Surprising’ UV of scooters
2.Meet River Indie: The SUV of scooters with a price tag of Rs 1.25 lakh
3.Two-wheeler EV Manufacturer River Bags $15 Mn Funding From Al Futtaim Group, Others
The one thing 20-year-olds like to do is play games, especially real money games. Fello asks the question - what if you disguised a savings app as a real money gaming app - giving all the thrills of gaming but also giving the long-term benefits of saving money. Manish talks about the unique thesis behind the product and the zero-to-one journey of building a fintech product.
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Read more about Fello:-
1.Backed by Entrepreneur First, game-based Saving app Fello on a journey to make India financially literate
2.Here’s How Y Combinator-Backed Fello Is Making Saving & Investment Fun
3.How Fello is gamifying savings and investments for gen z and millennials
Immerse yourself in the decade-long journey of building a large D2C fashion business, starting from an era when fundraising was next to impossible and founders literally had to survive each day with nothing but their grit and hustle. Learn about what makes a D2C fashion business scale up from Shivani.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about FabAlley:-
1.From western wear to wedding luxe, how Shivani Poddar built a large D2C brand
2.VC-Backed FabAlley’s Co-Founder Shivani Poddar On Growth Plan, Offline Biz And More
3.FabAlley: Life In The Fab Lane
4.Tanvi Malik & Shivani Poddar: Fashionably Forward
5.How FabAlley’s expansion plans and strategies are making a mark in the apparel sector
Do you think digital payments are risky? This episode will change your perspective! IppoPay is a Chennai-based fintech serving the vast underbanked and unbanked sector in India, helping it adopt digital banking swiftly. Mohan talks about his learnings over his long and varied path as an entrepreneur and shares how he created luck for himself multiple times.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about IppoPay:-
1.Interview with Mohan K, Entrepreneur, Co-Founder and CEO of IppoPay
2.Long struggle behind IppoPay’s quick success
3.This Niche Payment Solutions Startup Is Empowering Lakhs Of Businesses In Smaller Towns
4.This fisherman’s son launched a fintech startup amidst the pandemic and clocked transactions worth rs 1 cr
5.How IppoPay is disrupting the Digital Payments space with its technology for the merchants in Tamil Nadu
6.Light Microfinance, IppoPay to offer digital loans to MSMEs
Masters' Union is a modern business school transforming education by opting for hands-on, real-world problem-solving. Pratham shares his incredible first principles thinking approach that has driven him on his mission to build a global top-tier B-school in India.
Read the text version of the episode.
Read more about Masters’ Union:-
1.We Want To Empower Creators With Practical Education: Pratham Mittal, Master’s Union
2.Technology’s role is to enhance work done by leaders: MU's Pratham Mittal
3.First Experiential Bachelor’s Degree Programme In Business In India, Taught By Harvard, Oxford, Amazon, And Apple Faculty Members
4.Can the experiential learning of Masters' Union be the Indian MBA alternative?
5.Top brains commit Rs 300 crore to build Masters’ Union School of Business
6.Masters’ Union Launches The World’s First Professional Education Programme For Content Creators
Uniqode (formerly Beaconstac) is revolutionizing e-commerce engagement with its unique, smart QR code platform. Sharat talks about their long journey of making pivots, finding product-market fit and building a truly global SaaS business out of India. This episode is a must-listen for learning how to scale up a SaaS business globally without burning a ton of cash.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Beaconstac:-
1.Facilitating Connections Through QR Codes
2.QR codes and the future of marketing
3.How Beaconstac’s founders failed for a decade before they clicked
4.Beaconstac leads the way to a contactless world
5.The Future Of ECommerce Engagement In An Increasingly Phygital World
Fashinza is an apparel-tech startup solving to reduce the time it takes to release a purchase order in the apparel and fashion space. Pawan is a serial entrepreneur whose first startup in health- tech was acquired. With Fashinza, he plans to revolutionise the apparel manufacturing industry by leveraging new-age technologies.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Fashinza:-
1.Fashinza: Using technology to empower SME apparel manufacturers
2.Powering sustainable fashion and driving efficiencies with technology
3.How this apparel manufacturing marketplace is solving the global supply chain challenge through technology and sustainability
4.Fashion Embedded
- Fashion supply chain startup fashinza gets $30m from mars growth capital, liquidity group
6.Fashinza opens design lab in Gurugram
Do you remember the drone scene in the movie "3 Idiots"? Well, the drone in that movie was made by a small company called ideaForge. Ankit and his friends bootstrapped ideaForge straight out of college and spent 8 long years before they were able to raise their first funding. Listen on to learn about the amazing journey of ideaForge and the evolution of the drone industry in India.
Note: This conversation was recorded some time back and the metrics mentioned may have changed since then.
Read the text version of the episode.
Read more about ideaForge :-
1.A Lot Of Civil Unlocking Is Happening As Rules Have Opened Up: IdeaForge CEO, Ankit Mehta
2.Ideaforge reaffirms defence’s central role in its strategy for growth
3.Revolutionizing Drones: CUMI & ideaForge Nanomaterial-powered future
Technology is coming to disrupt the way you learn music, and a company at the forefront of this revolution is Artium. Artium is an ed-tech platform for music learners, they have built a custom technology stack that allows them to train music learners worldwide.
Read the text version of the episode here.Read more about Artium:-1.Artium Academy aims to hit a high note in online music training2.Online Music Learning Platform Artium Academy Bags Funding From Chiratae Ventures, Others3.Music to Learner's Ears
Business news often talks about companies that become successful overnight, but if you want to learn how to build a business from scratch, you should hunt for tales that are more of a slow-cooked stew than a microwaved success burrito. Rajat talks about his two-decade journey of building up first Happily Unmarried, and then the leading men’s grooming brand Ustraa.
Read more about Ustraa:-
1.Happily Unmarried to Ustraa 2.0: Life on razor's edge
2.VLCC acquires Ustraa through a strategic merger
3.Technological innovation will shape men’s grooming in the years to come
Sanjay is an Indian-born American who built the index business of Morningstar. He talks about why indexes are a big business, how they have evolved over the years and what is on the horizon.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Morningstar:-
1.Morningstar Introduces Industry's First Global Unicorn Index Series
From being almost penniless to finding product-market fit to becoming a powerhouse- with his first startup TravelTriangle, Sanchit went through it all. But almost like the monk who sold his Ferrari, Sanchit realised that he was seeking something deeper and that started his journey of building up Inner Fit.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about the startups :-
1.The journey of travel triangle from a bootstrapped holiday marketplace to a well-funded platform serving travellers to 60 destinations.
Rezo is a technology company that runs call centres for brands using voice bots. The platform is intelligently tailored to provide precise customer requests, eliminating the need for human intervention. If you want a first-hand understanding of how AI is disrupting traditional services business, then listen on!
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Rezo:-
1.REZO.ai: The Conversation Builder
2.This IITian couple’s startup is leveraging ML to enhance customer experience
3.Intelligent customer experience
4.How this Women Entrepreneur is changing the dynamics of Business Ecosystem through her Conversational AI Startup
5.How Rashi’s Rezo is helping transform contact centres
Rohit started FinancePeer - a peer-to-peer lending startup but showing remarkable agility, he soon pivoted the company to become a leading player helping fund school fees for parents. He shares his journey of discovering product-market fit for LEO1, and the journey of building multiple moats for what is a very profitable and sticky business.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about LEO1:-
1.LEO1’S Unique Fee Financing Model Making Quality Education Accessible To Parents In Karnataka
2.How fee financing is creating a win-win situation for parents and schools
3.Education’s commercialisation: Unraveling the constraints
4.“Blended education is the way forward for the education sector.” Rohit Gajbhiye
5.Financepeer founder Rohit Gajbhiye features in Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list
HomeLane changed India's home interior design scenario by using technology to offer personalized and professional interior services. Starting from his humble beginnings in 1993, Srikanth takes us all the way to the present with his current venture HomeLane.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about HomeLane:-
1.From 90 Days at Wipro to Founding a Rs 268 Crore Empire: A Young Techie's Incredible Journey
2.How third-time entrepreneur Srikanth Iyer got it right
3.[The turning point] How the book ‘uncommon service’ helped Homelane hit a home run in profitability
4.Your business can't be good at everything; choose focus area carefully: Srikanth Iyer, co-founder and CEO, HomeLane.com
Not one to fit into the corporate straitjacket, Aanan kept experimenting until finding his calling in consumer health with his brainchild, Wellversed. Wellversed is a house of brands which are digital native with an online first sales strategy. The startup has 40+ brands in its kitty and it achieved this feat with just 3 mn dollars in funding!
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Wellversed:-
1‘Full stack wellness’: Indian brand Wellversed on ‘owning the ecosystem’ to understand the consumer
2.How Wellversed is Planning to be a Unilever of the Wellness Category
3.Creating a universe of modern-day health and wellness products
4.Wellversed’s vision to make wellness accessible to all
5.Wellversed Acquires And Scales Consumer Health and Wellness Brands To Build A House Of Brands
Quizzizz is the most unique ed-tech startup in India. It does not have a large sales team responsible for acquiring users. But it’s a product with massive global adoption. Deepak talks about his journey of finding product market fit and then scaling up through a product-led growth strategy.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Quizzizz :-
1.Why US kids are raving about an Indian quiz app
2.Edtech Startup Quizizz See Huge Spike In Global Adoption With 65 Mn MAU
3.After tasting success in US, edutech startup Quizizz makes India debut
4.Quizizz raises $31.5 million from Tiger Global, Yahoo’s Yang
Ace Turtle is a 55 million-dollar fashion retailer behind some of the most loved brands in India and is truly setting a benchmark for retailers to go omnichannel. Nitin is a veteran of the retail space. He shares his journey from founding Ace Turtle as a SaaS venture, helping brands become omnichannel, to the pivotal aha moment of becoming a retainer themselves!
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Ace Turtle :-
1.Exclusive: Nitin Chhabra,Ace Turtle: Physical stores are now hubs for brand immersion, data acquisition and consumer satisfaction
2.Vertical Commerce: The next chapter of the retail industry
3.Technology implementation critical for omnichannel retailers
4.Lee, Wrangler to transform India biz to omnichannel entities
5.Ace Turtle enables puma, fossil, arrow and ray ban slash omnichannel transformation cost
Running a restaurant is incredibly operations-heavy, and making it profitable is even harder. Ashish discusses how he developed Posist to streamline operations and enhance profitability for his restaurant. He reveals insights into building a prosperous global SaaS business.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Posist:-
1.For NewGen restaurateurs, technology is a natural starting point: Ashish Tulsian
2.POSist Expands its Cloud-Based Restaurant Platform for F&B Industry
3.POSist Takes Marketplace Route To Boost Foodtech Adoption, Digitise Restaurants
4.Restaurant Technology Platform POSist to Empower Businesses with Digital Ordering and Digital Postpaid Dining Experience
5.POSist Bridges Technology Gap In The Restaurant Industry, Introduces An Integrated Marketplace
HackerEarth is a platform powering the hiring of remote tech teams. Sachin talks about his rollercoaster journey, which started when he became a founder pretty much straight after passing out of IIT Rorkee, the years he spent bootstrapping HackerEarth, the journey of going global and his take on building a great organisation.
Read more about HackerEarth:-
1.Tech Talent Demands Transparency And Unbiased Hiring Practices: HackerEarth Study
- HackerEarth CEO: How to recruit talent for Web3
3.How Tech Companies Can Reassess Their Hiring Strategy In Times Of Economic Uncertainty
Vikalp Sahni is the man responsible for building the Aarogya Setu app in record time. Building the Aarogya Setu app inspired him to create Eka Care, a platform for managing personal health data. Eka Care's ambitious mission is to provide individuals with easy-to-understand line graphs, similar to tracking financial health, but for monitoring personal health metrics.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Eka Care:-
1.Eka Care health app incorporates HRM, medical record management
2.Eka Care Health App Brings Heart Rate Monitoring and Medical Record Management to Your Fingertips
3.Eka Care releases Health Report 2022
4.Eka Care, a startup helping digitize health records of Indian patients, raises $15 million
This episode is a myth buster and a must-listen for founders who are seeking to build sustainable long-term businesses. Abhishek talks about his contrarian approach towards investing and his investment thesis built on the India's consumption story.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Carpediem Capital Partners:-
1.’Great time to create long term portfolio’
2.Indian mid-market PE firm Carpediem Capital looks to close Fund II by next month
- Foundation PE executes secondary transactions with Carpediem Capital; deal valued at USD 10 million
Sagar, a veteran venture investor, has built one of India's pioneering fintech-focused venture capital firms. He talks about why he decided to focus on investing in fintech startups and how he identifies the most promising companies to invest in. This is a must-listen conversation for fintech founders who want to understand the investor psyche and evaluate how investable their business is.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about Beams Fintech Fund:-
1.How Beams’ fintech-focused approach helped create two more soonicorns in India
2.Venture Catalysts’ Beams Fintech Fund Crosses Halfway Mark, Plans Two New Deals
3.Fintech Funding Outlook Remains Cautiously Optimistic For FY23: Beams Fintech Fund’s Sagar Agarvwal
4.India’s first Fintech-focused Growth Capital Fund, Beams FinTech Fund looks towards Middle East
PumPumPum is revolutionizing the car leasing industry in India. They have reimagined the traditional leasing model, making crucial tweaks to find a product-market fit at scale. Tarun and Sameer talk about the importance of perfect timing and utilizing technology as an enabler in an operation-heavy business.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about PumPumPum:-
1.How PumPumPum is making used-car rentals hassle-free for users
2.Pumpumpum bets big on leased vehicles
3.Used-car leasing firm PumPumPum raises $2 mn in equity funding
4.PumPumPum: India's first Used Car Leasing platform
Viewlift is like the Shopify of the streaming industry- anyone can launch a streaming service and compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney Hotstar through their SaaS offering. Rick takes us through his 4-decade journey of building iconic American businesses and government institutions. This conversation is a peek into the evolution of the streaming industry from one of the pioneers in the space.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about ViewLift:-
1.Saurabh Saxena, ViewLift on what drives piracy in the OTT industry
2.ViewLift and Google Open Up the Cloud for OTT: Platform To Offer Multiple Cloud Providers
3.We are pioneers in developing native applications across all OTT devices: Manik Bambha, Co-Founder, ViewLift
- Personalisation of content is our core feature: ViewLift’s Manik Bamba
Neha Bagaria is a Wharton alumnus who started her first entrepreneurial venture soon after graduating. The experience of sitting at home after becoming a mother changed her mission in life and she decided to solve the problem of India’s low female workforce participation rates. She talks about her journey of building HerKey.
Read the text version of the episode.
Read more about HerKey:-
1.How HerKey opens windows of opportunities for women
2.Overcoming the challenges: What is holding back women’s employment in India
3.Gender pay gap is a complex issue with no easy solutions, says JobsForher CEO
4.Bengaluru Mom’s Platform Helps 3.5 Million Women Join the Workforce After Career Breaks
5.Career engagement platform herkey secures $4m funding from kalaari, 360 one asset
No one better than Venkat to explain how the Venture Funding ecosystem works! He's a seasoned entrepreneur who launched his first business in the US nearly 20 years ago. Since then, he has successfully built and sold multiple companies. As a Venture Capitalist (VC), he has provided support and funding to over a dozen Indian startups with ambitious goals of creating big companies.
Read the text version of the episode.
Read more about Inflexor Ventures:-
1.How Startups can Raise Funds from Inflexor Ventures
2.Overfunding is a dangerous trend regardless of market conditions, says Inflexor Ventures
- LPs may wait for a few quarters before allocating capital to new GPs: Inflexor Ventures
Gramcover is the only insure-tech startup focused on expanding its insurance base in rural India. It is making use of some very unique strategies to sell low ticket-size insurance to the bottom of the pyramid. Dhyanesh shares some amazing insights from his two-decade-long journey in the field of insurance.
Read the text version of the episode.
Read more about GramCover:-
1.How a missed opportunity in insuring rural India became the business model for Gramcover
2.Delhi-based agri insurance startup gramcover is de-risking rural india with affordable products
3.How parametric insurance breaks the mould of traditional insurance?
4.This agri-fintech startup is redefining rural commerce by connecting bharat with india ‘phygitally’
5.Interview: Dhyanesh Bhatt, co-founder and CEO of GramCover
BetterPlace is one of the most successful HR Tech companies in India. The startup has built a platform of products for companies with a large blue-collar workforce. They help companies manage their employees better and help them get access to financial products previously unavailable to them.
Read the text version of the episode here.
Read more about BetterPlace:-
1.BetterPlace to offer loans to frontline workers on its platform
2.BetterPlace acquires fintech lending startup Bueno Finance
3.Workforce management software provider Betterplace enters Malaysia with Troopers acquisition
Vahak aggregates the 3 key stakeholders in the transportation transaction - the intermediaries, the truck owners and the companies buying the service. Karan talks about discovering the opportunity and finding the product-market fit to make Vahak a category leader.
Read the text version of the episode.
Additional links:-
1.VAHAK: Tapping tech to bring order in logistics space
2.Vahak aims to transform the Indian road logistics sector
3.Bengaluru-based Vahak aims to transform road logistics sector using digitisation
4.How Vahak Plans To Drive A Brighter Future For India’s Lorry Owners
Jiraaf is helping the common man tap into the exclusive investment deals previously reserved for the elite few. Saurav and Vineet talk about how Jiraaf lets you put your money to work directly in corporate debt instruments, bypassing the banks.
Additional links:-
1.How Fintech Startup Jiraaf Is Helping Indians Diversify Their Fixed Income Investments
2.Debt mutual funds tweak helps alternate investment platform Jiraaf
3.Bengaluru startup Jiraaf enables retail investors earn high-yield returns
In the high-stakes world of Shark Tank India, startup founders take centre stage to pitch their ideas to a panel of sharks. An intriguing statistic reveals that every third deal offered by the sharks is not an equity investment, but rather a debt deal. This episode decodes all things debt funding.
Additional links:-
1.GetVantage offers revenue-based financing to India’s founders
2.How a Mumbai-based startup is making life easy for other startups
3.How GetVantage is democratising access to working capital for underserved businesses
4.GetVantage becomes first RBF start-up to get NBFC licence
Not fancy pedigrees but grit and determination- Harini's journey is a powerful example of scaling up through these two. It resembles a captivating Hollywood movie, beginning with a homemaker turned accidental entrepreneur, and culminating in the creation of a 100-crore business.
Additional links:-
1.How Harini Sivakumar built D2C brand Earth Rhythm to help her specially-abled child
2.How Earth Rhythm is Using Technology to Offer Non-Toxic, Sustainable and Biodegradable Products
3.‘I was a Homemaker for 7 Years. Here’s How I Built a Brand Worth Rs 200 Crore’
Inspired by the teachings of the Masai tribe in Kenya, Prateek started Masai School to help Indian students bridge the skill gap. He’s been through a rollercoaster ride as a founder and he shares his journey of building Masai School, a journey that began soon after he graduated from IIT Kanpur.
Additional links:-
- Outcome-Based Education! Know How This Platform Prepares Industry-Ready Tech Talents Through Skill-Based Learning
2.This IIT Kanpur alumnus built a coding school in Bangalore that enrols students for free
3.How Masai school is helping launch careers and accelerate growth for tech companies by bridging the skill gap
Bik helps companies increase the sales of their online stores through AI-powered customer engagement and communication tools. Sonakshi shares the journey of first building up Bikayi as a WhatsApp commerce tool for small businesses before making the pivot to Bik which offers solutions to large global enterprise clients.
Additional links:-
1.Strengthening Conversational Commerce Bikayi Plans To Scale Bik.ai
2.Bikayi partners with WhatsApp to launch BIK.ai, which aims to revolutionize e-commerce marketing globally
3.“We enable brands to drive up to 66x ROI” – Ms. Sonakshi Nathani, Co-founder and CEO of BIK (Interview)
4.Rebranding of the company and how it stands out in the e-commerce segment : Sonakshi Nathani, Co-founder and CEO of BIK
Recur Club is solving the problem of access to funds for startups with predictable revenue streams. Their secret sauce lies in the deep tech integration that they are able to do with the borrowers.
Additional links:-
- Recur Club allocates $15 million in financing to Indian start-up founders affected by SVB crisis
2.Most Companies Die Because They Don’t Get Capital At Right Point: Recur Club Founder
Prasad Kompalli embodies the playbook for entrepreneurial success. With a strong technological background and 8 patents under his belt, Prasad had a rewarding tenure at SAP, the German tech giant that honed his skills and expertise. He recounts the challenges faced by Mfine, navigating through a near-death experience that ultimately forged a stronger and more resilient company.
Additional links:-
1.How Bengaluru-Based Startup Mfine Is Bringing Doctors, Clinics To Patients Through AI
2.Mfine co-founder Prasad Kompalli on covid-19 impact on healthcare, shift in consumer trends, and growth
3.How healthtech startup Mfine is using ai to make virtual consults easier
4.Mobile phone now an examination tool in the hands of doctors: Mfine CEO
As an IIM alumnus, Tarun's passion for empowering his fellow batchmates with job opportunities drove him to create IIMJobs.His dedication paid off when Infoedge acquired his venture for a staggering $12mn in 2019. Now, Tarun is taking on his next challenge with Juno School of Business, a game-changing endeavour focused on closing the skill gap in sales and transforming employability.
Additional links:-
1.Engage with new employees at the earliest: Tarun Matta, Founder, iimjobs.com
2.Naukri.com acquires recruitment portals iimjobs.com and hirist.com
BluSmart is an innovative ride-hailing company that acquires vehicles instead of relying on drivers to buy them. Anmol, an accomplished entrepreneur, shares his insights on building sustainable businesses in India. He started his first business in college and took it to a public listing. Tune in to learn from Anmol's valuable lessons in his decade-plus entrepreneurial journey.
Additional links:-
1.ETtech In-depth: How BluSmart plans to fight the Uber, Ola onslaught in buzzy EV cab business
2.BluSmart plans EV route to take over Uber and Ola
3.Anmol Jaggi says ‘common-sensical stuff’ helped BluSmart crack the ride-hailing business
Sunstone—an educational disruptor that’s solving India’s unemployability problem with first principle thinking. Ashish is a serial founder and he shares his lessons of finding product market fit, building pricing power, and growth hacking to reach scale.
Additional links:-
1.This edtech startup is focusing on employability to help students in tier II, III cities
2.Sunstone partners with NSDC to provide upskilling courses
3.Sunstone adopts a corporate-first approach; gets students job ready with ‘Applied Certification’ courses
4.Invest in the right partnerships to hire future-ready professionals: Sunstone’s Piyush Nangru and Ashish Munjal
A small idea that grew into giant success- Shivkumar Ganesan shares his story of building one of India’s pioneering SaaS companies and the rollercoaster ride of building it into the giant that it is today. Listen on for some amazing nuggets about market sizing, finding product market fit, fundraising and lots more.
Additional links:-
1.AI is changing the way businesses interact with customers: Exotel CEO Shivakumar Ganesan
-
Catalyzing the Future of Customer Conversations: How Exotel is Changing The Way Businesses and Customers Connect.
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My mantra was to ensure people don’t go through same kind of mess I did, says Shivakumar Ganesan of Exotel.
Siddharth spills the beans on starting up Bijnis while still in college. He talks about finding product market fit, raising funds without having an IIT or IIM pedigree, and how they continue to scale Bijnis profitably despite facing competition from extremely well-funded competitors like Udaan and Ajio B2B.
Additional links:-
1.India’s Bijnis lands $30 million to help manufacturers build digital identity and sell to retailers
2.Matrix moments: building a B2B platform that helps digitise manufacturing in India
Mayank wanted to make healthcare as easy as pie by offering health insurance solutions to companies for their employees. But finding product-market fit became tough. Not one to give up easily, Mayank’s hard work paid off and Loop became the most well-funded startup in the space. He shares his journey of building Loop.
Additional links:-
- Mayank Kale and Amrit Singh's Loop is filling the gaps in health insurance
2.How Loop Health’s group insurance plans go beyond securing lives to improve healthcare delivery
3.How Loop Health is transforming care delivery in India with a focus on preventive care
Insurance is an industry where people used to rely on agents to buy policies. But then came PolicyBazaar, which went the Silicon Valley way and got rid of agents. Enter RenewBuy, which took the "Made for Bharat" approach and respected the agents' spirit of entrepreneurship by empowering them. In this conversation, Balachander talks about his decades-long journey in the insurance industry and the unique choices they made while building RenewBuy.
Additional links:-
1.The Insurance Trailblazer
2.RenewBuy: Tech makes it simple to buy insurance
3.Balachander Sekhar, Co-Founder, RenewBuy
Adit Jain shares his story of building Leena AI straight out of college, including insights on finding product market fit and focusing like a pro. With 40 million dollars in funding, Leena AI proves that B2B products can be made in India and used worldwide!
Additional links:-
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Can AI improve the workplace?
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J.A.R.V.I.S for enterprises: how leena ai is making hr management smarter
3.How Leena AI is Helping Companies Build Brands through Ex-employees
4.With tech, Leena AI tries to test the limits of human resource management
Ankit struggled for years to build AdPushup, pivoting multiple times and struggling to attract investors. The company had only raised $2.5 mn before its recent phenomenal acquisition of 70 mn dollars. In this conversation, Ankit shares the ups and downs of building a global martech SaaS company and the lessons he learned along the way.
Additional links:-
1.The AdPushup Story: From Fighting To Survive To A $70 Mn Acquisition
2.We'll Continue To Provide Latest Tech While Expanding In The Market: Ankit Oberoi, AdPushup
For those who missed the top engineering college bus in the 90s but still craved an IT career, NIIT was an all-powerful educator. Rajendra Pawar's journey of building NIIT is a masterclass in EdTech entrepreneurship, spanning decades and continents. With a public listing and a global reach, NIIT has become the gold standard for training platforms. This conversation with him is a treasure trove of insights that could save founders years of trial and error!
Additional links:-
1.NIIT Chairman and Founder Rajendra Singh Pawar honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award by FICCI
- NIIT University deliberates on the importance of self-realization
3.NIIT: Stepping up on the learning curve
The pandemic has impacted the edtech industry worldwide, and India's edtech giants have been no exception. Adda247 has emerged as a unique player in this space, catering to the bottom of the pyramid with affordable online courses. Anil talks about his mission-driven approach and how it has helped build a successful business.
Additional links:-
1.Bullish on Bharat: here’s how adda247 is helping Indian youth land their dream ‘sarkari’ jobs
2.A pivot that helped adda247 reach tier ii cities and beyond
3.Edtech platform adda247 raises $35m led by Westbridge capital
With the deluge of saas tools available today, and the decentralized nature of work, managing these saas subscriptions becomes an administrative nightmare. This is where a company like Zluri comes in. And while this may sound like a trivial problem, by the end of this episode, you will be convinced that this is a massive opportunity.
Additional links:-
- How Zluri is revolutionising SaaS app management
- Zluri Introduces Intelligent Lifecycle Management Platform Designed to Automate User Provisioning for Modern IT Teams
- Employees no longer need to wait for SaaS apps and license approvals as Zluri launches the employee app store
If you search the top 10 advertising agencies in India, you'll find that they're all subsidiaries of international companies. There isn't a single agency on the list that is entirely owned by Indians. Zoo Media is on a mission to change that narrative. Pratik shares his decade and half long journey of building a marketing agency from scratch and how they are now on track to build a global ad agency network from India.
Additional links:-
1.Digital Marketing Mavericks: Zoo Media's big bet on hyper-specialisation
2.Zoo Media partners with independent agency collective - Dawn to launch global office in New York
3.The Zoo Media Network bags creative and branded content mandate for Kingfisher Premium and Ultra
Akshay Munjal shares his first-hand experience of watching the Hero Group founder Brijmohan Lall Munjal build up Hero into a truly remarkable business. He shares his personal journey of first running the corporate training venture Hero Mindmine, then setting up the BML Munjal University, and finally creating Hero Vired as an ed-tech platform to train the youth on next-generation skills at scale.
Additional links:-
1.Hero Vired: Hero Group partners with MIT, Cambridge for edtech company
2.Hero Vired betting on upskilling wave in the post-pandemic
3.How Hero Vired Is Humanising The Work Experience?
4.Sculpting, to be patient & accept the course of life
Conversations with VCs are fascinating - a VC is able to analyze a startup dispassionately by using his understanding of the market, and his knowledge of what kind of business models scale. This conversation is a masterclass on how to build a startup that attracts global investors.
Additional links:-
1.Companies that can better connect banks and card players look investible
2.The Indian Fintech Sector Looks More Lucrative With Regulations: QED Investors’ Sandeep Patil
3.How venture firm QED Investors is embracing ESG to strengthen its fintech portfolio
4.QED Investors Named to Inc.’s 2022 List of Founder-Friendly Investors
Market leader and one of the most well-funded startups- Axio is creating ripples across the lending ecosystem. But the journey of reaching the top has been full of highs and lows, and Gaurav candidly shares his lessons from a decade of building and scaling India’s pioneering lending fintech.
Additional links:-
1.Decoding Fintech Startup axio’s Growth Playbook For Serving 6 Mn Users And Beyond
2.Meet Axio, The Fintech Now Helping 6 Million Indians To Access Credit
3.Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja at axio on the credit fintech opportunity ahead
UptimeAI is a plug-and-play solution helping manufacturers solve glitches before they manifest by ingesting data generated from the production process. Jagadish talks about how he identified problems in traditional manufacturing and built the venture that’s powering smart manufacturing across the world.
Additional links:-
- UptimeAI: AI-based virtual expert to bring enhance efficiency and predictability in plant operations
2.UptimeAI Raises $3.5M in Funding
Entropik is solving a truly hard problem of how to read the mind of a consumer. They have built an AI-powered platform that helps companies decode the emotional state of consumers by using neuroscience and machine learning. This conversation is a masterclass in building deep-tech products and scaling them globally.
Additional links:-
1.StartUp Central: Can AI gauge what you feel? Emotion AI provider Entropik says this
2.How Entropik is solving for the attention economy by humanising experiences with AI
3.A Young Bengaluru Startup Has Built World's 1st AI That Can Detect & Understand Your Emotions
Tanay talks about his amazing journey of overcoming odds multiple times - be it in getting a job with Microsoft and building the Microsoft Teams product or in the way Invact is disrupting how we are preparing the next generation for meaningful employment. Invact is a truly original edtech platform that aims to help millions of young Indians who live in tier 2,3 and 4 towns and have almost no access to affordable quality education.
Additional links:-
- In conversation with Tanay Pratap, Founder and CEO, Invact Metaversity
2.I’m a teacher at heart and will always be one: Invact Metaversity’s Pratap
3.Exclusive: Metaverse is not our soul. That’s where the disagreements started: Tanay Pratap
In the shadows of large payments companies exists a startup that is building with the reverse philosophy- ftcash first acquires customers for loans and then gives them payment processing services. Vaibhav talks about how his unique background helped him build ftCash using first principles thinking.
Insights shared:-
- Managing risks in the payments business
- The merchant lending ecosystem
- Keeping yourself on top of the game as a founder
Additional links:-
1.Ftcash: No Cash, Please
2.Indian Fintech Startup ftcash Wins MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge
-
Bridging The Payments Gap
-
Vaibhav Lodha talks about India’s thriving fintech scene
-
“Faster Than Cash”: An Interview with ftcash’s Vaibhav Lodha
It is of no doubt that technology is a crucial driver of financial inclusion. Avanti Finance is building an ecosystem around tech to empower India’s unbanked sector. Backed by stalwarts Ratan Tata and Nandan Nilekani, this startup sees the promise of making India poverty-free. Rahul shares his learnings from his long experience inside GE and the fundamental principles of scaling up a lending business focussed on the unbanked and the underbanked.
Insights shared:-
- Why microfinance institutions are unable to fix the credit gap
- Why the partnership model works better than building distribution
- The GTM strategy
- Benefits of co-lending
Additional links:-
-
Ratan Tata and Nandan Nilekani’s Avanti Finance wants to help 150 mn households get rid of poverty.
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“Financial inclusion is a necessary pathway to enable the sustainable growth of any country”
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Know How This Bengaluru-Based Fintech Startup Aims To Build Sustainable Livelihoods
News and journalism are shifting their strategy from being free for consumption to going behind paywalls. ConScent is building a full-stack revenue solution for publishers, and in this episode, Sunny talks about the publishing landscape and the various ways to monetize content through smart user journeys and better intelligence.
Insights shared:-
- The business case of subscriptions
- How to customize paywalls
- Pricing strategy
- How will the publishing industry evolve
Additional links:-
- SaaS startup ConScent aims to be a one-stop solution for media houses, OTT players
- “Micropayments can help publications gain more revenue than advertising”: ConsCent’s Sunny Sen
- ConsCent.ai unveils its Intelligent E-Reader Solution for Publishers
GoQii is a leader in the health-tech space, having raised more than 100 mn dollars till date from top VCs. Vishal leveraged his understanding of gaming to make gamification the heart of Goqii. He recollects his journey of building GoQii as a second-time founder.
Insights shared:-
- GTM and pricing of health tech products and services
- How healthcare management differs from insurance
- Metrics of a health tech business
- Don’t find structure- advice for aspiring founders
Additional links:-
- Vishal Gondal: The game is afoot
- I love chaos, and it is where I thrive, says Vishal Gondal
- Hardware is not the business at GOQii, healthcare is: Vishal Gondal
- Why healthtech wearable startup GOQii is betting on preventive healthcare
If we were to write a history of tech startups in India, then surely there would be a pretty big chapter dedicated to Vishal Gondal. From becoming a tech entrepreneur while still in college to selling Indiagames to Disney for almost a hundred mn dollars - Vishal recounts his fascinating story.
Insights shared:-
- Early days of Indian internet gaming
- How to engage customers with adware gaming
- Using branding to scale and acquisition strategies
Dhruva Space is in the business of making space accessible to businesses. Sanjay and Chaitanya talk about low earth orbit satellites, why satellites are a big business, and how they are building the full stack for enterprises to take advantage of satellite technology.
Additional links:-
- Dhruva Space launches nano-satellites onboard ISRO's PSLV C54
- Dhruva Space was launched to establish India as a global satellite hub
- Innovative minds behind Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space’s success
Consumer electronics brand and one of the top 5 global smartwatch sellers, Noise is a homegrown, purely bootstrapped startup. Gaurav talks about the journey of starting Noise by selling smartphone covers on e-commerce websites, and the many ups and downs in their journey before reaching a stage where they are doing almost 2000 crore of annual revenue today.
Insights shared:-
- Bootstrapping to scale
- Competing with me-too products in your category
- Scaling D2C Sales channels
Note: This episode was recorded a while back and the metrics shared have improved since then.
For bonus content related to the episode, head over to thepodium.substack.com
Pickrr has built an asset-light logistics platform that aggregates logistics service providers and companies seeking logistics services. Gaurav is a serial entrepreneur whose first venture was in the B2B Saas space. He talks about the lessons from his decade-long journey as an entrepreneur and about selling Pickrr to the logistics unicorn Shiprocket for a cool $200 mn.
Insights shared:-
- Building Asset Light business models
- The business case for aggregation platforms
- GTM and scale-up of an enterprise product
- How to think about acquisition offers
For bonus content related to the episode, head over to ThePodium.substack.com
The world of cryptocurrency is currently going through the transition from being something for hardcore enthusiasts to being a mass market technology, and one of the companies aiding that transition is GuardianLink. Ramkumar has been an early participant in the cryptocurrency revolution, having entered this space 7 years ago, and in this fascinating conversation, we learn about how the space has evolved to reach where it is today.
Insights shared:-
- How the technology behind crypto works
- Smart Contracts and understanding ‘the merge’ in ethereum
- Real world applications of Crypto
- Monetizing NFTs through gaming
For bonus content related to the episode, head over to Thepodium.substack.com
Supertails is a trailblazer in the pet care category, taking the approach of building a full-stack platform. Varun traces his journey from ideation to go-to-market and talks about the macroeconomic trends that he is betting on and the amazing metrics of a petcare e-commerce business.
Know about:-
- Insights gained during the pandemic
- Product offering
- Building the pet relationship manager team
- Funding journey
In today’s world, a startup is no longer dependent on investors to acquire funding. One can fund their startup through revenue-based financing. This is like a business loan, except the repayment of the loan is not via a fixed EMI but rather as a percentage of the revenue for a fixed period of time. Abhiroop shares his insights from his experience as a serial entrepreneur and VC.
Know about:-
- Timing fundraisers without requirements
- Core product offering
- Equity is not a good use if deployed for inventory and marketing
- Future roadmap
Note: This podcast was recorded a while back and the metrics shared have significantly improved since then.
One of the hardest problems in the electric vehicle space is the battery tech. The battery can account for as much as 50% of the cost of an EV. Dr. Singhal’s background in fundamental research on material sciences makes him uniquely suited to crack this problem. He talks about building and scaling Log9 Materials.
Know about:-
- UV disinfection
- Battery technology
- Partnership with Omega Seiki
- Challenges in personal mobility
Click here to read the text version of the episode
One of the pioneering fintechs in the wealth management space, Scripbox started over a decade ago. Atul talks about his journey of building two highly impactful startups in the last decade. He built up Scripbox as the leading HNI wealth management fintech in India, and Probe Information as a leading B2B SaaS tool used by most banks and NBFCs in India.
Know about:-
- Report writing on private companies
- Wealth manager with a digital DNA
- Pricing strategy
- Marketing playbook
Kuhoo is a student loan fintech NBFC platform that aims to democratize education for all. Prashant is a veteran of the lending industry, having a track record of building up HDFC’s student lending business with some enviable numbers. This conversation covers the evolution of lending in India through Prashant’s own multi-decade experience and offers fascinating insights about using first principles to disrupt the traditional way of doing business.
Know about:-
- Education loan is a bleeding portfolio
- Insights into financial literacy of young India
- Zero to One journey
- Getting leads and reducing CAC
Click here to read the text version of the episode
In a data-rich world, companies that can leverage data for better decision-making are at the top of the value chain. GeoIQ helps businesses make smarter customer decisions by using location data. Devashish talks about how he built an API business that leverages big data and machine learning to help consumer internet companies make smarter decisions.
Know about:-
- India is a data-poor country
- Locational information on latitude and longitude
- Monetization strategy
- Paid satellite imagery
Click to read the text version of the episode.
Satya Prabhakar founded Sulekha.com in the US in 2002 as a community and classifieds platform for Indians. After securing phenomenal funding, he relocated to India to start up Sulekha, a platform for finding reliable local service providers. Today, Sulekha is one of the largest service platforms in India.
Know about:-
- Pay per lead model
- Playbook for expanding business in new cities
- Transforming into a qualified matchmaking platform
- Key to profitability in listing businesses
Read the text version of the episode here
In the hyperconnected world of today, fake news is everywhere. Tackling harmful and problematic online content is Logically. The startup started as a consumer news app but soon pivoted to fighting fake news with a focus on elections. If you hate reading fake news and want to know how to reduce its spread, then you must listen!
Know about:-
- Founding thesis
- Launching the app during Lok Sabha elections
- Open-source intelligence teams
- New vectors of misinformation
Read the text version of the episode below
To tackle the serious challenge of pollution in Indian cities, Saurav founded Euler Motors in 2018 and named it after the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler. He is a serial founder whose last company was acquired by Paytm. He talks about his decade-long journey as a founder, his take on the commercial EV space, and Euler’s plans to dominate the sector.
Know about:-
- Starting Cube26 and selling it to PayTm
- Insights for starting a commercial EV business
- Process of manufacturing EVs
- Market share of EVs
Read the text version of the episode here.
Indegene was founded in an era when VC money was not flowing. Manish talks about Indegene’s journey of sustainable scaling, starting with helping pharma companies with content and training to eventually becoming the full-stack behemoth that it is today with a few acquisitions along the way. This episode is a masterclass in sustainably scaling a global business!
Know about:-
- Medical representative as a service
- Difference between CSO and a VSO
- Past acquisitions
- Trends in pharma post-pandemic
Click to read the text version of the episode
Ezetap was created by some of the biggest names in the startup industry today, including Sanjay Swamy, who manages Prime Venture Partners, and Abhijit Bose, who was formerly the India Head of Whatsapp. Byas shares his experience of steering the company through turbulent times and his own learnings from the journey. Ezetap was recently acquired by Razorpay.
Know about:-
- Winning a contract with SBI
- Becoming device agnostic
- Transition from CFO to CEO way of thinking
- Tactics for a successful acquisition
Read the text version of the episode here
Bhavin has had an amazing journey growing up in the Bay area, living and breathing the startup culture of Silicon Valley. His first venture was in the Edtech space, his second venture was acquired by LinkedIn. His present venture, Moveworks is worth 2.1 billion dollars and is operating in the massive enterprise productivity space.
Know about:-
- Experiences at LeapFrog
- Building Refresh and getting acquired by LinkedIn
- Product journey
- Switching from B2C to B2B
Click here to read the text version of the episode
The Retail-as-a-Service platform, Daalchini helps micro-entrepreneurs set up smart vending machines and begin earning revenue within months. They are also a strong distribution network for cloud kitchens and direct-to-consumer food and beverage brands. Prerna shares how she found the right business strategy and their method of growing over 1000 vending machines now.
Know about:-
- Birth of the idea and naming Daalchini
- Intelligent retail and smart vending machines
- Revenue strategy
- Creating a phygital distribution network
Click to read the text version of the episode
Gaurav has a fascinating thesis on the past and future of money, and Safegold is his expression of that thesis. In this freewheeling conversation Gaurav talks about the Wild West days of PE investing in India, his learnings as an investor, and the ambitious journey he is undertaking at SafeGold.
Know about:-
- Investing in Manappuram Finance
- Custodian, trustee and vault
- Gold retailers earn through the buy-sell spread
- Zero-to-one journey
Click here to read the text version of the episode
PlayShifu creates immersive learning experiences for children through games that merge digital technology with physical objects. Vivek talks about discovering product-market fit and taking a modular approach to product development by building platforms instead of stand-alone games. He shares crucial insights about how they scaled their sales and marketing at a global level and the path to hitting $100 mn in revenue.
Know about:-
- Building the first product
- Balancing tactile and digital
- Pricing plans
- Marketing and branding strategies
Click to read the text version of the episode
Digitap helps startups in gathering data on customers across many variables, allowing them to make better risk management and customer engagement decisions. Nageen recounts the experience of his first business, which failed, and finally discovering product market fit in his second venture. He discusses the importance of consumer data and the various ways in which they help their clients with data.
Know about:-
- Experience of building first startup
- NACH mandate
- Building a credit engine
- Customer acquisition tactics
📌 Read the text version of the episode here
Nikhil’s second venture is Grip Invest - it’s making structured debt available to end consumers directly, removing the middlemen from the process like banks and NBFCs. Grip Invest allows consumers to directly lend to corporates and earn a much higher rate of interest than saving via fixed deposits and other such instruments.
Know about:-
- Focusing on fixed-income products
- Go-to-market strategy
- Evolutions in the investment space
- Things done differently the second time
Chalo is on the road to becoming one of the first unicorns in the public transportation space. The startup makes lives easier for millions who use buses for intercity commuting. Nikhil eventually exited Chalo and founded Grip Invest. This is part one of a two-part conversation where he talks about building Chalo.
Know about:-
- Starting off as a multimodal journey planner for public transportation
- Moving from real-time discovery to commerce
- Finding the right incentive structure
- Introducing smart ticketing devices for conductors
Excitel is the David facing Goliaths like Reliance Jio and Airtel in the battle for getting internet to our homes. And despite such large competitors, Excitel has continued to scale up rapidly. Vivek talks about the nuts and bolts of bringing the internet to our homes, and how he found a niche in a competitive market and managed to thrive in a highly capital-efficient manner.
Know about:-
- Fair use policy
- Uberization of broadband
- Marketing strategy; hyper-local effort
- Flywheel of growth
This episode is a fascinating story of the classic startup journey - you start with an idea, which works to an extent, and then you pivot and discover the much bigger idea. Disruptive mobility startup founder, Kapil shares insights about finding product market fit, building with a data-driven mindset, and scaling with capital efficiency.
Know about:-
- Building a product for train travelers
- Problems of the bus industry
- Branding buses and improving customer experience
- Scaling up supply
IndiaLends brings efficiencies in the lending process by aggregating multiple lenders on one platform so that every customer can find a lender that meets their needs. Gaurav is a lending industry veteran, having worked with global lending companies. He talks about the 7 year-long journey of building IndiaLends, surviving the pandemic, and the Saas opportunities they are chasing in the lending space.
Know about:-
- Business model
- Building a plug-and-play technology for lenders
- Fundraising journey
- Future roadmap
Abhay started India’s first pure play e-commerce website called malamall.com way back in 1998, at a time when the internet ecosystem in India was non-existent and not even 1% of India’s population was online. This episode is a candid and honest story of the struggles of entrepreneurship and proves how grit can make you successful, even if it takes decades.
Know about:-
- Building malamall.com, India’s first e-commerce site
- Experiences of building Martjack
- How do consumers look at waste
- Deposit return system
Sanjay Swamy is the doyen of the startup ecosystem. He envisioned mobiles disrupting the Indian economy in 2003 when the first reliance CDMA mobile phone had launched. He’s the man behind Prime Venture Partners- one of the biggest homegrown VCs in India having funded dozens of iconic startups. He talks about his incredible multi-decade journey in the startup ecosystem and learning some valuable lessons on starting up, getting funded, scaling up, and how to think about exits.
Know about:-
- Insights from building ZipDial
- Experiences of raising funds from LPs
- Things an investor looks for in a company
- Tips for young entrepreneurs
Imagine a world where a standard health checkup was more sophisticated than what your doctor can do for you today. Kiran’s venture, Ekincare is doing just that. Kiran talks about the challenges of finding the right business model, of raising funds, and the insights he got along the way about how to solve healthcare challenges for India. This episode is really a masterclass in finding product-market fit.
Know about:-
- The relativity model of healthcare
- Competitive differentiation- data-first approach
- Target market
- Strategy for blitzscaling
Did you know that only 4% of Indians have a Demat account? Compared to that, 40% of Americans have a Demat account. This is the massive opportunity that Raghu Kumar is chasing with his second venture - Rain Platforms. The goal is to make the intimidating world of trading more comfortable. Raghu talks about some of the innovative platforms that Rain is building to help more Indians become active investors, including a platform for copy investing and a real money gaming platform for mock trading.
Know about:-
- Hedge funds
- Social investing platform, Trading Rooms
- Guaranteed price pool
- Capital raising strategy
Raghu Kumar is one of the unique founders we have featured. He and his brother grew up in the US and converted a ten thousand dollar investment into 2 million dollars through algorithmic trading in just 2 years. Upstox became a unicorn in 2021. In 2020, Raghu stepped down from the operational team of Upstox (but remains the largest shareholder of Upstox) to start his next venture. Raghu talks about his journey of making phenomenal wealth through trading and building Upstox in a highly competitive market.
Know about:-
- Running the News Trading Strategy
- Making money in Forex trading
- Employing direct market access
- Competitive differentiation
Shipsy is like the operating system of logistics - helping companies run logistics operations efficiently, with minimal paperwork and information loss. Soham is an investment banker inspired by Bloomberg to build a platform business and has had a fascinating journey of discovering product-market fit and building Shipsy into a global Saas business.
Know about:-
- Starting off as aggregators for last minute
- Pitch to investors
- Tackling local nuances in building a global product
- Generating inbound leads
Raghu Kumar is one of the unique founders we have featured. He and his brother grew up in the US and converted a ten thousand dollar investment into 2 million dollars through algorithmic trading in just 2 years. Upstox became a unicorn in 2021. Raghu talks about his journey of making phenomenal wealth through trading and building Upstox in a highly competitive market.
Know about:-
- Running the News Trading Strategy
- Making money in Forex trading
- Employing direct market access
- Competitive differentiation
Shipsy is like the operating system of logistics - helping companies run logistics operations efficiently, with minimal paperwork and information loss. Soham is an investment banker inspired by Bloomberg to build a platform business and has had a fascinating journey of discovering product-market fit and building Shipsy into a global Saas business.
Know about:-
- Starting off as aggregators for last minute
- Pitch to investors
- Tackling local nuances in building a global product
- Generating inbound leads
Most headlines celebrate unicorn valuations of startups, but what we really need to celebrate is when a startup generates a healthy return on investment for its investors and founders. This episode is a celebration of a founder who raised less than 5 mn dollars while building his startup which eventually got acquired for 75 mn dollars.
Know about:-
- Treasury and its importance after 2009 financial crisis
- Choosing a wealth basket for greater diversity
- Platform strategy and customer journey
- Acquisition by PhonePe
Filo makes it possible for students to connect with teachers within 60 seconds for a live one-on-one learning session. Imbesat is a serial entrepreneur in the education space. He talks about building products that deliver real outcomes for students and how to scale mission-driven educational ventures.
Know about:-
- Helping students in Kashmir
- 2 parts of learning- data transfer and data processing
- Reviews to install ratio
- Pricing strategy
Account aggregation is a process that enables one to gather all their financial data from multiple sources into a single location. This technology is set to change our relationship with finance fundamentally. Fego is an Open-Finance platform that is building products on the account aggregator framework.
Know about:-
- 2 types of lending models
- History of account aggregator framework
- Reasons for multiple account aggregator operators
- Finance is no longer a separate vertical but an embedded feature
Brijraj has explored the mobility space from multiple perspectives. His first venture Ridlr was an app to help people navigate public transport. He started Spry which is a full-stack digital health platform for physiotherapists to help their patients lead pain-free lives. Spry is a great example of a made-in-India product and Brijraj is targeting the US market as its primary revenue stream.
Know about:-
- Solving for Indian traffic; building Ridlr
- Introducing mobile ticketing for unreserved category
- Competitive differentiation: using software
- Customer acquisition strategy
Altigreen is an EV startup focused on the category of commercial three-wheeler vehicles, and it has raised almost 50 million dollars to date, with the Reliance group as one of its principal backers. Amitabh has had an almost 2-decade long journey as a serial entrepreneur. He shares his process of finding startup ideas and scaling them up. He also talks about the importance of building products in India that meet Indian needs instead of blindly copying the west.
Know about:-
- Building TriVium
- Vision of Altigreen- carbon-free transportation
- neEv- Altigreen’s electric cargo 3-wheeler
- Scaling rapidly
Anirudh is an investment banker who returned to India to build a business around Bollywood content. He built Pocket Aces which makes viral video content for young India. In the quest to not be reliant on social platforms for distribution, he ended up creating Loco. Loco is India’s leading live-streaming platform for gamers and has raised more than 50 mn dollars to date.
Know about:-
- Changing trends in the content landscape
- Launching Dice Media
- Hypercasual games becoming short-form experience
- Fundraising journey
Thousands of lives are lost every day due to delays in accessing ambulances on time. India can save over 20% of patients suffering cardiac arrest every year if ambulances/ first aid care facilities reach them in a timely manner. StanPlus is a medical emergency response platform that is solving the problem of access to ambulances. Prabhdeep talks about the unique challenges of building in the healthcare space in India, some of the smart decisions he took around following an asset-light approach and how he scaled up StanPlus.
Know about:-
- Triaging and the related issues
- Integrating with hospitals
- Taking the transaction layer out of ambulance service
- Ambulances as dark stores
TalentSprint is the market leader in high-end deeptech boot camps for young working professionals, helping them acquire new-age tech skills. Santanu talks about the journey of building up TalentSprint with very little external capital, pivoting from an offline business to an online business, acquiring NSE, and the road ahead.
Know about:-
- “We collect before we deliver”- building a capital-efficient business
- The phase of shutting down the business
- Fate-turning moment- launching the first AI machinery program
- Fintech for Edtech
When it comes to innovation, debt collection is a space that has lagged behind. Spotting this gap, Anshuman decided to build a SaaS product to radically disrupt traditional collection methods. By using data analytics, Creditas Solutions helps people recover debt seamlessly on their own terms. Listen on as he talks about how AI and ML are reshaping the debt collection process!
Know about:-
- Challenges of traditional lending practices
- Ethera, world’s first SaaS-based ‘Neo Collections’ platform
- Why AI-driven collection system is useful to banks
- Roadmap for 2025
Not every day do we come across entrepreneurs who’ve battled against all odds, challenged the status quo, and carved a space for themselves. Amit Mishra grew up lowest in the economic pyramid in India. From no shoes to wear till graduation to leading a global SaaS company that is on track to hit 10 mn ARR – his story will leave you spellbound.
Know about:-
- First job and learnings
- Origin story of iMocha
- Features of iMocha
- Staying relevant in the skill economy
In tier 2, 3, and 4 cities, buying a used bike is a hassle. The problem of financing exists. Bike Bazaar is chasing this opportunity by building a full stack solution that not just focuses on financing but builds solutions around retail and quality. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone wanting to understand the evolution of the Indian two-wheeler market and to know the upcoming opportunities in this space.
Know about:-
- Learnings at Bajaj Auto
- 3 reasons for selecting the two-wheeler category
- Penetrating the rural markets
- Need for a good distribution network
Commercial real estate means office space and investing in commercial real estate is a missed opportunity for Indians. Aryaman speaks to Akshay Datt about why it’s a missed opportunity, the emerging trends, and how Myre Capital, India’s first neo-realty investment platform, is disrupting this space and creating a very unique asset for average Indians. Invest in this episode to find out!
Know about:-
- Identifying gaps in India’s real estate market
- Zero to One Journey
- Monetization strategy
- Role of technology in business processes
Innerwear is no longer “andar ki baat”, it’s comfort ki baat. Helping modern women feel confident and complete in their skin is Clovia, one of India’s premier D2C lifestyle and personal care brands. Pankaj and Neha started Clovia more than a decade back, in an era when none of the enabling ecosystems around startups existed. Yet they built a successful business in a very capital-efficient way, using technology to scale fast. This episode is a masterclass on how to build an established brand in a sector that could be considered taboo by many.
Know about:-
- Figuring out the whitespace
- Building the supply chain
- Outcomes of the planning function
- Trial sales ratio
India never had a strong manufacturing base. But that’s changing today, thanks to the improved infrastructure. Zetwerk is a managed marketplace for contract manufacturing. The company partners with industrial and consumer businesses to create their goods through a global network of small manufacturers. Tune in to know about the evolution of manufacturing and Amrit’s journey of building what he describes as a company running thousands of factories through software!
Know about:-
- Idea of Zetwerk
- Pivoting to a managed marketplace
- Future roadmap
- Upcoming trends in the manufacturing sector
The global company Bloomberg mines market data to help businesses make prudent decisions. In a similar vein, Tracxn helps private market investors in their decision-making by providing curated profiles of startups and companies. Tune in to hear the story of two analysts building one of the world’s largest data intelligence platforms!
Know about:-
- The private market landscape
- Scaling up insider understanding of a sector
- The revenue journey
- Go-to-market strategy
This episode traces almost a three-decade evolution of India’s startup landscape. Bhavin Turakhia is a serial entrepreneur who has been honored as a 2011 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has been ranked as the 95th richest person in India in 2016, according to Forbes. His largest venture is Zeta, a unicorn in the banking tech which is a next-gen credit card processing platform.
Know about:-
- Select the right problem from the right space
- Ideation of Zeta
- Partnering with HDFC
- Organization building
After a successful entrepreneurial stint in the US, Anil headed to India when he realized the bigger opportunity in digital lending lay here. Vivifi is built with the mission of offering formal credit to the millions of Indians outside the umbrella of institutionalized banking. He talks about his learnings, differences between Indian and American regulations. This conversation is a masterclass on building a lending business with a regulatory framework, something very few companies have managed to pull off.
Know about:-
- Rocking the American dream
- Synthetic fraud
- Building the flagship product
- Future expansion plans
Growing up in a small town, Vivek personally experienced the lack of adequate access to healthcare services, which motivated him to build a pharmacy e-commerce business that tackles the same. Saveo enables local pharmacies to serve customers better by providing them with easy access to a wide range of medicines as well as educating them with knowledge and best practices. If you want to build a sustainable startup, then this is a conversation you must not miss.
Know about:-
- The problem of prescription bounce
- Fundraising and scaling up
- Converting pharmacy to modern community centre
- Future expansion plans
Think of having the flexibility of eCommerce, home trial, home delivery of a bike, and being able to pay a monthly subscription rather than an outright purchase - this is what OTO Capital is enabling. Sumit is a serial entrepreneur who had previously scaled the used 2-wheeler platform CredR to its peak. Listen on for tips on identifying opportunities and expanding businesses.
Know about:-
- Ideation phase
- Zero to One journey
- Solving the capital supply problem and scaling up
- Customer acquisition strategy
Traditionally businesses that would need to buy custom-made products would need to go through a lengthy process of finding vendors, sharing an RFP, finalizing a vendor, sharing a purchase order, etc. This is the market that Bizongo is disrupting. Bizongo helps companies buy custom-manufactured products through an online platform with complete visibility and dependability. This episode is a masterclass on solving problems in the manufacturing space, shifting consumer behavior, and building with first principles approach.
Know about:-
- Attracting top investors
- Being a “trade enablement” platform
- Combination of SaaS and E-commerce
- The framework of Why-What-How
Every company is going to be a Fintech company- Prabhtej talks about the Fintech revolution that India is experiencing and how Falcon is selling shovels in the gold rush. Falcon facilitates fintechs, startups, and BFSI firms in introducing new financial solutions. Tune in to know how this embedded finance start-up is disrupting the way of building modern fintechs!
Know about:-
- Figuring out the whitespace
- Shifting focus from B2B to B2C
- Concept of payment processing
- Revenue model
Those of you who came of age in the 90s and early 2000s would recall - drinking beer meant choosing between a regular strength beer or an extra strong beer. There was no such thing as choosing a beer for its taste and flavor. But the Craft Beer Revolution changed that and made beer more of a lifestyle choice. Dive deep into the Indian beerscape and learn how Prabhtej scaled up India’s coolest craft beer brand with no external funding. Listen on but remember to get yourself a cold glass of beer first!
Know about:-
- Brewery is good for local community
- Learning the trade
- Coining the name “Simba”
- India’s beer distribution system
Prerna was just in her twenties when she decided to start a playschool. Over the next five years, that playschool dominated its category in Singapore, and was eventually acquired for almost 35 mn dollars - Prerna did all of this with almost no external funding. She is now running her second startup through which she aims to impact the lives of millions of children in India and Southeast Asia.
Know about:-
- Starting a pre-school in Singapore
- Launching the app
- Gaining traction through performance marketing
- Future roadmap
Higher education represents more than half of the Indian education industry, which has been estimated at the US $135 billion in FY20. India has more than 50,000 colleges and students often find themselves in utter confusion while choosing the right course and college. Ruchir Arora was working in the education division of Hindustan Times where he hit upon the idea of building a digital-first, content-led platform that would make it easier for students to research, shortlist and apply to the right course and college for them. This idea grew into a full-stack business that today has an admissions division, a learning division, and a study abroad division.
Know about:-
- Classifieds in education
- Buying the domain name
- Acquiring Scholarship Facilitation Services
- Revenue model
With AI disrupting the cloud telephony industry, the need of the hour is to provide businesses with simple, scalable customer interaction channels. Ozonetel is a CCaaS (Contact/Call Centre as a Service) player that launched the first cloud-based customer experience platform in the Indian marketplace. Started in 2007 to address needs in the enterprise communications space, the cloud-based contact center solution has been especially helpful during the pandemic, when most firms were forced to switch to the work-from-home model. Murthy is a serial entrepreneur with a successful exit in the US under his belt, and in this conversation with Akshay Datt, he talks about his multiple-decade journey as a founder and disruptor.
Know about:-
- Identifying the gap in the market
- Customer experience is key
- Roadmap to $100 Mn ARR
- Fundraising plans
Martech refers to startups disrupting traditional marketing tools and channels with technology. Srikrishna has had a front-view seat in the Martech revolution. Prior to starting up, he was part of the global leadership at India’s first unicorn, InMobi. With Factors.AI, he plans to help B2B marketers make easier, wiser data-driven decisions.
Know about:-
- Experience at InMobi
- Product Features
- The product’s wow factor
- Privacy concerns and regulatory trends
Cashflow is the lifeblood of business. Lack of it means one has to choose between paying salaries, stocking up on raw materials, and meeting customers' demands. KredX helps businesses get paid on their invoices within a few days instead of months. This practice is called invoice discounting, and KredX has made the procedure frictionless with the help of technology. From working in HSBC and Capital One to building KredX, Manish speaks about his journey with Akshay Datt.
Know about:-
- Stint at HSBC
- KredX score
- Fundraising Journey
- Becoming an operating system for supply chain finance
In an individual’s lifetime, the majority of medical expenses are incurred on diagnosis, doctor consultation, medicines, etc. Kenko Health is aiming to build the country’s first Health Management Organisation (HMO)- a health insurance plan that focuses on overall patient wellness and preventive healthcare while keeping plan costs low. Listen on to know how Aniruddha, an ISB alumnus and insurance industry veteran, built this health check-up platform with almost no external funding!
Know about:-
- Convincing investors- the biggest challenge
- Financing healthcare expenses, not insuring
- Identifying target market
- Future roadmap
There are millions of small SMEs in India that are starved of credit. These businesses are too small to be viable for a bank or NBFC to go out and acquire. This is the unserved market that became the opportunity to build Rupifi. After stints as a founder of an EdTech company and a consumer lending company, Anubhav started Rupifi as a tech-enabled SME lender. Listen on to know more about this young, tech-centric and innovative SME lender on a mission to level the playing field for small businesses in India.
Know about:-
- Journey from AMEX to becoming a founder
- Acquisition journey of Qbera
- Ideation of Rupifi
- Repayment system
- Challenges of solving for SMEs
When one talks about the pioneers of building unicorns in India, there would be only one man who has done this not once, but twice. Sandeep Aggarwal has had a fascinating journey- from quitting Wall Street to starting ShopClues to now building Droom that’s soon headed for an IPO. In this episode, the trailblazer walks us through his journey of starting up and starting again. Listen on!
Know about:-
- Figuring out the white space opportunity of e-commerce
- Starting ShopClues, one of India’s first e-commerce unicorns
- The business model of Droom
- Impact of COVID-19 on the business
Unsecured personal loans are nothing new but most of them come with lots of hassles. This episode is a masterclass in understanding unsecured lending to consumers. Madhusudan talks to Akshay Datt about starting up, building a strong product, building both demand and supply, and the importance of risk management in the lending business. Listen on to get educated about all things lending.
Know about:-
- Genesis of Kreditbee
- Finding the first 100 customers through student community
- Launching credit card product
- Strategy to acquire new-to-credit customers
India’s EdTech industry is expected to grow to $30 billion in the next decade. Ravi built BrightChamps with a very first principle view of solving educational outcomes for children and equipping them with 21st-century skills. He is an IITian who spent a decade and a half in various startups building their technology and product. Listen on for some fascinating insights into the future of learning!
Know about:-
- Finding his calling and zeroing down on kids' vertical
- Product roadmap
- Importance of LTV/CAC ratio
- Acquisition strategy
As a McKinsey consultant, Mayank saw firsthand the inefficiencies in corporate travel. This led him to build Itilite, a Tiger Global-backed SaaS enterprise that offers travel and expense management solutions to companies to ensure seamless travel. Mayank speaks about bringing the ease of personal travel experience to business travel.
Know about:-
- Incentivize people to save money
- Defining the problem statement differently
- “You are not as unique”- learnings at McKinsey
- Strategy to enter the US market
The availability of formal short-term credit boosts financial well-being by helping people make ends meet when facing a temporary financial crisis. Ashish is an investment banker and CA by profession. His decade-long extensive experience in Portfolio Management combined with a deep understanding of growth and strategy led him to build one of India’s leading consumer lending fintechs. EarlySalary is unique among its peers as it has its own in-house NBFC. Find out more about he scaled EarlySalary!
Know about:-
- Identifying the product
- Tracking customer retention
- Fundraising journey
- Customised underwriting
Even though India has been slow when it comes to modernizing machines, Haber might change that. With pathbreaking AI solutions, the Robot-as-a-Service startup is set to revolutionize the manufacturing industry. Listen on as Vipin Raghavan speaks about the compelling value proposition of Haber!
Know about:-
- Product understanding and features
- Fuzzy algorithm
- Variable frequency drive
- Future plans- solving for sensors
Second-time entrepreneurs, Vatsal and Mohit, speak about building Ultrahuman, one of the world's most advanced fitness and metabolism tracking platforms. Listen on as they share their journey of starting up again, getting into the fitness space, and coming up with India’s first metabolism tracker wearable.
Know about:-
- Trends in wearables
- Figuring out your “healthy”
- Launching Ultrahuman M1
- Customer acquisition strategy
Cockpit of innovation, scale, and form, Vatsal and Mohit built one of the most well-known hyperlocal logistics startups that helped food tech giant Zomato successfully pivot from a food discovery app to a food delivery app. With a principle of “Click, Pick and Delivered”, Runnr has grown the revenue of companies like Mcdonald's, KFC, Myntra and Snapdeal. Listen to this episode where the duo talks about their journey of building this B2B platform from scratch.
Know about:-
- All things last mile
- Ola’s playbook and targeting hypergrowth
- TPH and the much-hyped acquisition by Zomato
A Stanford graduate who returned to India to solve the big credit need in the market culminated in building one of India’s leading lending platforms- that’s the story of Prashanth. Tune in to this episode to hear about how his testing period of life paid him rich lesson dividends.
Know about:-
- Building SayNow Corp, acquired by Google
- Stint at PayPal
- Bet on the jockey, not the horse
- Journey of acquisition
Cannabis is a controversial ingredient to base your buisness on, given the many stereotypes around it. However, that didn’t deter Avnish from going the extra mile to build an ethically and scientifically driven company that has been awarded The Social Innovation Leadership Award. Listen on to this masterclass on all things hemp.
Know about:-
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Indigenous uses of Cannabis
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The incident of ”wearing Cannabis”
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Process of launching Ayurvedic products
-
Acquiring customers differently
Mukesh Kalra speaks about how to scale up using a product-led growth approach and how his venture is challenging the status quo of the entire financial service industry.
Know about:-
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Stint at InMobi, India’s first tech unicorn
-
Factors for running a successful Fintech business
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Mutual fund as customer acquisition tool
-
Personalising investing strategies
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.
Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis
Tech giant Google uses an approach called OKR to manage its employees which has taken the startup world by storm. Abhinav’s venture is a platform that helps fast-growing companies adopt the OKR methodology. This episode is a masterclass in both OKRs and building a vertical SaaS business.
Know about:-
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First startup and learnings
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Ideation of Peoplebox
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Concept and benefits of 1-on-1
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Features of OKR
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.
Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis
In a gold rush, the ones who sell the shovels are the ones who make the most money. In the fintech gold rush that we are seeing today, it’s a company like M2P Fintech that is selling the shovels; connecting banks, fintechs, and businesses with custom APIs for financial services.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to understand the fintech ecosystem in India!
Know about:-
- Conceptualizing use cases
- Coining the term “payments infrastructure”
- Building a neo banking platform
- The BNPL scheme
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.
Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis
An IIT Delhi alumnus who, inspired by the Chinese startup scene, built India’s largest hyperlocal tech-backed gig marketplace- Abhishek’s story is truly like that of Frodo Baggins.
In an insight-packed conversation, Abhishek tells Akshay about the journey of building Shadowfax.
Know about:-
- Aggregating supply and demand
- Pivoting towards enterprises
- Creating static hotspots
- Data-feedback loop of the enterprise product
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.
Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis
Unlike most founders who first have an idea, then build a prototype and then raise funds, Shachindra started big - by directly acquiring a publicly listed financial institution that he transformed into U GRO Capital.
In this episode, you’ll hear about some unique innovations of this fintech platform that is at the forefront of the digitization of SMEs.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.
Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis
Bhakti and Bharat are inseparable. Finding its root in Sanskrit, Bhakti means spirituality and encompasses community, mental well-being, and philanthropy. Being a uniquely Indian concept, the market for this space remains hugely untapped. Prashant is an Internet entrepreneur who created a spiritual-tech app to serve the emerging devotional needs of Indians. He tells Akshay Datt about his journey of building this engagement lead consumer platform. Know about:- Finding cofounders for the first venture Genesis and evolution of Trell Model of AppsForBharat and the flywheel of growth Community features and virtual darshan
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
A trailblazer in the Fintech SaaS space, Srivatsan started Clear in an era when no one seriously considered giving up stable jobs to become founders. It was among the first India-focused startups to get into the Y Combinator program, Silicon Valley’s foremost startup accelerator in 2014. Srivatsan narrates his journey of building the startup that is demystifying personal finances for Indians. Know about:- Building the first version of Clear Coding tax laws Pitch to Y Combinator Figuring out the pricing strategy
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
There are 2 ways to build a startup - one is through cash burn and the other is by bootstrapping it- the harder but sustainable way. This episode is a masterclass in building a startup the harder way. Akshay Datt speaks with Neel Kothari who built iZooto, a push notification platform that touches the lives of billions consuming news on the Internet! Know about:- Concept of “owned audience marketing” Customer retention & future engagement- personalizing messaging at scale Making it contextual to the content RSS feed integration & developing own content recommendation engine
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
This edition is a delectable one where Akshay Datt chats with a couple elevating India’s experience of bread consumption. Aditi Handa and Sneh Jain are the founders of The Baker’s Dozen, India’s first artisan bakery brand serving an exquisite variety of authentic European breads and bakery products. Aditi is a trained baker from the renowned International Culinary Institute in New York and Sneh is an IIM-A alumnus and an ex-McKinsey consultant. Together they started up the venture, with Aditi passionately steering the product, and Sneh building the business with an eye on the numbers. Know about:- Aditi’s learnings at International Culinary Institute, New York Sneh Jain’s epiphany at McKinsey- using lego blocks to create a world Scaling up the supply chain Evolution of sales channel: the omnichannel approach
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
This episode is a crash course in molecular biology, a $62 billion industry, and its several real-world applications. Akshay Datt speaks with Dr. Manoj Gopalkrishnan, Founder and CEO of Algorithmic Biologics, a deep-tech startup providing the highest quality molecular testing at a fraction of the market cost. Their first product, Tapestry, is an award-winning software delivering affordable large-scale Covid-19 testing. Dr. Manoj is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur who, after completing his doctorate in the US, came back to India and became an associate professor at IIT Bombay, before starting Algorithmic Biologics. Know about:- Contributions during Ph.D. and RSA algorithm RT-PCR test and Tapestry Challenges of the medical diagnostics market How molecular computing leads to better molecular testing
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
The Moms Company was born out of a Mom’s desire to equip the Indian community of mothers with safe, natural, toxin-free products for their babies. A personal crisis led Malika Sadani to build the D2C brand that is today a leader in the Mom and Baby Care segment. A passionate mother at heart, Malika Sadani is a banker turned entrepreneur and Mohit Sadani is a McKinsey Consultant turned entrepreneur. Over a short span of time, the couple has built a sharp brand that in Malika’s own words is “not another FMCG brand but a brand for the mother.” In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, the founder duo speaks about their journey, the genesis of The Moms Co, and the fundamentals of building a new age brand. Don’t miss:- Defining the brand book Combining e-commerce & social media Marketing strategy- shop-in-shop model inside hospitals Shift to retail
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
What happens when a guy who wears many hats finally builds his personal thesis on “ownership”? He creates WhiteHat Jr, the coding platform empowering the next generation to be creators versus consumers of technology. An engineer, an MBA graduate, a brand manager, a successful novelist, a yoga instructor, a backpacker, and an entrepreneur- he’s done it all. From quitting Boston Consulting Group owing to the feeling of being “too much of an owner to enjoy consulting” to building a business that became one of the biggest cash deals in the startup world- Karan Bajaj recounts his fascinating journey in a candid conversation with Akshay Datt. Don’t miss:- The Four Percent Rule Magnitude X Impact 3 essential elements to scale a business WhiteHat Jr’s acquisition by Byju’s
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
Saransh Garg’s journey represents the quintessential Silicon Valley founder story that began with his first venture being launched straight out of college. An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Saransh has had a glorious career trajectory working with Boston Consulting Group, a prestigious global consulting firm and Accel, a leading VC fund. After a successful first inning as entrepreneur, he launched Nova Benefits in 2020. Nova Benefits is a B2B tech-first employee wellness platform helping companies improve their employee wellbeing through better quality health insurance, daily fitness, mental health counselling and wellness programs. Akshay Datt speaks with Saransh Garg about his journey, learnings and future of insurtech. Don’t miss:- Learnings from “Zero to One” Stint at Accel and fundraising strategy Takeaways from being a first time entrepreneur- alignment and overcommunication Customer acquisition roadmap of Nova Benefits
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
One of the most impressive journeys you'll ever find of a founder, this episode is a masterclass in building and scaling up a SaaS business. Srikrishnan Ganesan is the Founder and CEO of Rocketlane, a purpose-built customer onboarding platform that offers a collaborative, transparent and consistent framework to companies. In recent times, this VC-backed startup has gained traction in the multi-billion dollar US SaaS market. An IIM-B alumnus, Sri has previously worked in product management roles at Verizon and Rediff. He attributes the birth of Rocketlane to his stint at Freshworks, where he gained clarity regarding the issues of customer onboarding. Akshay Datt speaks to Sri about his journey of building Rocketlane. Don’t miss:- Learnings as Product Manager at Verizon A rising tide lifts all boats- genesis of Freshchat Drawbacks of typical customer onboarding Rocketlane- Post-Sales SaaS product
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is an infrastructure that links the traditional healthcare system with digital medical devices and software applications to synthesise various healthcare services. It has truly been transformative for the healthcare industry. Telemedicine especially proved to be a boon during the pandemic as it restrained vast patient displacement to healthcare facilities. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Dhruv Joshi, Co-Founder and CEO of Cloudphysician, the startup transforming critical care delivery through Smart-ICU technology. Dr. Joshi has served as the Pulmonary and Critical Care Specialist at the prestigious Cleveland clinic in USA. Having that niche kind of clinical expertise helped him explore the existing barriers impeding quality critical care delivery. Cloudphysician is his attempt to improve the critical care ecosystem by focusing towards meeting the needs of both patients and medical professionals.
Listen to this conversation to hear Dhruv speak about his journey of building Cloudphysician! Don’t miss:- Genesis of Cloudphysician Expertise On Call, a plug-and-play solution Challenges in implementing Electronic Health Record (EHR) Roadmap for 2025- virtual hospital
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Abhishek Poddar, Founder and CEO of Plum, the startup helping companies provide unique & affordable employee health insurance plans. An alumnus of IIT Kanpur and Stanford University, Abhishek has had a glorious career working with global giants like McKinsey & Company & Google. Spotting a clear opportunity to reform the broken insurance system for businesses, he started Plum in 2019. Today, this Tiger Global & Sequoia backed company is helping more than hundreds of businesses deliver quality comprehensive health benefits. Tune in to this episode to hear Abhishek’s journey of building and scaling up Plum. What you must not miss:- 3-part thesis for running Plum Customer acquisition strategies- Networking and Carpet Bombing Role of tech & data in underwriting insurance plans
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Ankit Garg, Founder of Wakefit, one of the largest home solutions companies in India today. From failing miserably in his first venture to building a healthy, sustainable business that is set to clock in a revenue of 1000 crores, this is a story that chronicles how to optimise failure! An alumnus of IIT Roorkee, Ankit’s first inning as an entrepreneur fell flat when a big MNC acquired his customer base. However, Ankit was not one to give up. By using his learnings coupled with careful experimentation, he created the D2C brand that is today disrupting traditional industry giants in the sleep segment. Tune in to this episode to hear Ankit’s phenomenal journey of building a resilient customer-obsessed business. What you must not miss:- Early phase as an entrepreneur Turning point in life Inefficiency of market Ankit’s strategy playbook
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Sanjeev Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Amplus Solar, Asia’s leading distributed company, supplying clean energy solutions to Commercial & Institutional customers. An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, Sanjeev has spent more than a decade in the power sector. As part of his career, he has served various roles and responsibilities, including project financing and development. Prior to Amplus Solar, Sanjeev served as the Managing Director of the AES Corporation, where he had set up AES's national business development office. Post that in 2010, he founded Amplus Solar, and through guarded optimism and sharp rationality, he has managed to scale Amplus Solar to become an entity worth 2700 crores. Today, Amplus Solar is one of the leaders in distributed solar with a portfolio of 1+GW solar assets across India, Malaysia, and the Middle East. It was acquired by PETRONAS Group, a top Fortune Global 500 corporation in 2019. Please tune in to this episode to hear Sanjeev speak about his journey and learn how he strategically built Amplus Solar! What you must not miss! Detecting gaps in existing solutions: learnings as a professional Customer acquisition strategy IoT devices for scaling business Expansion plans into the energy transition sector
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Madan Somasundaram, Founder of Sugar.Fit. Sugar.Fit is a healthtech startup that aims to reverse diabetes through a consumer-centric data-driven digital health experience. An alumnus of The Wharton School and Harvard Business School, Madan has a commendable career working with J.P Morgan as an investment banker. He started Sugar.Fit with the objective of finding a stellar full-stack solution to a singular problem that creates massive impact for millions of people. Around 80 million Indians are said to suffer from diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form which requires lifelong monitoring of sugar levels as no cure has been identified yet. Sugar Fit’s ecosystem combines medical expertise with deep technology to reverse this type of diabetes. Tune in to this episode to hear Madan explain how Sugar Fit is blending data science and health science to enhance metabolic health. What you must not miss! Continuous Glucose Monitoring Technology (CGM) Why getting right domain expertise matters Learnings from Atomic Habits
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Swagat Sarangi, Founder of Smytten, one of India’s leading product discovery and trial platform that is revolutionising the way consumers interact with brands. An alumnus of Indian School of Business, Swagat worked with Google as the Head of Business Marketing before starting his entrepreneurial journey. His extensive 17 years of experience in varied industries helped him understand the pain points between brand-consumer interactions. Founded in 2015, Smytten facilitates and shapes the way new brands discern their consumer landscape. Tune in to this episode to hear Swagat speak about Smytten’s interesting tech-enabled business model that is disrupting the online product discovery space! What you must not miss! ROPO model Use of AI for customer acquisition Powerful B2B flywheel of the business model
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up:https://zen.ai/founderthesis ( https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Deep Bajaj, Founder of Sirona Hygiene. Sirona Hygiene is India’s leading feminine hygiene brand whose flagship product PeeBuddy is the country’s first female urination device, finding a mention in the Limca Book of Records. Unafraid of taking risks, Deep forayed into the entrepreneurial world at a very young age. After trying his hand at various ventures, he found his calling on a road trip with friends in 2013. Sirona was launched to address the problems faced by women due to lack of access to clean, public toilets. Today, this D2C brand, with its category-defining products, is disrupting the space of feminine hygiene. It has recently expanded into the female safety segment too. Tune in to this episode to hear the resilient journey of Deep Bajaj and his vision behind building and scaling Sirona. What you must not miss! The 1000 day principle Evolution of Sirona Customer acquisition strategy
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) safeguarded the Indian economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this segment's financial health used to suffer owing to the lack of a robust framework for logging data. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Sumit Agarwal, Founder of Vyapar which is an easy-to-use software for business owners that provides billing, inventory, and accounting services. A software engineer by profession, Sumit worked at Intuit India for 8 years. He started his entrepreneurial journey in 2016 with an aim to solve the critical financial pain points of the MSME segment. Today, Vyapar has bolstered this industry’s growth by offering a holistic technological bill book. Tune in to this episode to hear Sumit speak about his journey of building Vyapar and how it's transforming the lives of MSMEs! What you must not miss:- Key tenets for running app-based businesses Fundraising journey The unique product portfolio Critical skills for building a company
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
The Indian fabric industry is the second largest employment generator, with the natural fibre market estimated to have a potential of $100 million. However, its highly fragmented nature & technology obsolescence makes it very challenging. ReshaMandi, India’s first and largest farm-to-retail digital ecosystem for natural fibre, has stepped in to solve these drawbacks. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Mayank Tiwari, Founder and CEO of ReshaMandi. A NIFT gold medalist having over a decade of cross-domain experience in the retail, supply chain, and handloom sector, he embarked on this journey with a simple urge to create better interventions in the sericulture industry. Tune in to this episode to hear Mayank talk about the fascinating way in which ReshaMandi was materialized into existence and how its innovative IoT-based ‘quality grading service’ transformed the silk supply chain! What you must not miss! Obstacles in the sericulture trade The core idea behind ReshaMandi ReshaMandi’s business model
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt talks with Dr. Anand Anandkumar, CEO and MD of Bugworks Research Inc., a remarkable drug discovery company focused on developing novel broad-spectrum antibiotics and immunotherapies that stand to transform the healthcare ecosystem worldwide. A veteran in the semiconductor industry with almost two decades of experience, Dr. Anandkumar wears many hats. To mention a few, he is the Vice President of the India Biotech Association & one of the founding members of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA). In 2005, he founded Cellworks which has significantly increased the success rate of cancer treatments by customizing therapy choices. An offshoot of Cellworks, Bugworks originated from the deep resolve to eradicate secondary bacterial infections, a major public health threat in terms of mortality. Tune in to this episode to hear Dr. Anandkumar speak about how Bugworks has taken a unique path in drug discovery as it attempts to fight the war against rising antibacterial resistance. What you must not miss! Current drug development challenges Monetizing drug combination therapies AMR and superbugs
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
India is the second-largest internet market in the world with more than 70 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). But only a fraction of them is utilizing the advantages of digitization. The Founder Thesis podcast presents to you a two-part series, where Akshay Datt speaks with Rahul Raj, Founder and CEO of FloBiz. Rahul started his entrepreneurial journey in 2017, a year after graduating from IIT Kharagpur with Koinex, which was India’s fastest crypto exchange. Later in 2019, he started FloBiz, a Bangalore based neobank start-up that helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across India. Their flagship programme, myBillBook, is a complete GST building and accounting solution designed to assist SMBs by digitizing their billing and accounting operations. Tune in to this episode to hear Rahul speak about his entrepreneurial journey and how FloBiz is speeding up tech adoption in the SMB segment. What you must not miss! Working Model of Koinex. The core idea of FloBiz. Customer acquisition strategies. Plans for value-added services.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
India is the second-largest internet market in the world with more than 70 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). But only a fraction of them is utilizing the advantages of digitization. The Founder Thesis podcast presents to you a two-part series, where Akshay Datt speaks with Rahul Raj, Founder and CEO of FloBiz. Rahul started his entrepreneurial journey in 2017, a year after graduating from IIT Kharagpur with Koinex, which was India’s fastest crypto exchange. Later in 2019, he started FloBiz, a Bangalore based neobank start-up that helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across India. Their flagship programme, myBillBook, is a complete GST building and accounting solution designed to assist SMBs by digitizing their billing and accounting operations. Tune in to this episode to hear Rahul speak about his entrepreneurial journey and how FloBiz is speeding up tech adoption in the SMB segment. What you must not miss! Working Model of Koinex. The core idea of FloBiz. Customer acquisition strategies. Plans for value-added services.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
With one of the world's largest ageing populations, the eldercare market in India is estimated to be worth $5 billion. But still, a substantial chunk of this sector remains disintegrated and unorganised. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt talks with Vaibhav Tewari, Co-founder and CEO of Portea Medical. He is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta with more than two decades of experience in building new businesses across different industries. In India, many corporate hospitals provide top-class health care services but post-discharge care for patients was left an untrodden path. To address this gap, Portea Medical was started in 2013. It is a first-of-its-kind in providing affordable in-home medical services for patients, with a presence in over 30 cities across the country. Tune in to this episode to hear Vaibhav speak about how Portea is leading the home healthcare segment with its unique bouquet of services. What you must not miss! Portea Medical’s go-to-market strategy. Customer acquisition strategy. Virtual engagement with patients. Challenges faced by Portea.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
A few years ago, businesses were struggling to accept card payments, and this demanded a solution that could enable the smooth running of businesses across the country. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Akash Sinha, Co-founder and CEO, Cashfree Payments, a Bengaluru-based FinTech start-up which facilitates businesses in India to collect payments online and make pay-outs. Akash is an alumnus of IIIT Hyderabad and has an experience of two and half years in programming with Amazon. In 2015 he started Cashfree in a bid to digitize Cash-on-Delivery payments. However, this PayPal and Y Combinator incubated venture soon pivoted to a tech platform that simplifies inward remittances and outward bulk payments for merchants. Today, Cashfree has many reputed brands as clients in its kitty and supports more than 1,00,000 businesses with its product offerings. Tune in to this episode to hear Akash explain everything about the payments business and how Cashfree is building the pipes for seamless digital transactions. What you must not miss! Challenges faced by Cashfree. Addressing the customer queries. Competition between payment gateway companies. Importance of Neo banking.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
The Indian auto industry is going through a gradual but essential change which will continue for the next 10 to 15 years. If the trends are to be believed, the Indian EV industry is estimated to reach USD17 billion in the next five years. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Vikash Mishra, Founder and CEO, MoEVing, an electric mobility-focused tech platform working towards accelerating EV adoption in India. With more than 15 years of experience in the energy and mobility industry, Vikash started MoEVing in 2021. The core idea was to build a driver-centric technology platform that provides EV ecosystem solutions, thus contributing to reducing carbon emissions. Tune in to this episode of Founder Thesis to hear Vikash speak about how MoEVing is transforming sustainable mobility in India. What you must not miss! Challenges faced by MoEVing. EV ecosystem solutions. How MoEVing help the driver-partners? MoEVing’s revenue model.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
Digital Lending is having a substantial growth in India, with several start-ups availing loans to small and micro-enterprises that often get denied by banks and NBFCs. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Ramaswamy Iyer, Founder and CEO, Vayana Network – an electronic network that provides easy, digital access to low-cost financing to every enterprise, from large corporations to MSMEs. Ram is an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and had an experience of over 20 years of entrepreneurship before starting Vayana Network. His vision was to create an ecosystem where financing is embedded in a transaction - where it becomes automatic, convenient and almost invisible in any B2B trade. Founded in 2017, Vayana is now India's largest 3rd party platform for Trade Finance and has a network of over 50,000 clients and 2 million processed transactions in over 600 cities in India. Tune in to this episode to hear Ram speak about his vision behind providing financial services to both large and small corporates. What you must not miss! Behind the name “Vayana” Ram's journey before Vayana Vayana’s tie-up with distributors
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
BNPL is a wide-open market with rooted players and start-ups securing the pole position. But a large chunk of retailers is still not covered by any of them. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt talks with Vikas Garg, Co-founder, Paytail. He is an alumnus of Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, New Delhi, and had a decade long experience in the BFSI sector before stepping into entrepreneurship. In a bid to provide a level field for offline buyers and sellers with large online retailers, Vikas started Paytail in December 2020. Paytail focuses on building a network of significant financial institutions to cater to the pre-approved loan offers for consumers. And within two years, it has a network of more than 20,000 merchants and over 100,000 consumers. Tune in to this episode to hear Vikas speak about how Paytail capitalizes on Tier 2 and Tier 3 retailers to offer BNPL through a tech-driven approach. What you must not miss! The core idea behind Paytail. Journey to find the creditors. Association with other MNCs. Challenges faced by Paytail.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
‘Milk is the largest crop on this planet and there is a strong need for technological interventions.’ Convinced by this, a group of ex-Wipro employees perceived digitizing the Agri-Dairy supply chain as an opportunity. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Ranjith Mukundan, Co-founder and CEO, Stellapps Technologies Private Limited - an IIT-Madras incubated start-up which provides end-to-end dairy technology solutions. Ranjith is an alumnus of Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago and has worked with Wipro for more than a decade. In 2011, he along with a group of IIT graduates started Stellapps to address the major problems in the milk production process and help dairy farmers and cooperatives to maximize profits with minimum effort. Tune in to this episode to hear Ranjith speak about how Stellapps is leveraging AI/ML to revolutionize the dairy supply chain in India. What you must not miss! Ranjith’s interest in M2M space. The business model of Stellapps. Finding product-market fit. Tech ensures supply chain integrity.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
The country’s transportation sector is on the verge of a phenomenal change. Courtesy of EV-tech! In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Akash Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Zypp Electric, India’s leading B2B Delivery and shared mobility app. After an extensive experience in the corporate sector, Akash started his entrepreneurial journey in 2017 with Mobycy, an electric rental mobility company for commuters. But thanks to the rapid growth in last-mile delivery, Mobycy soon transitioned into an EV logistics company. With Zypp Electric, he aims to make last-mile delivery more affordable, time-saving and gentle on the environment. Tune in to this episode to hear Akash speak about how Zypp Electric is tirelessly working towards creating an EV ecosystem in India.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
From being embroiled in controversies to becoming one of the leading companies in the real estate sector, this is the story of a remarkable turnaround! In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Dhruv Agarwala, CEO, REA India Pte. Ltd., a company that has Housing.com, Proptiger.com and Makaan.com under its umbrella. An alumnus of Harvard University, Dhruv started his entrepreneurial journey way back in 2006 with iTrust Financial Advisors which laid the foundation for his subsequent venture. In 2011, he started PropTiger.com, a one-stop real estate platform for homebuyers to search, shortlist and buy properties. Since then, PropTiger has gone on to become a behemoth in the real estate sector by acquiring Housing.com, which today is the leading real-estate portal in India. Tune in to this episode to hear Dhruv speak about his journey of simplifying the home buying experience in India. What you must not miss! Proptiger’s initial marketing plans. How REA’s integration worked? Confronting REA’s market uncertainties. The acquisition story of Housing.com
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
Recruiting talent has always been a tough nut to crack. And the pandemic proved to be one such trigger that has spiked unemployment rates globally. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Raj Das, Co-founder and CEO, Hirect India, the country’s first chat-based hiring app. He is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and has worked as a product manager before starting his entrepreneurial journey. As the pandemic has started to phase off, the hiring has peaked, especially in the high-growth start-up. In an attempt to create a Tinder-like platform for job search and recruitment, Raj started Hirect in March 2020, which enables candidates to directly connect with founders and HR managers. And within two years, Hirect has over 60k verified recruiters and 5 million app downloads and has expanded its operations to U.S. and Singapore. Tune in to this episode to hear Raj speak about how Hirect is working towards simplifying both search and hiring processes through its AI-based platform. What you must not miss! Hirect: A COVID success story! Why focus more on value proposition? Hirect’s revenue model.
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Sandeep Jethwani, Co-founder, Dezerv.in. He is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore and has an extensive experience in the wealth management domain. Before starting his entrepreneurial journey, Sandeep worked with IIFL Wealth for more than a decade. In a bid to democratize access to investment expertise, he started Dezerv.in in 2021. This wealth tech platform integrates domain expertise and technology and creates high-performing long-term portfolios and provides exclusive investment opportunities for its members. Tune in to this episode to hear Sandeep speak about how Deserv.in is tirelessly working towards making wealth management a reality for all. What you must not miss! Why is crucial to hire the correct team? What is Integrated Portfolio Approach? Dezerv’s user onboarding journey Why hyper-communication is important?
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis (https://zen.ai/founderthesis)
In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Rajiv Vij, a person who became the Czar of rented cars in India. Rajiv is currently the Chairman and Managing Director of Carzonrent. An alumnus of FMS Delhi, Rajiv started his career at Hindustan Motors which gave him exposure to the taxi business at that time and at ITC’s International Travel House allowed him to interact with the best and the biggest car-rental brands in the world. Building on this experience, he started Carzonrent in 2000, with a seed capital of 29 lakh. And today, through numerous pivots, it is one of the leading personal ground transportation service providers with a network present in more than 75 cities in India and has recently ventured into sustainable mobility solutions with Plug Mobility. Tune in to this episode to hear Rajiv speak about his inspirational journey and how with Carzonrent he attempts to streamline the largely unorganized personal ground transportation industry in India. What you must not miss! Why asset-light model proved to be the best way to scale up? EVs – The Future and the gamechanger Launching Plug as mobility-as-a-service
If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting. Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis
You all must have heard – It is not the destination but the journey that matters. This is the same with entrepreneurship. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Naman Sarawagi, Co-founder, Refrens.com, a Bengaluru-based venture that offers free invoicing, payments and expense management system. Naman started his journey as a product manager at Freecharge and then went on to work with multiple start-ups. In 2018, he started Refrens.com which is a SaaS product helping freelancers and small and medium businesses in managing leads, invoices and payments from a single dashboard. Tune in to this episode to hear Naman speak about his journey of self-discovery and his vision behind scaling Refrens.com. What you must not miss! Naman’s Freecharge journey Refrens’ monetisation strategy Fundraising journey
There is nothing like a great cup of coffee in the morning that charges you up for the day, and this eternal love for coffee led three friends to start a cold-brew coffee company that today is one of the leading D2C coffee brands in India. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Arman Sood, Co-founder, Sleepy Owl Coffee, a company that is at the forefront of coffee innovation in the country. In a bid to bring the whole cold-brew coffee experience to India and with the mission to provide easy access to the best quality coffee, Arman founded Sleepy Owl in 2016 with Ashwajeet Singh and Ajai Thandi. Today, it has expanded its presence in more than 1700 cities and has recently closed a Series A round of USD 6.5 million. Tune in to this episode to hear Arman speak about how Sleepy Owl is disrupting the country’s at-home coffee industry with its unique products that are redefining your cup of coffee! What you must not miss! The Chikmagalur chapter of the Sleepy Owl story. Pivots made during the pandemic Sleepy Owl’s unique customer acquisition strategy Fundraise and subsequent product expansion journey
Ever heard of the Japanese proverb, “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” That is exactly the premise of the story of our guest on this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast. In this episode, Akshay Datt speaks with Sumit Suneja, CEO, Merlin Brands, a company that houses Rabitat (a parenting brand) and Headway (stainless steel drinkware brand) under its roof. Sumit is a serial entrepreneur who embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in 2010 with Reado, which was India’s first audiobook platform. While on one of the trips abroad, he realised that he has always been searching for baby products requested from friends and family. To fill this void, he, along with his brother, started Merlin Brands in 2017, intending to resell renowned international baby product brands in India. In a bid to provide homegrown, safe, and premium quality products in this category, Sumit launched Rabitat in 2019. And since then, it has been growing from strength to strength and has more than 20 product lines today. Tune in to this episode to hear the resilient journey of Sumit Suneja and his vision behind building and scaling Merlin Brands. What you must not miss! Survival tip: Keep pivoting! The power of 4 AM Merlin’s revenue generation model
Any technology aims to make it easier for its users and bring the best out of them. But in the case of sales professionals, it’s the other way round. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt talks with Abhijeet Vijayvergiya, Co-founder and CEO, Nektar.ai. He is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and a seasoned SaaS leader with more than a decade of experience in this field. It is well-known that organizing information about prospects is a challenging task for sales teams across the globe. These professionals painstakingly work towards maintaining CRM databases which in turn hampers their productivity. Tending to this gap, Abhijeet founded Nektar.ai in 2020, with Aravind RS. Nektar.ai is a first-of-its-kind AI-driven sales productivity solution that helps sales teams by reducing the amount of time they spend on CRM database management and providing analytics that can increase their revenue. Tune in to this episode to hear Abhijeet speak about how Nektar.ai is taking sales into the era of intelligent systems and empowering them to deliver superior outcomes. What you must not miss! How does Nektar.ai manage information across channels? Sales strategies for B2B companies Fundraise journey
“At the core of large-scale transformations lies a single innovation. We believe that embedded finance is one such innovation.” – Aditya Kumar. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Aditya Kumar, Co-founder and CEO, Niro, a second-time founder, who is on a mission to transform consumer internet platforms into fintech. Before Niro, Aditya headed Qbera, a digital full-stack lending platform that was acquired by InCred in 2020. In his second innings as an entrepreneur, he is leading Niro, which aims to leverage the power of embedded finance and unlock the untapped potential for every customer-facing digital platform to become a consumer lending fintech. Tune in to this episode to hear Aditya speak about how Niro is disrupting the consumer lending ecosystem by providing hassle-free embedded credit products. What you must not miss! The learnings from collaborating with various lending partners The acquisition story of Qbera The concept of embedded finance
One of the biggest impediments of the Fintech industry has been the way consumer loans are handled by large institutions. In the process of getting a consumer loan approved, an application flows from one lender to another and faces rejections. This hugely affects the credit score, and the consumer might end up with sub-par offers. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Tushar Srivastava, Co-founder and CEO, Skeps. He is an alumnus of IIT Delhi and has extensive experience in the Banking and Financial Services sector. Founded in 2018, Skeps aims to solve the problem of credit accessibility by using blockchain technology. It offers a cloud-based modular platform for both merchants and lenders to identify credit solutions with the highest chance of a conversion. Tune in to this episode to hear Tushar speak about how Skeps is disrupting the traditional lending industry with new-age technologies. What you must not miss! Difference between API and blockchain integration How to integrate lenders on the blockchain? Fundraising journey Merging BNPL with blockchain
In the past two decades, India has grown to be one of the top countries contributing to the global IT industry. The youth who migrated to these large IT hubs have been a vital driver of this growth. But this, for the longest time, has been the most uneven form of growth. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Gireendra Kasmalkar, Founder and CMD, Ideas To Impacts Innovations Pvt. Ltd., who is on a mission to ‘Distribute The Future Evenly’. He is also the Lead Investor and Managing Partner at Pentathlon Ventures, a Pune-based VC fund. Much before COVID struck and companies realized that employees could work from smaller cities and remote locations, Gireendra started Ideas to Impacts (I2I) in 2015 to offer cutting-edge tech services from smaller towns in India. And today, this ‘small-town’ model is proving to be the next step in Indian offshoring. On the VC front, with Pentathlon Ventures, Gireendra has funded and supported numerous early-stage B2B Tech start-ups. Tune in to this episode to hear Gireendra speak about how I2I is empowering small-town talent to participate and contribute to the global tech economy. What you must not miss! The ‘Work from Hometown’ model The cost benefits and social impact of operating from smaller cities Gireendra’s Investment Thesis
If you wish to contact Gireendra, please feel free to drop an email at giri@pentathlon.vc and Gireendra.Kasmalkar@ideastoimpacts.com.
Unified Payments Interface or UPI enables instant and hassle-free fund transfer between accounts and has been one of the biggest disruptors of the Indian FinTech industry. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Mandar Agashe, Founder and Vice-chairman, Sarvatra Technologies, a Pune-based company, which through its platform, has become the true enabler of India’s digital payments. Mandar started Sarvatra back in 2000 to bring the best banking services to the underbanked people in semi-urban and rural cities by providing tech support to the cooperative banks. And thanks to the digital boom and quick smartphone adoption, Sarvatra launched ‘Sarvatra EFT Switch’, a PaaS (platform-as-a-service) solution which enables banks to allow UPI and IMPS transactions. Tune in to this episode to hear Mandar speak about how Sarvatra is promoting financial inclusion for the country’s underbanked population through its unique solutions. What you must not miss! The concept of PaaS (platform-as-a-service) The challenges in setting up tech support for coop banks. The impact of demonetization of the business
MBA is the go-to postgraduate degree in India. But there are two major issues students face. On one hand, where a minor chunk gets selected to the top institutes, the irrelevant curriculum fails to prepare students for what lies ahead in corporate life. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Varun Satia, Founder and CEO of Kraftshala, India's largest online learning platform for marketing and sales. Varun is an alumnus of FMS, Delhi and has worked at Nestle before starting his entrepreneurial journey. He started Kraftshala as a project in 2016 to help students understand what real-world sales and marketing look like. And today Kraftshala has collaborated with numerous sales and marketing professionals and students from top B-Schools in the country and has helped them to build careers in this field. Tune in to this episode to hear Varun speak about how Kraftshala is challenging the traditional higher education ecosystem in India. What you must not miss! Varun’s experience of working as a brand manager The Kraftshala model of learning The road for the future
In the last five years, digital payments have picked up pace in India and our economy is witnessing a shift towards credit products. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Ramanathan RV, Co-founder, Hyperface, a Bengaluru-based banking-as-a-service start-up that is helping companies in launching their credit cards. Ram is a serial entrepreneur and launched his first venture Juspay in 2012. Many wouldn’t know that he was the mind behind BHIM UPI app. While serving as an advisor for various neobanks, Ram knew that it takes around 2-3 years for banks to launch credit-related products. To bridge this gap, he founded Hyperface in 2021. It is a Credit Card-as-a-Service platform that aims to help businesses integrate financial products into their mobile apps. Tune in to this episode to hear Ram speak about how Hyperface is reinventing, simplifying and improving access to credit cards in the country. What you must not miss! Experience in developing BHIM UPI app Why BNPL is a hot property? The thesis behind Hyperface Fundraising journey
India has a pretty strange relationship with cryptocurrency. Amidst bans, pandemics and whatnot, crypto companies continue to be bullish on the Indian market. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Arjun Vijay and Vikram Subburaj, Founders, Giottus, the country’s leading crypto assets trading platform. Arjun and Vikram are alumni of IIM Calcutta and have worked in Vodafone and Amazon, respectively, before starting off with this venture. Working for customer-centric companies made Arjun and Vikram realise that the true success of the crypto industry depends on mass adoption for which an ecosystem needs to be built on the pillars of customer support, security, and trust. Based on these three tenets, they founded Giottus in 2017, with the aim of making cryptocurrency trading simple and trustworthy. Tune in to this episode where Arjun and Vikram explain everything about cryptocurrencies and how Giottus is driving digital currency adoption in India. What you must not miss! Customer service is paramount How do various crypto exchanges work? Ways in which customers are allowed to trade on Giottus
The international logistics industry is a critical enabler of global trade and commerce. In India, it is around 13% of GDP. However, in this era of technology and digitization, most of the activities of this industry are handled in traditional ways, which are not only time consuming but also prone to errors. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Sanjay Bhatia, Co-founder and CEO, Freightwalla, a full-stack digital platform where businesses can plan, book and manage their international freight shipments online. Sanjay has previously worked with PWC as a strategy consultant. Here, he closely observed the issues faced by the logistics industry. While working for Solera Partners and Everstone Capital, he came across various technologies that could potentially solve numerous problems businesses face in this industry. He started Freightwalla in 2016 with a mission to bring transparency and simplicity to the import-export process. Tune in to this episode to hear Sanjay speak about how Freightwalla, with its unique digital solutions, is transforming international maritime logistics. What you must not miss! Digitising the entire logistics process How to work towards achieving the best customer service? The roadmap to the future
Financial inclusivity is the only way to improve economic growth and reduce poverty. While with the evolution of FinTech and newer technologies, things have certainly improved, still a lot needs to be done at the rural level. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Ajeet Kumar Singh, Managing Director and CEO, Save Solutions Pvt Ltd. Founded in 2009, this Bihar-based venture is making strides in the Indian financial sector by building a network of business correspondents. Leveraging on this network, Save Solutions focuses on providing access to financial products and services through kiosk banking and customer service points to rural and semi-urban unbanked customers. Tune in to this episode to hear Ajeet speak about how Save Solutions is delivering the best financial services by providing last-mile banking services to rural and unbanked communities. What you must not miss! Experience in setting up CSPs in Naxal areas Collaboration with State Bank of India to scale lending ops Expanding to PAN India presence Vision 2025
The most successful businesses are the ones that are built around solving a problem for others. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Kunal Popat, Founder, R For Rabbit. Inspiration knocked at his door when he became a father and couldn’t find any certified and safe baby gear in India. He realized the massive potential this segment had and started R For Rabbit in 2014, along with his wife Kinjal. And today, R For Rabbit is one of India’s most loved and prominent baby products brands, with a strong base of 1.5 million loyal customers and has recently raised USD 5 million from private equity firm Xponentia Capital Partners. Tune in to this episode to hear Kunal speak about how R For Rabbit is ready to capture the baby gear segment in India with its robust and innovative products. What you must not miss! Building a D2C brand from scratch Customising products as per Indian taste and demand Fundraising journey and plans for subsequent product expansion
When we speak about digital, content is indeed the king. But without engagement, the content remains futile. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Anshuman Singh, Co-founder, Scaler Academy, who is on the mission to create the 'Online Stanford.' Anshuman, after his graduation, started working with Facebook as a tech team lead. While recruiting for tech roles in Facebook, he soon realized that the tech education ecosystem in India is broken and fails to equip engineers on what lies ahead. So to prepare techies for job interviews, Anshuman, along with his co-founder Abhimanyu Saxena, started InterviewBit in 2014. It gave rise to another realization that the issue is not with the availability of jobs but with the shortage an industry faces in terms of capable and talented candidates. With this problem in hand, in 2019, Anshuman started Scaler Academy, an upskilling platform that aims to offer high-quality technical education and deliver excellent outcomes for its students. Tune in to this episode to hear Anshuman speak about how Scaler Academy is transforming tech education in India and beyond. What you must not miss! Experience of working with Facebook Content is hygiene, but it doesn’t make you win the education game Peer learning is THE way to acquire knowledge
When it comes to innovation, India has come a long way. But there is still a lot to be achieved! In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Vidit Jain and Shridhar Gupta, Founders, LocoNav. They have worked together at ClearTax before starting with their entrepreneurial journey. Intrigued by the complex nature of the fleet management business and to make the life of fleet owners easy, Vidit and Shridhar founded LocoNav in 2016, with a mission to democratise access to cutting-edge technology for commercial fleet management. And today LocoNav is operational in 25 countries and is backed by global tech leaders like Anand Chandrasekaran and Ajay Agarwal. Tune in to this episode to hear Vidit and Shridhar speak about how LocoNav is streamlining the fleet management industry by providing AI and IoT-led innovative offerings. What you must not miss! The pivot from freight marketplace to a transport tech venture Scaling-up and fundraising journey The unique product portfolio
‘Karna hai, toh karna hai!’ – This is one mantra that our guest today lives by! In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Sasidhar Nandigam, Co-founder and CEO, CredR, an omnichannel platform for buying and selling used two-wheelers. With more than a decade of experience with various venture capitalist funds, his eureka moment came when he had an unpleasant experience in buying a second-hand bike. He, along with his co-founder, Nikhil Jain, started CredR in 2015, with a mission to make personal mobility reasonable and cost-effective, which today is the country’s most trusted marketplace for used two-wheelers with a presence across seven cities in India. Tune in to this episode to hear Sasidhar speak about how CredR is formalising the fragmented used two-wheeler market and changing the way customers buy, sell and trade used two-wheelers. What you must not miss! Nothing replaces hard work and commitment Consumer insights are the foundation of any business How does owning the entire value chain improve customer experience?
With a huge market opportunity to grab, it’s a golden age for digital-first businesses. And with plans to accelerate growth for the digital-first economy is Klub. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Anurakt Jain, Co-founder and CEO, Klub, a Bengaluru-based start-up that is pioneering revenue-based financing in India. Anurakt, a graduate of IIT Delhi and The Wharton School, has extensive professional experience as a venture capitalist. In his previous stint, he worked with InMobi, as a part of the founding team that established Glance and TruFactor. He founded Klub in 2020, whose unique and flexible revenue-based finance approach matches entrepreneurs with the right capital partners, thereby allowing them to focus on driving business growth. Tune in to this episode to hear Anurakt speak about how Klub is challenging the traditional modes of equity and debt capital and revolutionizing growth capital for digital-first businesses. What you must not miss! Learnings from his experience as an intrapreneur Cultural tenets of Klub How to build a team of super-achievers?
The universe is made up of stories, where everyone is a storyteller. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Ranjeet Pratap Singh, Co-founder and CEO, Pratilipi. He is an alumnus of FMS, Delhi and has worked with Vodafone before starting off with his entrepreneurial journey. Belonging to a modest background, Ranjeet has always been a voracious reader and preferred reading content in Hindi. However, he found it extremely difficult to get the books of his choice online, since most of the websites had English content. To bridge this gap, Ranjeet launched Pratilipi in 2015, as a storytelling platform, primarily focussing on Indian languages, thereby allowing people to share the stories in the language of their choice. And today, Pratilipi is India’s largest vernacular storytelling platform with over 350,000 writers and 28 million monthly active readers in 12 languages. Tune in to this episode to hear Ranjeet speak about how Pratilipi is opening the gateway to vernacular literature and making it easily available for the readers. What you must not miss! The power of User Generated Content Monetization strategy Growth hack: Simplify your product Plans for expanding into different geographies
It’s 2022! By now, everyone knows that FinTech has taken India by storm and fascinating things will happen when such disruptive technology finds its applications in other sectors. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Chris George, Co-founder and CEO, Qube Health. A serial entrepreneur and an alumnus of NYU’s Stern School of Business, Chris started his entrepreneurial journey at the young age of sixteen. He briefly worked in the USA and came back to India to start his venture, something which he describes as his ‘Swades moment’. Through his personal experiences, Chris identified the gap between healthcare expenses and what all insurance pays for! He started Qube Health in 2019, which aims to aggregate FinTech and Healthcare to streamline employee healthcare management by providing primary care, health screening and other non-insurance healthcare services through a single platform. Tune in to this episode to hear Chris talk about how Qube Health is simplifying and changing the way people pay for their healthcare in India. What you must not miss! Chris’ entrepreneurial journey His experience of working in the USA Qube Health’s fundraising journey and subsequent plans for expansion.
Thanks to COVID, Creators’ economy has boomed in the past two years. Worldwide, there are more than fifty million creators. But most of them do not get paid. In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Nipun Goyal, Founder and CEO, LikeMinds. He is a serial entrepreneur who has worked in corporate before venturing on this journey. An alumnus of IIT Delhi, Nipun launched his first venture while in college. In 2014, he started Curofy, a networking app that enables the communication between doctors. Post its acquisition, he started working with community entrepreneurs and founded LikeMinds in 2020, with a mission to assist creators in managing and monetizing their communities. Tune in to this episode to hear Nipun talk about how LikeMinds is fuelling India’s Creator Economy to the next level with its simple and easy-to-use SaaS platform. What you must not miss! Experience of being a second-time founder. Why online communities are important? Mission 2025 for LikeMinds
In this era of start-ups in India, invention, innovation, and disruption have become a reality. Founder Thesis presents you the journey of one such duo of techies who are on a mission to enable robots with human-like vision, which could unlock endless possibilities. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Nikhil Ramaswamy and Gokul NA, Founders, CynLR, have taken us through their journeys. Nikhil was an urban boy inspired by tech revolutions while Gokul saw automation challenges at a farm & studied the impact of code on real life. After gaining experience at National Instruments, they started CynLR in 2019 and has solved 70+ industrial machine vision problems with a 100% success rate, putting it on an exponential growth trajectory. Tune in to this episode to hear Nikhil and Gokul explain cybernetics, what the future will be with robots and how it will alter the business landscape. What you must not miss! The challenges to improving Machine Vision. The Paradigm Shift in Robot systems Design. Scalability & Expansion of the CynLR Platform.
Is first mover really an advantage! In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Abhinav Sinha, Co-founder, Eko India Financial Services, a company that envisioned the innovations FinTech brought in recent years, more than a decade ago. Eko started operations in 2007 with an aim to bring banking to consumers 24X7 through a network of business correspondents. After numerous pivots and adapting to the ever-evolving market, today Eko has a vast chain of merchant outlets to provide banking services, especially to the economically weaker sections of the society. Tune in to this episode to hear Abhinav speak about how Eko is working towards making financial inclusion a reality in India. What you must not miss! The pilot that got funded by Gates Foundation. The journey from USSD to an app-based platform. Survival tip: Keep pivoting!
Passion, patience, and perseverance are the ingredients to be a successful entrepreneur. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Rashi Narang, Founder and Creative Director, Heads Up For Tails (HUFT), whose entrepreneurial journey is nothing but perseverance and grit. Rashi, an ardent animal lover, found her calling when she realized that the Indian market has nothing to offer when it came to pet care. She started Heads Up For Tails in 2008 and after numerous rejections from various retailers, today HUFT is the largest D2C brand in the pet care segment backed by Verlinvest and Sequoia Capital. Tune in to this episode to hear Rashi speak about how Heads Up For Tails is leading the pet care space in India and making pet parenting a delightful experience. What you must not miss! Diversification during COVID Drivers for online expansion Working around changing the mindset towards animals.
‘The biggest risk is not taking any risk.’ – Mark Zuckerberg. In this edition of the Founder Thesis podcast, Akshay Datt speaks Amit Kumar Agarwal, Founder and CEO, NoBroker.com, the country’s first unicorn in the proptech space. Drawing inspiration from Mark Zuckerberg and his bitter experience of house-hunting, Amit quit his lucrative corporate job and conceptualized the idea of building a platform that connects landlords with prospective renters without the interference of brokers. This led to the birth of NoBroker.com in 2014 which today, claims to have around 75 lakh properties registered on its portal and more than 1.6 crore people using its services. Tune in to this episode to hear Amit speak about how NoBroker is disrupting the traditional real estate sector by becoming a one-stop-shop for customers for their real estate needs. What you must not miss! Freemium business model How the word of mouth marketing works for NoBroker? Diversification into other cities and services
In the past two years, there has been a drastic shift in consumer behaviour, courtesy of COVID! Users are now aware of what they are consuming and there is an increased inclination towards personal wellbeing and care. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Anurag Kedia, Co-founder, Pilgrim, who is on a journey to transform the global beauty market. Anurag, an alumnus of IIT-B and IIM-A, is a veteran in the beauty and wellness industry. He started his entrepreneurial journey in 2007 with a day spa chain. Banking on the learnings and his 15+ years of experience, he started Pilgrim in 2020. It’s an all-natural D2C beauty brand that aims to bring global beauty trends to India. Tune in to this episode to hear Anurag speak about how Pilgrim is decoding the world’s exotic beauty secrets and making them accessible to Indian consumers. Key takeaways! Play on your unfair advantage. Coping during the COVID crisis. Plans to establish an omnichannel presence.
‘To crypto or not to crypto?’ remains a burning topic for the regulators in the country, but for start-ups and investors, it is definitely a hot currency. Founder Thesis brings you the journey of one such founder, who is riding high on this crypto wave. In this edition, Akshay Datt speaks with Ashish Singhal, Founder and CEO, CoinSwitch Kuber, one of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges and the second venture to attain unicorn status in the cryptocurrency sector. A techie at heart, Ashish tried his hands at different innovations and participated and won various hackathons with his now co-founders Govind and Vimal. The idea of building an aggregator of crypto exchanges came from one such hackathon and it came when the RBI imposed a two-year ban on cryptocurrency. But this did not stop Ashish and he took this product to the global market as a B2B product. However, to educate and make cryptocurrency accessible to Indian users, CoinSwitch Kuber was started in 2020 and is currently valued at USD 1.9 billion and has over 11 million registered users. Tune in to this episode to hear Ashish speak about how CoinSwitch Kuber is making cryptocurrency investing as effortless as ordering food online. What you must not miss! What is a crypto aggregator? Benefits of participating in hackathons organized by VC firms. Building a user-friendly buying experience. Future bets. Optimise for success, be ready for failure.
‘Grind in your 20s… Hustle in your 30s… Retire in your 40s.’ Sounds like a perfect plan, right! Founder Thesis brings you the journey of Amit Gupta, the mind behind India’s first unicorn InMobi, who in his current avatar is heading Yulu, the country’s leading shared micro-mobility service provider. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Amit harks back to his earlier days, when he aspired to start his venture at 30 and retire by 40. However, by the time he started approaching 40, he wanted to give back to society. In 2017 he founded Yulu, an IoT-based bicycle-sharing platform that rents out e-bikes for first-mile, last-mile, and short distance commutes. The mission was to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in urban cities. Tune in to this episode to hear Amit speak about how Yulu is revolutionizing the way people commute by providing smart, shared, and sustainable mobility solutions. What you must not miss! Efforts to indigenize and reduce external dependencies. Strategic partnership with Bajaj Auto. Fine-tuning the business as per the Indian market. How has COVID impacted the business?
https://thepodium.in/episodes/the-ten-year-itch-amit-gupta-yulu/ (Click here) to access the transcript.
Pivoting is not the end of the disruption process but the beginning of the next leg of your journey. This is exactly the essence of the journey of our next guest on Founder Thesis. In this episode, Akshay Datt speaks with Raghu Ravinutala, Co-founder and CEO, Yellow.ai, a hardcore techie who has worked with Texas Instruments and Broadcom before charting his entrepreneurial path. In 2014, he met his now co-founder, Jaya Kishore Reddy, who was then, working on a product that aimed to bridge the gap between customers and enterprises, as a weekend project. They soon quit their corporate jobs and took up this part-time project to a full-time daily mission, founding Yellow Messenger in 2015. Today as Yellow.ai, it is one of the World’s Leading Conversational CX Automation platforms, which is trusted by more than 700 global enterprises. Tune in to this episode to hear Raghu speak about how Yellow.ai aims to democratize artificial intelligence by offering chat and voice bots to automate customer experience for large enterprises. What you must not miss! The transition from B2C to B2B. Developing a multilingual platform. Experience of working as a part of the Microsoft Accelerator program. Fundraising journey. Plans for global expansion.
Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for more than half of India’s population. And with more than 3/5th of land under cultivation, the scope of incorporating technology becomes even more evident. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt talks with Shashank Kumar, Co-founder and CEO, DeHaat. He is an alumnus of IIT Delhi and has previously worked in the management consulting domain before kicking off his entrepreneurial journey. Hailing from a farming background, he had a first-hand understanding of the issues faced by farmers on a day-to-day basis. During his corporate stint, he further observed the gap between institutional buyers and farmers that led to the birth of DeHaat in 2012. And today this ‘Direct-to-Farmer’ company does not only support farmers by providing last-mile delivery of 360-degree Agri services but also helps them with insurance and loans. Tune in to this episode to hear Shashank speak about how DeHaat is transforming the supply chain and production efficiency in the Indian farm sector through AI-enabled technology. What you must not miss! Building and scaling an online marketplace for farmers. Incorporating machine learning to set up an advisory for farmers The role technology is playing in bringing behavioural change in the agriculture sector. Fundraising journey.
As joyful as it sounds, motherhood can also be a painful journey. The extent of decisions taken by new mothers is bound to make them nervous and apprehensive. In this episode of the Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Tamanna Dhamija, Co-founder, Convosight. She is an alumnus of MDI, Gurgaon and has previously worked in the Investment Banking domain. But like many entrepreneurs, she realised that there was more she could do. Stemming from her own experiences as a new mum, she started Baby Destination in 2016, with the mission to assist the discovery journey of first-time mothers and in doing so, organically built India’s largest parenting community. It was in 2018 when Baby Destination was selected for Facebook Community Leadership Program (FCLP), the idea behind Convosight was born. Her goal to combine content with community, lead her to realise community marketing as a business opportunity, and this became the foundation on which Convosight stands today. Tune into this week’s episode to hear how Convosight empowers businesses to gain insights from their online communities while using technologies like data analytics and machine learning to help brands leverage communities. What you must not miss! Building India’s first organically grown online parenting community. Building and scaling an analytics SaaS platform business. Leveraging online Community Marketing to advise high profile brands.
While numerous FinTech start-ups have started working towards empowering rural India, Spice Money is one such start-up that is working categorically towards the financial inclusion of rural India. Founder Thesis brings you the inspirational journey of Dilip Modi, Founder, Spice Money, where he tells Akshay Datt about his experiences, from setting up a business in the then-nascent Telecom Industry to running a rural FinTech company. Dilip embarked on his entrepreneurial journey at the young age of 21. He started a telecom provider business in collaboration with numerous international giants, which eventually got acquired by Idea Cellular in 2008. Playing on the valuable experience and the distributor network provided by the Telecom Industry, Dilip started Spice Money in 2015 to provide financial services to lower-tier cities, rural areas, and underserved communities while enabling a source of employment for them. Tune in to this episode to hear Dilip speak about how Spice Money is creating financial awareness in rural India. What you must not miss! Never take a big leap while setting up a business. Experience in scaling up a telecom venture. Survival tip: Keep pivoting! The idea behind Spice Money.
‘Innovation happens when you work on a problem, but adoption happens only during a crisis.’ – Nimish Sharma (WorkEx) The pandemic tested us in unimaginable ways. Many around us lost jobs, and as the economy slowed down, unemployment became a serious issue. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Nimish Sharma, Co-founder and CEO, WorkEx, takes us through his journey. He started his entrepreneurial journey way back in 2007 after graduating from IIT Kanpur. Nimish fondly recalls his earlier days, when his passion for aerospace made him quit his job to start Aurora Integrated Systems in 2006, which was one of the earliest drone manufacturing companies in India. In his second innings, he started WorkEx in 2017 to reduce the time taken between candidate discovery and hiring, especially for the blue and grey collar workforce. Tune in to this episode to hear Nimish talk about how WorkEx is democratizing access to the job market through its disruptive AI/ML technology. What you must not miss! If you are passionate about something, nothing else matters. WorkEx’s revenue generation model. Fundraising journey. How has COVID impacted the adoption of the WorkEx platform among job-seekers and employers?
Most of us love animals. But is it easy to live in balance with other living beings without harming them? Founder Thesis brings you the journey of a bureaucrat who has taken his love for animals to the next level. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Abhishek Sinha, Co-founder and CEO, Good Dot, takes us through his journey. He has served the Indian Revenue Service before exploring the entrepreneurial route. Since his earlier days, Abhishek has always faced an existential crisis and has tried to discover his purpose in life. This led to him quitting his cushy government job and starting GoodDot in 2016, with a primary goal of developing ethical, sustainable, and cruelty-free substitutes for animal meat. Tune in to this episode to hear Abhishek speak about how GoodDot is aggressively working towards making Veganism a reality in India. What you must not miss! Your passion is your true calling. Veganism: An ancient tradition. How to scale a business from a Tier 3 city? What is GoodDO?
As busy as it can get, health, in these times, has taken a back seat. We often fail to consume a proper diet which leads to numerous deficiencies. Founder Thesis brings you the journey of one such founder who has made it his mission to make Ayurveda an integral part of the day-to-day life of the modern consumer. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Ameve Sharma, Co-founder, Kapiva, has taken us through his journey. Ameve has previously worked with McKinsey across various projects before setting off his entrepreneurial journey. A third-generation entrepreneur of the 104-year-old Baidyanath, Ameve started Kapiva in 2016 with Shrey Badhani, intending to bring the wisdom of India’s ancient food traditions to its modern-day consumers. And today, Kapiva has scaled into a 100cr brand in the D2C segment. Tune in to this episode to hear Ameve speak about how Kapiva is disrupting the health and wellness industry by presenting the benefits of Ayurveda in contemporary and convenient formats. What you must not miss! The learnings from consulting and how can they be applied in a start-up. Why is it important to understand the consumers? Why must founders create a data infrastructure? How can this help in taking decisions? Why is it paramount to build a fantastic customer service team?
Neobanks are one such disruptor that one day will completely eclipse the traditional banking system. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Vinay Bagri, Co-founder and CEO, Niyo Solutions Inc, which is one of India’s fastest growing neobanks. After spending more than a decade in banking companies like Standard Chartered, ING and Kotak, Vinay took a leap of faith and started Niyo in 2015, with a vision to introduce better cash flows to the salaried segment. And today, Niyo products have touched over more than 1.5 million customers. Tune in to this episode to hear Vinay speak about how Niyo is revolutionising banking with continual digital innovation. Key takeaways! The story behind acquiring Goalwise. Pre-requisites to device an impeccable product roadmap. Fundraising journey.
Financial independence is an essential life skill, and it has been a concept dominated by men. But not anymore! In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Priti Rathi Gupta, Founder, LXME, who is spearheading the mission to bridge the gap between women and finance. A self-proclaimed financial feminist, Priti has been heading Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers Ltd. It was through her experiences; she firmly believes that managing one’s money empowers women to fulfil their dreams and aspirations. And with her brainchild LXME, she aims to educate women about financial products, while building a community where they can engage in conversations that makes them more confident and in control of their finances. Tune in to this episode to hear Priti talk about how LXME is disrupting the male-dominated financial sector by providing freedom to women to take their own decisions. What you must not miss! Running a conventional business vs starting your venture. Learnings from film production. Financial planning: A life skill Plans for fundraising.
Getting access to loans, that too timely is a painful process in India. There are numerous parameters for approval and one’s request might be denied for reasons which are nowhere related to a borrower’s credibility. In this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast, Akshay Datt speaks with Bhavin Patel, Co-founder and CEO, LenDenClub, which is one of India’s pioneer Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending platforms. Bhavin has extensive experience working with NBFCs, both as a consultant and an employee. He has closely witnessed the struggles NBFCs face with respect to lending loans and raising capital. This acted as an idea that gave birth to LenDenClub in 2015, which has dispersed more than 500 crores worth of loans in FY21. Tune in to this episode to hear Bhavin talk about how LenDenClub is empowering both lenders and borrowers and disrupting the traditional NBFC segment with its exemplary execution and automation. Key takeaways! Identifying what customers want. Automation is the key to success. Learning from experimentation. Vision 2030.
Catch them young, watch them grow! Great thought! But when it comes to managing money, it’s always the elders who have taken decisions. And that is the sole reason that as adults, people still struggle with savings, taxes and investments and why financial literacy in India is a tough nut to crack. In this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast, Akshay Datt speaks with Sambhav Jain, Founder, FamPay, who is on a mission to provide financial freedom to teenagers. Sambhav is a graduate of IIT Roorkee and always aspired to start his venture. He collaborated with Kush Taneja, his fellow batchmate, to start FamPay, which was selected by Y Combinator in 2019. And within two years it has more than 2 million registered users and recently raised a whopping USD 38 million, making it the largest Series A fundraise in India by first-time entrepreneurs. Tune in to this episode to hear Sambhav talk about how FamPay is empowering Gen-Z towards financial literacy with its high tech but an easy-to-use platform. What you must not miss! Internships: A way of understanding how young start-ups operate. Experience of getting mentored by Y Combinator. How can one use a numberless card? Fundraising journey.
Innovation and disruption are the hallmarks of the technology world. Amidst the fintech revolution and the subsequent rise of digital banks in India, going to a bank branch is no longer in vogue. And with neobanking, this metamorphosis has reached a new level with state-of-the-art technologies and providing customers with easy, quick, and efficient financial services. The Founder Thesis podcast presents to you a two-part series where Akshay Datt speaks with Kunal Varma, Co-Founder, Freo. He is a serial entrepreneur who started his entrepreneurial journey back in 2008, while pursuing his MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. Kunal, a self-proclaimed dreamer, fondly recalls his earlier days and shares how he always wanted to start his venture. After successfully building two ventures, he collaborated with Bala Parthasarthy and Anuj Kackar and started MoneyTap, which in five years has become an RBI registered NBFC and is now transitioning to credit led neobank, Freo, which is the first of its kind in the country. Tune in to this episode to hear Kunal speak about how Freo is disrupting the traditional banking system with its innovative digital banking experience. What you must not miss! If you like something in your academics, you're not going to do it for the rest of your life. How interacting with people from different walks of life can help in developing your vision as an entrepreneur. The transition from HR and EdTech to FinTech The concept of neobanking Relation between consumer research and building a product Fundraising journey
Innovation and disruption are the hallmarks of the technology world. Amidst the fintech revolution and the subsequent rise of digital banks in India, going to a bank branch is no longer in vogue. And with neobanking, this metamorphosis has reached a new level with state-of-the-art technologies and providing customers with easy, quick, and efficient financial services. The Founder Thesis podcast presents to you a two-part series where Akshay Datt speaks with Kunal Varma, Co-Founder, Freo. He is a serial entrepreneur who started his entrepreneurial journey back in 2008, while pursuing his MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. Kunal, a self-proclaimed dreamer, fondly recalls his earlier days and shares how he always wanted to start his venture. After successfully building two ventures, he collaborated with Bala Parthasarthy and Anuj Kackar and started MoneyTap, which in five years has become an RBI registered NBFC and is now transitioning to credit led neobank, Freo, which is the first of its kind in the country. Tune in to this episode to hear Kunal speak about how Freo is disrupting the traditional banking system with its innovative digital banking experience. What you must not miss! If you like something in your academics, you're not going to do it for the rest of your life. How interacting with people from different walks of life can help in developing your vision as an entrepreneur. The transition from HR and EdTech to FinTech The concept of neobanking Relation between consumer research and building a product Fundraising journey
In India, Cryptocurrency is one of those tech innovations that has hit more headlines than any other! From influencers promoting it on social media to companies sponsoring major sporting events, the popularity of these virtual digital currencies has risen in India. In this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast, Akshay Datt speaks with Rahul Pagidipati, CEO, ZebPay, India’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange. He is a second-generation Indian American and has been a part of the global start-up ecosystem for the past 20 years. Rahul fondly recalls his earlier days when he started numerous ventures in India and the US and fell in love with investing. This is when he came across Bitcoin and Blockchain and decided to invest in ZebPay. Little did he know that the company will face uncertainty due to RBI’s ban on cryptocurrency. However, in 2020, after a two-year hiatus, ZebPay was relaunched, with Rahul taking over as CEO. Tune in to this episode to hear Rahul speak about how ZebPay is disrupting the way people transact and invest with its ground-breaking financial innovations. Key takeaways: Experience of running a venture in India in the late 90s. India’s response to cryptocurrency. The ZebPay’s survival story.
The end of the 2000s saw the rise in radio taxi services. In the next decade, the urban mobility market in India was captured by Ola and Uber. You might wonder what’s in store for commuters in this decade! In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Prof. Satya Chakravarthy, Co-founder, and CTO, The ePlane Co, takes us through his amazing journey. A veteran in the Indian aerospace arena, he is heading NCCRD, which is one of the world’s largest combustion research centers and is a member of the advisory board of various start-ups incubated at IIT Madras. Prof. Satya, along with Pranjal Mehta started The ePlane Co in 2016 and took the aerial route in a bid to solve the ever-growing issues with road infrastructure in urban cities. And that’s not all! This air taxi company is ready to test its product in a year or two. Tune in to this episode to hear Prof. Satya speak about how The ePlane Co is planning to disrupt the urban mobility industry with its cutting-edge and cost-effective technology. What you must not miss! Experience of running NCCRD. Future of electric airplanes. The technology behind air taxis. Fundraising journey.
Ever since the Government of India opened the space sector to private players, it has been on a growth trajectory. Leading this pack is Agnikul Cosmos. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder and CEO, Agnikul Cosmos, takes us through his amazing journey. Before zooming into space tech, he has worked for leading BFSI companies in the US. Srinath recalls his earlier days and how his passion for science and space carved his way to venture into the space tech field. With the support of industry stalwarts like Anand Mahindra, Naval Ravikant and Nithin Kamath, he founded Agnikul in 2016 with Moin SPM. The vision was simple! To become an Uber for putting smaller satellites in orbit. Tune in to this episode to hear Srinath speak about how Agnikul Cosmos is democratizing access to space with its disruptive technology. Key takeaways! Experience of working in the US. Teething issues of starting up a venture. The benefit of tying up with an academic institution. Impact of space travel on the future.
Ever heard of the Japanese proverb, “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” That’s exactly the premise of the story of our guest on this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Ankit Prasad, Founder, and CEO, Bobble AI, has shared interesting anecdotes about his early days and the journey of Bobble. As he says, “Entrepreneurship ka keeda bachpan se he tha!”, Ankit started his first venture when he was in Standard 10th. He soon realized that the mobile space is growing exponentially and in 2015 he founded Bobble AI, an app that enabled users to turn their selfies into caricature stickers. Today, it has transitioned into a comprehensive camera, content, and keyboard app that not only lets users personalize their communication in 22 Indian languages but can also predict their actions with the help of AI. Tune in to this episode to hear Ankit speak about how Bobble AI challenged the well-established keyboard apps by Google and Microsoft with technology-led innovations. Key takeaways! Resilience is the key to success. Behavioral shift to non-text and personalized communication. How to scale up a B2B2C business? Plans for global expansion.
“Failure is not the opposite of success; it’s a part of success.” – Arianna Huffington This is a brief sketch of the inspirational journey of our next guest. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner, Antler India, shares his life experiences. He is an alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Bangalore and has worked for companies like Infosys, Cognizant, and Yahoo! before starting his entrepreneurial journey. Rajiv harks back to his early years and how every setback he faced has proved to be a stepping-stone to something bigger and successful. It was in 2012, while he was renting a home in Bangalore, he identified that there was no standardized furniture buying experience. He founded Urban Ladder that same year with Ashish Goel and served in an operational leadership role until late 2019. In his second innings, he is a Partner at Antler, a global VC and start-up generator aiming to enable entrepreneurs to build and scale global businesses. Tune in to this episode to hear Rajiv provide valuable insights on scaling up a business, customer obsession, his theory of happiness, and much more. What you must not miss!! Why is it necessary to make mistakes! Formula to become a beloved brand. The Antler model.
Online content creation saw a drastic boom when the pandemic struck. This made content creators spend more hours with their gadgets. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Raj Kundra, Founder and CEO, JL Stream, shares his journey. Born and brought up in London, Raj started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 18. After running multiple businesses, he became an entrepreneur in India. In 2020, he launched JL Stream with a mission to enable social media users to grow their outreach, broadcast their talents, and monetize their content. And within four months it has garnered more than half a million downloads and 150,000 monthly users. Tune in to this episode to hear Raj speak about how JL Stream is revolutionizing the online content market in India. Key takeaways: How to become an operator founder? Monetization strategy. Importance of networking.
The male grooming industry has come a long way in the past few years. Gone are the days when looking good was something exclusive to women. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Shantanu Deshpande, Founder, and CEO, Bombay Shaving Company, shares his inspirational journey. He is an alumnus of IIM Lucknow and has worked for McKinsey across various global and domestic projects before setting off his entrepreneurial journey. Shantanu fondly recalls his early days and how a casual conversation with his friend about men’s grooming led to realizing that this large and underserved market needed a brand disruptor. This was his eureka moment which led to the birth of Bombay Shaving Company in 2015. And today, this D2C brand is worth INR 100 crores, with FMCG behemoths like Reckitt Benckiser and Colgate Palmolive as its strategic investors. Tune in to this episode to hear Shantanu speak about how Bombay Shaving Company is challenging the traditional men’s grooming industry with its impeccable product expansion and brand-building strategies. What you must not miss! • Fundraising journey. • Secrets to scaling a venture. • Building a product portfolio. • Growth during the pandemic.
All of you must be familiar with the phrase silver lining. Where the pandemic forced us to maintain social distancing, it has also enabled entrepreneurs to come up with innovative and disruptive business ideas. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Shailaz Nag, Co-founder and CEO, DotPe, takes us through his amazing journey of working in top corporates to building ventures like PayU and DotPe. Shailaz fondly remembers his father’s principles and how this has guided him throughout his life and work. He co-founded PayU India in 2011, which at present, is one of the leading payment gateways in the country. He quit PayU in 2019 and started DotPe in the subsequent year with a vision to provide digital transformation and commerce solutions to brick-and-mortar stores. And within a year of launch, this offline-to-online commerce platform has raised USD 27.5 million in Series A funding from prominent investors like InfoEdge Ventures, Google, and PayU. Tune in to this episode to hear Shailaz speak about how DotPe is disrupting and transforming the offline to online segment with its impeccable product experience and innovation. What you must not miss! Three most important life lessons. Significance of going digital. O2O business model.
Our next guest on the Founder Thesis podcast is an entrepreneur who took no time to bounce back when his restaurant business failed. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Viraj Bahl, Founder and Managing Director, Veeba Food Services Pvt. Ltd., takes us through his resilient journey, from being a marine engineer to establishing a venture which, at present has its presence across more than 500 cities in India. Today, Veeba is a well-known brand in the Indian Food Industry, but it has not been an easy journey. Viraj fondly recalls the early days of Veeba and how he managed to purchase its first manufacturing plant. Started in 2013, Viraj had to wait for months to get his first order from Domino’s. And since then, Veeba’s growth has been unstoppable. Currently, Veeba caters to the B2B and the retail segments, with a vision to reach every nook and cranny of the country. Tune in to this episode to hear Viraj speak about how Veeba is disrupting the Indian Food Industry with its low-fat, preservative-free, and finger-licking sauces and spreads. Key takeaways: Life lessons 101. Wisdom gained from a failed venture. Fundraising journey. The customer is the king. Importance of brand endorsements.
Ever thought of starting a venture from a tier 2 city? I’m sure the majority of you haven’t. It was the love for his family that brought our guest back to his hometown Jaipur and started a venture which is soon going to be a unicorn. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Anurag Jain, COO & Co-Founder, GirnarSoft, takes us through his amazing journey. He is an alumnus of IIT Delhi and has worked with eminent software companies both in the US and India, before starting his entrepreneurial journey. Anurag reminisces about his early days and how a life-altering moment led him to quit his lucrative software job, come back to Jaipur and start a venture with a vision to establish in the consumer internet space. He started GirnarSoft in 2007 with his brother Amit as an IT outsourcing company. After experimenting for a year or so, the duo visited an international AutoExpo which sparked the idea of an auto portal and CarDekho came into existence. Since then, CarDekho has expanded into the South-East Asian markets and is currently valued at around USD 800 million. Tune in to this episode to listen to the fascinating story of how these strong-willed entrepreneurs from Jaipur succeeded in building a venture based on sheer hard work and determination. What you must not miss! Fundraising journey. Acquisitions and subsequent global expansion. Significance of customer experience. Secrets of managing people.
Scaling start-ups is not new to Amit Lakhotia. So, the choice of starting his venture came naturally to him. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Amit Lakhotia, Founder, Park+, takes us through his amazing journey. This IIM-A alumnus has worked with various start-ups before charting his path towards entrepreneurship. An independent decision-maker at heart, Amit chose the companies where he can take decisions without any interventions, and the results are evident in the growth stories of MakeMyTrip, Paytm, and Tokopedia. Stemming from his experience of not being able to find a parking slot at the Paytm office, Amit started Park+ in 2019 with a vision to solve the parking-related woes for daily commuters and B2B establishments. Tune in to this episode to hear Amit talk about Park+ is working towards solving this hyperlocal problem by providing digital solutions, leading to a hassle-free customer experience. Key takeaways: What a B-School teaches us! Experience of working in a start-up Journey as an investor
People are the biggest assets of any organization. While there is a core HR department in every organization, not many have been able to effectively use technology to solve the needs and requirements of their employees. This is where Darwinbox came to the rescue. In a candid chat with Akshay Datt, Rohit Chennamaneni, Co-Founder, Darwinbox, takes us through his inspiring journey. He is an alumnus of IIM Lucknow and has worked for giants like Google and McKinsey before setting off his entrepreneurial journey. Rohit fondly recalls his days at McKinsey. While working for clients, he realised that they did not have the best HR systems. He identified this gap and founded Darwinbox in 2015 with Jayant Paleti and Chaitanya Peddi. Jayant and Chaitanya have worked with Ernst & Young and faced similar situations with their clients. Today, Darwinbox operates in the same space as Oracle and SAP and serves more than a million employees across 500 global enterprises in more than 60 countries, and is backed by prominent investors like Salesforce, Sequoia and 3one4 Capital. Tune in to this episode to hear Rohit speak about how Darwinbox is helping enterprises streamline the HR function through its hire-to-retire Human Capital Management platform. What you must not miss! Player’s mindset and entrepreneurship. Experience in working with Google and McKinsey. Fundraising journey. Secrets to scaling a venture.
India is on the cusp of a new fintech revolution. Post demonetization, where the sector has witnessed a surge in digital payments and lending, there have been very few fintech companies that focus on resolving the debt recovery opportunity. In a candid conversation with the host Akshay Datt, Rishabh Goel, Co-founder and CEO, Credgenics, takes us through his inspiring journey. He is an alumnus of the prestigious IIT Delhi and has worked with companies like Deutsche Bank and BlackRock before taking the entrepreneurial plunge. Rishabh harks back to his days at BlackRock which gave him a better understanding of the lending process, specifically from the collections perspective. This inspired him to dig deeper into the subject leading to the birth of Credgenics in 2019, which is already valued at USD 110 million. Tune in to this episode to hear Rishabh talk about how Credgenics is resolving India’s $200 billion+ bad debt problem by delivering customized strategies and legal routes to improve the collections of financial institutions. What you must not miss! Effect of COVID and RBI moratorium on collections. Funding and subsequent expansion of Credgenics. Scope of global expansion for the business.
“There are always two roads which will emerge for an entrepreneur, and you have to take the one less travelled.” – Dr Ritesh Malik Our guest today is a person who has donned many hats – an entrepreneur, an investor, a public speaker, and a doctor. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Dr Ritesh Malik, Founder, Innov8 Coworking, takes us through his amazing journey. Hailing from a family of doctors, his career was pre-decided. He studied medicine and started practising as a surgeon at Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi. It was in 2012, he decided to quit his medical profession and took the less travelled entrepreneurial route and ventured into an augmented reality start-up AdStuck as its co-founder, an experience that made him learn the art of entrepreneurship in a hard way. He also founded Guerrilla Ventures, an angel fund, in 2013, with an aim to create a self-sustaining ecosystem of entrepreneurs and has backed 70+ start-ups to date. Irked by the office conditions in India, Ritesh came up with an idea of coworking spaces and started Innov8 Coworking in January 2016. Soon after the launch, Innov8 was selected by Silicon Valley incubator Y Combinator, where he was guided to expand to larger campuses. This attracted investors and since then Innov8 has expanded to 42 campuses across 8 major cities in India. Tune in to this episode to hear this medicine professional turned entrepreneur and angel investor speak about how Innov8 Coworking is transforming the office going experience in India. What you must not miss! A great product is everything. Treat consumers like God. The power of community. Acquisition by OYO Rooms. What he looks for in a venture as an investor.
In November 2016, demonetisation was announced by the Indian government and the market witnessed an immediate surge in digital payments. And this was further propelled by the United Payments Interface (UPI). While fintech giants like Paytm and PhonePe were the flagbearers of this movement, BharatPe has been looking to change the way SMEs view payments in India. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Ashneer Grover, Co-founder and CEO, BharatPe, takes us through his amazing journey. Ashneer is an alumnus of prestigious IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad. Post that, he has worked for eminent companies like Kotak Investment Banking and American Express. He moved on to serve as the CFO of Grofers and this is when the desire to set up his venture started to set in. With an elaborate experience in the finance domain, he started BharatPe in 2018 along with Shashvat Nakrani with the vision to make financial inclusion a reality for Indian merchants, which at present has reached more than 4 million merchants with its interoperable UPI QR code and processes around 60 million transactions a month. Tune in to this episode to hear Ashneer talk about how this soon-to-be unicorn is on its way to building a robust and easy to use fintech platform that empowers the SMEs in India. Key takeaways: Feet on street business model vs digital acquisition. Importance of branding for a fintech venture. Take on regulatory guidelines by RBI.
What you seek is seeking you. This is what describes the story of our guest in this episode. For Pulkit Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO, Trell, a visual blogging app, this search started around six years ago, with a desire to visit local pandals during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, little knowing that this would turn into a business idea which is at present has surpassed international social media giants like Twitter and Pinterest with more than 45 million monthly active users. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Pulkit tells us that how visiting these local pandals helped him realize the gap of sharing local knowledge, even for people who are not into blogging and founded Trell in 2016 while he was finishing off with his engineering at IIT Bombay. Taking a trip down memory lane, Pulkit talks about how as a fresh graduate and a first-time entrepreneur, he learnt everything from the scratch about starting his venture and attracting investors to believe and guide him on this journey. He further explains the insights which helped him to develop a simple, no-frills platform for storytellers to post their content in the language they are comfortable with.
Tune in to this episode to hear Pulkit speak about his exciting journey and how Trell is challenging international social media giants by providing Bharat with a local, Made in India visual blogging platform.
What you must not miss!! • The experience of getting funded. • Challenges of scaling up a social media platform to a marketplace. • Impact of the ban on Chinese apps. • Business growth in times of COVID.
In 2013, when Anand Jain left Network18, he knew one thing for sure: Communication in the digital world needs to be timely and quick. This led to the birth of CleverTap, a SaaS-based mobile analytics and mobile marketing company. Today, Anand is the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of CleverTap, working on larger strategic goals of helping brands leverage user data, automation, and personalization techniques on CleverTap. But his rendezvous with technology began when he was in his early teens. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Anand harks back to his early years, when a life-altering moment made him take up part-time jobs to support his family. During these testing times, one thing he passionately held on to was tinkering with electronic appliances and this curiosity led him to learn numerous computer languages, despite being from a non-engineering background. He further recalls how a meeting with a successful Bay Area entrepreneur paved a way for him to land a job in the States and then in China. But he moved back to India in 2005 to start Burrp!, which was later acquired by Network18. At Network18, he met his future co-founders Suresh and Sunil and in 2013, the trio quit to start CleverTap. Tune in to this episode to hear Anand speak about how CleverTap is making the lives of numerous brands easy by providing them with meaningful data, which helps create successful strategies concerning their user bases. Key takeaways: • Perseverance is the key to success. • Significance of customer insights. • Customer targeting is important, so is doing it in a timely and quick fashion. • How did CleverTap get their first client which led to several opportunities.
Achievement is self-centric, but contribution is all about creating impact and building up values for a larger goal. Such is the outlook of our guest on the latest episode of Founder Thesis. Belonging to a humble background, Amitava Saha, Co-founder and CEO, Xpressbees, is a first-generation entrepreneur and has completed his engineering from the prestigious IIT-BHU campus and MBA from IIM, Lucknow. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, he tells us about how his well rewarding corporate job was no match to his hunger for contributing more to a smaller organization. In this pursuit, he teamed up with Supam Maheshwari of Brainvisa Technologies, one of the largest e-learning ventures in India. But one thing led to another. Amitava recalls buying things for his infant daughter from the countries he visited for business trips. This made him aware of the huge opportunity for an online platform that would give Indian parents access to the best baby care brands. This is how the seeds for FirstCry were sown. He further talks about how the commitment to providing an excellent delivery experience to young mothers led to the birth of Xpressbees in 2015, which at present, is delivering in more than 2600 cities across India. Tune in to this episode to hear Amitava speak about how Xpressbess is disrupting the Indian supply chain ecosystem with fast and reliable delivery and outstanding customer service. Key takeaways: Operational excellence is everything. Prompt customer service = Happy customer How technology brings efficiency
Every problem has a solution. You just have to be creative enough to find it. Our guest in thisepisode is a problem solver at heart, who has used the art of coding to solve real-life problems. Brace for the resilient journey of Nischal Shetty, Founder and CEO, WazirX, India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. In a candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Nischal talks about his fascination for computers and his coding journey. It was in the second year of engineering when he was bitten by the coding bug and since then there’s been no looking back. From building the Knightloader App for a college project (the App helped in downloading reading material from the Internet at night) to transforming his weekend passion project to Crowdfire which helped users to unfollow people on Twitter, Nischal has found logical solutions to problems via coding. He further talks about how a major setback with Crowdfire inspired him to build something that no one else can control. He found his calling in cryptocurrency and this is where the journey of WazirX began. Tune in to this episode to hear Nischal speak about how cryptocurrency has the power to disrupt the well-established and archaic BFSI sector, with WazirX being the torchbearer of this change. Key takeaways: ● Cryptocurrency 101 ● India’s response to cryptocurrency ● The association between WazirX and Binance (the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange). ● Cryptocurrency as a means to diversify investments
Necessity is the mother of invention. This is exactly the premise that Chaayos was built on. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Nitin Saluja, Founder, Chaayos, recalls how a desire of having chai after breakfast led to a birth of an idea which is now a 90-store operation across India. In a candid conversation with Akshay Dutt, Nitin shares his experience of working with Opera Solutions in the US and how working with a consulting firm provided him with an exposure which helped him in starting his own venture. Nitin takes us through his journey and fondly recollects the brilliant response Chaayos received on its very first day. He emphasizes on how getting his hands dirty and learning on the fly helped him in market research, consumer insights and product testing, thus building a strong foundation for the business. From getting funded by Tiger Global to taking orders at his first store in Gurugram, Nitin further talks about the support Chaayos received from the alumni network of his alma mater, IIT, Bombay. Tune in to this episode to hear Nitin Saluja speak about how Chaayos shook a well-established market where coffee giants like CCD and Barista and others were already deeply entrenched. What must you not miss from the episode? ● Importance of customer insights and product customization. ● Issues in scaling up and growth. ● Taking up chai-paani challenges head on and solving with automation. ● Strategy adopted during COVID.
Things that you are passionate about are not random, they are your calling. This is true in the case of Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder & CEO, Drums Food International. In the latest episode of Founder Thesis Podcast, Rohan shares his journey and how an NRI alumnus of The Wharton School ended up selling Greek yogurt in India. In a candid conversation with the host, Akshay Dutt, he talks about how his trip to India in 2009 ended up in meeting Chef Ganesh Krishnamoorthy (one of the co-founders at Drums Food International) and investing in his hobby ice cream business. A foodie at heart, Rohan describes this move as a shot in the dark and passion-driven. It was when he came back to India in 2011 for a weeklong course on how to market to Indian consumers where he met Mr. Shripad Nadkarni, the then CMO of Coca Cola, he realized his calling to become a food entrepreneur in India, something he excitedly describes as his ‘ghanti baj gayi’ moment. He recalls how he used to personally interact with consumers to gain insights which helped him in recognizing the shift in preferences from ice cream to healthier options, thus bringing Epigamia Greek yogurt product line to life. Tune in to this episode to hear Rohan Mirchandani speak on disrupting the traditional dairy industry in India, scaling an FMCG venture, fundraising, taking the cold-chain challenge head-on, and more. Key takeaways from this episode: Starting an FMCG brand from scratch and scaling it up. Experience of working with Shripad Nadkarni. Collaboration with Danone ventures and becoming a part of the global ecosystem. Plans of expanding in India and in the global market.
In today’s episode of Founder Thesis, host Akshay Datt is in conversation with Dinesh Agarwal, the founder, and CEO of IndiaMART. IndiaMART is India’s largest B2B marketplace for small & medium enterprises (SMEs), large enterprises, and individuals. Before starting IndiaMART, Dinesh worked at HCL technologies in Silicon Valley as a software engineer and gained early exposure to the internet and the power of technology. In this candid conversation, he talks about overcoming loneliness and other challenges of living in a foreign country. However, the two things close to his heart that kept him going were India and computers. The urge to come back to India and start his business kept growing stronger with each passing day. He was so fascinated by the Internet that he made his mind leverage its potential and create something massive out of it. Rest, as they say, is history. Well, what started in the early internet era as an idea, is now a platform that has more than 10 crores registered users on it. And of course, it continues to grow even though it's been almost 25 years since it started. He recalls IndiaMART’s early years when his wife would answer queries from buyers outside India and he would use a simple hack of going to trade fares to build his dataset and generate leads. Tune in to this exclusive chat with Dinesh Agarwal and listen to him talk about everything Internet and ECommerce. What you must not miss from the episode? Cultural challenges of living in a foreign economy. The ups and downs of establishing an internet company in India. The dot-com boom from someone who saw it happen! How did IndiaMART get their first client paid order and how did they generate leads.
“The important thing about creating an enterprise is creating the size of the impact.” Rahul Garg, Founder, Moglix
He is a curious learner. When in college all he wanted was to be the best in his field i.e. become the best engineer. Fuelled by his curiosity to learn, he tapped great opportunities on the way. Our guest on this episode is an IIT Kanpur and ISB, Hyderabad alumnus. Rahul Garg founded Moglix in 2015 and today it is one of the biggest players in the B2B e-commerce space, growing continuously at a commendable pace. Moglix specialises in B2B procurement of industrial products. Ratan Tata is one of the prominent investors of Moglix. Before entering the entrepreneurial space, he served as the head of AdX at Google, designing products globally. Garg loves dabbling with algorithms and analytics. He has always been passionate about solving large problems in the world that are complex to solve. Tune in to the episode to hear Rahul Garg speak on Scaling a B2B venture, Fundraising, Supply Ecosystem, Creating Marketplaces, Building Catalogues, Sales Hacks, and More. Key Takeaways: Scaling a B2B e-commerce platform sustainably. The experience of getting funded by Ratan Tata. Impact of GST on business growth. How to position your brand effectively. Driving consumer demand.
For the love of travelling, he would take international trips and immensely enjoy exploring diverse backgrounds. Growing up, he would travel to different destinations with his family, his first foreign trip being that to Italy. Today, he has changed the trend of car ownership with a car subscription model providing tremendous appeal and flexibility to the millennials. We are talking about Greg Moran, the co-founder and CEO of India’s first and largest self-drive mobility platform, Zoomcar. Zoomcar is present in 45+ cities across India. After studying management from USC Marshall School of Business, LA, California, Greg Moran came to India. He disrupted the way India rents a car. Being a foreigner with no roots in India, carving a niche for himself in a new country was no easy job for him.
He always wanted to do something big in business but didn’t have a clear idea of what it was. He went to the University of Pennsylvania and studied International Business. He shares some of the enjoyable moments from UPenn and how the four years impacted him and broadened his perspective.
Sustainability has always been a major part of his work ethic. He was the founder and president of the energy club at USC. Before going to business school, Greg worked as an investment banker with Fieldstone Private Capital Group. He also held the position in energy policy formulation at the City of New York.
He talks about his first impression of India, travelling around cities for research and business intelligence, staying at budget accommodations, and relishing the experience of building a business from scratch.
Tune in to this diverse conversation with Greg Moran and get to know his process behind building the first self-drive business in India.
Enjoy the episode!
Key takeaways from the episode:
Building a successful mobility business in India. Academic Flexibility at an Ivy League school. Why is Urban Sustainability so crucial? Scaling up Zoomcar. What it is like to be a foreigner living and working in India.
Our guest today is an achiever in more ways than one. Born and brought up in Chennai in a humble household, he pursued his studies from the prestigious IIT, Madras campus. Well, he tells us that he wasn’t a risk-taker or had an entrepreneurial side to him as a kid but loved to travel and explore new places, people and communities. In this episode of Founder Thesis, we are talking to Bala Parthasarathy, co-founder and CEO of MoneyTap - a fintech consumer lending startup. MoneyTap launched India’s first app-based credit line impacting Indian consumers across 50+ cities who struggled with access to affordable credit options. Bala’s entrepreneurial foundation was laid when he went for a summer job during his IIT days and got into market research to earn some side cash. After completing his engineering from IIT, he went abroad to complete higher education from the University of California where he along with his batchmates deep dived into the entrepreneurial culture and started a company. Having no prior fintech background, MoneyTap was an uncharted territory for him when he started this in 2015 with two of his friends. He worked day in, day out to reach where he is reached today and continues to hustle.
He shares interesting insights from taking a loan to buy the ticket to go abroad for higher education, learning different languages, hitchhiking across the Sahara, his travel voyages to the remarkable lessons from building MoneyTap. Tune in to listen to this exciting conversation with Bala Parthasarathy.
Key Insights from the episode:
Learning through travel experiences. Being adventures and taking challenges head-on. Shaping the Future of Fintech. Lessons on funding from the lens of a venture capitalist.
He is a performing artist by heart, someone who hit the stage when he was merely 4 years old and guess what, he never got off! A creator, writer, director and entrepreneur, he gets immense joy from words, phrases, and playing with them creatively. When kids his age would play cricket after school, he would be found doing theatre. He tells us that his mother always aspired for him to study at the best school and be equipped with a wholesome education and thus, he ended up completing his schooling at La Martiniere, Lucknow. As a kid, he thrived on extra-curricular and would never miss a chance to perform. He talks about the contribution of his teachers from La Martiniere who helped him groom at a very early and crucial stage of his life.
His foundation was firmly set in childhood and from thereon he never stopped dreaming.
Well, serendipity happened, and with finite resources and infinite passion, Roshan Abbas moved to Delhi and pursued his Masters in Mass Communication from Jamia Milia Islamia.
Always fascinated by arts and theatre, Roshan joined a professional theatre group in his college. After college, he kick-started his career as a radio jockey and TV host. A storyteller for life, and a multi-faceted personality, he founded his venture Kommune India in 2015, a Performance Arts Collective bringing art, brands and talent together.
Tune in to the episode for intimate, personal, unique, and honest stories from Roshan’s childhood, career, his first Radio show, and life as a creative entrepreneur.
Key insights from the episode:
Influencing people with the power of words. Are creative people good at running companies? Growing a creative agency. Lessons on ‘Brand building’. Writing plays, conducting theatre workshops, and making films.
We often think or are made to believe that we will have to compromise on those taste buds in order to be fit and look good. But is there a way out for our food to be healthy and yummy at the same time? With their Organic Food startup, Slurrp Farm, the two mothers - Shauravi Malik and Meghana Narayan are showing us that the ‘healthy plus yummy’ combination is no longer a far-fetched dream. The duo identified the gap of high-quality packaged food options in the children’s food market in India and deep-dived into making a difference by launching Slurrp Farm in 2016. Today on Founder Thesis, we have Shauravi Malik, the co-founder of Slurrp Farm talking about her journey in the FMCG space, and landing on the idea of building a brand that is creating a positive impact in the lives of children by introducing them to healthy eating choices. She is a conscious-eater herself. Shauravi comes from an elite educational background, holding a Master’s degree in Economics from Cambridge University and a BA in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. She is fun and pragmatic. With no background in food manufacturing, and no one to guide her to the shortcuts of success, here she is, with a food brand of her own. In this episode, she shares exciting anecdotes from her work life, personal stories, taking risks, exploring uncharted territories, and finding her passion to bring about change in the eating habits of an Indian consumer. She tells us that the ultimate hack is none other than the ‘Grandma’s Kitchen.’ Listen to the full episode to enrich your understanding of wholesome nutrition for children, to explore the evolution of food and eating habits, and how your business idea makes a larger impact in the lives of your consumers. Key highlights from the episode: ‘Children food’ as a category in a developing country like India. Why is Market Research so important? Realizing what food is pure, and what is poison. Challenges of Scaling Up! Understanding your consumers. Feedback is the hero. Embracing Digital Platforms.
Well, it would be unjust to say that today’s world is a male-dominated one. Women of today are changing the way we see the world and are redefining the so-called “conventional”. Women who inspire with their commendable leadership and conviction. Today, we are in conversation with one such groundbreaking personality who quit her corporate career to build her startup from scratch and went all out to establish a name for herself. She is as motivated as she is excited to be building India’s leading fresh food brand, FreshMenu. Rashmi Daga, the founder of FreshMenu, is passionate about consumer brands and enjoys the thrill that startups expose her to. She graduated from Delhi College of Engineering as an electrical engineer and later, went on to pursue management from Indian Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad. She shares anecdotes from her early life as a salesperson, working on the field and experiencing Real India on the road. FreshMenu was born in 2014, that’s when she decided to launch her food company. She talks about the plan of action she relied upon, her business model decisions, breaking the monotony, getting her hands dirty with all the research, hiring the first chef, among other intriguing sneak-peek into her entrepreneurial journey. Tune in to listen to the full conversation where Rashmi Daga talks about her Eureka moment, her larger mission and shares some beautiful insights into building India’s top consumer food brand. Key takeaways from the episode: The founder of FreshMenu tells us how a real-time job experience helps. Brand building and setting milestones. Incorporating international cuisine and building a diverse food menu. Tracking unit economics in your startup. Sampling, Packaging, and Customer Acquisition. Dealing with the funding process as a solo woman entrepreneur. Indian Food Habits post-COVID.
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We have all been lost at some point in our lives, uncertain of things and trying to figure it all out at the same time. Growing up in Mumbai and coming from a business family, today’s guest on Founder Thesis is someone who has a passion for creating stuff and building products. Someone fascinated by the possibilities of the Internet, Mayank Bidawatka, always thought of new things and ideas that can be shaped into reality through the digital medium. He joined a residential MBA program at Asina Institute of Management based in the Philippines. Curious and experimental by nature, Mayank has always worked upon breaking out of his comfort zone. He speaks about his diversified, life-changing experience of living and studying abroad.
However, he always wanted to come back to his own country, pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions and establish work in India. Being the co-founder of Koo India, he is giving voice to a billion Indians via the micro-blogging platform. On the other hand, Mayank is providing solutions through the Q&A based knowledge-sharing platform Vokal India, catering to the Indian language user.
In this episode, he talks about his early working experiences, media and advertising days, redBus, lessons and takeaways, dreaming big, scaling up, and building tremendous value.
Tune in to the full conversation.
Key takeaways from the episode:
Working in the Startup Culture. Making it easy for businesses to interact with users. Breaking the language barrier and creating multilingual solutions via Vokal. Creating tools that bridge the language gap for the Indian Content Creator. The three main things to focus on as an Angel Investor.
For more such inspiring & intriguing leadership stories visit our website at www.thepodium.in
We are also on Instagram at @thepodium.in and have a Whats app community of fellow entrepreneurs & startup enthusiasts at www.podm.in/growwithpodium
Join us there to stay updated on the latest from The Podium.in
Today’s episode of Founder Thesis is a story of finding opportunity in adversities & seeking lessons in all the curve balls that life throws at you. In what has been one of the most spirited conversations on the show join in as we catch up with Prateek Singh - Founder of LearnApp.com over tons of infectious laughter & incredible life experiences. Born in Abudhabi and educated in Tanzania, Singapore, Malaysia & India Prateek’s multicultural childhood may come across as a dream come true, but each time having to start life from scratch was not an easy task especially when it had to be done for difficult reasons. But this is when Prateek learnt his people skills.
Settling in India after living abroad, the transition was difficult for a young Prateek and he could not pursue schooling any further. This is when the 8th grader turned into a financial trader!
A job at a call centre selling travel packages is where Prateek learnt what he considers to be one of the most valuable skills to have - Sales.
Odd jobs & after four failed attempts at entrepreneurship, tons of learning along the way Prateek then founded LearnApp.com
Tune in as we speak to Prateek about his early years, how he overcame self-doubt, and what led to the genesis of LearnApp - an E-learning platform for high-quality financial education taught by Veterans. His failures building the platform and genie & lamp framework that he used to build a scalable business model.
For more such inspiring & intriguing leadership stories visit our website at www.thepodium.in
We are also on Instagram at @thepodium.in and have a Whats app community of fellow entrepreneurs & startup enthusiasts at www.podm.in/growwithpodium
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Investment banker, active seed investor, problem solver and now a founder. Our guest today has worn numerous hats, but her greatest adventure yet is the one that’s allowing her to fulfil her entrepreneurial dreams. Always driven by a passion to do something for other businesses, Founder of Kodo, Deepti Sanghi is making finance simple for startups and businesses. Imagine being a founder of a new startup and being able to get a corporate credit card in less than 3 minutes! Sounds too good to be true right? But that’s exactly what Kodo is all about. Their mission is to empower businesses to scale new heights through their corporate card and integrated expense management tool.
In this episode our host Akshay sits down for a candid conversation with Deepti where she shares about her early days as an Investment banker, how she coped with the economic meltdown and finally pivoted towards fin-tech.
Do watch out for the part where Deepti shares her fascinating journey through Japan that inspired the name for the fin-tech startup.
For more such inspiring and intriguing leadership stories visit our website at http://www.thepodium.in (www.thepodium.in).
We are also on Instagram at @thepodium.in and have a WhatsApp community of fellow entrepreneurs and startup enthusiasts at http://www.podm.in/growwithpodium (www.podm.in/growwithpodium). Join us to stay updated on the latest from ThePodium.in.
“Building a product and building an organisation are two different things,” says Abhinav Jain, our guest today. A bunch of people were very excited about technology in school, they created a computer programming club.Somebody who was always up for honing new skills and specialising new crafts beyond engineering, not worried about books. Fundamentally, he always knew that he wanted to set up his venture from scratch. He describes his 5 years at IIT, things he learned and from running different clubs to organising college fests, he shares some beautiful experiences of life at campus. Graduating from IIM Ahmedabad, consulting was something that interested him. He talks about his different projects he explored in the 4 years spent at Bain. From what gave him a nudge to start his entrepreneurial journey at Shop101 and Dash101, the challenges he faced to figuring out innovative solutions in a startup ecosystem, he has some intriguing insights to share.
Listen to the entire conversation on building a product from scratch.
IG: @thepodium.in Web: thepodium.in
Key takeaways:
Life skills an entrance exam teaches. Hacks for polishing communication skills, structuring your thoughts and delivery. Building a product and building an organisation. Consulting as a career and making an impact. What does a consultant bring to the table. Building Social Commerce.
This week on Founder Thesis we are in conversation with a couple that’s on a mission to change the way India is educated. We are in conversation with the Founders of LEAD school - Sumeet Mehta who is also the CEO & Smita Deorah who is the COO. Together they are working towards their vision of making education in India improved, accessible and affordable. Tune in as Sumeet & Smita get candid about their journey, right from their first encounter as colleagues in PnG, to quitting their cushy corporate jobs and chasing their passion for education and building something purposeful. Listen in as they talk about their learnings from running schools to the genesis of LEAD School and their plans for the future.
For more such inspiring & intriguing leadership stories visit our website at www.thepodium.in
We are also on Instagram at @thepodium.in and have a Whats app community of fellow entrepreneurs & startup enthusiasts at www.podm.in/growwithpodium
Join us there to stay updated on the latest from The Podium.in
This week on Founder Thesis podcast host Akshay Datt is in conversation with Hemant Kanoria - Chairman at SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited. A pioneer in the field of infrastructure finance, Hemant started SREI in 1989 and in the last two and half decades has scaled it to be India's largest integrated infrastructure institutions with an asset base of around USD 5.5 billion. But that’s not all, Hemant Kanoria, is also known for his role in creating a wave of rural entrepreneurs through the IT-enabled Sahaj service centre initiative that has created over 50000 village-level entrepreneurs. Tune in as this pioneer & thought leader shares his growth story, enjoying the roller coaster journey of managing businesses and about having a solution-oriented mindset. Our key takeaways from this episode are: * How to build an institution with an engaged & loyal workforce. * Decision-making framework for investing & disinvesting. * How to deal with large scale external set-backs, such as, the Covid-19 pandemic. For more such inspiring & intriguing leadership stories visit our website at www.thepodium.in We are also on Instagram at @thepodium.in and have a WhatsApp community of fellow entrepreneurs & start-up enthusiasts at www.podm.in/growwithpodium Join us there to stay updated on the latest from The Podium.in
We all have that one habit which we’ve developed as kids & that’s still stuck with us even as adults. Aprameya Radhakrishna, our guest today, recalls that his childhood habit that stayed with him is observing things around him. A habit which helps him a lot today as an entrepreneur to understand things like consumer behaviour and much more. A habit we think made him take notice of the nationwide ban on all Chinese apps & a trend towards building desi apps that truly embrace the made in India motto. Having worked for over 5 years in the corporate scene before moving on to being a serial entrepreneur & investor Aprameya is now the Co-founder and CEO of Koo - a microblogging platform for vernacular speakers of India. He is making sure that everyone in India is able to make their voice heard.
Talk about going Vocal for Local!
Tune in as we take you through Aprameya’s exciting journey & listen to him as he shares pearls of wisdom on starting and scaling businesses.
For more such inspiring & intriguing leadership stories visit our website at www.thepodium.in
We are also on Instagram at @thepodium.in and have a Whats app community of fellow entrepreneurs & startup enthusiasts at www.podm.in/growwithpodium
Join us there to stay updated on the latest from The Podium.in
It may sound weird for a sports enthusiast to be in IIT. Right? Well, Saumil Majmudar, our guest today, says that it's possible, and that it's an excuse kids make, there are a lot of people who balance academics and sports. They can coexist! Sports have always been a part of his life and it's something he assumes should be in life always. Saumil Majmudar is the Co-founder, CEO and Managing Director of Sportz Village, which aims to get 100 million children to play. Prior to starting Sportz Village, Saumil was the Founder-CEO of QSupport (one of India's first remote tech support businesses) and worked with Wipro (Global R&D) in the International marketing team. Saumil holds a B-Tech degree & is a Distinguished Service Alumnus from IIT-Bombay, a PGDM from IIM-Bangalore, a Basic Mountaineering Degree from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (Uttarkashi) & a Black belt in Karate. Doesn't it sound incredible? Well that has not been the case from the beginning. Tune in to find out how this sports lover had an academic bent to have a science background and finally become an entrepreneur. Key takeaways from the show: How can Sports & academics co-exist. Tips to prepare a business model. How to do customer acquisition. What mistakes one must avoid. For more such inspiring & intriguing leadership stories visit our website at http://www.podium.in (www.thepodium.in)
We are also on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thepodium.in/?hl=en (@thepodium.in) and have a Whats app community of fellow entrepreneurs & startup enthusiasts at http://www.podm.in/growwithpodium (www.podm.in/growwithpodium)
Join us there to stay updated on the latest from The Podium.in
It is rare that you come across a high school graduate who has chosen entrepreneurship as his career path. But our guest this week, is someone who was determined to be an entrepreneur & had made this choice on completing of his 12th Boards! How? When? & Where? - Those pieces of the puzzle he was yet to figure out. But when you set your mind to it, there’s no stopping you. And this was true for Sanjeev Bikhchandani as well. Co-Founder of Info-Edge - India’s premier online classifieds company in recruitment, matrimony, real estate, education and related services.
Naukri.com, Jeevansathi.com. 99acres.com & Shiksha.com are just a few of the big names in his portfolio.
Tune in as we get into a candid chat with Sanjeev, to know all about his journey right from his days as a junior account executive to his time at IIM Ahmedabad where he found the idea for his product. In this episode hear Sanjeev talks about the very beginning of his journey to intensely working, learning and finally achieving his entrepreneurial dream.
Key takeaways from this episode:
- Things to look for in jobs
- What businesses succeed
- How to take investment decisions
As an IIT Bombay graduate in metallurgical engineering and materials science, trying to figure out his way through life, he was not really sure what he wanted to choose as his field of work per se. A problem-solver, Harsh Shah is always thriving and striving to make an impact. In this episode, he shares with us personal and professional experiences he encountered during his quest. Starting Fynd and building it through thick and thin, he takes us back to the process of it, sharing profound insights on how he garnered his way to a successful e-commerce business. He is committed to building a seamless consumer experience and revolutionising retail-tech. Let’s hear him speak about anything and everything from taking the business live to building strong collaborations, a hyper local presence, building a quality catalog, scaling up, and much more on how the e-commerce model works. Key Insights: Creating customer engagement Analysing consumer behaviour Creating seamless shopping experience Raising funds for a retail-tech business
“Designing a website doesn’t create a business, creating a business creates a business.” He went on to be an entrepreneur empowering millions of retailers. He has revolutionised the retail industry with the help of two key factors: technology and supply chain innovation. Undaunted and determined, Tanutejas, our guest today at Founder Thesis, has always taken a step ahead of his comfort zone. Before starting his breakthrough journey at the B2B e-commerce company, ShopKirana, he had also ventured into two other companies which he identified were not scalable in the long run. Nevertheless, after his four-year stint in Napster Era- a new age media agency connecting brands with customers, ShopKirana happened which changed the game. The Indore-based startup has 12,000 plus retailers on its platform and is consistently expanding. In this conversation, Tanutejas shares insights from the startup world, talking about a range of topics from retail, venture capital, funding, scaling up to disrupting the mom-and-pop stores and building an impactful business story. Tune in to the full episode to know how he converted the unorganised structure of Kirana stores to a revolutionary success story. We are on IG at @thepodium.in and on the web at https://thepodium.in/ (thepodium.in ) Takeaways from our conversation: How does the Online Retail Business Model work Disrupting logistics and supply chain in the retail marketplace Lessons from a Data-driven world Connecting Kirana Stores with brands Understanding retailer behaviour
“Success isn’t about greatness, it’s about consistency” And those who are consistent are bound for greatness! Well if we had to sum up an intro for our guest this week, that would be perfectly befitting! The hunk we know today Jitendra Chouksey Founder of Fittr, was bullied as a child for being overweight. That’s what prompted him to strive for the fittest version of himself. His success at fitness & his genuine selfless desire to help out friends on their path to fitness eventually led to his accidental entry into entrepreneurship! Much like the adage goes, “life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans”
JC’s accidental journey started when we decided to compile a booklet to answer his friend’s queries about fitness, one thing led to another and JC found himself becoming an entrepreneur of a venture that made INR10Lakhs in its first month! The rest is history.
JC had not only transformed himself, but he became a fitness entrepreneur with two very successful businesses! Driven by his aspiration to be a positive change-maker - JC is determined to shatter myths & re-define the obscured meaning of fitness & set the right example for generations to come.
Tune in to this episode of Founder Thesis as host Akshay Datt unwraps the tales of Jitendra’s ventures & of one of the world's largest online fitness and nutrition communities.
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Coming from a small village to building one of the fastest-growing viral content websites, WittyFeed, Vinay Singhal has had an intriguing journey. He was the first person in his family to get educated, and hence he was completely clueless about the outside world. This did not dent his determination to arrive at the grand goal that he had set for himself. What goal? To become the richest person in the world! Vinay saw someone use a computer once and to him, it was like magic. He says it was love at first sight! He decided that he wanted to be an engineer. Oh, by the way, when he discovered the world of the Internet, guess what was the first thing he searched on Google? Name of the richest person in the world! This led him to start keeping a notepad where he would jot down ideas about how to make a better operating system than what Bill Gates’ company had made! He started his entrepreneurial journey with Badlega Bharat. In April 2012 he started a FB page that reached a 1 million follower mark in 6 months. He moved onto http://stupidstation.com/ (stupidstation.com) and started raking in a fortune via Google Adsense. Till one day the business was taken down in a moment! What followed next? Well, tune in to discover how he restarted his journey and eventually created WittyFeed! Key takeaways from the show: •How to formulate business strategies •Mistakes to avoid •Insights into starting up a business
Being a modern person in a hidebound culture isn’t easy. Especially when you are a woman because then, your resume is crafted for getting a placement in a ‘good family’. Your qualifications, work experience, education and description all count! But, the less the better! Just like many other women, this is a part of Anuradha Agarwal’s story as well. However Anuradha chose to author the latter half of her story herself and after a lot of hotchpotch, she finally built Multibhashi, a language learning platform that makes the process of learning fun & engaging. It is one of the best ways to learn English speaking courses through 10 different local languages or vice versa! Born out of Anuradha’s sincere determination of helping people learn English, Multibhashi had over 1,00,000 installs by July 2017! Today it has over 1.5 Million learners & over a million downloads on Playstore.
In today’s episode host, Akshay is in conversation with Anuradha, about her journey of building Multibhashi, about having hopes, being strong and growing through adversities. Tune in listen to the inspiring story of this “she-boss” & for some great insights & ideas on starting up.
This week on Founder Thesis Akshay Datt is in conversation with serial entrepreneur and investor Sachin Bhatia. You may know him best for his stint as the Co-Founder and CMO at Make My Trip. However Sachin is also the Co-Founder of online dating site TrulyMadly.com and, his latest venture, Bulbul.tv Bulbul is a revolutionary video commerce platform that is redefining online shopping by making it fun, engaging and social. At Bulbul, their network of ‘‘experts’, showcase and explain various products and the features in different Indian languages! In this episode, Sachin shares his journey from his first job as a sales executive selling water to being a serial founder. Tune in to get inspired and learn from one of the best brains in marketing.
Our guest today is someone who was moved by the movie ‘Swades’ to an extent that he decided to leave foreign land in order to leverage his skill set in his own desh - India. It was his love for his own country that moved him to pursue his bigger calling. He is none other than Aloke Bajpai, the CEO & Co-founder of Ixigo, building the future of mobile travel. He himself is an avid traveller. Aloke candidly shares his fond memories from his colourful childhood days in Kenya where he had a cosmopolitan experience that hugely groomed his personality. Beaches, wildlife or computers, he discovered everything during his days in Africa. He later happened to come to Kanpur where he spent his growing up years. His father would often take him for a walk to the IIT, Kanpur campus. Interestingly enough, he landed at the very institute and pursued his engineering from every other Indian engineer’s dream place- the IIT. Aloke had the golden opportunity to work at a global tech company before he started pursuing his entrepreneurial journey. Aloke has always been experimental. He never loses an opportunity to explore. In this conversation, he reminisces about his MBA days from the Wharton School that he thoroughly enjoyed. We can sense the joy as he tells us more about it and how he got inclined towards building his own company in 2006 and eventually renting a house in Gurgaon. Hear from the curious, multi-talented Aloke Bajpai about his diverse journey so far. KEY INSIGHTS FROM OUR CONVERSATION Building a travel technology company from scratch. Hacks for surviving in intensely competitive environments. How do you attract the right investors? Monetizing your product efficiently. Leveraging social media platforms.
A human who is capable of multitasking at his best. We call our today’s guest on the episode, a Superhuman. He is an extremely passionate man, he is unabashed, and is hungry for achieving the goals he sets his mind to. An IVF Specialist by the day, he is also an Angel Investor. He is grateful every day for what he does and finds immense pride in helping women get pregnant. He is an active businessman at heart and is a supercharged human being whose happy and energetic vibes are truly contagious. Our guest today is Aniruddha Malpani. Tune in as he shares his knowledge, experience and initiatives with us in this episode.
He is the founder of Malpani Fertility Clinic and the Mumbai-based Malpani Ventures, which invests in early-stage startups. Brought up in a family of doctors, choosing medicine as a career came naturally to him.
A gold medalist, he completed his MBBS from Seth G S Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai. He further went to California for pursuing his higher studies.
He launched HELP- Health Education Library for People, India’s first online patient education library with its sole motto to empower patients. It has now become the world's largest consumer health library.
He is also the benevolent author of books like https://www.google.co.in/search?sxsrf=ALeKk016SQMtGIJBTAzfFr6IICTlwu2zpw:1601594549147&q=Getting+Pregnant:+a+Guide+for+the+Infertile+Couple+Aniruddha+Malpani&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPgE-LRT9c3NDQuLjYoLrdQAvOMkgoLS7KrKrWkspOt9JPy87P1E0tLMvKLrEDsYoX8vJzKRawu7qklJZl56QoBRanpeYl5JVYKiQrupZkpqQpp-UUKJRmpCp55aalFJZk5qQrO-aUFQMoxL7OoNCUlI1HBNzGnIDEvcwcrIwC7SKoPhAAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjS9rPRxJTsAhWn7XMBHR_cAOUQmxMoATAUegQIDBAD (Getting Pregnant: a Guide for the Infertile Couple) and https://www.google.co.in/search?sxsrf=ALeKk016SQMtGIJBTAzfFr6IICTlwu2zpw:1601594549147&q=How+To+Find+The+Best+Doctor+Aniruddha+Malpani&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPgE-LRT9c3NDQuLjYoLrdQAvOMkvIqLY0LLbSkspOt9JPy87P1E0tLMvKLrEDsYoX8vJzKRay6HvnlCiH5Cm6ZeSkKIRmpCk6pxSUKLvnJJflFCo55mUWlKSkZiQq-iTkFiXmZO1gZAbOhHrltAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjS9rPRxJTsAhWn7XMBHR_cAOUQmxMoAjAUegQIDBAE (How To Find The Best Doctor).
He speaks about important topics that are otherwise sidelined and ignored. Aniruddha Malpani, in this honest conversation, reveals about his life from childhood days, upbringing, education to Indian patients, IVF, sperm bank, angel investments and the sweet and sour moments of his life.
Our keynotes from the conversation:
The emotional income of a doctor. When you set your heart on something, the whole world is open for you. Making successful investments in a systemic fashion. An open, transparent relationship between an investor and the entrepreneur. Healthcare Ecosystem and patient education. How to make a good angel investor.
“Dream Big. Work hard. Make it happen.” Such is the story of our guest today - Anshoo Sharma. The founder and CEO of Magicpin, the largest discovery platform for offline retail in India. Anshoo shares with us his entrepreneurial journey in the most honest way possible. He is a risk-taker and an extremely talented man. He holds a computer science degree from Delhi University and has worked in the engineering domain before he decided to write CAT in order to further explore bigger avenues in life. As a result of which he went on to pursue an MBA at the premier Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Being the passionate and inquisitive man that he is, he won many awards as he tried his hands at as many competitions that were being held every now and then during his 2-year MBA program. Eventually, he got the offer from the global management consultancy, Bains & Co. where he worked for almost 4 years as a consultant advising corporates across Telecom, FMCG and Healthcare. He also shares his experience of being a venture partner with Lightspeed India for 10 long years. He provides extraordinary insights into the world of investing, marketing, raising funds, successfully scaling up a business, and improvising. In this episode, he shares with us the inside details of his journey so far and how with sheer determination of making it BIG, he started Magicpin. A relentless man who never shied away from following his heart. Whether it was moving to a new city altogether or getting married to the long time love of his life. He has always pushed his boundaries and taken the leap of faith in all his life’s decisions.
Anshoo continues to thrive and currently all his focus is on Magicpin and providing a seamless experience to its users. Amidst the Covid circumstances, he chooses to remain optimistic and firmly believes that there are larger opportunities on the way.
Here are our Key Takeaways from the episode:
Building a platform to successfully impact the offline retail space Lessons you need to know when venturing into a VC firm and how the venture model runs Is the consultancy background worth it? How to ask the right questions when making the decision to switch How to invest prudently and build a long-term network
“You can't build a large company and build for scale without laying the foundations” - Hari T.N If you are seeking guidance on problem solving or building an organization for scale Hari is the person you should go to. As a part of the management team at various startups, he’s helped shape four successful exits in different industries! Hari started his career at Tata Steel as a part of their management trainee program and worked in myriad engineering and project management roles for 11 years before he pivoted towards working in human capital & resources. Since then Hari has held leadership roles in HR across organisations including IBM Daksh, Virtusa, Amba Research, Taxi For Sure sms now heading HR at BigBasket.com. And no, that’s not all, Hari is a published author, a mentor and advisor for several startups as well as investment firms and educational institutions.
In our conversation with Hari we learn about scaling startups and solving problems from a people and process perspective. Here are our key takeaways:
Are external consultants crucial for change management? Hiring philosophy of BigBasket.com. Navigating the challenges of a blue collar workforce. Adopting innovation for a consistent customer experience. How can early stage founders approach organisational culture. How to make incentive plans work.
It is said that failure is the stepping stone to success, and that failures must be embraced. Our conversation with Ambarish Gupta of Knowlarity drives this home. Born into a business family of Kanpur, Ambarish had an early introduction to profit and loss as he helped around in his father’s shop. He was equally immersed in the world of academics and graduated from IIT Kanpur, aspiring to make an impact in the real world. Before taking his first job as a software engineer in Australia and later the USA, Ambarish interned and backpacked through Germany. However Ambrish was passionate about doing more and making an impact and thus left his job in the US to return to Bangalore and start his first venture. However Ambarish’s startup did not take off and despite a year and half worth of effort he had to eventually let go to pursue a different path. Failure did not dampen his spirit. He took lessons. He went on to do his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, followed it up with a solid stint at McKinsey & Company before Ambarish came back to India for the second innings. Achieving his first sale before his company was incorporated, building a product within 72 hours and growing this venture 60X in 6 years, Ambarish wrote the script for the largest Cloud Telephony company in Asia - Knowlarity.
Ambarish is now the Founder & CEO of Basis Vectors, a private equity investment firm that invests and accelerates growth of lower-mid market vertical SaaS companies. Tune into our conversation with Ambrish to know more about:
What not to do when starting a new venture Why should you become a Founder What are the things he considers when making an investment
“The rate of increase of data is very high, but the rate of increase of noise is much higher” - Dhiraj Rajaram. In a world of knock-off ideas it is refreshing to come across originality and ideas that are truly authentic. Our conversation with Dhiraj Rajaram, the Founder of Mu Sigma was one such refreshing moment, punctuated with a lot of laughter over curious analogies. We spoke of Dhiraj’s childhood & genesis of Mu Sigma - a Big Data Analytics & Decision Sciences Company that is powered by Dhiraj’s vision of transformative interaction based problem solving perspective. With a unicorn status in the USA and over 140 Fortune 500 companies as their clients, Mu Sigma is an amalgamation of design, research & data. As a child Dhiraj was an ardent movie buff & a die hard cricket enthusiast. However he had an ever wandering mind and a childhood that was challenging & different to most kids. But, as Dhiraj says, “Pain is a gift. It does sculpt you” And it did. Shaped by the early lessons he learnt in life, Dhiraj had a successful corporate career working for PwC and then Booz Allen Hamilton. However, the drive to do more and to do things differently took precedence, and Dhiraj took the bold step of investing his life savings into his own startup - Mu Sigma. Onboarded Microsoft as his first client and the rest is history! Tune in to our enriching chat with this pioneering thought leader to know more about his thoughts on innovation, learning and embracing uncertainties. Of the many things we learnt, here are our key takeaways from this episode: The ecosystem required to nurture innovation. Interaction based problem solving. How to make high value B2B sales.
"I am not the guy who makes the choice happen to him, I must make the choice" - Satya Narayanan R. In this episode we talk to Satya Narayanan R, the Founder & Chairman of what you could say is India’s original ed-tech venture - CL Educate, better known as Career Launcher. Satya is not just an entrepreneur but also a teacher - something that he believes runs in his DNA! Satya candidly shares his incredible journey that began in the summer of 1985 in Meerut with Satya as a shy young boy with aspirations of becoming a cricketer to starting CL with a handful of students in 1994 at the age of 24 & to raising capital via an IPO. With humorous anecdotes from his early life, to his views on the quality of education at top b-schools, his take on entrepreneurship today and answering tough questions about size & scale v/s sustainability, tune in to get inspired by Satya & his stories of the choices he made in life.
Our key takeaways from this conversation are... Making acquisitions in early years of venture. Practicing situational leadership to get the best out of every employee. Chasing sustainability over size & scale. Importance of an IPO.
Production Credits:
Host: Akshay Datt Show Editors: Nandini Kamat Kunde & Vanya Shruti
Additional Vocals: Vanya Shruti
From Ambala to Singapore to London & then back to India! Here is the story of Swati Bhargava, the Co-Founder of CashKaro.com India’s largest & fastest growing cashback & coupons site. Remember your class topper in school? Well, Swati was the scholar of her batch scoring a 100/100 in maths in her 10th standard board exams. A young Ambala girl aspiring to study at the prestigious St. Stephens College in Delhi, but as the saying goes “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” - Life had alternate plans for Swati & she flew to Singapore instead to complete her further schooling after winning a scholarship from the Singaporean government. Earning another scholarship Swati flew next to London to study at the revered London School of Economics. Here in London Swati began her career as a part of the Investment Banking team at Goldman Sachs. It was also here that she met her husband and co-founder. While booking her honeymoon trip she came across the concept of cashback & an idea was born which eventually led to her first startup - Pouring Pounds & then to CashKaro. Today CashKaro is the only VC backed cashback site and has raised $4 million in Series A funding led by Kalaari Capital & has also raised investment from Ratan Tata! (Do not miss out on this anecdote where Swati pitched CashKaro to Ratan Data) Swati is a recipient of India’s first Digital Women Award for the Best Service Offering Company in the Ecommerce Industry & has also been featured in Fortune 40 Under 40 List in 2019. She has also been a keynote speaker at several prestigious events. Here are our key takeaways from our conversation with Swati: Raising angel funding in 48 hours Customer acquisition strategy Pitching to Ratan Tata. Growing an engaged social media followership
In what has been one of the most fun conversations we’ve had on Founder Thesis - we sit down for a chat with Dharamveer Singh Chouhan, Co-Founder & CEO of Zostel - the largest chain of backpacker hostels & experiential homes in Asia. An explorer & nonconformist at heart, Dharamveer’s journey into entrepreneurship is an exciting story. Through his early career days he has single-mindedly chased his passions and interests. Case in point, his tryst with Poker, and making games! However, unlike most other game developers, Dharamveer did not study computers! But when your dreams are larger than life, and you are driven by passion, nothing is impossible. And Dharamveer went on to prove this by starting his own gaming studio & also working as a game designer at Zynga. Dharamveer eventually pivoted and went on to IIM Calcutta to chase the shiny MBA. And inspired by his backpacking trip in Europe, Dharamveer spotted an opportunity to build a hospitality product that is true to India’s cultural diversity - Zostel. 7 years down the road, and Dharamveer is onto another dream! In this episode we talk to Dharamveer to know more about, well, everything. Right from growing up in Rajasthan to his experiences at IIT & IIM, playing poker, the genesis and growth of Zostel, & his new venture - or should we say adventure! Listen on!
“I believe little in luck & more in working hard & getting something done” - Rishabh ChopraIn this episode of Founder Thesis we talk Rishabh Chopra, the founder of The Ayurveda Experience (Transformative Learning Solutions). An alum of the prestigious student run global organisation AIESEC, Rishabh started his career here beginning as a volunteer and moving on to be elected to run the local chapter in Delhi, the national chapter from Mumbai & finally as an integral part of their Global offices as the Global VP of external relations. Having always aspired to be an entrepreneur, Rishabh returned to India to start a venture of his own. After several failed attempts & a few small wins in the ed-tech sector Rishabh’s hardwork led him to Ayurveda. Through Transformative Learning Solutions, Rishabh took the knowledge & benefits of Ayurveda across borders to the West & has since grown the business through diversification into ecommerce, recording a 70 Crore turnover in the last year. Tune into Rishabh’s story of taking Ayurveda to the West and operating a successful global business out of India. Here are our key takeaways from this episode: Rishabh’s experience at AIESEC & the impact it had in shaping him as an entrepreneur & leader. Choosing the US as a target market for Ayurveda. How to raise funding & manage the capital raised. How to retain the best human capital & knowledge in an organisation.
"My loyalty is not to Josh but to unlocking human potential" - Shobhit Banga A school drop out, a state level Tennis player, India’s youngest qualifier of the elite “Paris - Brest - Paris” International cycling event, founder of two NGO’s - Sach & Half Glass Full, a Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur and the Co-Founder of Josh Talks - Shobhit Banga can be described in many ways. But what defines him best is his quest for unlocking human potential. In this episode of Founder Thesis we sit down for a chat with Shobhit to learn about his fascinating off beat journey right from his small town life of Kullu, to pursuing sports as a career goal - cycling 600kms non stop, his experience at the Harvard Summer School, starting Josh Talks, losing focus & finally re-connecting with his mission of inspiring young minds. An incredible journey with lots to learn from. Here are key takeaways from our conversation with Shobhit: How growing up in a small town is advantageous to entrepreneurship. How quitting is harder than it seems. Starting and running an NGO. How Josh Talks was monetized. Chasing your purpose or mission through your startup.
“I was never governed by fear” - Bijai Jayarajan From being a young small town boy in South India to building a Multi Million Dollar company, Bijai Jayarajan is truly a fearless entrepreneur. Bijai founded Loyalty Rewardz in 2008. In his 10 year stint he raised venture capital investment to the tune of USD 26 Million & in 2017 Loyalty Rewardz was acquired for a whopping USD 100 Million! By the time Bijai exited the company Loyalty Rewardz was managing loyalty programs for 73% of all debit cards issued in India & was processing over 200 Million transactions a month. On a new adventure with Houm, an innovative digital product that will empower internet users to create a digital safe space - A digital home on the internet that will in a true sense ensure the privacy of our data, Bijai is once again on another fearless mission. On this episode of Founder Thesis, catch us in a candid conversation with Bijai to know more about his inspiring journey of entrepreneurial adventures. Our biggest takeaway from our chat with Bijai was that we must chase our passions fearlessly.
“For education to be meaningful it cannot be superficial" - Hari Krishnan Nair. Co-founder of Great Learning, India’s largest online learning platform Hari Krishnan Nair is the entrepreneur who made professional education easily accessible to Indians so that they could equip themselves with career critical competencies. A trailblazer in the ed-tech segment Great Learning has delivered over 9 Million learning hours & boasts of 15,000+ alumni with a turnover of approx. 300 Crores! Catch us in conversation with Hari Krishnan where he shares his entrepreneurial story of triumphs, loses & what led to the genesis of Great Learning. Here are our key takeaways from this episode: Perseverance is the key to success. How to market premium service products. Focusing on quality over growth in the inception phase. Nurturing & engaging audiences through content.
“You can’t change what the market wants, you can only serve what the market wants” - Tonmoy Shingal. For this week's Founder Thesis episode, we sat down for a conversation with Tonmoy Shingal the co-founder of HF-tech SAAS platform, Mettl. A tech solution that changed the way organisations hire talent. We talk to Tonmoy about the genesis of Mettl to its stupendous growth to finally being acquired by Mercer & everything else in between. This has been one of the most exciting entrepreneurial journeys we’ve heard so far on this show - and how could it not be? Mettl’s stakeholders got a 7x on their investments as they exited!! Here are the key takeaways from our discussion: An 80/20 approach towards enriched learning. How to find your life’s calling. Raising funds for the startup & the two types of VC investors. Adapting your product as you grow to achieve the right product-market fit. Scaling by being frugal on marketing spends.
“We will see in our lifetime a generation of products being built online only for women” - Sairee Chahal. Founder of Sheroes - a social networking site exclusively for women, Sairee is a pioneer in building up women at work and future-of-work conversations in India. She has several accolades under her belt, such as Devi Award, Femina Achievers Award, Cartier Award, Editor’s choice for L’Oreal Femina Women’s Award, Business Today and others. She is a tech-entrepreneur who is passionate about women’s internet & has championed the cause of levelling gender disparity in India. In this episode, we spoke to Sairee about her journey from her days of being a Russian Literature Major to the inception, growth & future of Sheroes. Here are our key takeaways from this episode: How to build a social networking platform & community. How to monetize a social network. Using a helpline feature as a means to build consumer trust. The truths about networking. How to manage & hire for remote working teams.
‘Jo bhi karunga, usme khush rahunga, kidhar bhi mein kaam karu, I want to be happy’ – Akash GehaniHere is a story of an intelligent boy who grew up in the suburbs of Mumbai with one mantra ‘never take yourself seriously’ But when it came to starting a business, Akash was very serious about helping small and micro-businesses to grow and help them trust the internet. Instamojo started with Payment Links – a simple URL that one can copy and paste anywhere on the internet and receive payments online via any payment mode. Today Instamojo has 3 Million+ payment links, 50,000+online stores and a 5 million+ monthly reach Akshay Dutt talks to Akash Gehani about his early days and how the idea for Instamojo was hatched. Some key takeaways from this show are: How to stick to your vision when faced with fast up-scaling options. Networking the right way to help your business grow. Being persistent with ideas in spite of initial failures; and How to keep constantly learning from your environment
“It is possible to disproportionately colour consumers’ opinion about yourself” - Aditya Save. A marketing mega mind Aditya has previously worked with big brands such as Shaadi.com, Marico & GSK where he’s held senior leadership positions. Having made his mark in the corporate world Aditya is now the co-founder of Agilio Labs - a startup studio that works with experts to launch innovative & successful startups. He calls himself a student of human behavior & has a keen interest in how technology is helping scale brilliant ideas faster. Aditya Save is also an angel investor and has invested in and incubated ideas for about 8 years now. This episode of the Founder Thesis show is a marketing masterclass with Aditya. Here are a few key takeaways: An open and autonomous work culture encourages employees to take risks & achieve higher performance. The difference between risk & uncertainty. How to create a distinctive brand image, in a market with several competitive & similar products. How to tap into consumers as a source of learning.
“The credit goes to my team always. You can not build a brand single-handedly.” - Vikas Bagaria. Vikas Bagaria is the founder of Pee Safe - India’s leading personal hygiene brand on a mission to empower women with good health and easy hygiene solutions. With several accolades already under its belt, Pee Safe was recently also awarded as The Best SMB Brand of the Year by Amazon India. A serial entrepreneur with over 23 years of business acumen, Vikas believes in leading from the front and never settling or giving up on his goals. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Vikas talks about his entrepreneurial journey & the events that shaped him as a business leader. Here are a few key takeaways from the show: Being persistent in chasing your dreams and never settling for a “No” Taking failures in stride and treating them as a stepping stone to success. Not letting your pedigree, race or economic situation define your ability or future. Leading your team from the front. How building a B2C brand is a continuous learning process.
“In India, dining out is an event, smallest of things can ruin it, and smallest of things can make it better”– Ankit MehrotraAnkit’s tryst with entrepreneurship got ignited when he overcame his fear of failing an exam. The boy who grew in the bylanes South Delhi went to the University of Essex to pursue his engineering, chased his love for finance to got a CFA charter and did odd jobs to survive, before he became a successful investment banker. And then he quit it all and came back to India to start Dine Out with two of his childhood best friends. Today, Dine Out is one of India’s largest Dining and Restaurant Tech platforms that processes more than 100M diners and $800mn worth of transactions across its network of 50,000 partner restaurants in 20 cities. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Ankit talks about being a young professional during the 2008 recession, conceptualising Dine Out, starting out, his acquisitions and creating an ecosystem for the food industry in India The key takeaways are… How do you take an idea from concept to business What common mistakes that start-ups typically make How you to keep yourself focused on the vision with which you started What does it take to understand the niche that you operate in How do you create new avenues within your industry
“It pays to stay authentic and talk to millennials in the language they understand” - Hitesh Dhingra.Hitesh Dhingra is the founder of 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 Founder Thesis, our hosts Akshay & Saurabh are 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 VF Funding. How to connect with the Millenial consumers.
“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 recommerce 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 on Founder Thesis podcast, 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.
“Organisation has to be larger than yourself” - Girish BatraGirish Batra is the founder of NetAmbit - a 19-year-old organisation that has been powering startups in India to scale their businesses through a unique sustainable sales growth model. The model was so successful that it was featured in Forbes India magazine. A tenacious entrepreneur, Girsh has built NetAmbit from the ground up not once but twice, braving setbacks & rising above challenges stronger than ever. Today NetAmbit is a well known managed sales service provider with a team of over 15000 employees. Girish is a graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He’s always aspired to be an entrepreneur, right from his early childhood days & is amongst the few who’ve had the courage to chase their dreams. In this week’s episode on Founder Thesis podcast hosts, Akshay & Saurabh are in conversation with Girish, where he talks about his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he picked up along the way. Key takeaways from the show: How to scale businesses successfully. Mistakes to avoid when scaling your startup. Overcoming challenges with a positive mindset. Importance of ethics & culture in scaling the business. Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on investors & how much capital to raise.