India’s fintech adoption is booming. So today my guest is Ankur Joshi CEO & Co-founder of Nuclei,a bootstrapped software enterprise startup that helps banks improve digital banking services by integrating its API platform to increase customer engagement through merchant marketplace and wealth management services. He talks about how he got this off the ground. Mistakes made in the early days. He talks about why they bootstrap and not raise any capital. He explains why the primary product is t...
Dec 08, 2021•40 min•Ep. 183
The wearable devices market in India is expected to reach a sales volume of 16.22 million units by 2024. So today I speak to Anmol Saxena, the CEO & founder of Ashva Weartech. They develop wearable solutions for chronic knee pain & spine. So in this episode she talks about her own battles with knee pain that inspired to build a prototype at a hackathon. And since then they not looked back! She talks about how the products work, quitting her job at Ford. Building a MVP. Talks product deve...
Nov 30, 2021•49 min•Ep. 182
Building bionic arms for people with disabilities! Today I speak to Rishi Krishan, the CEO & Co-Founder of Symbionic. Symbionic is an affordable, assistive technology startup that makes smart prosthetic devices. It all started due to a freak bus accident which led to him losing his arm. So in this episode he talks about the huge challenges building a bionic arm. He talks about how he validated the idea by being a human guinea pig. Talks about how they build empathy into the product and the m...
Nov 21, 2021•38 min•Ep. 181
Ganesh Shankar is back! He came on the show in October 2017 (EP68) & he is celebrating 10 years as an entrepreneur! Ganesh is the co-founder & CEO of FluxGen FluxGen is on a mission to help industries become water positive, and aims to help save 1 billion litres of water everyday using his product AquaGen, a smart real-time water flow and level monitoring system. So in this episode he talks about improving the product using design thinking. He talks about time spent in the Cisco Launchpa...
Sep 03, 2021•47 min•Ep. 180
Nivedha is back on the show! I spoke to her back in December 2017 (Ep 72). She is the Co-founder of TrashCon. They have created a machine that helps solve India's huge waste management problem by converting mixed waste into Biodegradable and Non-Biodegradable Waste. They started with one tiny machine doing 100kg/day to now doing 200,000 kgs/day! Last year they did a million dollars revenue and have 3 million dollars in the pipeline this year. She talks about spending 2.5 years working in a dumps...
Jul 31, 2021•45 min•Ep. 179
Logistics is the hottest industry to be in right now , according to my guest Mudasar Mohamed, Co-Founder & COO of Ezyhaul. Ezyhaul is a logistics tech startup based in India and South East Asia. They are on a mission to transform transportation logistics by building an ecosystem around shippers, truckers, government agencies, and third party service providers. So in this episode he talks about how they validated the MVP by talking to experts & truck drivers. Talks about being very close ...
Jun 18, 2021•46 min•Ep. 178
If everything is going digital why not theatre? Today I speak to Shreyas Talpade, actor , director , producer and now he is entering the exciting world of entrepreneurship building India's first ever streaming platform dedicated to Theatre and Performing Arts called Nine Rasa. This platform gives you access to several hours of plays, skits, story-telling, stand-Ups, chats and more across several languages. In this episode he talks about how the idea got conceptualised during the pandemic. Talks ...
Jun 11, 2021•47 min•Ep. 177
Making it easier and cheaper for e-rickshaw drivers to earn a livelihood. Today my guest is Varun Goenka, CEO & Co-Founder of ChargeUp. Charge-up offers the simple solution of Battery as a Service (BAAS) to a growing community of 2.4 million E-Rickshaws. The company enables the e-rickshaw drivers to join the service without any upfront costs. By subscribing to a daily battery rental plan. Charge-up allows the drivers to visit the swapping station as many as 2-3 times a day to swap the discha...
Jun 04, 2021•34 min•Ep. 176
Every year 300,000 wheelchairs are sold in india. 95% of all wheelchairs are one -size fits all. Imagine wearing shoes and everyone has to wear size 14 shoes! So today my guest is Swostik Dash, CEO & Co-Founder of Neomotion. This Chennai-based startup has developed a personalised wheelchair, and a battery-powered clip-on device that converts the wheelchair into a roadworthy electric vehicle. So they helping people with disabilities to live a more independent life with their products. So in t...
May 23, 2021•41 min•Ep. 175
Cryptocurrency is a trillion dollar industry & with a billion people in India the potential is huge! So today my guest Edul Patel CEO of Mudrex. A Y-Combinator startup building an algorithmic trading platform for cryptocurrency. They help crypto traders create, test and deploy their trading rules into automated trading algorithms without writing code. Started back in 2011 reading the original white paper while still in college and now they are growing 40% month on month. They have 2.5k payin...
Apr 21, 2021•45 min•Ep. 174
Today you will hear some of the best guests I have spoken to over the past 5 years. You will hear from Vineet Rajan. Co-founder of Scout My Trip - India's premier do-it-yourself platform for road trips .talks about pivoting, new insights on the India travel market , growing 5x , expanding into S.E Asia, using virtual scouts & life changing road trips! Next we have Aayush Jindal Co-founder of Toesmith. (45m.46sec) India’s first tech-driven footwear brand, offering customisation of shoes at an...
Apr 11, 2021•2 hr 25 min•Ep. 173
Giving a voice to people who don’t have a voice. Today my guest is Meet Singhal. Co-founder of Stamurai. A Mobile app that helps you learn & practice speech therapy exercises for stuttering & stammering. So in this episode he talks about how stuttering controlled his life almost having a breakdown and how he turned it all around by developing this mobile app. Talks about the initial prototype & acquiring his first customers. Which now has 40,000+ installs across 155 countries around ...
Mar 31, 2021•37 min•Ep. 172
Pampering your furry friends the right way! Today my guest is Anjali Kalachand, co-founder of A Petter Life an e-commerce platform to understand your dog’s nutritional & lifestyle needs. In this episode she talks about why she quit corporate life to do this. Growing 150% after launching only 2 months ago. Talks about identifying gaps in the market and being a bootstrapped startup. She talks about why the pet industry is similar to the children's industry. Mistakes made in the early days and ...
Mar 21, 2021•33 min•Ep. 171
Dropping out of education to do an EdTech startup! Today my guest is Mohammad Yousuf CEO of Edunify. Edunify assists schools in connecting with prospective parents online and helps parents find the right schools for their children. Think of it like a matchmaking service. So in this episode he talks about great traction so far, talks about how they went about validating the idea. Why is selling to schools is one of the toughest markets you can be in. Thoughts on the indian education system & ...
Mar 14, 2021•39 min•Ep. 170
I catch up with Dr Geetha Manjunath, CEO & CTO of NIRAMAI, a deep-tech startup, offering a radiation-free, non-invasive, non-touch, breast cancer screening solution. I spoke to her back in Sept 2017 (Ep67) when they only had a handful of customers, now they are one of the top deep tech startups in India. In this episode we talk about their core technology called Thermalytix. How they have innovated during the pandemic. Talk about how they create AI/ML models and how they test them before pro...
Mar 04, 2021•57 min•Ep. 169
My first ever guest is back on the show! Harshdeep Singh Hura founder of WrapItUp - a text summarizer. He appeared on show back in August 2015. We talk about how his app now has 3.5M users. Why he turned down $20 million acquisition for the app. How a anthropology course on apes was a breakthrough moment. Talks why he almost quit tech, what changed and gives us his new fresh perspective on life. He gives us great insights on mobile app design, development &marketing strategies. Talks about g...
Feb 23, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 168
Building India’s first home-grown AR headset. Today my guest is Pankaj Raut the co-founder & ceo of AjnaLens. AjnaLens designs & manufactures AI-powered mixed-reality glasses for defence , education and enterprise customers. He talks about it all got started by being inspired watching James Bond movies. He talks about how the product helps the Indian armed forces & talks about design and development process. He talks about VC funding, future trends & opportunities. He gives us hi...
Feb 13, 2021•35 min•Ep. 167
Building a digital bank to help small businesses in india. My guest today is Anish Achuthan CEO & co-founder of Open - a new age digital banking platform. In this episode he talks about how they raised $37 million from prominent investors, and shares amazing growth statistics. He talks about how they use customer acquisition channels. He shares UX strategies when developing the website & mobile app. Talks about being a 5x entrepreneur. Talks about the importance of branding and PR in get...
Jan 28, 2021•42 min•Ep. 166
Nothing is useless in this world. What can be a waste to you is someone's asset’ - The ‘Recycle man of India’ aka Dr Binish Desai, social entrepreneur & founder of Eco-Eclectic . I spoke to him back in February 2019 (Ep 106) and he is back again to talk about inventing a new type of brick made from recycled PPE material. He talks about creating a female empowerment centre for former sex workers. He then talks about building low cost homes using 3D technology, talks about trust issues after g...
Jan 15, 2021•26 min•Ep. 165
100 million famers are expected to be online in the next 5 years. So today I speak to Siddharth Dialani, co-founder & CEO of BharatAgri a farming technology platform where they work with farmers directly. improving their productivity. Think of it as a digital farming assistant. So in this episode he talks about what inspired him to do this, building the first prototype. The problems farmers face. Time spent working on a farm for a year & being treated like an outsider . He then talks abo...
Jan 07, 2021•36 min•Ep. 164
No 1 Best Business Podcast in india! Big Thank You to CEO magazine India. I am humbled and honoured. Today you will hear some of the best guests I have spoken to over the past years. You will hear from Shankar Prasad. Founder of Pureplay Skin Sciences. They are Building India's fastest growing new-age, values-driven vegan skin care & beauty brand. Next I speak to Akriti Khatri The founder of the Venus Detective Agency - India’s leading female private detective agency And finally I speak to N...
Dec 31, 2020•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 163
Today you will hear some of the best guests I have spoken to over the past 5 years. You will hear from The Tech Witches - A group of 5 Indian high school girls. They have built an app that connects children at orphanages to senior citizens in nursing homes, allowing them to spend time together. Next up Dr Siddhant Bhargava co-founder & nutritionist at Food Darzee.He is tackling India's growing obesity problem.by creating a health & nutrition company offering fresh, healthy food delivered...
Dec 23, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 162
Charanjeev Singh aka CJ aka The Flying Sikh is back on the show! I spoke to CJ on the show 5 years ago and he is still going strong. In fact they are now launching in Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and Singapore. He talks about acquiring 10% Sikh grooming market just through word of mouth. Talks about Product development life cycle and why the weather plays a big role. He talks about building a community centric brand. Talks about product failures Talks about the importance of Sikh culture in 202...
Dec 14, 2020•39 min•Ep. 161
Making space explorable & economical for the future generation. Today i speak to Dr Srimathy Kesan CEO of SpaceKidz India - SpaceKidz india helps students to pursue their space dreams regardless of their field of education, social status, and geographic location. in this episode she talks about how it got started. How under her guidance, students designed Kalamsat - the world’s lightest satellite ever to be placed in orbit! Her team of students are currently building the world's lightest rov...
Nov 24, 2020•45 min•Ep. 160
India's drone whizz kid Harshwardhan Zala is on the show today. He has built a drone that sniffs out landmines. So In this conversation we talk about how it all got started at the age of 9. Spending 6-8 hours in a cyber cafe with his grandfather. Being inspired by a YouTube video where soldiers were trying to defuse a mine. Talks about the remarkable journey from not being taken seriously to be mentioned in the speech by PM of Israel. Talks about working with the indian government and military. ...
Nov 07, 2020•48 min•Ep. 159
Don’t be a Vanity SaaS. Be a value SaaS business. Today my guest is Shekar Nair - Partner & co-founder of Upekkha a business accelerator for early stage SaaS startups. They help founders build value based startups not vanity based startups. So he talks about why they focus on SaaS startups only. We talk about pricing strategies. Launching strategies & getting your first customers. We talk about co-founder issues, setting up in Delaware, USA. Why is there no Microsoft equivalent in India ...
Oct 14, 2020•51 min•Ep. 158
I speak to Yashika Shah the co-founder of Nandoo. Nandoo is India's only FUN health & wellness startup. Since launching they already have 200,000 members. So in this episode she talks about how it all works. You will learn how she manages a full time job working in investment banking, while working on this startup. Being married to the co-founder. She talks about building a community & targeting stressed out Indian millennials and find out how many minutes you need to walk to get an IPho...
Oct 04, 2020•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 157
Minakshi started with an Excel spreadsheet back in 2006. And this year has recently been awarded the best bar in India , and in Asia’s 50 best bars list of 2020. Amazing achievement considering women working in bars is extremely uncommon. it's a bit of a taboo subject. So she talks about how she overcame those challenges. She talks about finding her passion, Working 14-15 hours a day. She reveals how she got people in India to drink an Old Fashioned & Whisky Sour’s! What she learned about he...
Sep 21, 2020•40 min•Ep. 156
Vivek Bajaj is back on the show! He is co-founder of StockEdge & Elearnmarkets.com. He appeared back in August 2016 (EP39) and since then his app has gone from 50K downloads to 1.5million downloads. And has gone from employing 25 staff to over 140 staff. So in this episode he talks about how they have scaled the operation. Talks about finding great business partners. Thoughts on the current stock market, Common mistakes first time investors make. Shares formulas for investing including the ‘...
Sep 07, 2020•37 min•Ep. 155
If sex sells, why is it so difficult to make money? Well today we are going to find out! I speak to Shakun Sethi founder of Tickle.life - The world's first community based discovery platform for sexual wellbeing and sexuality.She talks about her desire to build this. She goes in depth about building not one but two MVP and spending a year visiting over 100 sex toy shops for research. She talks about getting user feedback, using the sprint model. What metrics they use and the design issues faced....
Aug 25, 2020•34 min•Ep. 154
