India GameChanger: Recent Episodes
Michael Waitze Media
As the cost of higher education in India continues to soar, creating a real barrier for millions of aspiring students, the country needs more entrepreneurs that understand both the financial challenges and the transformative power of education. Prashant A. Bhonsle, the Founder of Kuhoo Finance, is one of those entrepreneurs. Kuhoo is actively creating solutions through innovative student loan products that use technology and data science to ensure that financial constraints do not stand in the way of a student's future. His approach is not about throwing money at the problem; it’s about creating tailored, flexible repayment options that empower students without burdening their families. In a country where dreams are often stifled by lack of funds, Kuhoo Finance is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap.Prashant understands the long-term impact education can have on a family, a generation, and the economy. He believes that the right loan at the right time doesn’t just help students pay for their education—it transforms their future and provides financial independence. His vision goes beyond just financing; it's about making higher education accessible to the masses, enabling students to achieve their full potential. To truly understand the impact that accessible education can have on individuals and society, listen closely to Prashant’s journey and learn how education finance can be a key driver of opportunity.
The landscape of contract management and documentation is undergoing a significant transformation as businesses increasingly adopt digital solutions to streamline these traditionally cumbersome processes. The shift towards digital documentation involves more than just converting paper documents into electronic formats; it encompasses the entire lifecycle of a contract, from creation and negotiation to execution, monitoring, and renewal.This comprehensive approach, known as Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), addresses the inefficiencies and risks associated with manual methods, offering businesses a more efficient and error-resistant way to manage their critical documents.In this episode of India GameChanger, featuring Aditya Pandranki, Founder and CEO of Doqfy, we delved into the journey of building a digital documentation platform aimed at revolutionizing contract management. Aditya shared how his personal frustrations with outdated, manual processes in banking led him to create Doqfy, a solution designed to streamline the complex lifecycle of contracts. From document creation and negotiation to execution and renewal, Doqfy offers a comprehensive, digital approach that addresses the inefficiencies and risks associated with traditional methods. Aditya’s transition from a successful corporate career to entrepreneurship underscores the importance of persistence and a deep understanding of industry pain points.Don't miss this insightful conversation with Aditya Pandranki. Learn how digital platforms are revolutionizing the entire contract lifecycle, from creation to execution, and why embracing these tools is crucial for business efficiency and growth.
"It's the joy of building that makes a great co-founder. It's the childish behavior that you have in you, obviously tinkering and seeing that, 'Hey, this maybe that we have been taught is the right way is maybe not the right way.' And see if, you know, you can basically, you know, try to challenge the norm and say, 'Cool, you know, let me try it out.'" - Sarthak Shrivastava
"One of the reasons, probably, I and probably all founders, right, start a company because they want to have an impact on the world somehow. We are not doing it for the money. We are not doing it for the fame, honestly, right? And we really are doing it for the impact, or to have some positive change in the world." - Sudipta Biswas
In this episode of India GameChanger featuring Sarthak Shrivastava and Sudipta Biswas, co-founders of FloWorks, we delved into the journey of building a startup that leverages AI to revolutionize the sales process.
Sarthak and Sudipta shared how their early entrepreneurial spirit and complementary skills as co-founders have been instrumental in navigating the challenges of building a business. They emphasized the importance of being part of vibrant startup ecosystems, such as Bangalore and San Francisco, which provided the inspiration and support needed to drive their venture forward, even during tough market conditions. Their experience at Y Combinator further highlighted the value of resilience and the power of community in the startup world.
At FloWorks, they are pioneering the use of AI to streamline and enhance the sales process, with a focus on maintaining a human touch through personalized, reliable interactions. Their AI agent, Alisha, is designed to handle repetitive tasks in sales, allowing salespeople to focus on more strategic activities.
Sarthak and Sudipta discussed the balance between scaling operations and ensuring personalized communication, a key challenge in today's business environment. Their commitment to building a product with real impact—both for their customers and their team—underscores their belief that success is not just about financial gain, but about making a positive difference in the world.
"When the client would walk into a completed site, they would actually tell us that, you know what, when you showed me those renders I had visualized, or I had imagined that, you know, this is what it would look like when you had shown me that small swatch of the laminate sample or the marble sample, I could not understand that applied to, let's say, 5000 square feet, how would it look like?" - Tithi Tewari
"The 3D models that usually the architects and the designers used to create for themselves and for them to present their ideas, and still did a pretty bad job of it. And now you what you do is that a click of a button bring it into our software, and it becomes experiential." - Gautam Tewari
In this episode of India GameChanger, we delve into the journey of Gautam and Tithi Tewari, co-Founders of Trezi, an immersive platform revolutionizing design communication and collaboration in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Drawing from their extensive backgrounds in architecture and construction management, the Tewaris identified the persistent challenges of miscommunication and fragmentation in the design process. They created Trezi to bridge these gaps.
Some of the topics Tithi and Goutam covered in detail:
- The entrepreneurial power of a shared vision. They had worked together for years and their combined experiences led them to solve a persistent problem, "How can we bridge the communication gap in design projects?"
- The desire to transform the client relationship with experiential design.
- Democratizing the design process - In traditional design processes, clients often have limited input, leading to misunderstandings and dissatisfaction. Trezi addresses this by giving clients a more active role in the design process.
- Leveraging sophisticated, state-of-the-art technology to enable real-time collaboration .
- The inherent risks in any entrepreneurial journey and their commitment to building something lasting and transformational.
"So when we started Kraftshala, we actually, you know, started, you know, with training some of the elite institution students. But as we expanded, we quickly figured out job is what people are looking for. Job is what you have to prepare for, and jobs is what you have to win for." - Varun Satia
In this episode of India GameChanger, Varun Satia, founder and CEO of Kraftshala, shared his journey from working at Nestle to creating an impactful marketing and sales learning platform. Varun's early involvement in entrepreneurship, including founding a college entrepreneurship cell and working under mentors like Vivek Ramaswamy, played a crucial role in shaping his business acumen.
Some of the topics Varun covered in detail included:
- How working at a large company was good, but he had a lingering feeling of being detached from the granular learning experiences that come with smaller, more agile environments.
- An anecdote about his early failure while launching a network in India under Vivek's mentorship reveals a critical lesson: resilience and learning from setbacks. Varun’s initial launch was a failure, but the guidance he received helped him navigate through it and grow.
- His critique of traditional higher education, particularly business schools, reveals a disconnect between academic learning and necessary, real-world business skills.
- Varun unapologetically provides a sobering look at the Indian job market. He emphasizes that higher education institutions in India must focus primarily on employability.
- KraftShala’s approach to continuously evolving its curriculum based on industry needs is a testament to the importance of adaptability. By maintaining close relationships with recruiters and updating their programs to include emerging skills like programmatic advertising, they ensure their students remain competitive.
- Using data analytics to enhance the placement process is one of KraftShala’s innovative strategies. By tracking where students drop off in the job application process and providing targeted support, they improve placement rates and student confidence.
In this episode of India Game Changer, Nao Murakami, Founder and General Partner at Incubate Fund Asia, shared valuable insights into the world of early-stage venture capital investing.
Some of the topics that Murakami-san covered in detail:
- Why Incubate Fund Asia's approach to venture capital is deeply rooted in the principle of early-stage investing.
- His belief that founders deeply committed to solving specific problems are more likely to persevere through challenges and create successful businesses.
- The benefits of proactive deal sourcing and even engaging with founders prior to them raising capital.
- How Incubate Fund's global perspective enables them to identify trends and opportunities that may not be immediately apparent within a single market.
"Meeting some of the smartest founders at the very early stages of their lifecycle is a thrill. It is a different thrill altogether...When you are evaluating early stage, you are less focused on the downside and you're looking at, 'Oh, I know my downside going in is known as 1x, whatever is the initial thing that I write in, but I should not give up on the 50x, 100x that potentially can come out.'" - Pratip Mazumdar
India GameChanger was honored to host, Pratip Mazumdar, a co-Founder and Partner at Inflexor Ventures. We did a deep dive into the world of early-stage investing and Pratip shared his journey from engineering to venture capital, highlighting how his technical background aids in making informed investment decisions by focusing on minimizing noise and identifying key signals.
Some of the topics Pratip discussed in detail included:
- Pratip emphasized that evaluating the founder and the team is paramount. Vision, ability to adapt, and resilience are key indicators of potential success.
- The inherent thrill of early-stage investing because it involves engaging with young, innovative minds trying to solve hard problems.
- Whether it's an early-stage venture or a late-stage buyout, understanding the market potential and ensuring the valuation is reasonable are key steps in the investment decision-making process.
- The necessity for founders to be comfortable with being wrong and iterating on their ideas. Adaptability is crucial for navigating the unpredictable landscape of early-stage startups.
- The importance of capital efficiency and the ability to operate in resource-constrained environments. Pratip believes that founders who have survived tough times are more likely to be successful in the long run.
- How Inflexor Ventures places a strong emphasis on the societal impact of their investments, looking for opportunities that offer advantages to consumers while contributing positively to the environment.
"It was definitely a challenge, not just for anyone…but for myself. Because I had to first rewire my own frameworks. Although I was seeing that we have to think long term. But quite honestly, in action, I was not taking actions which were long term in nature." - Ankur Joshi
India GameChanger welcomed back Ankur Joshi, the Founder and CEO of Nuclei to discuss the evolution of the company and the strategic shifts that have occurred since their last conversation. Ankur delves into the importance of building a trust-based relationship model in business, rather than focusing solely on immediate sales. He also shares insights on fostering a long-term team culture and the personal growth that has informed his leadership style and company ethos.
Some of the big topics that we covered also included:
- The sacrifices made by his parents to ensure he received a good education laid the foundation for his relentless pursuit of excellence
- How the entrepreneurial itch led him to leave the traditional banking world to explore the uncharted waters of starting a business, much to the disbelief of his family and peers
- Nuclei's mission of infusing traditional banking with a digital-first DNA, catering to the changing behaviors and expectations of a new generation of consumers
- The importance of global thinking and diversity within teams to truly innovate and meet the needs of a global customer base
- The transformative power of education, perseverance, and the relentless pursuit of innovation
India GameChanger welcomed Balasubramanian Sankaranarayanan, the CEO of Thryve Digital Health for a really interesting covnersation. Bala's journey, from a chemist and motorsport enthusiast to a leading figure in digital health, offers a wealth of insights into building a future-focused healthcare enterprise.
Some of the insights Bala offered included:
- The interplay between passion and profession and the multifaceted nature of leadership
- The importance of creating a culture that encourages speaking up, innovation, and collaboration
- Creating an ecosystem that supports better clinical outcomes and enhances patient care
- Healthcare excellence and a desire to impact both the industry and the individuals within it
- An insistence on the necessity of daily learning
India GameChanger had the privilege of hosting Dr. Chytra Anand, a renowned dermatologist and a pioneer in skincare innovation. Dr. Anand is the founder of Kosmoderma Skin, Hair, and Body Clinics and SkinQ DermaCosmetics. With over two decades of experience in dermatology, she has trailblazed the path of skincare, particularly for melanin-rich skin. Her journey encompasses the challenges and triumphs in bridging the gap between traditional dermatological practices and the unique needs of skin of color.
Some of the topics that Chytra covered in detail include:
- Understanding the uniqueness of skin color as a foundation for innovation
- The power of education and information in skincare evolution
- The need to embrace technological innovation while balancing traditional practices
- The importance of patient-centric product development
- The fundamental need for inclusive skin care solutions
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Skin Deep Innovation
- Melanin Matters - The Color of Care
- Transforming Skin Care Beyond the Surface
- Revolutionizing Skin Health: A New Shade of Dermatology
- Skin Science and the Reimagining of Dermatological Care
India GameChanger was fortunate to speak with Praveen Grover, the VP and Managing Director in India for AHEAD. AHEAD builds and manages digital platforms that accelerates digital transformation for their partners to create significant and sustainable business impact.
Some of the topics that Praveen discussed in detail included:
- Challenges as stepping stones to success
- Risk-taking and risk mitigation as a calculated strategy
- Strategic expansion into India requires a blend of risk-taking and pragmatism
- Building AHEAD in India and what its future looks like
- Companies must see India as a strategic long-term destination
- The importance of fulfillment in one's career and life
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Risk Often Leads to Reward
- Most Entrepreneurs Are Not Risk Takers
- I Was Missing the Action
- There Is No Upper Limit to Wisdom, Beauty, and Wealth
- Failure Is an Inevitable Step to Your Success
- Young People Don’t Make Good Mercenaries
India GameChanger spoke with Shaayak Chatterjee, co-founder of Breathe ESG, an enterprise SAS company focused on sustainability management. Shaayak shared valuable insights about the world of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and the importance of making a positive impact in the world.
Some of the topics Shaayak covered in detail included:
- Personal privilege and collective responsibility
- The rise of ESG and its implications
- The role technology can play is ESG management
- The mathematical nature of music and software
- The value of education and experience
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- We Have More Engineers Than Some Countries Have People
- Building a Sustainable Future
- Discovering the Rhythm of Sustainability
- Streamlining Sustainability Management
- Perfect Is the Enemy of Good Enough
India GameChanger was joined by Aashish Mehta, the CEO at nRoad. nRoad is a culmination of many years of the need to address an intractable problem in the enterprise – extracting, understanding, and providing insights from unstructured data and documents.
Some of the main topics that Aashish discussed:
- Focus on the value, not on the valuation
- AI is not a magic wand that instantly solves all problems
- The power of unstructured content processing
- Data privacy and highlighted the importance of protecting sensitive information
- Living in the golden age of technology
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Anything Is Possible as Long as You Want It
- Patience Is Very Very Important with AI
- When You Automate, You Are Keeping Your Institutional Knowledge
- AI's Impact on the Workforce: Embracing Change and Maximizing Potential
- Overcoming Fear: Embracing the Potential of AI
India GameChanger was joined by Amrit Sagar, the Founder and Managing Director at Ercess Live. Ercess Live is a data-drive community-powered Infuencer Marketing company.
Some of the topics Amrit covered in detail included:
- Getting his MBA in Italy and the genesis of his entrepreneurial journey
- The exploding growth and power of influencer marketing in India
- The replacement of traditional advertising with new marketing channels
- Big brands are shifting massive budgets to these new platforms and channels
- Expanding Ercess Live's business to Asia and the Middle East
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- The Continuing Rise of the Creator Economy
- Unlocking the Potential of the Indian Creator Economy
- Building a Profitable Startup in the Indian Market
- Is the Future of Advertising Influencer Marketing?
- AI, Data Analytics, and the Changing Marketing Landscape
IndiaGameChanger welcomed Ravi Jitani, a co-founder of Countingwell to the show. Countingwell emphasizes inquiry, problem-solving, and growth mindsets. The app was designed to place children at the center of learning.
Some of the topics that Ravi covered:
- The importance of personalized learning in math education
- The challenges and opportunities of implementing technology in schools
- The need to link math education to larger career aspirations
- The impact of capital and technology on transforming societies
- The long-term vision for Countingwell and its potential for global expansion
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Breaking Barriers: Overcoming Language Challenges in Math Education
- The Importance of Data in Education: Revolutionizing the Classroom
- From Calculation to Career Aspirations: The Power of Math Education
- Math Education: Bridging the Gap Between Calculation and Comprehension
- Revolutionizing Math Education in India and Beyond
I had the pleasure of speaking with Malay Parekh, the CEO of Unico Connect, a software development agency based in Mumbai, India. During our conversation, Malay shared his journey in the tech industry and discussed the impact of technology on his life and the world.
Some of the topics Malay Covered:
- How getting his first computer made him the go-to-guy for computer-related questions as a youngster
- Studying for his Masters degree at USC and what he learned from Silicon Valley
- The significance of low-code and no-code platforms in software development
- The challenges of managing projects remotely and building software products that create real impact
- AI’s practical applications and how it drives real business growth
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Enchanted by Technology
- From a Pentium 1 to Artificial Intelligence
- Is Low-Code / No-Code Really the Future?
- Building Great Software AND Having Impact
- Unlocking Innovation: How AI Helps Us Build the Future
In this episode of India GameChanger, the co-founders of Giverly, Manvi Mehra and Sagar Menon, discuss their journey in the Indian startup ecosystem and how they came up with the idea for Giverly. Manvi shares her experience working with startups and investors, while Sagar talks about his background in entrepreneurship and the impact of COVID-19 on his previous startup idea.
Some of the main topics Manvi and Sagar discussed:
- Insights gained from working with startups on fundraising and go-to-market strategies
- The importance of identifying a market gap large enough to build into
- The need to focus on real revenues and scalability
- Why they were both destined to give back to society
- Their goal to make every transaction globally a means of social impact
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- It’s Not a Story, It’s a Feeling
- I Believe the Universe Gives Us Signs
- The Power of Crisis Innovation
- Every Crisis Is a Potential Opportunity
- Scaling Impact for Global Change
In this episode of India GameChanger, Avinash Joshi, the Chief Executive Officer of NTT India shares his professional journey. He also reflects on the synergistic power of combining the engineering mindset with strong business acumen.
Some of the topics that Avinash covered:
- The significance of India in NTT's global business
- The importance of the startup ecosystem to NTT and how its own VC fund supports startups
- Digital transformation in India and the role of mobile payments (UPI)
- Sustainability and NTT's commitment to environmental responsibility
- Artificial intelligence and its role in NTT's future
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- That Creates a Tailwind for IT Services
- We Can Not Do All of It Ourselves
- You Get Ideas from Where People Are Adding Value
- This Is Something That We Owe to the Next Generation
In a world where many individuals pursue a traditional career path, there are those who dare to venture into uncharted territory, combining their expertise with an entrepreneurial spirit. This only begins to describe what the India GameChanger learned from Dr. Arbinder Singal, a co-Founder and the CEO of Fitterfly.
Some of the topics that Dr. Singal covered:
- The size and scope of the metabolic health issues in India
- Building his surgical practice and maintaining that practice in the midst of his entrepreneurial journey
- The impact of technology on healthcare and the challenges of scaling these solutions
- The priceless support he gets from his wife
- His motivations as an entrepreneur and overcoming its complex challenges
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- The Anatomy of an Outcome Is the Binding Glue
- In Healthcare, the Scale Is Always Built By the Power of Referrals
- We Told You It Wouldn’t Work
- You Will Have Your Own Graveyard of Experiments
- Overfed, Exercising Less, and Working Really Hard
Welcome to another amazing episode of India GameChanger where we sit down with Arun Bagaria, a co-Founder and CEO of TravClan, a startup with the mission to revolutionize the travel agent industry. Arun provides an insightful overview of his entrepreneurial journey, the value of having a "big why" and how TravClan is modernizing the role of travel agents.
Some of the topics Arun covered:
- TravClan's bias toward action
- What it takes to be a customer-first entrepreneur
- The ongoing relevance and evolution of travel agents
- The importance of a "Big Why"
- How travel agents can build trust
- Taking action, learning from mistakes, and quick iterations
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Building From a Customer-First Perspective
- It’s a Real Marriage Saver
- Everything Happens On Trust, But There Is a Large Trust Deficit
- Having a Bias Toward Action
India GameChanger learned a lot from Saahil Kapoor, the Founder of Buzzaar. Buzzaar is an AI/ML-powered content-driven marketplace that lets consumers shop from their trusted neighbourhood stores as well as products from upcoming brands, to provide a convenient and personalized shopping experience.
Some of the topics Saahil discussed:
- Going to work for the family business but being bitten by the startup bug
- Built Retouch and had great partners, but COVID hit
- Empowering mini-format retailers and Kirana stores to thrive in a modern market
- The importance of supporting new, DTC brands
- Building a work-life balance and the importance of treating employees well
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Going Through the Hustles Every Day
- I Love to Go Beyond the Boundaries
- You Should Have a Good Set of People Around You
- Learning Is a Forever Process
- It’s Not Easy to Kill Me
India GameChanger was filled with ideas while speaking to Purnank Prakash and Mayank Banka, the co-founders of Samaaro. Samaaro is an all-in-one event technology platform for B2B marketers and event professionals.
Some of the topics Purnank and Mayank covered:
- Wanting to build something for India at scale
- How the pandemic pushed them out of their comfort zone and ultimately led to a better business
- Learning how to feel comfortable with risk
- The importance of being actively engaged with your customers
- Data gathering and event personalization
Other titles we seriously considered for this episode:
- How Technology Can Actually Influence the Entire Event Industry
- Build from India for the World
- We Need to Show Some Kind of Resilience
- You’re Not Going to Deal With Someone You Can’t Trust
- You Have to Keep Evolving
India GameChanger spent an amazing time with Anil Kumar, the Founder and CEO of Samunnati. Samunnati is an open agri network built to unlock the trillion-dollar-plus potential of India's agricultural sector with smallholder farmers at its center.
Some of the topics Anil covered:
- His 27 years of experience in the rural agricultural sector
- The resilience of rural-agri communities in spite of being ignored by formal financial institutions
- The challenges smallholder farmers face accessing large selling markets
- The pitfalls of a highly fragmented agri-ecosystem
- The level of financial sophistication of most smallholder farmers is quite high
- It is not about financial literacy, it is about product customization
Other titles we considered for this episode, but ultimately decided 'maybe next time':
- Buying Inputs Retail and Selling Wholesale
- Harmonizing the Journey
- They Are More Sophisticated than You and Me
- Leveraging the Power of Aggregation
- We Require the Zubin Mehta’s of Agriculture
India GameChanger was charmed by Jashid Hameed and Prithvi Kini, the co-Founders of Nuvedo. Nuvedo are committed to building a community of mushroom enthusiasts, consumers, and trusted vendors for exotic varieties of mushrooms and premium mushroom products.
Some of the topics that Jashid and Prithvi covered:
- How they became interested in permaculture, food systems and sustainability
- Volunteering on farms during COVID-19
- Creating a marketplace and supply chain for mushrooms in India
- The importance of working with indigenous mushrooms and locally sourced substrates
- Branding and the significance of local cultures, food and languages
Some other titles we considered for this episode, but ultimately rejected:
- Medicine, Engineering, or Law
- Food Is an Emotional Topic
- We Remove the Hurdles for the Average Farmer
- Climate Change Is Not Making Anything Easier
- I Want to Create Tangible Impact
India GameChanger enjoyed speaking with Rahul Jain, a co-Founder of AllCloud. AllCloud empowers financial institutions with technology that enables scale and optimizes their operations.
Some of the topics that Rahul discussed:
- Making the decision to move to AllCloud full-time from his family's lending business
- Moving customer interactions to a digital platform
- Data aggregation and the insights that creates
- Replicating the original lending model and branching out to more verticals
- The implications of India’s UPI connecting with Singapore’s PayNow
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- I Didn’t Buy the Software, I Purchased the Idea
- Lending Is a Business of Persuasion
- One Builds, One Manages, One Sells
- Debits and Credits Don’t Change
- It Became Exciting for Everybody
- In one Word, It’s ‘Scale’
In the middle of this episode, I was trying to remember Victor Kiam's name...
India GameChanger spoke with Kinner Sacchdev, a co-Founder and the CEO of Knorish. Knorish empowers performers, creators, and domain experts to share their knowledge with the world.
Some of the topics that Kinner discussed:
- The importance of data synthesis and bias recognition
- Knowledge sharing and the keys to building funnels
- Understanding and leaning into your micro-niche
- Integrating AI tools into your content creation and distribution stack
- The Circle of Influence - Focusing on issues where you know you can have influence
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- It’s Super Impossible to Generalize India
- Everything In Life Is a Funnel
- Don’t Generalize from Your Own Experience
- If I Could Find a Way
- You Can Only Stay Relevant if You Are Constantly Learning
I had a lot of fun speaking with Rishav Agarwal, the Founder and CEO at Picxele. Picxele helps companies meet their on-demand work requirements through trained gig workers, where companies pay only for results delivered not merely for manpower.
Some of the topics we discussed:
- Learning about marketing, growth, and sales while doing his internships
- Rishav's introduction to the startup ecosystem - there was so much he did not know!
- How his own experiences lead to the founding of Picxele
- The importance of cash management and reinvesting revenue back into the business
- Building a specialized platform and not being a jack-of-all-trades
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- I Did 43 Internships
- Without Decent Revenue, I Can Not Fill My Stomach
- You Need to Have that Credibility in Place
- I Was Only Getting Pizza, I Was Not Getting the Toppings
Please note that I made a real-time calculation error of INR to USD in the midst of this conversation...:-(
India GameChanger was joined by Deepak Aggarwal, a co-founder and the co-CEO at MoneyBoxx. MoneyBoxx is "engaged in the business of providing small-ticket business loans to micro and small enterprises. With financial inclusion at its heart, MoneyBoxx caters to the unmet credit needs of micro and small enterprises in Tier-III and beyond cities."
Some of the topics that Deepak discussed:
- Bringing institutional culture to smaller companies
- Big company learnings and how much quality matters
- The importance of analytical rigor
- The difficulty of getting a small loan in India
- Helping clients build balance sheets and income statements
- The role the government plays in determining priority loan sectors
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- Shallow Information Is Dangerous
- You Need to Have People There
- Higher Standards
- Hiring Vets in the Branches
- We Have a Large Cattle Portfolio
India GameChanger had an interesting conversation with Neha Gahlaut, a Co-founder and the CMO at OneGreen. OneGreen is Asia's largest one-stop destination for all things pure, safe, clean, green, sustainable and organic.
Some of the topics Neha covered:
- How Neha’s daughter Influenced Neha into thinking about getting into a conscious behaviour and habits
- How Covid-19 creating a new market in India contributed to OneGreen being born
- OneGreen's screening process of brands to ensure customers’ trust and credibility
- The importance of getting deep insights from customers' consumer journey
- OneGreen's Future plans to make an interactive market place
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Fear Is a Negative Emotion but It’s an Emotion That Really Makes You Change Behaviour
- Shifting to Better Choices
- Bringing It All Together
- It’s the Start of a Revolution
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an energetic conversation with Amit Gupta, Founder of Ecosystm & Kampd. Ecosystm is a Digital Research and Advisory Company with its global headquarters in Singapore. Kampd is a platform for like-minded professionals to engage with each other within communities of interest anchored around relevant and curated content.
Some of the topics Amit covered:
- The importance of understanding ones roots and appreciating one's heritage
- The effectiveness of updating, making changes, and understanding what your gaps are within the company
- How the ability to visually see spreadsheets helped Amit keep the dots connected
- The process Amit needed to go through to start Ecosystm
- How identifying the problem helped enable Ecosystm to be the first company in the last 20 years to truly take on some of the big global competitors
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Whatever You Do, Make Sure You Do What You Think Is Right
- Being an Entrepreneur, You Always Have to Have Many Many Plans to Fall Back On
- There’s Always a Better Way of Doing Things That Makes the Service Delivery Process More Agile
- What Drives Passion Is Emotion
- Adding Value to the Community
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an interesting conversation with Neeraj Saxena, Managing Partner at Xscale and Univision Fund. Xscale mainly focuses on accelerating the revenues of Indian B2B SaaS Companies and help them expand in international markets. Univision Fund invest in Seed and Preseed stage B2B SaaS and Deep-Tech Companies.
Some of the topics Neeraj covered:
- How one experience help shaped Neeraj future goals and career
- Neeraj’s take on how to identify when ones product can be taken to the abroad market
- Neeraj’s key part of what pre-engagement needs and what’s the go-to market plan
- Why top tier talents in India are staying back and doing their own startup
- Neeraj’s emphasis on why it is an amazing time to start a startup now or start their entrepreneurship journey in India
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- The Fence Has to Be Taken Out at a Certain Point of Time
- Most Founders Lose Patience Because They Don’t Understand the Journey
- There’s No 100% Product
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an insightful conversation with Satvik Jagannath, CEO & Co-founder of Vitra.ai. Vitra.ai helps translate Videos, Podcasts & Subtitles to 50+ languages with just 1-click.
Some of the topics Satvik covered:
- The big edge of being in India
- How the last two decades changed the game in India
- The importance of analysing internal factors across a time scale
- The metaverse and why it matters to Vitra.ai
- Understanding how audio signals work
- The genesis of Vitra.ai
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Our Goal Is to Build Experiential Translation
- It’s About the Process
- Translating With One Click
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an interesting conversation with Varun Goenka, CEO & Co-founder at Charge-up. Charge-up offers Battery as a Service, solving the high cost problem and inconvenience of long charging hours, through its distributed network of battery swapping hubs.
Some of the topics Varun covered:
- How Charge-up evolved from connecting a problem to curiosity
- The impact of Charge-up
- How India is well trained to design products based on the environment of the users and businesses.
- Charge-up’s 3 non-negotiable drivers
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Plug and Play
- Being Done Through Us
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an interesting conversation with Jacob George, Co-founder & CEO of Eatopia. Eatopia provides pure, healthy, sustainable, fun-sized, delicious and super nutritious packaged foods.
Some of the topics Jacob covered:
- Jacob’s job experiences working with major brands in India
- Jacob’s rationale to study food technology
- Eatopia’s huge market potential
- How the term “Superfood” is being incorrectly used or overused in the food industry
- The differences between using honey and refined sugar in food
- Eatopia’s future plans
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Where There’s Healthy Food, There’s No Taste
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an interesting conversation with Pritam Dutta, the Founder and CEO of Zoth.io. Zoth.io is a financial service that provides diversity, ease of access and immediate liquid through tokenisation powered by blockchain technology.
Some of the topics Pritam covered:
- Pritam’s emphasis on why it’s important to invest first before one spend
- The misconception surrounding wealth
- Pritam’s take on what everyone should aim for
- How tokenisation brings transparency
- How cryptocurrency started and how it evolved
- India is the first country that launched its own CBDC
- UPI being a game changer and adoption during covid
- The key enabler of the wider innovation on the blockchain
- How not doing anything may be a good idea
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- You Came Out of Love, We Want You to Spread Love
- Any Get Rich Quick Scheme Is Not Sustainable
- You Do Not Need a Lot of Wealth to Have Freedom
- That’s What a Good Investor Does, Wait for the Opportunity
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded and interesting conversation with Vikram Gupta and Yatin Kavishwar, Co-founders of Awiros. Awiros is an open platform for computer vision and AI developers, providing them with all of the necessary resources for transforming AI algorithms into end-to-end solutions.
Some of the topics Vikram and Yatin covered:
- What Vikram and Yatin believe will happen in two years
- People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware - Alan Kay
- The importance of having complicated skills
- How having the right connections can help open the right doors
- The impact of celebrating small achievements
- Vikram and Yatin’s unique toolchain
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Being Market-Ready and Adopted at Scale
- Start Behaving Like an Appliance Rather Than a General Purpose Computer
- Benchmarking and Building a Right Mix
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an insightful conversation with Ashwarya Garg and Akshay Bhatnagar, serial entrepreneurs, and Co-founders of HYPD. HYPD allows users to create their own store, curate their favorite products, and turn their content shoppable.
Some of the topics Ashwarya and Akshay covered:
- Ashwarya and Akshay's passion for travel
- How their first stay at Zostel changed their lives
- Why experiences matter
- The power of having Zostel's biggest fans become owners
- How the learnings at Zostel turned into Innov8 Coworking
- Turning creators into creatorpreneurs
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- Creators Are the New Digital Business and Turning Them Into Creatorpreneur
- How to Make Mondays Interesting?
- The Content Has the Power
- If You Don’t Plug in Content to Take Your Business Forward Then You Won’t Be Successful
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an interesting conversation with Ajay Jain, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Silverneedle Ventures. Silverneedle Ventures is a sector-agnostic fund but specially focused on startups in space of deep technology, sustainability & emerging technologies.
Some of the topics Ajay covered:
- How Ajay Jain was introduced into the semiconductor industry
- The peaking of the learning curve from working with students from different walks of life
- The real question to ask oneself when going through ups and downs
- The wakeup call if a business idea is not growing in India
- What Silverneedle Ventures looks for in a company
- The importance to adapt to the market while sticking to foundational principles
- Unique evolution in India and new strategies by the government to support startups
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- Go Find Out What You Really Want
- There Is the Pot of Money at the End of the Rainbow
- We’ve Grown Leaps and Bounds
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an insightful conversation with Prashant Malik, the founder and CEO of Heru Finance, and the founder of Tykhe Block Ventures. Heru Finance offers customised investment strategies that help affluent investors and wealth managers generate superior yields in all market conditions. Tykhe Block Ventures is a leading investment firm that invests in ventures and holds liquid investments within the blockchain sector with a focus on decentralisation technologies, digital assets, and the supporting infrastructure.
Some of the topics that Prashant covered:
- Prashant's entrepreneur calling
- First blood tasted for entrepreneurship at Facebook
- India’s entrepreneurship environment’s evolution
- Identifying problems and start building solutions piece by piece
- Heru Finance's unique architecture
- The Signal to Noise Ratio
- The changes that are essential to evolve the algorithmic stablecoins scene
- The emphasis on understanding how to create a scalable model
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Ultimately, This Is How Things Will Be
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an energetic conversation with Ashish Tandon, the founder and CEO of Indusface. Indusface is a leading application security SaaS company that secures critical Web, Mobile, and API applications using its fully managed platform.
Some of the topics that Ashish covered:
- How Cricket helped Ashish build his foundation of values and traits
- The entrepreneurial calling
- Ashish’s 3 factors to help a business thrive
- Using each venture as a building block for the next one
- How Indusface helps customers feel an additional sense of security
- The importance of Indusface having a fail open mechanism
- Effectiveness of using information from two perspectives
- Ashish’s future plans to make more time to guide young entrepreneurs
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Keep Your Calm and Hold Yourself Up
- If I Think I Can Do It and I Want to Do It
- It’s an Evolution
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an enriching conversation with Dr. Jasmin B Gupta, a Co-founder and CEO at LXME. LXME is a financial platform made for women that aims to support women with tools, resources and guidance to make them financially fearless.
Some of the topics that Jasmin covered:
- Making a calculative leap into the FinTech space
- Evolving a side hustle into her main, dream profession
- The significance and impact of having financial services built specifically for women
- LXME’s strong stance and untraditional methods of improving financial literacy amongst women in India
- Creating an environment that women feel free and confident enough to ask questions
- The satisfaction from enabling women with the power and feeling after going through the transition
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Merging My Passion Into My Profession
- Start Small
- Power to Speak
- Taking Charge
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an inspiring conversation with Munish Bhatia, a Co-founder at India Accelerator. India Accelerator is a seed-stage accelerator program that helps startups grow from good to great through a structured program that includes mentoring and networking.
Some of the topics that Munish covered:
- Small city mindset VS Big city mindset
- The leap of faith necessary to leave a corporate job
- Building and growing India Accelerator
- How India Accelerator sources startup deal flow
- The evolution of India's tech startup ecosystem
- Creating a dynamic environment for startup founders to share ideas
- India Accelerator’s big opportunity
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Making a Lot of Difference
- Making a Difference While Scaling Up Faster
- Giving Startups Everything They Need That They Don’t Already Have
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an enriching conversation with Swathi Kulkarni, Co-Founder & CEO at Elda Health. Elda Health is a digital wellness platform that supports and educates women through holistic mid-life and wellness solutions.
Some of the topics Swathi covered:
- Growing up with a father who was a gynecologist
- The importance of having open conversations on taboo topics
- Issues that arise with menopause
- What is Elda Health?
- Is there societal pressure to have children?
- The startup ecosystem in India
- Normalising gynecological health
- What’s next for Elda Health?
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Enjoy the Journey Towards What You’re Building
- Conceiving = Body + Mind
- Your Basket Needs to Be Empty
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger recorded an interesting conversation with Arjun Vaidya, Venture Lead at Verlinvest. Verlinvest partners with visionary entrepreneurs who are building impactful, category-defining, global brands.
Some of the topics Arjun discussed:
- Arjun’s micro moment
- The family legacy
- Arjun’s reality check
- Shutting down his first business and launching Dr. Vaidya
- Every entrepreneur has his own reason for exiting
- Direct to a Billion Consumers
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Let Your Consumers Choose Your Channel
- Fail Early and Reflect on What Was Done Wrong
- Insecurities Are Part of Every Entrepreneur’s Journey
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng.
India GameChanger had an insightful conversation with Pearl Agarwal, the Founder and Managing Director of Eximius Ventures. Eximus Ventures aims to help build a prospering global entrepreneurial community as well as support young talents in India.
Some of the topics discussed by Pearl:
- How 8-year-old Pearl developed the passion for entrepreneurship
- Proving herself again and again
- Pearl’s journey to gaining more exposure
- Pearl’s desire to contribute back to India
- Building a community feeling
- Eximius Venture’s investment strategy
- The problem statements need to be validated properly
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Pushing Out
- Follow On
- The Feeling of Wanting to Do Something and Going Beyond
- Break Free & Fly
- Doing Something Beyond
This episode was produced by Stephanie Ng .
India GameChanger had fun talking to Murugan Manoj Kumar J, a co-Founder and CEO at RoaDo. RoaDo's mission is to provide a lever to strengthen every stakeholder in the Supply Chain Industry.
Some of the topics Manoj covered:
- Growing up in Bangalore and feeling it evolve into India's Silicon Valley
- How to get technology into the hands of smaller logistics providers
- The importance of staying closer to one’s customers
- Faster horses
- The core significance of logistics for businesses
- Building a bootstrapped company
- Growing a business with paying customers and why it matters
- The leverage gained from raising from a good set of investors
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- I See Myself As a Problem Solver
- I Was a Kid in the Candy Shop
- Most of What We Build is Purposely Built
- A Community of People Talking Business
- It Was Very Complicated and That Is What Interested Me the Most
India GameChanger really learned a lot from this discussion with Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, a co-Founder and Tech Lead at ePlane.ai. ePlane is building a flying taxi for faster commutes in cities, a transportation system to change the world.
Some of the topics that Satya covered:
- Attending the India Institute of Technology Madras, becoming an Aerospace Engineer
- Building one f the world’s largest combustion research centers in academia
- Drones, the importance of wings, and how to fly slowly
- When you try to add the advantages of a plane and a drone, you also get the disadvantages
- Teaching the first class of electric aircraft propulsion in the world
- Building a platform for shared air mobility?
- Asset utilization and a comparison to road-driven shared mobility
- How deeply ensconced India is in aerospace manufacturing
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- I Decided I Needed to Go Electric
- Even If You Know How It Works, It’s So Fascinating
- I Don’t Think Drones are Particularly Aerospace
- Why Couldn’t I Actually Do a Plane Company?
- Take Off is Optional, Landing Is Mandatory
India GameChanger was joined by Yamini Bhat, a co-Founder and the CEO of Vymo. Vymo is a personal assistant app for enterprise sales / service teams. It predicts what a rep / manager should do next, detects whether this has happened and links this to downstream metrics to drive better predictions.
Some of the topics that Yamini discussed:
- The importance of diverse business experience
- Moving around as a child and learning how to adapt to change
- Sales transformation, working at McKinsey and first-principles thinking
- Building blocks and the keys to learning
- The relationship between sales growth on sales productivity
- The impact of the pandemic on growth and how a multiple-geography strategy helped
- Building use-case playbooks
Some other titles we considered for this episode:
- Tech Is a Very Scalable Way to Solve Problems
- India Is a Place Where a Huge Amount of Growth is Yet to Be Unlocked
- I Do Think You Have to Live in the Present
- We Call this the Winning Behavior
- We Always Launch with What the Salespeople Want
- I Have Always Been Attracted to Unsolved, Big Problems
India GameChanger had a very insightful conversation with Ankit Kedia, the Founder of Capital-A. Capital-A is a venture fund for seed to early-stage startups with unconventional ideas and potentially non-existing categories.
Some of the topics Ankit covered:
- Working in the family manufacturing business and starting on the factory floor
- The learnings from private equity investors infusing capital into the family business
- Why Capital-A invests at the earliest stages of a company's lifecycle
- The importance of operational experience
- The creator economy and the rapid changes in the media landscape
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- Betting on the Right Founder, Betting on the Right Market
- Do You Have the Courage to Make Those Choices?
- We Are Moving Into New Age Sectors
- They Do It Anyway, It Just Takes Time to Get There
- Smart Founders Have Always Done Things Their Way
This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.
India GameChanger really enjoyed our conversation with Meghna Krishna, the Group Chief Revenue Officer at VideoVerse. VideoVerse is a "Universe of video applications, powered by deep learning."
Meghna is immensely passionate about business growth and team building. She has built various businesses across multiple continents in industries including Retail, eCommerce, Travel, and SaaS.
Some of the topics she covered in our conversation included:
- Getting her first taste of launching a business and immediately becoming addicted
- Being part of Walmart's online launch team in Silicon Valley
- How her experience in San Francisco was transformational in so many ways
- Reverse culture shock and moving back to India
- The virtual world and how technology is going to change the way we interact in the metaverse
- Not necessarily considering herself as a role model, but not wanting others to make the same mistakes she made
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- If You’re Not Making Mistakes, You’re Not Taking Enough Risk
- I Always Wanted to Do Something Big
- It Gave Me a Reason to Fly Higher
- I Love Doing Things People Haven’t Done Before
- Take On Challenges No One Wants to Take
This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.
Shubhankar Srivastava is a true entrepreneur. In November of 2020, we hosted him on the Asia Tech Podcast to discuss his previous venture. This time he was joined by another incredible entrepreneur, Divyansh Saini, a co-Founder at houseware. houseware converts metrics into data apps for everyone.
Some of the topics the co-Founders covered:
- The entry into the startup world
- How risk-taking plays a big role in life
- The different cultures of corporates and startups
- The why and how around the founding of houseware
- How their previous experiences help them to build and scale company culture
- Deliberately retaining a certain amount of ambiguity while scaling
- The necessity of understanding the problem they are trying to solve right to its core
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- I Wanted to Lead From the Front
- Allegiance Is Not to the Problem but to the Solution
- Taking Risks All Day, Every Day
- The Creations Have to Sit Closer to the Outcomes
- It Was Always a Means to an End
- I Love Building Products
This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.
India GameChanger was joined by Abhishek Goenka, the Head and Chief Investment Officer at RPSG Capital Ventures. RPSG Capital Ventures is an early-stage, consumer VC fund focused on investing in the direct-to-consumer ecosystem. Abhishek and I had a super conversation about the evolution, growth and current state of the investment landscape in India.
Some of the specific topics Abhishek discussed:
- Spending his entire career as an investor in India
- The experience gained through investing in multiple cycles
- Investing into fundamentals and ignoring FOMO
- The importance of research and knowing one's target market in depth
- The core belief that Founders should be treated well
- The excitement around building global brands from India
Some of the other titles we considered for this episode:
- It Has to Happen, and It Has Started Happening
- Brands Are on Eternal Mode
- It’s Okay to Commit an Error
- Getting 6 Out of 10 Correct Is a Great Job
- India Is a Country That Keeps Exciting Me
This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh...late into the night!
This episode was originally recorded for release in September 2021...However, it stands the test of time.
The India GameChanger was joined by Chitresh Sharma, a co-Founder and the CEO of Refyne. Refyne is a pioneer of income streaming for the workforce of India.
Some of the topics that Chitresh discussed:
- Starting his first company when he was 19 years old
- Still building while getting his Master's degree in Scotland
- The founding of his next company, Swipii
- Coming back to India to found Refyne
- The importance of finding product/market fit prior to building
- The idea was to help people elevate their personal finances
- How company culture can sometimes be more important than strategy
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- That Lesson Stays With You for Life
- I Always Believed from Early Days I am Unemployable
- You Are Going to Have to Make Some Hard Decisions
- EWA Is Not the Destination
- I Think the 'Why' Is the Most Crucial Part
India GameChanger was joined by Venkat Vallabhaneni, a Managing Partner at Inflexor Ventures. Inflexor is on a mission to find and support audacious founders building technologies that define the future.
Some of the topics that Venkat and I discussed:
- Graduating from Manipal Institute of Technology and going to the United States for his Master's degree
- Building technology for Wall Street trading desks
- Moving back to India after almost two decades in the United States
- Different work styles of India and the United States
- Being a multiple-time founder
- India's great pool of technical talent, but they need business help
- The benefits of multi-stage investing
- Venture investing being the thing he loves to do most
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- I Learnt It on the Fly!
- We Bet on the Winners
- The Effect You Create in Venture Capital Is Huge
- India for India
- India for the World
This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.
India GameChanger was psyched to have Vinayak Shrivastav, a co-Founder and the CEO of VideoVerse on the show. VideoVerse is a "Universe of video applications, powered by deep learning." It is hard to impress me...but this definitely did.
Some of the topics Vinayak covered:
- Deciding to build what became VideoVerse and working for two years to build the core technology
- Being a sports fan and how that may have influenced the product
- How customer collaboration is key to building a great product
- Aiming to build all the tools that media companies need
- Creating immersive experiences
- Investing in the media and video ecosystem
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- If I Don't Start It Now, I Don't Know When I Will Be Able To
- You Make a Lot of Sacrifices to Make It Big
- For the First 10 Minutes the Entire System Was Down
- You Can Livestream Together
- It Started to Work Only When We Thought It Wouldn’t Work
This episode was produced by Isabelle Goh.
India GameChanger was excited to have Ankur Joshi, the Founder and CEO of Nuclei join us on the show. Nuclei is on a mission to inject consumer tech DNA into banks and telecom companies.
Some of the topics Ankur covered:
- Growing up lower-middle class and understanding education as the way out
- Moving for his studies at IIT Bombay
- An introduction to a global mindset
- Being motivated to outwork his peers
- Going into investment banking and why
- The family and community pride of him being a banker
- The opposition to him leaving his banking job for the world or startups
- Venture failures and successes
- Build a business that can be sustained for the long-term
- How the internet is changing customer experiences and customer values
- A bank-in-a-box
- The leverage and power of diversity across the board
- The importance of being a global company
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- One of Our Mistakes Was Thinking Small
- I, Alone, Cannot Build a Business
- We Suffer Together and we Succeed Together
- There Was Simply No Other Choice
This episode was expertly produced by Isabelle Goh.
Piyush Jain is a co-Founder and the #CEO of ImpactGuru. ImpactGuru is India's largest healthcare financing and crowdfunding platform. We were so interested in the mission and method on ImpactGuru, we simply had to have Piyush on the show.
Some of the topics Piyush discussed:
- Going to the United States for his undergraduate and graduate studies
- Being introduced to the idea of crowdfunding
- Initially focused on building a non-profit enterprise
- Sourcing the first $15k for a kidney transplant and realizing the impact the system could have
- The cultural element in giving
- Modes of discovery for donors and how the message reaches them
- Impacting the beneficiary and his or her family
- The importance of health and financial literacy
- Aiming to reach a million beneficiaries by 2030
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- Stumbling on the Idea and Never Looking Back
- Support from Our Families Kept Us Going
- It Sounds Dramatic, but That's What Happened
- Give Up Too Easily and Live a Life of Regret
- Creating a Safety Net for the Community
- Happiness Correlates to How Much Impact I Can Create
This episode was expertly produced by Isabelle Goh.
With all of the hoopla around Instoried's funding announcements, we had to have Sharmin Ali, the founder and CEO of Instoried, on the show.
Some of the topics Sahrmin covered:
- Starting her career in Management Consulting and working on Wall St.
- The desire to return to India and start her own thing
- FOMO is one of the emotions we connect the most with
- Trying to build the Netflix of India
- Being data-driven to affect scale
- Balancing technology with the human touch
- Using technology to make content creation more efficient and effective
- Why empathy matters
- Instoried's ubiquitous capital raise and going the SPAC route
- Future plans to go public
Other titles we considered for this episode:
- Helping the Rich Get Richer
- You Need to Connect at an Emotional Level
- India Has the Best Tech Talent
- It's a Once in a Lifetime Opportunity
This episode was expertly produced by Isabelle Goh.
India GameChanger had a great conversation with Amit Dayal, a co-Founder of Amoga. The team at Amoga believes that "the best results are achieved by implementing OKRs in cohesion with Work Management, KPIs and Employee Engagement."
Some of the topics that Amit discussed:
- Being educated as an engineer
- Spending seven years as a generalist before getting into product management
- Working in a large set up and wanting to break out
- Building a B2B learning platform that he ended up selling
- The market you build a product for may not be the market that wants it
- Simplifying repetitive work, increasing transparency and work satisfaction
- Moving away from tracking and micromanagement
- Building proper and effective feedback loops
- Gamification
Some other titles we considered:
- Being in a "Do Whatever It Takes" Environment
- Going Back in Time, I Would Do It Much Differently
- People Being Satisfied and Using What You Have Built Is What You Live For
This episode was expertly produced by Isabelle Goh.
Welcome to the first episode of the India GameChanger - How Technology Is Changing the Game in India.
India GameChanger was joined by Amit Gupta, a co-Founder of gogoBus. gogoBus is building the safest intercity bus network in India.
Some of the topics Amit covered:
- Moving into the eCommerce space in 2012
- The transition from corporate to small company culture
- Recognizing the lack of affordable transport in India
- Building back and front-end systems for bus companies
- 400,000 buses coming to a standstill as COVID hit
- Bus route optimization
- Improving accessibility and affordability
- Customer satisfaction across the value chain
- How data helps efficiency
- Handling revenue leaks
- Building a payment system?
- Possible partnerships in the insurance world
- Building and branding their own buses
Some other titles we considered:
- Making a Conscious Call as a Business Person
- Where is My Bus?
- Helping People Slowly Find Value
- Moving Forward Piece by Piece
- Positively Impacting Not Only the Society But Also the Environment
This episode was expertly produced by Isabelle Goh.