Northstar

Gagan Gehani and Jitesh Goel•podcasters.spotify.com

Documenting discussions with folks who have done cool stuff. Spanning across entrepreneurship, cracking dream jobs, side projects etc and most importantly the human side of all the hustle

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Episodes

Ep 8: With Ahmed El Sharkasy , Founder and CEO - Knowledge officer

In the 8th episode of #BeingCandid Series, we had Ahmed over ,Founder and CEO - @knowledge.officer , an edtech platform in Egypt, UK and growing globally. We spoke about: 1. Positive impact of covid on edtech 2. Acceleration of underlying trends in employability driven edtech 3. Practical framework for professionals looking to break into or grow in their career 4. Practicality around passion in life 5. His love for acting and post tech retirement plans...

Apr 01, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 8

Ep 7: Kuntal Malia, Cofounder - StyleNook, Ex - senior exec-Analytics

In the 7th episode of #BeingCandid Series, we haD @kuntalm77 with us. She is the co-founder of @stylenook.in and was previously a senior executive in data and marketing analytics in the silicon valley. We spoke to her on - 1. Fashion tech - personalising fashion for women - Impact of covid : evolving value proposition for the users - Importance of scrappy execution 2. Data - leveraging AI in conjunction with human stylists 3. Women in tech - her experience and advice to anyone listening 4. Entre...

Mar 01, 2021•47 min•Season 1Ep. 7

E6 - With Polina Marchenko, super mom juggling 3 parallel ventures and raising her kid

We spoke on a variety of topics ranging from financing the startups, product management, time management, evolving education and employment landscape Founder of Sideprojct Community for like minded folks to collaborate to build and showcase their skillsets She Aspired 30 day career coaching program for women to help break into product management Futurista Mentorship program for teenage girls to help choose the right career spanning tech, arts , business and more Polina is currently looking out f...

Jan 15, 2021•48 min•Season 1Ep. 6

Ep 5: Being candid with Vipul Rawal - Founder, Angel Investor, Senior exec

Ep 5: Being candid with Vipul Rawal - Founder, Angel Investor, Senior exec He exited his startup just at the cusp of the pandemic to Perfios technologies where he now works. No BS conversation on his multi startup journey uptil now, both failures and the success of it. He delved deep into early stage venture funding from people like us and you who are in the ecosystem close enough to have a crack at investing in early stage companies and building wealth. Hope you like it - thanks!...

Dec 12, 2020•45 min

Being candid with Akshay Yadav, the "Garbage man" and Principal product manager at Audible Magic

On Northstar podcast's fourth episode of the #BeingCandid Series, we talk with Akshay Yadav - the Garbage Man of #Bengaluru. He is currently working as a Principal Product Manager at Audible Magic and has previously led products at Criteo and Cisco after completing his M.B.A. from Haas School of Business - UC Berkeley. He has been a social entrepreneur in India and volunteer for multiple NGOs across India and US. In this very detailed and deep conversation, we talk about: - His work at the inter...

Nov 24, 2020•52 min

With Akash Rupela - Guiness book of world record holder and national champ in cubing on balancing passion and professional life

In the 3rd episode of the Northstar podcast , we speak with Akash Rupela , a Guinness book world record holder in Rubik's Cubing who also has multiple patents working in the Data Science team at Adobe India. In this episode of the #BeingCandid series, we talk about: - The Guinness record, what and how did it come about and 43 national records on the way to the world record in cubing - Transferrable skills and experience from cubing to life - Side volunteering for World Cube Association to scale ...

Nov 04, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Ep. 2 : Being candid with Swati Rao - a FAANG product leader, currently lead PM at Facebook and ex. product Amazon ( Alexa ) and Intel

We talk about: 1. The power of simply asking 2. Social Media 2020 for career progression 3. Difference in work cultures at Facebook and Amazon 4. Insane responsibility of product people of the large tech companies 5. The next chapter - her initiative where she mentors Product managers and the value it creates Bonus: We have started taking audience questions to cover during the podcast - this one has a couple of them from our active listeners, feel free to shoot any questions / feedback to us...

Oct 11, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Episode 1: Being candid with Mr. Himanshu Batra - an energetic, Punjabi, serial entrepreneur

1. His choices : From studying in the small town of Kurukshetra to running his startup to working for Google in US to then leave everything and coming back to India 2. Startup journey : The shift in risk-taking mindset from his 1st to now, his 3rd stint as an entrepreneur, how has the successful exit from his last venture (Acadview acquired by upGrad) impacted his approach to solving the on-ground problems in the Indian higher education system 3. Value of extracurriculars at work : Talking about...

Sep 10, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 1