10X Growth Strategies: Recent Episodes
Preethy Padmanabhan
The 10X podcast features leadership interviews, growth strategies and key takeaways from business and self-development books. The podcast is hosted by Preethy Padmanabhan (@preepadu). Listen and gain insights to drive 10X growth in your career, business and life.
Tweet @preepadu with your comments on books or leaders you recommend to be featured in the podcast. Credits- Kavya Sethu
A single customer request can now generate 10,000 fake documents in under five minutes - and that's just one signal of how fast AI is reshaping trust across cybersecurity, identity, and engineering.
In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Preethy Padmanabhan talks to Purvi Desai (VP Engineering, Zscaler) and Raul Liive (Product Director, Marketplaces, Veriff) about what it actually takes to build - and defend - AI systems that enterprises can trust.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Why has the question shifted from "can AI do this?" to "can AI do this predictably, accurately, and with the right governance?"
- How AI has scaled document fraud from a manual editing job into a mass-produced, minutes-long process
- Why identity verification now has to answer not just "who are you" but "are you still you tomorrow, with good intent?"
- The move from AI-as-copilot to full agentic engineering, spec-driven development, and multi-agent workflows
- Why unscoped agentic commands and LLM context limits create new engineering risk
- What trustworthy AI actually requires: accuracy, predictability, traceability, and data segregation
- The role of offline and live evals, judges, and adversarial testing in validating AI output
- How enterprises are evaluating AI vendors on leading-edge capability, compliance, and ease of integration
- Why trust, not just capability, is becoming the hardest problem to solve for AI-driven companies
- The real story behind "15x productivity" claims and how gains actually compound over time
Whether you're a founder, an engineering leader, or someone trying to understand where AI, identity, and cybersecurity intersect - this conversation is for you.
10X Growth Strategies is a community founded by Preethy Padmanabhan, started as a podcast five years ago and now grown into a community of over 7,500 founders, investors, and executives across Luma and LinkedIn. The community hosts monthly events on timely topics in tech, AI, and entrepreneurship.
cybersecurity #AItrust #AIsecurity #identityverification #enterpriseAI #AIagents #deepfake #zerotrust #growthstrategies #10xgrowth
Chapters:
00:00:06 - 00:01:14 - Meet the Speakers: Purvi Desai (Zscaler)
00:01:15 - 00:01:40 - Meet the Speakers: Raul Liive (Veriff)
00:01:42 - 00:02:56 - How AI Has Changed Customer Trust
00:02:57 - 00:04:13 - The Rise of AI-Generated Fake Documents
00:04:14 - 00:07:18 - AI's Impact on Engineering Workflows
00:07:19 - 00:09:09 - Identity Verification in the Age of AI Agents
00:09:10 - 00:12:17 - What Trustworthy AI Looks Like (Evals, Guardrails, Compliance)
00:12:18 - 00:12:53 - New Opportunities for Startups
00:12:54 - 00:16:31 - Inside Veriff: Securing Identity Without Compromising Trust
00:16:36 - 00:18:38 - Audience Q&A: Evaluating AI Vendors
00:18:40 - 00:20:29 - Why Trust Is the #1 Vendor Selection Criteria
00:20:30 - 00:22:43 - Audience Q&A: Productivity Gains & Validating AI Output
A customer discovered 11,000 AI agents running in their environment - and most weren't even built by developers.
In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Preethy Padmanabhan talks to Ankur Shah (CEO, Straiker) and Nick Shevelyov (CEO, vCSO.ai) on how AI is reshaping cybersecurity for enterprises and startups alike.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The two sides of AI and cybersecurity: using AI to improve security, and securing the AI itself
- Why LLMs and AI agents can be socially engineered just like humans and why that's a fundamentally new attack surface
- The discovery of 11,000 "citizen agents" inside a single enterprise, built without developer oversight
- Why visibility, governance, and guardrails are the new foundation of AI security
- What "YOLO mode" is, and why human-in-the-loop approval matters for high-risk agent actions
- How CISOs are thinking about traceability, accountability, and blast radius when deploying agentic AI
- Why distribution and trust are now the hardest problems in cybersecurity
- How MYTHOS and AI-discovered vulnerabilities are changing patching cycles and concentration risk
- Founder advice on building enduring companies in a crowded, fast-moving cybersecurity market
Whether you're a founder, a CISO, or an investor trying to understand where AI and cybersecurity intersect - this conversation is for you.
10X Growth Strategies is a community founded by Preethy Padmanabhan, started as a podcast five years ago and now grown into a community of over 7,500 founders, investors, and executives across Luma and LinkedIn. The community hosts monthly events on timely topics in tech, AI, and entrepreneurship.
Chapters:
00:00:10 - 00:00:55 - Introduction & Community Milestone
00:00:56 - 00:01:43 - Sponsor & Partner Shout-Outs
00:01:44 - 00:02:52 - Audience Check: Founders vs. Investors
00:02:53 - 00:03:38 - Meet the Speakers: Ankur Shah (Straiker)
00:03:39 - 00:05:01 - Meet the Speakers: Nick Shevelyov (vCSO AI)
00:05:02 - 00:06:44 - How AI is Changing Cybersecurity
00:06:45 - 00:08:36 - Why AI Agents are Hard to Secure
00:08:37 - 00:26:26 - Variables vs. Invariables in Cyber Strategy
00:26:27 - 00:28:40 - Audience Q&A: Standing Out in a Crowded Market
00:28:41 - 00:31:00 - Audience Q&A: Is Your Data Safe with ChatGPT & Claude?
00:31:01 - 00:33:19 - Closing Advice for Founders
Connect:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/preepadu
Website: https://grow10x.podbean.com/
Luma: https://lu.ma/10xgrowthstrategies
Are your AI agents truly safe to deploy at scale? In this episode, two founders come together to tackle one of the most urgent questions for every AI startup and enterprise today: how do you build AI systems you can actually trust? Hosted by Preethy Padmanabhan and the 10x Growth Strategies community, this panel brings together Tatyana Mamut (WayFound) and Prukalpa Sankar (Atlan) - two founders redefining how enterprises govern, monitor, and scale AI responsibly. In this episode, we discuss:
- How supervisor/guardian agents help enterprises reach 3-nines and 5-nines reliability
- Real-world example: a customer service AI agent secretly offering refunds with perfect guardrails in place
- Why sampling logs isn't enough and why 100% monitoring is now a legal requirement
- How the OpenAI and Workday lawsuits are reshaping enterprise AI accountability
- How to architect AI-ready data systems with lineage, traceability, and explainability built in
- How enterprises across the US, Germany, and Australia are navigating evolving AI regulation
- Hybrid deterministic + AI system design for production-grade agents
Whether you're an entrepreneur, a corporate executive, or a venture capital investor evaluating AI startup opportunities - this conversation on 10x growth, scaling up, and responsible AI is unmissable. 10X Growth Strategies is a community co-founded by Preethy Padmanabhan, built to bring together founders, investors, and executives for meaningful connection and growth. With thousands of members across LinkedIn, Luma, and Partiful, the community hosts monthly events on timely topics in tech, AI, and entrepreneurship.
Chapters
- 0:00 - 3:32 - Introduction
- 3:32 - 7:59 - Understanding Enterprise Trust in AI
- 7:59 - 13:47 - Legal Challenges and Compliance in AI
- 13:47 - 19:00 - Architecting AI systems for Compliance
- 19:00 - 21:52 - Benefits of Working with this New Technology
- 21:25 - 25:21 - Proactive vs Reactive Compliance Strategies
- 25:21 - 41:35 - Audience Interactions
- 41:35 - 44:04 - What is your Leadership Principle?
Connect:
Website: https://grow10x.podbean.com/
Luma: https://lu.ma/10xgrowthstrategies
🎙️ E121: Building From Zero — The Realities of Nearshoring & Global Talent In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Saradha Sriram sits down with Brian Samson, founder of a nearshore staffing firm connecting top Latin American talent with U.S. companies, to explore what it really takes to build a business from nothing — in a country you barely understand. Drawing parallels with Shoe Dog, Brian shares how bold, uncertain decisions — like moving to Argentina with no roadmap — shaped his journey as a founder. From navigating cultural friction and operational chaos to building teams across borders, he explains why founders must adapt to environments instead of forcing familiar systems onto them. The conversation dives into global hiring, nearshoring, and talent arbitrage, unpacking why Latin America is emerging as a powerful alternative to traditional outsourcing markets — and how companies can actually make it work. A grounded, experience-backed look at risk, culture, hiring, and the personal trade-offs behind building something meaningful.
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 – 00:45 • Intro & Brian’s background
00:45 – 02:20 • Taking the leap — moving to Argentina with no plan
02:20 – 04:20 • Building from zero — early uncertainty & first principles
04:20 – 06:00 • Cultural miscalculations — operating outside your home market 06:00 – 08:00 • The reality of doing business in Latin America
08:00 – 09:45 • Hiring missionaries vs mercenaries — building belief-driven teams 09:45 – 11:30 • Why “top talent” is contextual — culture fit over credentials
11:30 – 13:30 • The rise of nearshoring — LATAM’s growing advantage
13:30 – 15:00 • Remote work, time zones & global collaboration
15:00 – 16:30 • Founder trade-offs — risk, pressure & personal cost
16:30 – 18:00 • From 3 people to scale — what changes as you grow
18:00 – 19:00 • Outro — key takeaways & closing thoughts
In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Preethy Padmanabhan brings together a diverse panel of experts to explore one of the most important questions of our time — who decides what AI becomes?
Featuring Natalia (Strategic Foresight), Denise Umubyeyi (Head of Partnerships, AGI), and Jonathan Azoff (Co-Founder & GP, SNOCAP), the conversation unpacks how artificial intelligence is not shaped by a single entity, but by a complex ecosystem of builders, investors, users, and institutions.
The discussion moves through how early-stage AI is influenced by those building models, but increasingly shaped by users, startups, capital, and global governance. The panel examines the role of startups as the interface between technology and everyday users, and how they translate complex systems into usable products.
A major focus is on ethics and control — from the values embedded in AI systems to the challenge of governing technologies we don’t fully understand. The conversation also explores the importance of open-source models, the role of global partnerships, and the need to ensure access beyond developed markets.
From infrastructure and cost barriers to questions of power, incentives, and long-term impact, this episode looks at AI not just as a technological shift — but as a societal transformation shaped by multiple competing forces. 
A sharp, multi-perspective conversation on the future of AI — and the forces quietly shaping it.
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⏱️ Chapters
00:00 – 01:50 • Introduction & Panel Overview
01:50 – 04:30 • Who Decides What AI Becomes?
04:30 – 07:30 • Builders, Investors & the Power of Ecosystems
07:30 – 10:30 • Role of Startups in Shaping AI Products
10:30 – 14:30 • Ethics, Values & AI Governance
14:30 – 18:30 • Can We Control What We Don’t Fully Understand?
18:30 – 22:00 • Access, Infrastructure & Global Inequality in AI
22:00 – 26:30 • Capital, Compute & Who Holds Power
26:30 – 30:30 • Incentives: Profit vs Transformation
30:30 – 36:00 • Open Source vs Closed AI Systems
36:00 – 42:00 • Future of AI: Efficiency or Transformation?
42:00 – 52:00 • Audience Q&A & Closing Thoughts
In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Preethy Padmanabhan sits down with Dr.Vivek Mansingh — technologist, entrepreneur, author, and former Silicon Valley leader — to unpack what meaningful success truly looks like beyond titles, money, and conventional achievement. Drawing from a career that spans Silicon Valley, Bengaluru, startups, and leadership roles alongside icons such as Steve Jobs, John Chambers, and Michael Dell, Dr. Vivek reflects on the principles that shaped his journey — from aspiring big and becoming number one in his field, to understanding why professional success alone is never enough. The conversation centers around ideas from his award-winning book Achieving Meaningful Success, where he introduces frameworks such as the “Wheel of Goals” and the importance of balancing professional ambition with health, relationships, spirituality, and inner growth. Through personal stories, he explains how some of life’s most defining decisions came not from career milestones, but from choosing family, purpose, and long-term fulfillment. The episode also explores the power of mentors, books, role models, and lifelong learning — including lessons drawn from leaders such as Ratan Tata, N. R. Narayana Murthy, Rahul Dravid, and John Chambers, all featured in Dr. Vivek’s interviews on excellence, leadership, and grounded success. A thoughtful conversation for anyone trying to build ambition without losing balance — and success without regret.
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00:00 – Introduction & Dr. Vivek’s Career Journey
02:00 – From India to Silicon Valley
05:00 – What “Meaningful Success” Really Means
08:30 – The Wheel of Goals: Beyond Career Alone
11:00 – Mentors, Role Models & Becoming Your Best Self
16:30 – Books, Learning & Continuous Growth
19:00 – Thinking Big: Setting Bold Goals
23:00 – Steve Jobs, Excellence & Professional Achievement
25:00 – Family, Relationships & Life Priorities
30:30 – Why Goals Matter in Life
31:30 – Lessons from Extraordinary Leaders
34:30 – Book Awards, Giving Back & Final Advice
37:00 – Closing Thoughts
In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Arthi Vijayaraghavan sits down with Lakshmi Nair — drug development scientist and genetic engineering researcher — to unpack the science, promise, and responsibility behind CRISPR and gene editing. Drawing from her journey across academia and biomedical research, Lakshmi explains how CRISPR transformed genetic engineering from slow, uncertain experimentation into precise DNA editing — and why that leap could reshape medicine, cancer treatment, and hereditary disease forever. From transgenic models and drug development to the realities of scientific failure and perseverance, the conversation reveals what modern biomedical innovation truly looks like behind the scenes. The episode explores the ethical frontier of gene editing — germline modification, designer traits, disability vs identity, and who gets to decide what should be “fixed” in humans. The discussion also connects CRISPR with AI-driven research, data-intensive clinical trials, and the global scientific ecosystem that turns basic research into life-saving therapies. From biohacking and scientific curiosity to regulation, responsibility, and the future of humanity, this is a thoughtful, deeply grounded conversation on what it means to hold the power to rewrite life itself. A fascinating listen for technologists, policymakers, investors, and anyone curious about where biology, AI, and human evolution intersect.
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00:00 – Introduction & Lakshmi’s Background
02:00 – Why CRISPR Changed Genetic Engineering
06:00 – Scientific Journeys, Curiosity & Upbringing
12:00 – CRISPR Explained for Non-Biologists
18:30 – Medical Applications: Cancer & Genetic Disease
23:30 – Scientific Collaboration & Peer Review
26:30 – Biohacking & Democratizing Biology
30:00 – Gene Editing Ethics & Germline Debate
36:00 – Identity, Disability & Human Choice
40:00 – From Lab Research to Drug Development
45:00 – AI in Clinical Trials & Biomedical Data
50:00 – Future of Gene Editing & Responsibility
54:00 – Closing Reflections
🎙️ E117: Building AI Rocketships — From Idea to Exit In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Pretty Padmanabhan sits down with Omer Gottlieb, CEO & Co-Founder of Sale Speak.AI (formerly Co-Founder of Totango), and Guy Yalif, Chief Evangelist at Webflow , to unpack what it really takes to build, scale, and exit AI-driven companies. Drawing from decades of combined experience raising over $150M+, leading global teams, and navigating acquisitions, Omri and Guy go beyond startup clichés to discuss the realities of product-market fit, hiring, fundraising, and scaling in an AI-first world. From building MVPs earlier than you’re comfortable with, to running relentless customer validation, to learning when not to hire — this conversation is packed with operator-level insight. The episode dives deep into the evolving go-to-market playbooks in the age of AI, why experimentation beats rigid frameworks, and how founders must “know the game they’re playing” before choosing between bootstrapping and venture capital. The guests also share candid lessons on hiring mistakes, investor-founder alignment, scaling sales too early, and why raising from the wrong fund can define your company’s destiny. From culture design and blind references to timing, luck, and the uncomfortable truth that founders control the odds — not the outcome — this episode offers a grounded, experience-driven view of how real companies go from idea to exit. A thoughtful, practical conversation for founders building in the AI era — and trying to do it without burning out, blowing up, or playing the wrong game.
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00:00 – Introduction & Speaker Backgrounds
02:00 – Origin Stories: Why Start Again?
06:30 – MVP Strategy & Customer Validation
09:00 – Hiring the Right Team (Culture or Pedigree)
12:30 – Remote Teams & Building Culture Intentionally
16:00 – Scaling Mistakes: Hiring Sales Too Early
18:30 – Why There Is No Universal GTM Playbook
21:00 – Funding Decisions: Bootstrapping vs VC
24:30 – Investor–Founder Fit & “Know the Game You’re Playing”
28:00 – Building Toward Exit: Timing, Luck & Controlling the Odds
32:00 – Final Lessons for Founders
🎙️ E116: When AI Meets Healthcare — Promise, Proof & the Human-in-the-Loop In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Arthi Vijayaraghavan sits down with Faisal Mushtaq — author of Transforming Healthcare: The Role and Impact of Artificial Intelligence — to unpack how AI is actually changing healthcare beyond buzzwords, demos, and exaggerated claims. Drawing from over a decade of hands-on experience building AI systems across wellness, medtech, and large enterprises, Faisal explains where AI is genuinely delivering impact today — from early disease detection and AI-assisted diagnostics to reducing false negatives in mammography — and where human judgment remains non-negotiable. The conversation dives deep into the idea of augmented intelligence, why “human-in-the-loop” is the most realistic path forward, and how guardrails, regulation, and explainability will decide whether AI earns trust inside hospitals and clinical workflows. Faisal also breaks down why healthcare adoption must be methodical, how AI can relieve clinician overload through back-office automation, and why fully autonomous diagnosis is still a long way off. From generative AI and agent-based systems to regulation, training future clinicians, and the parallels between healthcare AI and self-driving cars, this episode offers a grounded, experience-driven view of what’s possible — and what’s premature. A thoughtful, no-hype conversation on how AI can make healthcare faster, safer, and smarter — without replacing the humans who matter most.
00:00 – First chapter: Why now & motivations for the book
06:50 – Human-in-the-loop AI & guardrails design
13:00 – Impact of AI on training new clinicians
19:07 – Agentic AI in healthcare
35:00 – Investment areas of focus for the author
👉 Links & Resources
TechCon Global: https://www.techconglobal.com • iExchange: https://iexchange.co • iExchange Newsletter: https://iexchange.substack.com • Faisal Mushtaq (website): https://faisalmushtaq.co/ • Books by Faisal Mushtaq: https://faisalmushtaq.co/books/
🎙️ E115: Where the Smart Money Is Going — VC Investment Trends & the 2026 Outlook
In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Preethy Padmanabhan sits down with Dawn DeBruyn Novarina to decode what’s really happening inside the venture capital ecosystem — beyond headlines, hype, and surface-level optimism. Drawing from funding intelligence, market data, and decades inside Silicon Valley, Dawn explains how AI infrastructure and applied AI now capture nearly 75% of venture funding, why deal sizes are exploding even as the number of deals is shrinking, and how a small group of mega-funds is quietly reshaping the startup economy. From $100M+ AI rounds and the return of M&A, to the shadow world of secondaries, dry powder, and reverse-acqui-hires, this conversation reveals why liquidity — not innovation — is the real bottleneck in 2025, and why 2026 will likely be a year of slow recovery rather than a blockbuster IPO cycle.
👉 Download the Venture Market Report 2025 Q3 (Link Silicon Valley): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uWePI7o6lgm6FPdIkTUYXvI3PSnHuvzc/view
A data-rich, brutally honest look at what it now takes to raise, deploy, and return capital in the age of applied AI. ⸻
⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – 00:45 • Intro & the new funding reality
00:45 – 02:30 • Why this venture market report exists
02:30 – 03:55 • What surprised Dawn in the 2025 funding data
03:55 – 05:30 • The funding rebound — why capital is flowing again
05:30 – 07:10 • AI infrastructure & applied AI — the era of mega-rounds
07:10 – 09:40 • Why most non-AI startups are struggling to raise
09:40 – 11:10 • Median deal sizes, shrinking deal volume & valuation divergence
11:10 – 12:45 • The return of exits — M&A over IPOs
12:45 – 15:10 • Reverse acqui-hires & why big tech avoids buying companies
15:10 – 17:40 • The hidden human cost of these deals
17:40 – 19:25 • IPOs in 2025 — why none were breakout successes
19:25 – 21:00 • Biotech vs AI — what public markets really want
21:00 – 23:30 • Why unicorn-class companies are staying private
23:30 – 25:30 • Secondaries explained — the hidden liquidity engine
25:30 – 27:40 • VC concentration — why a few firms now control most capital 27:40 – 29:15 • Fundraising in 2025 — abundance for some, starvation for most 29:15 – 33:20 • Dry powder, barbell economics & the future of early-stage 33:20 – 45:14 • Outro — Final audience insights, closing advice & what founders must do next
In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Saradha Sriram sits down with John Boccuzzi — author of The Art of Seducing Your Customers and President of Research at ISG — to unpack why the best businesses don’t sell harder, they build emotional connection, trust, and clarity. Drawing from decades of research and real-world experience, John reframes sales and customer experience through an unconventional but powerful lens: seduction over manipulation. From the origins of his TEDx talk to stories spanning Uber, Kodak, UPS, and Zappos, he explains how storytelling, friction reduction, and employee empowerment quietly separate companies that retain customers for decades from those that lose them overnight. A sharp, experience-backed conversation on why sales is a job of rejection, why cost-cutting often destroys customer experience, and how leaders can immediately diagnose friction inside their own organizations.
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⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – 00:45 • Intro
00:45 – 01:30 • Saradha introduces John Boccuzzi & his work
01:30 – 02:40 • Why “Seduction” — The TEDx origin behind the book’s title
02:40 – 04:30 • The Frame Store Story — Confidence, storytelling & 27 years of loyalty
04:30 – 05:50 • Seduction vs Manipulation — Emotional appeal, trust & value creation
05:50 – 08:35 • Sales Is Dating — Listening, timing & relationship-building
08:35 – 10:40 • The Seduction Framework — Empowering employees & retention-first design
10:40 – 12:25 • Friction Hunting — How Uber exposed broken customer experiences
12:25 – 13:45 • Operational Insight — UPS, right-hand turns & invisible efficiency 13:45 – 14:45 • Kodak’s Failure — Fear, disruption & missed opportunity
14:45 – 16:15 • Hiring the Wrong Way — Jobs vs careers & the EQ gap
16:15 – 17:25 • The Cost-Cutting Trap — Why CX isn’t a savings exercise
17:25 – 18:55 • Handling Rejection — Knowing when to walk away
18:55 – 20:00 • Storytelling That Endures — The Budweiser Super Bowl lesson 20:00 – 21:40 • B2B vs B2C — Why customer principles don’t change
21:40 – 23:45 • Losing $300M Deals — The 500-page contract mistake
23:45 – 25:40 • Immediate Action — Running a friction audit
25:40 – 26:55 • The Missing Chapter — AI & the future of customer experience 26:55 – 28:45 • What’s Next — Keynotes, research & closing thoughts
In this special 10X Growth Strategies panel, host Preethy Padmanabhan brings together three top voices from venture capital and private equity to decode how investors really evaluate startups today — beyond hype, beyond flashy demos, and beyond the AI noise.
Kayvan Baroumand (Founder, SignalRank), Patti Pan (General Partner, Solaris Venture Partners), and Aditya Naganath (Partner, Kleiner Perkins) share how the power-law plays out in real portfolios, what deep engagement metrics actually look like, why later-stage PE is shifting toward infrastructure and robotics, and how world-class funds pressure-test founders.
A fast, sharp conversation on what separates companies that scale — from those that stall.
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⏱️ Chapters
00:00 – 00:24 • Host Welcome – Preethy sets the stage
00:24 – 02:03 • Kayvan’s Intro – Power-law VC & AI-driven fund scoring
02:03 – 03:27 • New Venture Hub & Founder Support
03:27 – 04:36 • Patti’s Intro – PE, Data Centers & Robotics
04:36 – 06:03 • Founder Mindset & Why Artistry Matters
06:03 – 07:54 • Aditya’s Intro – Kleiner Perkins, History & Focus
07:54 – 09:20 • Investing in Early Enterprise & AI Trends
09:20 – 12:00 • Power Law in Action – Doubling Down & Pattern Recognition
12:00 – 15:00 • Picking Winners: What Real Signals Look Like
15:00 – 17:30 • Case Study: Sigma & Deep Engagement Metrics
17:30 – 19:40 • Evaluating Founders, Teams & Due Diligence
19:40 – 21:22 • High-Steam Companies & Early Red Flags
21:22 – 22:10 • What VCs Look for in AI Products
22:10 – 23:20 • Lightning Advice for Founders
23:20 – 24:00 • Closing & Next Session Transition
In this episode, Arthi Vijayaraghavan, IBM Product Leader, speaks with Radhika Dutt, author of Radical Product Thinking and a globally respected product strategist and advisor. Radhika dives into her groundbreaking new framework on why traditional goals and OKRs fail, and how organizations can shift toward puzzle thinking — a mindset built on experimentation, learning, and continuous adaptation. She breaks down how objectives, hypotheses, and honest reflection can help teams solve the right problems, collaborate better, and build products that create meaningful, long-term change. Through real stories of companies reframing their strategy and unlocking growth, Radhika reveals how leaders can replace rigid targets with curiosity, clarity, and shared purpose. This conversation is a powerful reminder that in a world shaped by AI, uncertainty, and rapid shifts, true progress comes not from chasing numbers — but from solving the puzzles that matter.
Chapters
00:00: Intro
1:57 : Motivations for the book
3:25 : Problems with OKRs
5:45 : Anchors created by the goals
8:37 : Rethinking the framework
12:54 : Puzzle setting and solving framework
13:14 : Puzzle setting for sales
27:47 : Performance evaluation and planning
34:31 : Strategic planning how can it be improved 45:41 : What’s next
🎙️ E111: A practical guide to Living Fearlessly with Susan Nefzger In this episode, Saradha Sriram, Business Technology Strategist, speaks with Susan Nefzger, international PR mentor, author, and marketing consultant. Susan reflects on her journey of writing A Practical Guide to Living Fearlessly and A Practical Guide to Awareness, exploring how mindfulness and conscious living help us overcome fear, find purpose, and live authentically. Through her story of transformation and self-discovery, she reveals how awareness can turn challenges into growth, and how true fearlessness begins the moment we choose presence over control. This conversation is a gentle reminder to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what truly matters — within and beyond work.
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:33 Catalyst Behind A Practical Guide to Living Fearlessly
02:10 The Conscious Writing Journey
04:45 Overcoming Life Challenges
07:20 Finding Purpose and Awareness
10:30 The Power of Mindfulness
13:45 Lessons from A Practical Guide to Awareness
17:00 From Writing to Transformation
20:40 Fulfillment vs. Success
23:10 Conscious Living and Daily Choices
26:10 Balancing Work, Purpose, and Peace
27:05 Closing Reflections and Takeaways
In this episode, Wen Sang (Co-Founder & COO, GenSpark.ai), Christian Jester (Partner & TMT Markets Leader, PwC), and Jason Hirsch (Partner & Head of AI, Digital Platforms & Emerging Technologies Practice, Nixon Peabody) join the 10X Strategies Podcast to decode the evolving landscape of Agentic AI — what’s hot, what’s not. The panel explores how AI is reshaping work and productivity, how enterprises are navigating adoption at scale, and the legal and ethical implications of this rapid evolution. They discuss real-world use cases, sustainable business models, the no-moat reality of AI, and why open-source innovation might define the next phase of the AI revolution. ⸻
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:45 Meet the Panel: Wen Sang, Christian Jester, and Jason Hirsch
02:20 What’s Hot in AI — New Use Cases and The Future of Work
05:00 Empowering Knowledge Workers through AI Agents 08:15 Enterprise AI Adoption and The Governance Challenge
11:20 Legal Risks and AI Whitewashing — When Hype Becomes Hazard
15:00 Differentiation in a No-Moat World — Finding Real Value
18:30 The GenSpark Story — Building AI for Knowledge Workers
21:00 Sustainable Business Models in the AI Ecosystem
25:10 Authenticity, Self-Awareness and Investor Confidence
28:30 Governance, Security and Data Integrity in Practice
31:20 What’s Not Hot — Pitfalls, Liabilities and Legal Oversights
35:00 Licensing AI — Who Owns the Risk When Things Go Wrong?
38:30 Challenges for Founders — Regulation and General Counsel Gaps
41:15 Open-Source AI and The Thousand-Model Future
43:30 Audience Q&A and Closing Reflections
In this episode, Madhavi Ravanan, Engineering Leader at Nokia, interviews Ashish Agrawal, Managing Director at Nagarro. Ashish reflects on Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha — exploring themes of wisdom, balance, and letting go. He shares how the book has influenced his personal and professional life, discussing the power of experience over knowledge, the meaning of parenthood, and the idea that true peace comes when we stop searching and start living.
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
01:00 Driving Non-Linear Growth at Nagarro
01:45 The Habit of Reading
03:30 Why Siddhartha?
05:45 The Message of Letting Go
08:15 Learning Through Experience, Not Knowledge
11:00 Parenting and the Circle of Life
13:45 Balance Over Extremes
16:30 Soft Is Stronger Than Hard
20:00 Truth Has Two Sides
23:00 The Inward Journey
25:30 Let Life Happen to You
28:30 Closing Thoughts and Reflections
In this episode of 10x Growth Strategies, host Preethy Padmanabhan speaks with Vicki Johnson — founder of ProFellow and author of Pitch Your Potential. Vicki shares her proven Match Me formula, a powerful framework for winning competitive jobs, fellowships, awards, and elite opportunities. She opens up about her personal journey, from breaking into top schools to securing globally competitive fellowships, and reveals how anyone can leverage storytelling, clarity of mission, and future-focused narratives to stand out. The conversation covers overcoming mindset challenges, avoiding common mistakes, mastering memorable pitches, and using networks effectively. Vicki also provides insights into her upcoming book, exclusive preorder bonuses, and why pitching your future potential is more powerful than your past accomplishments. This episode is packed with actionable advice for students, professionals, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to win in highly competitive environments. ⸻
Chapters
00:00 Introduction & Guest Welcome
00:46 Meet Vicki Johnson & ProFellow
01:32 Hidden Opportunities & Human-Centered Strategies
03:13 Early Life & Breaking into Top Schools
04:20 Storytelling to Win Cornell & Fellowships
05:44 Why Future Potential Matters More Than the Past
06:01 The Match Me Formula Explained (7 Elements)
08:35 Matching Mission & Defining Your Goals
09:14 Mindset Challenges: Fear, Comparison & Gatekeepers
13:28 Overcoming Negativity & Finding Supportive Voices
14:20 Defining Goals & Personal Mission for Social Impact
16:07 Midlife Crisis & Reinventing Career Paths
18:03 Common Mistakes in Applications & Researching Missions
20:11 Importance of Future-Focused Applications
21:18 Crafting Memorable Pitches & Elevator Stories
22:30 Networking, Referrals & The Power of LinkedIn
24:22 Storytelling with Anecdotes & Emotional Connection
26:21 Structuring Your Application Story (Past, Future & Selectors)
29:42 Building Confidence Through Future Vision
31:12 Success Story: From Shark Tank to Y Combinator
33:28 Book Release, Preorder Bonuses & ProFellow Platform
35:23 Final Advice: Be a Storyteller of the Future
36:06 Closing Remarks
🚀 What does it take to build a truly AI-native startup? In this episode of the 10X Growth Strategies Podcast, host Preethy Padmanabhan speaks with three visionary founders who are redefining the future of enterprise AI:
• Kapil Chhabra – Co-Founder & CPO, WisdomAI
• Wen Sang – Co-Founder & COO, Genspark.ai
• Leila R. Golchehreh – Co-Founder & CSO, Relaynce AI
From hyper-growth journeys to ransomware recovery stories, they share insider lessons on scaling AI-native companies, navigating enterprise adoption, embedding governance and compliance, and why solving your own pain point often leads to the best products. If you’re an entrepreneur, investor, or AI enthusiast, this episode is packed with insights you can’t afford to miss.
⏱ Chapters 00:00 – Introduction by Host Preethy Padmanabhan
00:27 – Kapil Chhabra introduces WisdomAI
00:49 – Wen Sang introduces Genspark.ai
01:00 – Leila Golchehreh introduces Relaynce AI
01:52 – Why Leila started Relaynce AI
03:23 – Wen: AI promotes knowledge workers, not replaces them
04:47 – Kapil: The genesis of WisdomAI and BI tool gaps
06:38 – Enterprise adoption challenges & early demand (Kapil)
07:59 – Leila: From prototype to enterprise-ready product
09:20 – What does “AI-native” really mean? (Kapil)
11:53 – Wen: How AI changed his workflow (“throw it at AI first”)
14:40 – Leila: Balancing innovation with compliance and governance
16:53 – Kapil: Governance must be designed from the start
19:12 – Wen: Real estate client story & compliance lessons
20:46 – Leila: Ransomware recovery customer story
22:14 – Kapil: Cisco case study – saving 2800+ hours
25:02 – Founders’ advice to entrepreneurs
28:06 – Leila: Due diligence on VCs and co-founders
30:39 – Kapil: Pricing experiments – outcome vs usage vs seats
33:15 – Competing with Oracle & big tech in AI
35:34 – Build vs Buy: When to integrate vs build in-house
37:01 – Final takeaways from each founder
In this episode of the 10X Growth Strategies podcast, host Saradha interviews Dr. Edie Goldberg, a renowned talent management expert and co-author of 'The Inside Gig.' With over 20 years of experience in industrial organizational psychology, Dr. Goldberg discusses how companies can unlock untapped talent within their existing workforce. The conversation explores how the concept of 'inside gigs' can transform traditional job postings into dynamic, project-based opportunities. The episode underscores the evolving landscape of work, especially in light of remote work and technological advancements, advocating for a flexible and skills-based approach to talent management.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction
00:13 Meet Dr. Edie Goldberg: Talent Management Expert
00:55 The Concept of the Inside Gig
03:46 Implementing the Inside Gig in Organizations
10:56 Real-World Success Stories
16:01 Overcoming Challenges in Talent Mobility
23:51 Future of Internal Talent Mobility
26:26 Actionable Steps for HR Leaders
32:35 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
In this episode, Preethy, interviews Anupam, the managing partner and co-founder of Emergent Ventures. Anupam shares his firm's focus on pre-seed and seed-stage investments in enterprise AI, highlighting their strategy against market trends and founder qualities they seek. The discussion delves into the hype versus reality of AI, the importance of orchestration in enterprise applications, and the promising future of various AI-driven sectors. Additionally, the conversation covers due diligence, red flags, and the evolving venture capital landscape amid market corrections. Anupam offers practical advice on raising capital, emphasizes the role of human elements in investment decisions, and reveals the firm's thorough approach to identifying the next big opportunities in AI.
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:36 Emergent Ventures and Enterprise AI
02:02 The Hype and Reality of Agent AI
05:57 Selecting the Right Entrepreneurs
11:38 Current State of Venture Capital
16:00 Audience Q&A
22:09 Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts
The podcast features Saradha Sriram, host of 10X Growth Strategies, interviewing Sonia Hunt, Co-Founder & CEO at Zentāra Ventures | #1 Best-Selling Author | Global Wellness Speaker
Sonia Hunt, author of the transformative book "Nut Job" and a globally recognized speaker who's helping leaders worldwide unlock peak performance through health and wellness strategies.
In this episode of the 10 X Growth Strategies podcast, host Shahara interviews Sonya Hunt, an author and globally recognized speaker, who shares her transformative journey from a childhood fraught with severe food allergies to becoming a wellness authority. Sonya discusses her early diagnosis, the challenges she faced, and the holistic, integrative healthcare approach that led to her eventual remission. She details the development of her 3-2-B method (Be Safe, Be Healthy, Be Well), and talks about the significant role of gut health in her recovery. This conversation highlights the importance of a comprehensive wellness strategy that encompasses physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, aiming to inspire others facing similar challenges.
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:38 Sonya's Early Life and Health Challenges
04:18 The Turning Point: 2008 Anaphylaxis Incident
07:30 Developing the 3-2-B Method
10:13 Holistic Health and Healing Journey
18:52 Achieving Remission and Medical Miracles
27:04 Thriving Beyond Allergies
31:18 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
This episode features our host Preethy Padmanabhan in conversation with Matthew E. Polimeno, the author of the book Inflate your chance for success and the foreword contributor Praveen Sahay, Managing Director, WAVE Equity Partners
Inflate Your Chances for Success is a practical handbook aimed at startups and entrepreneurs, authored by Matthew E. Polimeno, an experienced operating partner and expert in operational excellence. This book serves as a comprehensive guide to navigating the due diligence process during fundraising and positioning startups for long-term success.
Chapters of the conversation -
- Introduction
00:06 Highlights from career journey
05:30 What you don’t know you don’t know
- Key takeaways for startup fund raising
7:30 The purpose of due diligence
11:30 Startup survival to scale
16:30 Mentoring for startup leaders
- Setting up for success
18:30 Thinking outside-in
19:00 Examples of successful startups
28:30 Final Insights
The podcast features Saradha Sriram, host of 10X Growth Strategies, interviewing Vlad Moskovski , CEO | Executive Coach and Culture Designer
Vlad Moskovski transforms conscious leaders into visionary architects of growth as their organizations evolve and transform. A 3x founder and leadership development expert with 15+ years of experience, he uniquely blends hands-on operational expertise with deep psychological insight through both coaching and strategic consulting.
- Taking a holistic approach, Vlad works simultaneously at three levels:
- The leader's mindset, executive presence, somatic & emotional intelligence
- The leadership team's alignment and collective effectiveness
- The organization's systems, culture, and strategic execution
His frameworks have empowered 30+ organizations through programs like The Circulars Accelerator, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Alchemist Accelerator, and HAAS Business School
Topics:
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:43 Discovering 'The Body Keeps the Score'
01:47 Trauma's Impact on Leadership
06:10 Somatic Awareness in Coaching
12:41 Psychological Safety in Teams
19:47 Navigating Vulnerability in Leadership
25:46 Practical Advice for Emerging Leaders
28:43 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
The podcast features Arthi Vijayaraghavan, host of 10X Growth Strategies, interviewing Ms.Rachael O’Meara author of the book “pause”. The book Pause: Harnessing the Life-Changing Power of Giving Yourself a Break by Rachael O’Meara is about the transformative value of intentionally stepping back—pausing—to reflect, realign, and reset your personal and professional life.
“A pause is not just time off. It’s time in. It’s your opportunity to reflect, regroup, and rediscover what really matters.” – Rachael O’Meara
Topics:
00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
01:55 Rachel O'Mara's Journey to Discovering the Power of Pause
07:21 The Importance of Emotional Intelligence
10:38 Practical Tips for Implementing Pauses
20:04 Emotional Intelligence and Leadership
25:01 Free Resources and Conclusion
This episode features our host Preethy Padmanabhan in conversation with authors of the book Sail to Scale: Steer Your Startup Clear of Mistakes from Launch to Exit. The book is a practical guide for entrepreneurs, written by Mona Sabet, Heather Jerrehian, and Maria Fernandez Guajardo. The book draws on the authors’ collective experience as successful entrepreneurs, executives, and investors to help founders avoid the most common pitfalls that cause startups to fail
Sail to Scale is designed for prospective and early-stage entrepreneurs, as well as anyone involved in the startup ecosystem. Its lessons, though often illustrated with SaaS and tech examples, are broadly applicable to a wide range of businesses. The book stands out for its clear organization, visual metaphors, and focus on both what to do and what not to do at each stage of growth
Topics:
00:00 Welcome to the 100th Episode of 10X
01:00 Heather's Inspiring Career Journey
02:57 Mona's Multifaceted Career Path
05:43 Maria's AI-Driven Mission
07:19 The Birth of 'Sale to Scale'
12:15 Key Lessons from the Launch Phase
20:18 Navigating the Pivot Wave with Hitch
24:46 Scaling Companies: The 10X Growth Mindset
25:23 Paradoxes of Scaling: Leadership and Focus
29:07 Hiring Strategies for Scaling Companies
29:48 The Importance of Avoiding Single Points of Failure
30:03 Turnover in Scaling Companies: A Necessary Challenge
30:47 The Final Wave: Navigating Exits and Acquisitions
39:05 AI's Impact on Launch Phases and MVPs
42:05 Distribution Fit: The Key to Market Success
44:07 Final Thoughts: Diverse Paths to Success
In this powerful episode of the 10X Growth Strategies podcast, host Saradha Sriram speaks with Naren Shanker — serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Hosted AI — on the transformative power of inner work, mindfulness, and navigating entrepreneurship through intuition. Drawing from his journey and the teachings of The Journey Within by Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Naren offers real-world insights on aligning purpose with profession, cultivating resilience, and the true cost (and reward) of self-awareness.
If you’re seeking clarity, calm, and grounded success in a world of noise — this is the conversation for you.
📌 Timestamps
00:00 – Intro & Guest Welcome
01:02 – Naren's Leap into Entrepreneurship
03:30 – Freedom vs. Structure in Startup Life
04:45 – The Reality of Founding: 80/20 Days
06:10 – Discovering The Journey Within
07:20 – The Immediate Impact of Breathwork
08:55 – Inner Work and Human Potential
11:15 – “iPOD” – Inner Peace, Outer Dynamism
12:50 – The Scientist & Boatman Story
15:00 – When Work Misaligns with Values
17:35 – Impulsive vs. Intuitive Decisions
19:00 – Developing Mental Hygiene
20:30 – The Role of Intuition in Innovation
23:45 – Gut Decisions in Reen’s Career
25:40 – Measuring Social & Ethical Impact
27:20 – Structured Purpose vs. Impulse
30:10 – Volunteering with Intention
32:00 – Live Reading from The Journey Within
35:20 – The Myth of Rest and Overwork
38:00 – Daily Stress & the Mental Dents We Ignore
41:30 – Three Pillars: Clarity, Purity, Sincerity
42:50 – Final Reflections & Takeaways
We are excited to present this live panel moderated by our host Preethy Padmanabhan. "Unleashing AI startups in Climate", features the following successful entrepreneurs with a climate tech background.
- Aimee Gotway Bailey, CEO, Rock Rabbit
- Divya Demato, CEO, GoodOps
- Reetu Gupta, Founder, Pistachio Advisory & Co-Founder Clean Table
- Karan Chopra, Co-Founder, Earthena AI
AI startups are uniquely positioned to accelerate climate action, offering scalable, data-driven solutions that can reshape industries and help achieve net-zero goals. By harnessing the power of AI, these startups are not only mitigating climate risks but also unlocking new opportunities for a sustainable future
00:00 Introduction and Host Welcome
00:14 Panelist Introductions
01:03 Panelist Backgrounds and Climate Journeys
04:38 Challenges and Opportunities in Climate Work
13:58 Measuring Impact in Climate Tech
22:06 Energy Efficiency and Modernization
22:42 Climate Tech and AI Integration
23:43 Superpowers in Sustainability
26:34 Entrepreneurial Journeys in Climate Tech
29:54 Fundraising Strategies and Challenges
33:43 Impact of Policy and Economic Conditions on Climate
We are excited to present this live panel moderated by our host Preethy Padmanabhan. In this live panel "Navigating the Fintech Frontier: VC Insights for 2025 and Beyond", an insightful panel featuring prominent venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs with a fintech background.
The fintech landscape is poised for significant transformation in 2025, presenting both challenges and opportunities for venture capitalists. This panel will explore the latest trends, investment strategies, and emerging technologies shaping the future of financial technology. This panel offers a unique opportunity for founders and startup teams to gain insider knowledge from industry leaders guiding the next generation of high-growth fintech ventures.
00:00 Introduction and Host Welcome
00:22 Panelist Introductions
03:57 Journey into Venture Capital
04:58 FinTech Investment Trends and Outlook
12:27 Advice for Entrepreneurs
15:21 Identifying and Supporting Unicorns
20:33 Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks
The podcast features Saradha Sriram, host of 10X Growth Strategies, interviewing Paul Singh, who is one of the researchers for the book Billions Dollar Lessons, and is the CEO of 1Gen, a social innovation organization with a diverse portfolio.
Paul shares his journey into studying business failures and the valuable insights gained from researching colossal business mishaps. Paul emphasizes the relevance of learning from failures and how modern businesses can avoid similar pitfalls. Tune in to discover how the Devil's Advocate approach can stress-test strategies and ensure sustainable business success.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction
00:28 Discussing 'Billion Dollar Lessons'
03:22 The Synergy Myth
04:23 Importance of People and Culture in Mergers
06:03 Learning from Market Disruptions
09:24 The Devil's Advocate Approach
14:02 Practical Applications and Modern Context
20:02 Final Thoughts and Future Implications
25:34 Conclusion and Gratitude
In this episode of the 10X Growth Strategies Podcast, host Arthi Vijayaraghavan introduces Saania Saxena, the young author of 'Teenage Chronicles'. Saania delves into the emotional rollercoaster experienced by teenagers, touching on themes like insecurities, love, and anxiety. 'Teenage Chronicles' has gained significant acclaim, ranking among the top 15 bestsellers in Indian airports. Saania, who has traveled to over 50 countries and is pursuing marketing at the University of Washington, Seattle, shares her journey of writing the book and learning about self-acceptance. She also discusses how interviews with friends from various cultural backgrounds contributed to the book. Arthi and Saania explore the impact of heartfelt quotes and the importance of friendships. Saania recommends two influential books, 'The Forty Rules of Love' and 'The Midnight Library,' which have shaped her philosophical outlook. The episode is a deep dive into the emotional growth and wisdom gained through writing and friendships.
00:00 Introduction
00:37 Saania's Background and Achievements
01:33 The Inspiration Behind Teenage Chronicles
02:53 Exploring Themes in Teenage Chronicles
05:31 Interviewing Friends and Cultural Insights
09:19 Boys vs. Girls: Emotional Expression
16:04 The Importance of Friendships
23:32 Tools for Managing Emotions
24:47 Recommended Books and Closing Remarks
Join host Madhavi Ravanan in the latest episode of the 10x Growth Strategies podcast featuring Anoop Bhaskaran. Anoop shares his fascinating professional journey, his passion for reading, and delves deep into Ed Catmull's 'Creativity Inc.' Discover the intriguing backstories of Pixar’s creation, the visionary leadership of Steve Jobs, and the impactful concept of the 'Brain Trust'. A conversation filled with inspiring quotes, personal anecdotes, and actionable insights for both professional and personal growth. Don't miss this engaging episode packed with the secrets behind Pixar's stupendous success!
Topics
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:44 Anoop's Background and Career Journey
01:42 Anoop's Reading Habits
05:20 Discussion on 'Creativity Inc.'
07:04 The Pixar Story and Key Figures
21:25 The Brain Trust Concept
26:07 Favorite Quotes and Closing Thoughts
The podcast features Arthi Vijayaraghavan, host of 10X Growth Strategies, interviewing Ms.Laura Dansbury the VP Product & UX at Study.com. They discuss the book “Take back your power” by Ms.Deborah Liu with. The book lays down ten rules for women to take back their power at work. It showcases how women knowingly or unknowingly let got of their power at work and suggests ways to take it back.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction
01:07 Impact of 'Take Back Your Power'
03:03 Defining Power and Personal Reflections
05:45 Revoking Free Passes: Personal Stories
13:34 Building and Acknowledging Support Networks
25:18 Reflecting on Lifelong Friendships
25:40 Building and Defining Your Legacy
28:14 Coaching and Mentoring Aspirations
30:16 Finding and Using Your Voice
41:37 Navigating Career Setbacks
47:48 Final Thoughts and Takeaways
The podcast features Saradha Sriram, host of 10X Health, interviewing Jaspreet Khokhar an IT Professional in Philadelphia. Join Jaspreet as he shares his transformative journey through organ donation – from confronting life's biggest challenges to embracing a second chance at life. It is a story of courage, hope, and new beginnings.
Topic:
00:00 Introduction
01:05 Jaspreet's Initial Diagnosis
02:33 Emotional Journey to Acceptance
06:00 Preparing for Transplant
06:12 Living with Dialysis
18:22 Family and Support System
22:13 Clearing Misconceptions about Organ Donation
27:08 Proactive Steps for Organ Donation
31:33 Life After Transplant
35:24 Conclusion and Gratitude
Our first episode of 2025 will feature the Indian epic "Mahabharata" which is authored by Sage Vedavyasa. Our host, Preethy Padmanabhan guides an inspiring conversation with Tatyana Mamut, Co-founder and CEO of Wayfound. They discuss the concept of Dharma (duty, moral law) that plays a central role in the Mahabharata.
Tatyana was the Board Director and Chair of Comp Committee for UserTesting's IPO on NYSE. She is a leader and builder of successful new products & businesses at Nextdoor, Amazon, Salesforce, IDEO, and Pendo. She has 15 patents & patents pending for technology inventions, including 5 for GenerativeAI innovations.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction to Leadership and Time
00:48 Welcome to 10x Growth Strategies Podcast
01:15 Guest Introduction: Tatyana Mamut
01:54 Tatyana's Personal Journey
04:09 Exploring the Mahabharata
07:29 Leadership Lessons from the Mahabharata
10:58 Key Takeaways on Leadership
15:40 Understanding Dharma and Duty
25:07 Lessons from Arjuna
34:11 Self-Awareness and Overcoming Failures
38:40 Final Words of Wisdom
Read the book:
Amazon - https://a.co/d/gyKPLHi
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata
The podcast features Saradha Sriram, host of 10X Growth Strategies, interviewing Sujatha Jayagopal, MD Strategic Sales, Accenture. They discuss Behavioral personality types, communication strategies, leadership and management, and personal growth.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction
00:23 First Impressions of 'Surrounded by Idiots'
01:07 Sujata's Journey and Career Background
03:37 Personality Types and Workplace Dynamics
07:59 Humor and Misunderstandings in Professional Settings
17:14 Women in Sales and Stand-Up Comedy
22:40 Empathy and Listening in Human Behavior
25:08 Conclusion and Gratitude
This episode features Madhavi Ravanan, a guest host of “10X Growth Strategies” in conversation with Kush Kochgaway - R&D Head for Enterprise Products at Nokia about the book The Psychology of Money.
“The Psychology of Money” explores the psychological factors influencing our financial decisions. The podcast delves into Kush’s insights, experiences and lessons on personal finance around the themes shared in the book.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction
00:49 Discussing 'The Psychology of Money'
02:39 The Power of Compounding
03:32 Personal Financial Journey
11:07 Key Takeaways from the Book
14:33 Impact of Market Crashes
19:07 Advice for the Younger Generation
21:11 Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts
Our VC panelists connect trailblazing, underrepresented and underserved founders with essential capital and access to world-class executives and industry leaders to unlock the exponential growth potential of their startup.The panel will also discuss the bestselling book "Love and Whiskey" by Fawn Weaver. This book is a vibrant exploration set in the present day, delving into the life and legacy of Nearest Green, the African American distilling genius who played a pivotal role in the creation of the whiskey that bears Jack Daniel's name.
❤️"Love & Whiskey" is an epic, true story about Jack Daniel and the distillery's first master distiller Nathan "Nearest" Green; at its center, is a story about business, friendship and history. But it's also about the extraordinary Fawn Weaver; her pursuit for truth and her rise to being the first Black woman to found and lead a company worth over a billion dollars.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:39 Unveiling 'Love and Whiskey'
02:02 Meet the Panelists
02:53 The Story Behind Untapped Investing
04:20 Parallels Between 'Love and Whiskey' and Untapped Investing
09:57 Principles and Values in Investing
17:29 Short-term Goals vs. Long-term Legacy
21:35 The Role of Resilience
25:28 Diversifying Investments for Lasting Success
30:36 Aha Moments and Final Words of Wisdom
Buy the Book: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Whiskey-Remarkable-Distiller-Improbable/dp/1595911340
Explore Untapped Investing: https://www.untappedinvesting.co/
The podcast features Saradha Sriram, host of 10X Growth Strategies, interviewing Jonathan Sorenson, who advises and invests in early-stage startups, with a focus on AI and also focuses on coaching engineers and leaders to cultivate 10x engineers. Together, they explore how "The Culture Map" guides communication, leadership, trust, and decision-making across different cultures.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction to the Podcast
00:13 Meet Jonathan Sorenson
01:30 Defining Culture in Business
03:12 Communication Styles in Leadership
04:52 Challenges in Global Team Communication
06:41 Decision Making Across Cultures
10:04 Navigating Feedback Across Boundaries
14:31 Case Study: Automation Project Failure
18:35 Impact of Remote Work and Generational Changes
21:19 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
The podcast features Preethy Padmanabhan, host of 10X Growth Strategies, in conversation with Mercedes Bankston, Program Director at Founder Institute to discuss the book "Secrets of Sand Hill Road" by Scott Kupor. The book covers how venture capital firms operate, what investors look for in startups, and how to navigate the funding process. The podcast delves into these key insights, offering practical advice for those looking to grow their businesses with venture capital support.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction to Venture Investing
01:01 Meet Our Guest: Mercedes Bankston
01:51 Mercedes' Journey in the Startup World
03:12 Insights from 'Secrets of Sand Hill Road'
05:06 Understanding Venture Capital Dynamics
07:11 Global Perspectives on Startups
11:11 Impact of Venture Investing on Employment
15:16 Current VC Landscape in 2024
17:11 Market Trends and Political Factors
18:30 The Role of Founder Institute and VC Lab
20:52 Success Stories and Unique Funds
24:01 Future Outlook for Venture Investments
27:34 Advice for Entrepreneurs
28:42 Common Pitch Deck Mistakes
31:39 Final Thoughts and Resources
In this episode of the 10x Growth Strategies podcast, host Aarti Vijayaragavan converses with Urvashi Tyagi, Former CTO of Resmed & ADP, focusing on the pivotal role of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in personal and professional growth. This conversation features the book " Emotional Intelligence" by Dr.Travis Bradberry and Dr.Jean Greaves. They explore how EQ helps in self-management and introspection, and its influence in organizational leadership. Urvashi shares personal anecdotes, illustrating the impact of EQ on her career and personal life, while highlighting vital skills like self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship management. The discussion touches upon Urvashi's learnings from the book 'Emotional Intelligence' and its companion read 'Power' by Jeffrey Pfeffer, emphasizing that empathetic leadership fosters influence and empowerment.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction to Emotional Intelligence
01:23 Meet Urvashi Tyagi: A Leader in Digital Transformation
02:21 The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Personal and Professional Life
02:48 Understanding and Developing EQ Skills
04:55 The Role of Self-Awareness in Emotional Intelligence
15:21 Strategies for Self-Management and Introspection
19:15 The Power of Influence and Empathetic Leadership
25:30 Building and Maintaining Relationships
30:37 Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts
In this episode of the 10x Growth Strategies Podcast, host Preethy Padmanabhan discusses the book "Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less" by Greg McKeown with Amanda Heyman, Managing Partner at Tundra Ventures. They delve into the key ideas from the book exploring the importance of living by design rather than by default. Amanda shares her personal journey and career highlights, emphasizing the need to focus on what truly matters. They discuss the four steps to developing an essentialist mindset: explore, eliminate, and execute, and how to make effective trade-offs in life. Amanda provides practical insights on managing cognitive load, protecting personal energy, and creating intentional systems for success.
00:00 Introduction to Essentialism
01:25 Meet Amanda Heyman: Career Journey
04:03 Amanda's Venture into Startups
06:20 Founding Tundra Ventures
09:12 Discussing the Book 'Essentialism'
13:15 Applying Essentialism in Life
21:40 Personal Systems and Adaptability
24:36 Balancing Multiple Interests
25:31 The Paradox of Success
28:46 Developing Essentialism
35:24 Making Trade-Offs
40:22 Embracing Boredom and Reflection
44:06 Final Insights and Conclusion
In this episode, host Saradha Sriram interviews Guayente Sanmartin, the Division President for Commercial Systems and Displaced Solutions Business at HP Inc. They delve into Guayente's journey through various global leadership roles at HP, discussing how the book 'The Practice of Adaptive Leadership' has influenced her approach to leadership. Key concepts from the book such as distinguishing between technical and adaptive problems, and the 'balcony and dance floor' analogy are explored. Guayente also shares personal experiences and offers advice for young women in STEM and business, emphasizing the importance of resilience, self-awareness, and communication. The discussion provides insights into the future of adaptive leadership, especially in the context of AI and remote work.
00:00 Introduction to Adaptive Leadership
01:00 Meet Guayente Sanmartin
02:05 Guayente's Journey and Inspiration
03:44 Concepts from The Practice of Adaptive Leadership
06:39 Challenges in Implementing Adaptive Leadership
09:02 Balancing Stability and Change
11:49 Empowering Women in Leadership
15:04 Future of Adaptive Leadership
17:39 Conclusion and Key Takeaways
In this episode, host Preethy Padmanabhan features the book 'Masters of Corporate Venture Capital' with its author, Andrew Romans. Andrew, a seasoned venture capitalist and General Partner at 7BC Venture Capital, shares insights from his extensive career in Silicon Valley and corporate venture capital. The discussion dives into the motivations behind writing the book, key takeaways, and common challenges faced by CVCs. Andrew also highlights notable differences between corporate and financial VCs and offers practical advice for startups looking to raise from CVCs. The episode is packed with invaluable knowledge on navigating the fast-changing world of technology and innovation in corporate ventures.
Topics:
00:00 Introduction and Author Background
02:06 Career Journey and Venture Capital Experience
05:22 Motivation Behind Writing the Book
12:21 Key Takeaways from the Book
20:40 Common Challenges in Corporate Venture Capital
30:39 Differences Between VCs and CVCs
36:40 Tips for Startups Raising from CVCs
45:31 Final Insights and Conclusion
----more----
Links:
Connect with Andrew - https://www.linkedin.com/in/romans/
Buy Andrew's book here - Masters of Corporate Venture Capital
You can also Download or Stream Free Chapter 1 from Masters of Corporate Venture CapitalHERE.
Andrew's Author profile - Amazon author page.
Check out Andrew's podcast
YouTube - Andrew Romans
Spotify - Fireside with a VC
In this episode, our host Saradha Sriram features the book Biased by Jennifer L. Eberhardt. Our guest Gayathri Radhakrishnan has over two decades of multi-disciplinary experience across domains such as product management, product marketing, corporate strategy, M&A and venture investments. She is currently a Partner at Hitachi Ventures and in her role actively invests in technology startups that are enabling digital transformation.
We explore:
- Gayathri’s role in Venture investments and her insights from the book and her decision making process around unconscious bias.
- How do we talk about biases in the workplace, family etc.
- Need for institutional change and training and Gayathri’s experiences on this
We feature the book “The rise of meritocracy by Michael Young '' with our guest Zoe Samuel and host Arthi Vijayaraghavan. The book is a satire on how the creation of the so-called merit based ruling class will reshape our society in the future. Our guest Zoe is a Venture partner at Starshot capital and she has previously worked at Google. At Google she co-created Anthropocene which supports Google Climate projects such as Project sunroof, Anthro Krishi and many more.
The book presents a historical context of how the merit based society has been shaped through the last century and its impact on the future as well.
In this episode, our host Saradha Sriram features the book The Steve Jobs Way by Jay Elliot and William L. Simon. Our guest, Sriram Krishnan, a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, has over 25 years of experience developing products and solutions leveraging advanced analytics and AI in life sciences and healthcare. He is the Chief R&D officer of Carenostics, a mission-driven startup focused on underdiagnosed and undertreated patients and getting them to Guideline Driven Therapy.
We explore Steve Jobs’:
- Leadership Style and Innovation
- Decision Making Process
- Impact on Technology and Culture
This book provides not only a portrait of a visionary leader and practical insights and principles that can inspire the current and future generations.
In this episode, our host Preethy Padmanabhan had a candid and insightful discussion about the book “The Startup of You”, with Preetha Ram, Managing Partner at Pier70 Ventures. Check out the episode and gain valuable tips on how to 10X your career.
"The Startup of You" by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha is a guidebook for adapting the principles of entrepreneurship to personal career development. It emphasizes treating your career as a dynamic, ever-evolving startup. The authors advocate taking calculated risks, building valuable relationships, and continuously investing in your skills and adaptability. They stress the significance of embracing uncertainty and seizing opportunities for growth and innovation. Ultimately, the book encourages readers to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset to thrive in today's rapidly changing professional landscape.
In this episode, our host Arthi Vijayaraghavan discusses the book “The Triumph Framework" with author Ms.Talila Millman. Talila shares the framework which helps C-suite execs in startups, scale-ups to transform organizations through change management. Talila is a leadership expert and growth catalyst. Through her advisory service, MillmanTech, she is the secret weapon CEOs and C-suite executives of scaleups and mid-market companies rely on to fuel profit and expansion.
Tune in to listen to anecdotes shared by the author through her work and learnings. The framework will help you to drive your team towards growth and transformation.
In this episode, our host Saradha Sriram will feature the book ”Power Score“ by Geoff Smart, Randy Street, and Alan Foster. Our guest Bhaskar Kende is an accomplished professional who has successfully transitioned from engineering to entrepreneurship. As the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Prana Life Sciences, Bhaskar is pivotal in steering the company's strategic direction and operations, Prana Life Sciences is a technology consulting firm located in the Greater Philadelphia area that predominantly serves clients in the Pharma, Biotechnology, and Medical Devices sectors throughout the United States.
In this episode, we will explore how the Power Score can be applied to various professional contexts. Focus on understanding the formula for Power Score PWR – Priorities, Who, and Relationships. Discuss the challenges of implementation, the role of leadership, and measuring success.
In this episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan will feature the book "Multipliers" by Liz Wiseman. Our guest today is Lucie Newcomb, the CEO and Founder of The NewComm Global Group, a leading international Advisory and Training firm specializing in Global Business Development and Global Leadership. She holds a Master’s degree in Leadership and 2 related certifications. She specializes in go-to-market strategies internationally and global leadership development
"Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter" by Liz Wiseman explores the characteristics and behaviors of leaders who amplify the intelligence and capabilities of their teams. Through extensive research and real-world examples, Wiseman identifies two contrasting leadership styles: multipliers and diminishers. Multipliers are leaders who inspire and empower their teams, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation. In contrast, diminishers often unknowingly inhibit the potential of those around them through micromanagement and control. The book provides valuable insights and practical strategies for aspiring leaders to adopt a multiplier mindset and maximize the talents of their organizations.
In the episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan has a thought provoking discussion with Diane Yu, Co-founder & CEO of TidalWave.ai on the book “The Worlds I See" by Fei-Fei Li. The book serves as a call to action for creating compassionate and inclusive technologies that address real-world challenges and foster a deeper connection among people.
Diane shares her journey as a serial entrepreneur and reflects on similarities of her experience to what Fei-Fei shares in her book. Diane’s current company TidalWave is on a mission to build the first ever generative AI application for mortgages. Before TidalWave, Diane held past roles as the CTO for Better, a digital mortgage lender and CTO for Comcast Advertising. Diane came to Comcast via Comcast's acquisition of FreeWheel, a company she co-founded and built from the ground up.
In this episode our host Saradha Sriram discusses the book “The Moonballer” with the author Nirupama Vaidyanathan. Nirupama is a former professional tennis player, a respected media commentator, an accomplished author, and an influential coach. They explore the multifaceted world of tennis through the experiences and insights of a true veteran of the game and talk about Nirupama’s maiden book ‘The Moonballer’.
- Her story of perseverance and excellence
- Passion for the sport of tennis
- Her comeback trail
Dive deep into the heart of the story with our podcast, where you'll hear directly from the author. It's your chance to experience the narrative in its most authentic form, unfiltered and raw, as intended by its creator.
In this episode, our host Arthi Vijayaraghavan discusses the book “The Art of Strategic Execution” with the author Ms.Priyanka Shinde. The Art of Strategic Execution dives into the intricate world of Technical Program Management (TPM) and shares the insights and wisdom she has gained through her personal journey from an introverted individual to a successful Silicon Valley TPM leader. From actionable strategies to inspiring stories, she explores the intangible aspects— mindset, communication, influence, and leadership— that set exceptional TPMs apart.
Tune in to learn more about strategic program management, the art and science behind it through this engaging discussion.
In this episode, our host Saradha Sriram discusses the book ‘The Untethered Soul’ by Michael A. Singer with Donna Yates Ferris. Donna is an MBA and CFA by designation with a yoga teaching and therapy certification. The Untethered Soul is a thought-provoking book that delves into the nature of consciousness and the pursuit of inner freedom.
Donna talks about her journey and how the practical wisdom and guidance from the book helped her during difficult times, helped with her personal growth, and built a deeper connection with her true self.
- Letting Go
- Living in the present moment
- Cultivating inner peace
By applying its teachings in daily life, readers can experience a profound shift in perspective and cultivate greater inner peace and happiness.
In this episode our host Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at OJO and Lakshmi Bhaskaran, VP of Engineering at Metadata, discuss the book Think Faster, Talk Smarter by Matt Abrahams. The book is a testament to the critical skill of decoding the after intimidating world of spontaneous communication and coaching us to approach it with less fear and more empathy.
Check out this engaging discussion sharing nuggets from the book, real life experiences and how we use or intend to use the frameworks. Tune in for a thoughtful discussion on spontaneous communication with Ms.Lakshmi Bhaskaran.
In this episode our host Saradha Sriram has an insightful discussion with Akila Agrawal, a leading M&A lawyer from New Delhi, about the book “The Subtle art of not giving a f*ck” by Mark Manson. Akila shared her journey of how she chose the speciality of M&A in private practice. Akila talks about how she has acquired the art of embracing life's challenges and, believe it or not, learning to let go of the things that just don't matter. The book offers a pragmatic and individualistic approach to embrace and approach life’s challenges in the pursuit of a meaningful life.
- Taking control
- Solving problems
- Changing your identity as needed
The book challenges the notion of always seeking more and encourages contentment with what you have.
In this episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan had a thought provoking discussion with Divya Raghavan, an early stage VC at NGP Capital. Divya shared insights on passion and perseverance among startup entrepreneurs she meets, how to cultivate grit in the workplace and learning lessons that helped her to become a successful VC. So, grab your headphones, get comfortable, and join us on this audio adventure! Your thoughts and feedback are always welcome
"Grit" by Angela Duckworth explores the concept of grit and its significance in achieving success. Duckworth argues that passion and perseverance, rather than talent alone, are the key factors in reaching long-term goals. Drawing on extensive research, she presents compelling anecdotes and case studies to support her claim that individuals who exhibit grit are more likely to overcome challenges and excel in their pursuits. Duckworth also emphasizes the importance of cultivating grit in children and fostering a growth mindset. Ultimately, "Grit" provides readers with valuable insights into the qualities that contribute to exceptional achievement and offers practical advice on how to develop and apply grit in various aspects of life.
When we iterate without a clear vision or strategy, our products become bloated, fragmented and driven by irrelevant metrics. They catch “product diseases” that often kill innovation. The book “Radical Product Thinking : The new mindset for innovating smarter” offers refreshing solutions that go against conventional wisdom. It offers a framework for building vision driven products that create impact to society at large.
In today’s episode, Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at OJO had the pleasure of discussing the book with the author Ms.Radhika Dutt. Radhika is an entrepreneur and product leader who has participated in five acquisitions, two of which were companies that she founded. She advises organizations from high-tech startups to government agencies on building radical products that create a fundamental change. Tune in to listen to learn how to build vision driven products using the radical product thinking framework.
In this episode I had a thought provoking and humorous conversation with Roshan Cariappa, VP of Marketing for Vymo. We discussed the book “Skin in the Game” and the Incerto series of books by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Roshan is a host for “The Startup Operator” podcast. Check out our conversation to hear valuable insights from Roshan on:
- How to deal with uncertainty
- Take risks to amplify rewards
- Make your message grandmother proof
- Have soul in the game
- Look for the genius within and more..
"Skin in the Game" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb explores the importance of personal accountability and risk-taking in decision-making. Taleb argues that individuals, especially leaders, should have a tangible stake in the outcomes of their choices to ensure responsible and informed decision-making. He critiques systems where decision-makers do not bear the consequences of their actions, emphasizing the need for a connection between decision-makers and the risks involved. Taleb's book delves into the concept of "skin in the game" as a fundamental principle for a robust and resilient society, urging for a more accountable and ethical approach to decision-making in various fields.
The 21 Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell insights learned from Maxwell’s 30-plus years of leadership successes and mistakes with observations from the worlds of business, politics, sports, religion, and military conflict. In the book the author explains the different laws with real world examples, takeaways. One of the advise in the book for leaders to learn about leadership is to practice by leading a voluntary organization.
In today’s episode Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at OJO had the pleasure of discussing it with Ms.Saraswathi Padmanaban the founder and head of DiyaGhar. Diyaghar is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide early childhood education to the children of migrant laborers. The organization currently runs in Bangalore, India and supports over 1000 children. Tune in to listen to great leadership takeaways from the humble and passionate leader of DiyaGhar, Ms.Saraswathi Padmanaban.
In the episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan had an insightful discussion on the book Play Bigger with Maryanne Morrow, Chairman, Founder and CEO of 9th Gear. Maryanne shared how she is creating a new category within the Fintech space.
"Play Bigger" is a business book by Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, and Kevin Maney that explores the concept of category design as a strategic approach for companies to achieve long-term success. The book argues that companies should aim to create and dominate their own product category rather than competing within existing ones. It emphasizes the importance of defining a unique and compelling category narrative that sets a company apart in the market. The authors provide numerous case studies and real-world examples of companies that successfully implemented category design, such as Uber and Salesforce, to illustrate their principles. Ultimately, "Play Bigger" offers a strategic framework for businesses to become category kings and disrupt their industries.
The book Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities for leading your fellow employees, customers, investors…etc. It is not easy, but it’s easier than you imagine.
In today’s episode, Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at OJO had the chance to talk to Nidhi Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of SheTO.org.
Nidhi is committed to addressing the vast gender gap in engineering and spends all her time furthering this cause and that is the motivation behind starting the “Tribe” of SheTO.org.
Tune in to listen to an engaging discussion on forming and growing tribes. Lot of anecdotes from her journey, aha moments and learnings from the book.
In the book “Built To Sell” author John Warrillow provides specific steps to entrepreneurs to build a valuable company which is sellable. Warrillow shows exactly what it takes to create a solid business that can thrive long into the future.
In this episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan discusses the book “Built to sell” with our guest Catherine Montgomery. She is the founder and CEO of Better Together, a communications agency that galvanizes positive change for purpose-driven organizations through creative strategies, messaging, and branding. She focuses on social impact businesses, where being upfront about your values is essential. Tune in to listen to great takeaways and key insights from our guest Catherine and the book.
The book “The Power Law” is an astonishingly frank and intimate story of Silicon Valley’s dominant venture capital firms. How their strategies and fates have shaped the path of innovation and the global economy.
In today’s episode, Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at OJO had the chance to talk to Ashmeet Sidana, Chief Engineer at Engineering Capital, a VC firm investing in startups founded on the basis of technical insight.
Tune in to listen to an engaging discussion on VC investing, journey of the firms, the evolution of the industry. Lot of insights shared from Ashmeet’s personal journey, firms he has mentored and managed over the years.
In this episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan discusses the classic management book “The Goal” with Andy MacMillan, CEO of UserTesting. Andy shares valuable insights on how to apply concepts from the book to a modern SaaS business. Check out the podcast to gain time tested knowledge on how to effectively identify and reduce bottlenecks in your business and successfully achieve your goal.
"The Goal" is a management-oriented novel written by Eliyahu M. Goldratt, published in 1984. The story follows Alex Rogo, a plant manager who faces numerous challenges at his struggling manufacturing company. Faced with the threat of closure, Alex embarks on a journey of discovery guided by a mentor named Jonah, who introduces him to the Theory of Constraints (TOC). Through various real-world scenarios and insights, Alex learns to identify and prioritize bottlenecks in his production process, leading to improved efficiency and profitability. By focusing on the core principles of TOC, Alex successfully transforms his factory and gains valuable lessons applicable to other areas of business and life.
How do you turn around a failing project, team, or even an organization? That is the main focus of the book Turnaround. Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at Ojo had pleasure of hosting the author of the book Lisa Gable in our podcast today. Lisa Gable is a former U.S. ambassador, United Nations delegate, and CEO of several organizations. She has orchestrated the successful turnarounds of a number of private and public entities across a number of industry sectors.
Change is the only thing that is constant and in the current climate you might find yourself in a scenario to “Turnaround” your team, company. Tune in to listen to understand the methodology along with great anecdotes from the author.
In this episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan has a thought-provoking conversation with Kay Sarathy, SVP Insurance Applications, Berkley Technology Services about the book Subtract:The Untapped Science of Less by Leidy Klotz. Kay Sarathy shares her experiences deploying some of the techniques from the book in the digital transformation journey she is leading.
In the book Subtract, the author draws our attention to the hard truth that biological, cultural, and economic forces around us encourage us to do more, not less. Our failure to subtract is a root cause for our cluttered calendars, closets, and inboxes. Klotz’s pioneering research shows us what is true whether we’re building Lego models, cities, grilled-cheese sandwiches, or strategic plans: Our minds tend to add before taking away, and this is holding us back.
The book Thinking fast and slow by Daniel Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind. System 1 of our mind is fast, intuitive and emotional. System 2 is slower, more deliberative and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything can be understood by knowing how the two systems shape our judgements and decisions.
In today’s episode, Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at OJO had the chance to talk to VT Bhardwaj, a General Partner at A91 Partners. He is a very well known investor in the Indian Startup ecosystem. It was a very valuable discussion around how he used learnings from the book on decision making, intuitions and judgements.
Tune in to understand decision making, judgements from an investor and learn from it.
When we try new, innovative things we are going to fail. If we put ourselves out there and love with our whole hearts, we are going to get hurt. In the book “Rising Strong”, author Brené Brown says that when we own our story and feel through these experiences of failure, we then write our own brave endings. Truth is falling hurts, and the dare is to keep being brave, face our emotions and feel our way back up.
In this episode, our host Preethy Padmanabhan had the pleasure of speaking with Amritha Prasad, VP of Product Design and Research at Calm on their experiences in Rising Strong from failure. Tune in to hear insightful and wholehearted stories of courage, compassion and connection.
Networks and network effects are fascinating in this era and their economic value is augmented by technology. Andrew Chen who led the “Rider Growth” program at Uber has a fascinating insider view on companies who have leveraged network effects in recent years. The book “The Cold Start Problem” provides an in depth view of how to understand and build networks, the various items which are at play in a marketplace design and the process of building economic value from these networks.
In today’s episode, Arthi Vijayaraghavan, VP of Products at OJO had the chance to talk with Bobby Burns, VP of Product and Engineering at Indeed.com. Bobby and Arthi explored different aspects of networks, marketplaces, interesting problems and products built to manage networks. He shared various anecdotes from his own product journey and how he leveraged ideas from this book to build and scale networks.
Tune in to understand networks, network effects, marketplace design and scaling.
In this episode, our host Preethy Padmanabhan had a thought provoking discussion with Prith Banerjee about his book “Innovation Factory”. Prith is Chief Technology Officer at ANSYS, a leader in engineering simulation. He has a rich career journey as a successful serial entrepreneur, senior executive in large companies. Prior to working in the industry he held distinguished roles in academia. He was listed as FastCompany top 100 business leader in 2009 and has won several awards from IEEE, ASEE and NSF.
In "Innovation Factory: Creating and Sustaining High-Performance Innovation," Prith explores the key factors that contribute to building and sustaining a successful innovation ecosystem within a company. Drawing on his experience as the former CTO of HP, Banerjee provides a roadmap for leaders seeking to foster innovation in their organizations. He stresses the importance of a clear innovation strategy, a supportive culture, effective talent management, and collaboration with external partners. He also examines the role of technology in driving innovation, highlighting the potential of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and the internet of things. Overall, Innovation Factory offers a comprehensive guide to building a culture of innovation that can drive sustained growth and success.
In this episode Madhavi Ravanan, Service Deliver Head, Nokia had an insightful discussion with Anusha Vaidyanathan, Director Product Line Management, Zscaler about the book "What Got You Here Won't Get You There".
"What Got You Here Won't Get You There" is a self-help book by Marshall Goldsmith that explores how successful people can continue to grow and achieve even greater success. Goldsmith argues that many successful individuals develop bad habits and behaviors that hold them back from achieving even greater success. He identifies twenty common behaviors that successful people often exhibit, such as the need to win at all costs or the tendency to blame others for problems. Goldsmith offers practical advice on how to identify and change these behaviors to improve one's leadership skills, work relationships, and overall success. The book is a valuable resource for anyone looking to continue growing and achieving success.
"Your promotion is not just about you; it's about everyone around you who has supported you and everyone who will follow in your footsteps." - Stacy Mayer
Promotions Made Easy doesn't just talk about how you move up the corporate ladder. It is a guide on how you can enjoy your job more, build relationships, and support other people to succeed in their careers. And there is no better person to talk to about this book than Shari Begun.
Recently made VP of Sales, Consumer, and IoT at Renesas Electronics, Shari talks about how the book inspired her and helped her develop her leadership style. She cites examples from her career, and her 3Xing vision. Further, she shares insights on how to not just do what you are good at and the importance of building trust with 15-min Ally meetings.
Tune in to listen to our recent episode and get inspired to grow into the leader you want to become.
The general advice usually given and something you would often hear is to specialize in your chosen field is how you reap success. But David Epstein says otherwise. In his book, Range, WHY GENERALISTS TRIUMPH IN A SPECIALIZED WORLD, he asserts that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists are primed to excel.
In today's episode, I had the chance to talk to Mita Gupta about this very book. Mita boldly explored many interests and became a generalist, taking on different challenging roles (Co-founder, VP, and Board Advisor, to name a few) and succeeding at them. She spoke about why she believed in this particular notion and discussed some examples from her own life and career that supported it.
This is an episode you don’t want to miss. Tune in to understand why a breadth of experience is invaluable as compared to narrow specialization.
What is Blitzscaling? How do you use it to grow and scale your business? Discover the secret sauce of silicon valley startups. Learn how companies like AirBnB, LinkedIn, Zara and several others embrace Blitzscaling to achieve massive scale in a short time.
We are excited to feature the book Blitzscaling authored by Chris Yeh and Reid Hoffman. A writer, investor, and entrepreneur, Chris has had a ringside seat in the world of startups and scaleups since 1995. Hundreds of companies, from garage-dwelling startups to Fortune 50 titans have tapped his knowledge and insights to accelerate and transform their businesses. Chris co-teaches the course "Technology enabled Blitzscaling" at Stanford University focusing on how Silicon Valley companies navigate rapid scaling, from dorm room to global giants.
Our host Preethy Padmamabhan sat down with Elena Elkina to talk about the book "The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels", by Michael Watkins. Elena is a Partner and Privacy & Data Protection Management Executive at Aleada Consulting. She shared how the book helped her secure early wins, align goals up and down the chain, build coalitions, stay balanced, and avoid vicious downward spirals.
First 90 days is a great guide for leaders on how to hit the ground running when they start a new job or a new project. Tune in to listen to this episode and hear insights about what one can do in their first 90 days to accelerate their transition to a new role and achieve success.
As we all gear up to relax, reflect and reconnect during the holiday season, getting ready to welcome the new year, listen to the full-on-energy conversation between our guest speaker Jayashree Sundaresan, a Senior Technology Leader with 25 years of experience and our host Madhavi Ravanan, Service Delivery Head, Nokia, where they discuss about why Becoming is the book you should catch up during the holidays to get inspired, to ponder and to take charge of the new year !
Becoming is Michelle Obama’s heartwarming memoir where she tells her own story of a young girl from the south side of Chicago, going all the way to Princeton & Harvard, and finally to the White House! She talks with open candour and humour about her journey that is filled with self-doubts, challenges, joys and successes. She uses courage, grace, kindness and support to deal with adversaries and uncertainties.
In this episode, Jayashree discusses how relatable and real she found the voice in the book. There is so much to take away for everyone right from career, to parenting, to marriage, to owning your voice in any room. Tune in to the podcast to know why Jayashree highly recommends Becoming.
Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown is an insightful book about human emotions and their meaning. It explores why we feel certain emotions and how they influence our behaviors. It further explores how to build meaningful connections by learning how to deal with them.
I sat down with Syamla Bandla, Senior Director, Production Engineering at Meta, and had a delightful conversation about what she loved about the book, what were some of the key takeaways, and how she had applied them in her life. We dug deep about the importance of knowing our emotions and developing the tools to cope and heal. Check out this podcast to learn how to improve your connection with yourself and others.
Whether we are talking in front of two people or five thousand, interviewing for a job, negotiating for a raise, or pitching a business idea to potential investors, speaking up for ourselves or speaking up for someone else, we all face daunting moments that must be met with poise if we want to feel good about ourselves and make progress in our lives. Presence gives us the power to rise to these moments." —Amy Cuddy (from, “Presence”)
We had the pleasure of talking to Lena Cheng, Managing Director at Best Friend Jack, about the book Presence by Amy Cuddy. Tune in and listen to her discuss tackling imposter syndrome, and the power of not worrying about the impression we're making on others but instead adjusting the impression we've been making on ourselves. It’s a powerful concept that helps us grow our self-confidence.
Husein Attarwala is the Founder & CEO of Skali delivering emergency healthcare solutions on flights. In this episode he shares insights from the book “Think Like a Rocket Scientist” and how the book influenced his entrepreneurial journey.
Think Like a Rocket Scientist is one of Inc.com's "6 Books You Need to Read in 2020” (According to Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, and Adam Grant). The author Ozan Varol is a former rocket scientist and reveals the habits, ideas, and strategies that will empower you to turn the seemingly impossible into the possible.
Fortunately, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to think like one.Check out this podcast to learn how you can apply principles from rocket science to accelerate your professional and personal growth.
Jeremy Ryan Slate is the founder of Top 100 podcast Create Your Own Life, where he has had conversations with some of the highest performers in the world: Indy 500 winners, NY Times best selling authors, platinum recording artists, billionaires, even the former director of the CIA. They were extraordinary, no doubt.
He authored the book, Unremarkable to Extraordinary, which talks about the principles these extraordinary humans had applied to to achieve the greatness of their life and impact. And we were ecstatic to sit down with him to understand more about his journey, how he tackled his adversities, and how he defined success on his own terms.
It was such a fun and insightful conversation that we know you are going to love!
Tune in to listen to this episode and get inspired to start your journey to become extraordinary.
In this episode Kison Patel shares practical insights from his book Agile M&A. Check out this podcast to learn
- How is M&A changing?
- What are common mistakes made in M&A?
- What are best practices in M&A?
Kison is the Founder and CEO of DealRoom, a project management software for complex financial transactions. Kison is also the host of the M&A Science podcast, an educational podcast exploring the intricate world of M&A with industry leaders and practitioners.
In this episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan had a conversation ith Ron Carucci, the best-selling author of 8 books, and popular contributor at Harvard Business Review and Forbes.
The discussion features Ron’s newest book and passion, To Be Honest: Lead with the Power of Truth, Justice and Purpose, is based on 15 years of research with more than 3200 interviews with leaders around the world. To Be Honest explains how four factors (Clear Identity, Accountability, Governance and Cross-Functional Relationships) affect honesty, justice and purpose within a company. When these factors are absent or ineffective, the organizational conditions compel employees to choose dishonesty and self-interest. But when done well, the organization is 16 times more likely to have people tell the truth, behave fairly, and serve a greater good.
To Be Honest shares the stories of leaders who have acted with purpose, honesty and justice even when it was difficult to do so. In-depth interviews with CEOs and senior executives from exemplar companies such as Patagonia, Cabot Creamery, Microsoft and others reveal what it takes to build purpose-driven companies of honesty and justice. Interviews with thought leaders like Jonathan Haidt, Amy Edmondson, Dan Ariely, Michael Sandel, Arthur Brooks, and James Detert offer rich insights on how leaders can become more honest, just, and purposeful. You’ll learn how Hubert Joly took Best Buy from a company on the brink of bankruptcy to one that is profitable, thriving and purposeful, and you’ll learn how Satya Nadella is instilling a rich sense of purpose and accountability at Microsoft.
Our guest today is Shawn Flynn who is an investment banker and Principle at Global Capital Markets. Shawn also hosts the popular Silicon Valley podcast where he interviews famous Entrepreneurs, Venture Capitalists, and Leaders in Tech. In this episode we discuss the book “Results: Think Less, Achieve More” by Jamie Smart. When you transform the way you go after results you can get to it faster. Tune into this podcast to learn * What are the key factors that influence your ability to create results * What are the obstacles that hold you back and how to overcome them * How do you increase impact and empower other people to create the results * How do we do all of this in a way that's healthy, natural, and desirable
In today’s episode, our host Preethy Padmanabhan got the opportunity to sit down with Guillaume de la Serra, Chief Product Officer of Jellysmack to discuss Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall. Guillaume shared his thoughts on some of the key points in the book—nurturing innovation while balancing franchising, avoiding the moses trap, and the need for loonshots to achieve 10x growth. What are Loonshots? They are deas that seem too crazy to work, but end up changing everything
Tune in to listen to the episode and know more about how you foster both the artists and soldiers in your organization, and ultimately set your business to ideate and create the next great thing.
This episode features the 10X Growth Strategies host Preethy Padmanabhan as the guest. The episode was recorded for Pitch Cafe, is a fantastic podcast hosted Vida Patil.
In this exciting podcast, Preethy spills her beans of wisdom on how she charted a course from her humble beginnings to making it to Silicon Valley Business Journal's Woman of Influence 2021. She also spells out her people-centric strategies in driving engagement and revenues. Preethy has contributed extensively in women and community empowerment roles at Chief creating ecosystems where like minded women leaders can come together. Listen on...all the way to the end ...
Unlimited Power is the book that had the “Most positive Impact on my life” shares Jean-Loïck Michaux, Founder and CEO of Serendipia. Jean-Loïck read the book when he was 19 years old and he used the frameworks from the book to overcome negative beliefs and fears in his life.
Within a short span of 10 years Jean-Loïck has launched multiple companies, started schools in Africa and built new skills to achieve big goals in his life. Check out this podcast to learn the 7 traits of success. Discover the power of empowering beliefs and how you can train your brain to produce desired results.
Do you want to create a stronger, more harmonious team? If yes, then you shouldn’t shy away from giving feedback, receiving it, and encouraging it. Kim Scott, a long-time director at Google and co-founder of Candor Inc., states that giving feedback is the single most important thing a boss can do. But how do you ensure your team gets the right kind of guidance? She introduces a tool called the Radical Candor.
In this episode, our host Madhavi Ravanan and guest speaker, Krupa Natarajan, discuss the value of Radical Candor. Krupa got candid about the aha! Moments in her life, how she had to undo the “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all” training that’s been drilled into our heads, and some of the strategies that helped her deliver radical candor.
Tune in to listen to this episode and gain insights into how you can grow into a great manager and leader and build a workplace where people love their jobs and do great work.
In this episode our host Preethy Padmanabhan connects with Rehmat Kharal, Global VP of GTM Strategic Enablement at Harness to discuss the book “The Art of Happiness”. The book is a beloved classic featuring wisdom from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and is compiled by Dr. Howard Cutler through conversations, stories and meditations.
The podcast features inspiring messages on practicing empathy, being grateful, stepping out of the victim mindset to take control of our life. Check out this podcast for tips to build positive habits, overcome suffering and gain peace in your life.
Powerpoint presentations rule our lives (and we are not being dramatic about it). We all, at least once in our lifetime, had to present something to an audience while curbing our growing dread. No more of that! Presentations can be fun, interesting, and full of passion where both you and your audience are excited about it. “How?” you might ask.
We give you an insightful discussion with Connie Kwan on The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs (Carmine Gallo), one of the best books on how to enthral your audience with your story. Connie is the founder/CEO of Product Maestro and a phenomenal storyteller. Connie was the best person to talk to us about this book. She spoke about what lessons from the book she infuses into her storytelling and shared some of her own best practices.
Tune in to listen to this episode on how you can deliver presentations like Steve Jobs, the master storyteller himself.
In this episode, our host Preethy Padmanabhan, Sr. Dir, Platform Product Marketing at Freshworks spoke with Nicole Mason who is a technology executive and author of the book “Enhance Employee Engagement: Future Proof Company Strategies”. Nicole is a visionary who advocated for remote work and distributed teams several years before the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to adjust to the new normal.
In this podcast, Nicole shares the ENHANCE framework which provides a flexible engagement model and has proven to boost companies' bottom line by up to 30%. Her book is a great resource for CXOs, leaders and HR executives on how to attract, recruit and retain talent in an increasingly competitive market. The book highlights the importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and eliminating bias which is a key conversation for International Women’s day this year.
The book Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles is an interesting book to read for just about anybody trying to navigate life. Ikigai is the Japanese concept that teaches us about living life with purpose and fulfilment. It is finding the balance between – (1) What you love (2) What you are good at (3) What you get paid for (4) What the world needs – to lead a long, healthy and happy life. In this episode, Madhavi Ravanan, Services R&D Leader at Nokia speaks with C Shikha, Commissioner, Karnataka State on how to embrace the Ikigai lifestyle.
In this episode, our guest host Jake Burns, Enterprise Strategist at AWS had an insightful discussion with Ram Parasuraman, Sr. Director Product Management at Cohesity. Ram draws parallels between his career experiences and the book “Thinking in systems” by Donella H. Meadows.
Why is systems thinking important? How to develop critical thinking in chaos? How to thrive in the information economy by connecting dots between inputs and outcomes? How to succeed by balancing input, output, and feedback loop within a system? Learn the art and science of data dynamics to deliver the desired outcome and gain 10X growth in your career and life.
It was wonderful sitting down with Alina Fu, VP of Product Marketing at G2 and discussing the book, Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Alina’s energy is infectious and it was great to hear her talk about the concepts in the book. She shed light on the ‘Curse of Knowledge’ i.e. the inability to empathise with our listener’s state of mind because it is hard to imagine what it was like not to know a certain knowledge. She summarises the six principles of stickiness: the SUCCESs template and how it can help marketers create compelling messaging.
Made to Stick is an incredible book that helps you understand what makes an idea memorable. Listen to this podcast to gain insights for 10X growth in your career.
In this episode Madhavi Ravanan, Service Delivery Head, Nokia had a thought provoking conversation with Jayashree Rajagopalan,Sr.Mgr, Software Development, Amazon. A few ideas discussed from the book include fighting stereotypes, choosing an equal partner, the likeability factor that women are constantly judged on, and the need to ‘lean in’ as you juggle the demands of family and work at the same time.
Tune in to listen to Jayashree get candid about her life and how she navigated the jungle gym of the corporate world.
In this episode, Jake Burns, AWS Enterprise Strategist and host for the AWS Conversations with Leaders podcast shares how Ray Dalio’s book Principles resonated with his core values.
What is hyperrealism? How can you gravitate towards being a reality creator? Why is it important to understand how others see you? How to practise the success mantra Pain + Reflection = Progress? Listen to this podcast and gain insights for the 5-step process to get what you want in your life and achieve 10X growth in your career.
In this episode I had a candid conversation with Reena Gupta, Founder of Mom Relaunch and author of the book Career Interrupted: Navigating Career Crossroads and Defining Success on Your Own Terms. Reena shared her journey to write the book as a guide to realize, reinvest and relaunch careers.
What will it take to define our career paths? How do we create success in our own terms? How do we achieve work life harmony? Listen to this podcast to gain insights for 10X growth in your career.
A must listen podcast for a dose of energy, positivity and facing uncertainties! In this episode, I had a full of energy conversation with Shaloo Garg , Managing Director at Microsoft about one of her favorite books - Antifragile by Nassim Taleb. When we first met, I still recall our intense conversation about calamities in the economy and the world in general as a result of COVID-19. The author of the book defines the term antifragile this way: Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty.
In this podcast, Shaloo and I go down the path of core attributes of Anti Fragility, volatility and uncertainty as key catalyst for change, her philanthropic work in social impact space, key strategies to succeed amidst the uncertainty and how startups prepare for the future and increase their odds of success.
Top 3 take away to pave the way for your 10x growth:
- Fragile breaks with stress, antifragile becomes stronger
- Embrace chaos and take risks to fuel progress
- Skin in the game is the name of the game
My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future by Indra Nooyi is nothing short of brilliant. The biography of PepsiCo’s former CEO gives a glimpse into how a woman of color in corporate America rose to take on an esteemed leadership role and thrived in it.
In this episode, Payal Koul Mirakhur, Former VP at IBM, sat down with Madhavi Ravanan, Service Delivery Head at Nokia to discuss how relatable she found the book. Payal got candid about what it means to be a working mother, her support system over the years, and how she combated gender bias at work. Tune in to the podcast to know why Payal highly recommends the book and what her key takeaways were.
"2030: How today's biggest trends will collide and reshape the future of everything" by Mauro F. Guillén, is an interesting book covering a range of topics including population, immigration, distribution of wealth and diversity.
In this episode, Molly McCabe, CEO, HaydenTanner shares her perspectives on the impact of upcoming trends on humanity and our future. Check out the podcast to discover opportunities and areas of 10X growth for business, people and countries around the world.
In this exciting episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Shikha Mittal who is a Sr.Dir, Product Marketing at VMware. We discussed the book - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. She shared her thoughts on why she chose to read this book, on pursuing her personal legend, and what the words of wisdom derived from the book mean to her in life and work.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a powerful novel that takes the reader on a beautiful; journey. The protagonist is a young Spanish shepherd embarking on a quest for treasure in lands far and near. While the book is fiction, it imparts wisdom on why one should follow their dreams despite facing failures.
In this episode our guest Sushma Malhotra, Founder, President & CEO of S5 Advisory, shares her life changing career transformation experiences, inspired by Dale Carnegie's classic, “How to win friends and influence people.”
How can you build better relationships, and learn from each other to foster a win-win for everyone? How being a good listener instills a sense of importance, and inclusion? Let’s learn more about the 12 ways to genuinely win people, and become a great leader.
In this episode our guest Raj Rajamani, CPO at SentinelOne, shares his experience with the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) goal setting framework.We discussed the book “Measure what Matters: OKRs, the simple idea that drives 10X Growth” authored by John Doerr, a Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist.
What is the difference between dreams and goals? Raj shares that “Dreams become Goals when you write them down”. OKR is a powerful and collaborative goal setting protocol that helps organizations drive higher performance, engagement and results. Listen to this podcast to get a taste of OKRs and discover the 4 OKR superpowers for effective goal setting in an organization - Focus, Align, Track and Stretch.
We have all made resolutions like reading more often or exercising daily, only for it to fall through. We have all struggled to do something consistently and have agonized over our failed attempts. Atomic Habits is a book for just about anyone wanting to develop new habits or sustain old ones to achieve their goals.
In this episode, Madhavi sat with Saro Velrajan, Chief Strategy Officer, Ginkos India, to talk about the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. They discussed what they liked about the book and what were some takeaways they got from it. Saro got candid and shared examples from his life on how he had forged different habits like maintaining a fitness routine or becoming a writer.
Let’s listen to the podcast to know more about some strategies you can adopt to develop sustainable habits and pave the way for your 10X growth.
With the world rapidly changing around us, we have to constantly learn and adapt in order to stay relevant. Adopting a growth mindset (as compared to having a fixed mindset) pushes an individual to learn continuously, understand that effort is required to master a skill, and see failures as opportunities.
In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Benu Agarwal, President and Founder, Milestone Inc. We discussed the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Stanford psychologist and Professor Carol Dweck. Benu shared her insights on how she embraced a growth mindset in her life and how it helped her grow Milestone and succeed as an entrepreneur, wife, and mother.
Are platforms eating the world? How can entrepreneurs build a platform that brings value to their customers? Why are traditional monopolies despised and platform monopolies loved by customers?
In this episode Dheeraj Pandey, industry superstar, Co-founder and CEO of DevRev and former CEO of Nutanix shares his insights about the book “Modern Monopolies”, authored by Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson. Listen to the podcast and discover the secrets to build successful companies and platform businesses.
The book The Hard Thing about Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz, narrates the trials and tribulations of a startup journey and the mindset required to be a founding CEO of a startup. Ben who is currently the Partner at Andreeson Horowitz shares tough learning lessons from his experience building several companies.
This episode features Jeetu Patel, EVP & GM of Cisco Security and Collaboration Business Units at Cisco, who shares key insights and deep admiration for the book The Hard Thing about Hard Things. An entrepreneur himself, Jeetu talks about wartime mode vs peacetime mode of operation, managing our psychology as a leader and the importance of setting up a communication framework across the company. Jeetu also elaborates an interesting 6 part stack rank of what a company needs for business success.
In this episode our guest host Madhavi Ravanan, SI Delivery Head at Nokia, returns to the podcast to discuss the book The Leadership Pipeline by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter and James Noel. Our guest for the episode is Nishant Saxena, CEO, International Markets, Cipla.
Companies have seen highly skilled employees grow quickly in the first few years of their career but they slow down as they transition to take the position of managers. The Leadership Pipeline by Ram Charan shows why such a phenomenon occurs and what it takes for companies to nurture leadership at every level within the organization.
Nishant shares his learnings from the book, advice on the key to success for first-time managers, what is the skill set required by general managers and functional managers to succeed in their roles, and how companies can grow leaders from within an organization.
Phil Jackson, former head coach of the Chicago Bulls team, is popular for introducing the zen approach to the game. In his book, Sacred Hoops, he shares his experiences of marrying sports with spirituality, and building high-performing teams by being an invisible coach.
In this episode, Linda Tong, GM of Cisco AppDynamics, lifetime Bulls fan, shares how the book inspired her leadership journey. Let’s listen to the podcast and understand how to put WE before ME, how to visualize like a leader and mentally prepare for tough times, and how mindfulness can help you achieve 10X growth for your team.
Robert Iger, the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, is considered one of the innovative and successful CEOs of our time. In his book, The Ride of a Lifetime, he shares his journey and pens down the values that ensured his success. One of the most exciting parts of the book is about Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, a move that re-establishes Disney in the field of animation.
In this episode, Arun Mani, Chief Revenue Officer, talks about what he loved about the book, some principles he related more closely with, and shares some examples of innovation, failures, and the lessons learned from his own life.
We had the pleasure to connect with Ash Seddeek, Chief Excitement Officer at Executive Greatness Institute, formerly with Deloitte Consulting, Oracle and Cisco. His book “Road to Success” outlines 3 strategic steps for career development - Own it, Win it and Crush it. Let’s listen to the podcast and understand how strategy, excitement and energy can pave the way for your 10X growth.
Why do some companies make the leap and others don't? Is it the level 5 leadership qualities of the management team? How to confront brutal facts in the startup world? How to balance the three levers of doing what you're best at, being passionate about solving a problem, and doing something which drives the economic engine.How to bring equilibrium between the culture of discipline and the risk taking entrepreneurial spirit?
We had the pleasure of connecting with Madhu Shalini Iyer, entrepreneur, partner at Rocketship.vc (a Silicon Valley based-global VC firm), and a former data scientist to hear about her contrarian view on Jim Collins’s book - Good to Great. Check out this podcast to learn how to adapt insights from the book to your personal and business goals for 10X growth.
In this episode we connect with Swati Bhatia, Partner at Goldman Sachs to discuss the leadership principles that shaped the innovative culture of Silicon Valley. Trillion Dollar Coach, authored by Eric Schmidt, Alan Eagle and Jonathan Rosenberg, showcases the life story of Bill Campbell who coached executives across Apple, Google, LinkedIn and several startups in Silicon Valley and helped drive 10X growth and beyond.
A football coach turned high tech executive, Bill Campbell brought out the best in leaders and teams by building an envelope of trust and creating a team first environment. Hear this episode to learn how you can apply the silicon valley success strategies in your life and business.
'What is The Unknown Edge that separates the mystical from the mundane, the life-transforming from the life-threatening and the ethereal from the earthly'?
In this episode, we speak with Rajita Kulkarni Bagga, Author of the book Unknown Edge and President of Sri Sri University. After a stellar career in banking, Rajita has taken an even bigger initiative to shape the future generation and bring global impact. The Unknown Edge is a guide for business growth, relationship building, and self discovery
Hear key takeaways from the book Deep Work by Cal Newport. Our featured guest for this episode is Gayathri Devi Kalyanaraman Senior Vice President, DBS Bank.
Women (and men) take on multiple roles, and these roles often come with a lot of responsibility. So how does one make time to get their work done. How does one prioritize their work among other responsibilities and distractions? In his book Deep Work, Cal Newport talks about the various philosophies one can adopt to do deep work. Cal describes deep work as: "Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate."
In this episode we have a guest host Madhavi Ravanan, SI Delivery Head at Nokia. Madhavi sits down with Ajay Goel, VP of Engineering at Altran, to discuss the book Give and Take by the author Adam Grant.
Ajay shares his insights on what it means to be a giver and how building trust and relationships with people can enhance success. He delves deeper into how vulnerability can help one connect with others and a giver's role in motivating and cultivating talent. Ajay also reveals critical leadership skills he looks for when building a team.
Love is such an amazing and empowering feeling. But sometimes, it is overshadowed by anxiety and fear, hindering us from recognizing our worth.
In this episode Lisa Pepper-Satkin, Executive Coach, Author and Dare to Lead Facilitator, reminisces her journey growing up and how her personal experience led to writing the children's book, Pocket Full of Love. The underlying message is not just for kids. We all struggle with fear and anxiety at different stages in our lives, albeit for different reasons. And this book teaches people of all ages how to replace fear with love by finding hearts in the world. She further discusses the importance of having vulnerable conversations in order to help each other grow positively.
A shining career and a rich family life — Can you have both? Sonali Sambhus shares with us how you can be at your fullest potential and lead a multidimensional life. She is a silicon valley tech executive, an entrepreneur and the author of the book Ellevate: Career Rise with Balanced Life.In this episode, she and I got to talk about what holds women (and men) back from achieving their dream career. She delved into the success mantras discussed in her book, abbreviated as the SCoRe PLUS Technique. These actionable tips are useful for anyone looking to balance career and home successfully.
I started the year 2021 discussing the book, The Servant with Sanjeev Kapur. The author James C. Hunter calls The Servant a "Simple Story About The True Essence of Leadership".
Our guest Sanjeev Kapur is the VP of Marketing Operations at LinkedIn. He spoke about the characteristics he admires in a leader and how deep care for his people has influenced his style of leadership. He shared the difference between needs vs. wants, power vs. authority, and many other exciting concepts like agape love.
Hear key takeaways from the book Dare to Lead by Dr.Brene Brown. Our featured guest for this episode is Robin Garcia-Amaya, Vice President, Chief of Staff, Operations, and Philanthropy at Gainsight.
Robin shares why this is her favorite book, how it helped her be bold and vulnerable, how it helped her define her non-negotiables, and her thoughts on building a courage culture within an organization.
In this episode, I had the honor of talking to Shellye Archambeau, one of Silicon Valley's leading African American CEO and author of the book, Unapologetically Ambitious. She got candid about why she wrote the book, what it means to have sustainable growth, and discussed the need for companies to prioritize inclusion and diversity as a goal from the very beginning.
Shellye Archambeau is the former CEO of MetricStream, a GRC company based in Palo Alto, California. She has held executive positions for numerous companies, including a 15-year career at IBM where she became the first African American woman at the company to be sent on assignment internationally. She is a Board Director at Verizon Communications, Okta Inc, Nordstrom, Roper Technologies
Hear key takeaways from the book How will you measure your life by Clayton Christensen, James Allworth and Karen Dillon. Our featured guest for this episode is Madhavi Ravanan.
Madhavi Ravanan is a Technology Executive based in Chennai, India. She is currently the SI Delivery Head for Nokia Telco Cloud and held past roles at Wipro and Aricent. She loves leading global teams and solving complex business problems.
Hear key takeaways from the book Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday, with our featured guest Declan Waters.
Declan is the founder and CEO of Waters Agency and has been running media campaigns for US and European companies for over 20 years. His experience in media relations comes from representing companies such VMware and Nutanix and working with the likes of Condoleezza "Condi" Rice, former Secretary of State and John Thompson, Chairman of the Board at Microsoft.
10X podcast gives you bite sized learning from books combined with practical examples from real life. Listeners can then choose to further explore the topic by reading the books that are most appealing to them.
The 10X Podcast aims to be a spark that lights up individuals and inspires them to grow in whatever area they choose - personal, business, community or non-profit growth. Growth fuels and expands human potential. By focusing on growth one can reach greater heights for themselves and others around them. 10X podcast brings us together to learn and grow as an individual, as a team, or as an organization.
Hear key takeaways from the book The Gifts of Imperfection by Dr.Brene Brown, with our featured guest Heather Jerrehian. Heather Jerrehian is an award-winning C-level executive, investor, and serial entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience inspiring and motivating teams to make the impossible possible. A self-proclaimed “hexagon,” because of her vast, multifaceted experience that spans enterprise software, technology, consumer, and internet businesses, Heather has achieved success several times over when building innovative brands -- often taking them from initial concept to generating millions in revenue, typically within a year or two on lean resources, all while driving bottom line profits.