In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director - Matrix Partners India.  Vikram is one of the finest venture investors in the Indian Ecosystem, leading the institutional practice at Matrix along with his partners. Matrix India itself has contributed largely to the development and maturity of the ecosystem by backing some of the most incredible companies of our time including the likes of Ola, Razorpay, OfBusiness, DealShare and many more! Vikram’s track record precedes himself, as he has personally led investments in Jupiter, Five Star, OfBusiness, mSwipe, Razorpay, Dailyhunt and multiple other phenomenal companies. Through this phenomenal conversation we discuss: 1. (02:31) : Given the current ecosystem, how are VCs keeping up with the enhanced velocity of decision making in Venture? 2. (06:19) : Decoding the fundamental relationship building process between Founders & Investors in today's ecosystem 3. (09:15) : Understanding Vikram's journey to becoming a Venture Investor & his style of investing in early stage companies  4. (12:46) : What are some most common traits of Outlier Founders? 5. (16:30) : What do the wins & losses in Venture mean & teach? 6. (21:36) : Decoding the Culture of Matrix Partners India & Understanding the building blocks of Institutional Venture Investing  7. (27:07) : What does it mean to uphold an Entrepreneurial & Execution First culture in Venture? 8. (29:55) : What is the relevance of Boards & What makes a good Board Member? 9. (33:46) : Building the most optimal relationships with Founders 10. (37:05) : Navigating the challenge of Context Switching as a Venture Investor  11. (39:02) : Staying ahead of the Curve by not knowing & listening more 12. (40:35) : How does Vikram prioritise and manage time? 13. (42:58) : Final Learnings from Vikram for early stage founders  14. (45:30) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 85th Episode on the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - The Art of Venture Investing! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

Indian Silicon Valley

E85 - The Art of Venture Investing w/Matrix's Vikram Vaidyanathan

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Archit Gupta, Founder & CEO of Clear (previously known as ClearTax). Clear is one of India’s largest FinTech - SaaS Companies, ambitiously simplifying millions of financial lives. Started by Archit Gupta a decade before, Clear had the sole mission of simplifying tax filings for the masses when it ventured out. Turn to present day, and they’ve not just dominated the niche of tax filings, but also disrupted the enterprise side of Financial Management and they continue to innovate, positively impacting the entire continuum of an Indian’s financial life. Through this conversation we discuss: 1. (02:24) : The Importance of a Beginner's Mindset as a Founder 2. (07:41) : Consolidating on top of Natural PMF with ClearTax 3. (13:33) : From Tax to Financial Simplification -> From Product to Platform  4. (18:18) : Curating the best set of Partners for the Journey -> The first company from India to get funded by Y-Combinator, Founders Fund and having other incredible investors.  5. (25:35) : How does Archit think about Team Building for  Clear? 6. (28:45) : Decoding the cultural values of Clear 7. (32:39) : Practising and Scaling cultural tenants  8. (38:22) : How has Archit scaled as a founder through the past decade of building Clear? 9. (42:33) : The Importance of Empathy and How Archit has developed it intricately? 10. (45:15) : Navigating Challenging Situations & Approaching them Head-On 11. (49:06) : What is the eventual mission and vision of building Clear & being an Entrepreneur? 12. (53:46) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 84th Masterclass on the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Simplifying Finances for India! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E84 - Simplifying Finances for India w/Clear's Archit Gupta

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Kaushik Subramanian, Product Leader at Stripe UK, previously at Meta (Facebook).  Through this masterclass, Kaushik helps us decode the journey of navigating a career in Tech companies. His personal evolution of coming from a non-tech background, working in consumer and in consultancy before breaking into Product leadership roles in tech companies such as Meta & Stripe provides a unique perspective to the global tech landscape.In what was definitely one of the most candid conversations on the show, we decode a variety of natural inhibitions that most leaders and youngsters have in the ecosystem. Through the conversation we discuss the following: 1. (02:16) : Decoding Product Thinking in the Tech Landscape 2. (06:36) : Taking control of our careers as professionals in the Tech Ecosystem  3. (10:31) : Experimentation through the Career Roadmap  4. (13:07) : Understanding the importance of some soft skills in the workplace - a) Delivering Feedback  5. (18:10) : b) Absorbing Feedback Sublimely 6. (20:16) : c) Mastering Conflict Management 7. (24:46) : d) The Art of Listening Intently 8. (27:30) : Product Org Design for Tech Companies  9. (32:10) : Collaboration in the Workplace  10. (35:03) : What does it mean to be a Leader in an Org? 11. (38:32) : What does Empowerment look like as a Leader? 12. (43:30) : Transitions within Orgs : Why - What - How? 13. (48:03) : Qualitative traits that compound to deliver brilliance in Tech  14. (51:40) : Have a Personal Board for Yourself!? ~ It's life changing 15. (55:20) : What Long Term Compounding means in a Career? 16. (1:00:12) : Parting thoughts on developing a Tech Landscape  17. (1:02:22) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 6th Masterclass on the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Navigating a Career in Tech! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

Masterclass #6 - Navigating a Career in Tech w/Stripe's Kaushik Subramanian

In this Episode, I speak (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) with Vamsi Krishna, Co-founder & CEO of Vedantu. Democratizing high quality education for 35 Million Indian Students per month, Vedantu is a phenomenal long-term organization solving one of the most fundamental problems in the country. Started in 2014 by a group of friends who had previously established a chain of offline engineering tuition centers with Lakshya, live tutoring was not main-stream back in the day, and there were a bunch of questions that everyone raised. The Vedantu team trusted themselves and kept their eye on the mission, without deterring or deviating especially when it got bumpy. 7 years in, Vedantu is a unicorn company, has over 200,000 paid consumers and is unlocking massive value. Through the conversation we discuss the following pointers! 1. (02:31) : Vamsi Krishna's journey of going from IIT to starting a Coaching Institute to starting up Vedantu  2. (06:51) : Investing in the long run & knowing the importance of the finer aspects ~ Long Term Vision & Short Term Execution 3. (13:34) : Understanding what "Flow" means & How one can leverage Flow as an Entrepreneur 4. (18:52) : Decoding the incredible culture at Vedantu!  ~ Building a shared identity in the form of Vedans 5. (24:27) : How does Vedantu keep intact & scale Student Obsession? 6. (30:51) : How does Vamsi make the hard decisions? 7. (38:12) : The clarity of thought as a Founder ~ How does this get achieved through the journey? 8. (45:39) : How does Vamsi manage his time & ensure that he is his most productive self, almost always? 9. (54:49) : Not letting the small things divert focus & optimising for efficiency 10. (57:00) : Energy Management matters more than anything else 11. (58:23) : Guardrails of building a Category Creating Company  12. (1:00:55) : ConclusionHope you liked the 83rd Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Democratizing High Quality Education for India! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E83 - Democratizing High Quality Education for India w/Vedantu's Vamsi Krishna

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Sai Srinivas, Co-Founder & CEO of Mobile Premier League (MPL).  MPL is the largest eSports & gaming platform in the country, as it offers over 60+ competitive real-money games to a user base of over 90 Million people! Through the conversation we discuss: 1. (2:18) : The clarity of Vision when starting up MPL 2. (08:09) : The personal trajectory of Sai - From IIT to Zynga to Hardware to MPL 3. (12:16) : Incredible Speed & Scale for MPL ~ 90Million Consumers across 3 Countries ~ 1500 Team Members, 3.5 years!  4. (17:26) : Cultural Traits of MPL ~ Process Orientation for Startups 5. (21:14) : Attracting | Retaining | Letting Go Talent ~ Building an incredibly Talented Org 6. (26:46) : Dealing with External Forces as a Startup Founder ~ especially in Gaming  7. (31:11) : Stakeholder Management ~ Developer Growth as a Priority for MPL - Initiatives taken & Work Done in that direction  8. (36:20) : A wide canvas to approaching Competition ~ Understanding the landapa e for MPL 9. (40:36) : Building a Leading Gaming Platform for the World from India 10. (43:54) : ConclusionHope you liked the 82nd Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Building India's Largest Gaming Platform! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E82 - Building India's Largest Gaming Platform w/Mobile Premier League (MPL)'s Sai Srinivas

In this Episode, I speak with Deepak Diwakar & Krishna Depura, Co-founders of MindTickle, the Sales Readiness platform of the World!

E81 - Sales Readiness to the World w/MindTickle's Deepak & Krishna

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Soham Mazumdar, Co-founder of Rubrik. Rubrik is a cloud data management company, started by 4 amazing individuals in 2014, taking only a couple 18 months to go from 0 to 100 Million in ARR. With over 1600 Team Members across 18+ Countries, Serving over 200 Customers paying more than $1Mn and a cumulative of 3200 Enterprise Consumers, Rubriks’s speed and growth has been beyond excellent in the last couple of years. I speak with Soham, one of the Co-Founders of Rubrik, decoding much of how the team built the Fastest growing SaaS Company in the world. Here is what we discuss: (Coming Soon) Hope you liked the 80th Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Building the Fastest Growing SaaS Company in the World || From the Bay Area! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E80 - Building the Fastest Growing SaaS Company in the World w/Rubrik's Soham Mazumdar

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Jaydeep Barman, Co-Founder & CEO of Rebel Foods. Jaydeep Barman and team have built perhaps the most unique, first-principles startup of the country. Rebel Foods has established and pioneered the concept of cloud kitchens not just in India, but globally! What started as Faasos in 2011 as a single-store fast-food outlet, has become a technology marvel paving the way for a complete overhaul of the restaurant business. Rebel Foods soon realised that they wanted to drop the infra, dominate the different consumer missions and redefine the entire category. A decade later, Rebel is a Unicorn startup in 10+ Countries, building the largest interest restaurant of the globe.  Through this conversation we decode how they got here - 1. (2:23) : Decoding the DNA of Doing Things Differently 2. (06:23) : Finding Conviction in Being Contrarian  ~ Thinking from First Principles 3. (08:57) : Demystifying the mission and vision of Rebel Foods ~ Aligning long-term mission & short-term execution 4. (13:19) : Filtering Consumer Insights ~ Working Customer Backwards 8. (17:41) : Understanding what to listen to and why ~ Feedback Iteration  9. (20:28) : Being Deliberate about Building a Phenomenal Culture at Rebel Foods  10. (25:03) : Cultivating Leaders at Rebel Foods ~ Evolving as a Founder from the How - What - Who? 11. (30:31) : The role of the smaller aspects in scaling culture 12. (34:04) : Navigating the challenge of Expanding Rebel Foods across the World ~ Putting India on the Global Consumer Map! 13. (37:44) : "Becoming a Unicorn in a Decade ~ Still Day 1" - What does "Long Game" look like as a Founder? 14. (42:50) : Mountaineering vis-a-vis Entrepreneurship - a) If you end up going to fast, take a pause! 15. (45:00) : Mountaineering vs Entrepreneurship - b) Figuring Out the Way! ~ Jaydeep's superpower of learning 16. (48:04) : Founder Scalability ~ How has Jaydeep evolved as a Founder? 17. (52:10) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 79th Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Building the Largest Internet Restaurant of the World! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E79 - Building the Largest Internet Restaurant of the World w/Rebel Foods' Jaydeep Barman

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Sumit Maniyar, Founder & CEO of Rupeek. Rupeek is India’s Fastest Growing FinTech Company, disrupting the category of asset backed lending having started with gold and already gaining a large market share in the industry. Sumit questioned the way we look at Gold as an asset class in the country and started building with first-principles in 2015. Fast-track to present day, Rupeek has redefined the way Indians look at Gold and has built an organisation that manifests excellence in all verticals be it - technology, operations, supply-chain, consumer trust or product offerings.  To decode how they got here, I discuss with him the following: 1. (2:22) : Identifying Unique Problems to Solve For 2. (04:10) : Creating a Category with Asset Backed Lending 3. (08:22) : Decoding the Black-Box of Consumer Insights at the Start v/s at Scale 4. (11:19) : Building on top of Customer Insights ~ Cracking the Code of Operational Brilliance 5. (15:21) : Building the Ecosystem along with building the Product 6. (18:18) : Shaping Culture as the Company Grows ~ Building the Operating system of the organisation! 7. (22:29) : Being deliberate about scaling culture as a Leader 8. (25:07) : Focus on Brand Positioning and Building Trust with the Consumer 9. (28:41) : Curating the balance of Process v/s Innovation at a high-growth Company  10. (32:00) : Controllables v/s Uncontrollables 11. (34:09) : Dealing with Challenges as a Founder 12. (36:05) : The acceptance of vulnerability of a Founder 13. (37:53) : Scaling as a Founder and keeping up with the Company Speed 14. (40:45) : Priority cycle as the company grows  15. (44:15) : The eventual motivation to build a company! Hope you liked the 78th Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Building India's Fastest Growing FinTech Company! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E78 - Building India's Fastest Growing FinTech Company w/Rupeek's Sumit Maniyar

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Amrit Acharya, Co-Founder & CEO of Zetwerk.  Zetwerk is phenomenally disrupting the manufacturing industry across the globe as we know it. It is a B2B marketplace focused on make-to-order custom manufacturing and is one of India’s leading startups, redefining benchmarks of speed, growth, profitability and value creation. Founded less than 4 years ago, Zetwerk found a very unique whitespace with custom manufacturing and doubled down in an unprecedented manner. It is a profitable unicorn with a last reported valuation of more than 1.5Bn Dollars, generating incredible value for each of its stakeholders periodically reporting great fundamental numbers & multiple buy-backs for the team.  Through this conversation, we decode how this rocketship unfolded and how they continue to innovate. Here is what we discuss - 1. (2:41) : Amrit's journey to becoming a founder // Being deliberate about choices! 2. (06:14) : Identifying white-spaces in Entrepreneurship ~ the Journey to starting Zetwerk! 3. (11:11) : Practising ~ "Listening to the Consumer" 4. (14:17) : Stakeholder Management for a diverse target group with Zetwerk! 5. (17:43) : Achieving Operational Excellence with Zetwerk  6. (22:33) : Building & Managing a sustainable Growth Engine 7. (27:05) : Attracting Talent for a rather unsexy business 8. (30:25) : Taking Indian Manufacturing to the World ? 9. (33:16) : Curating strong partnerships deliberately for the long run 10. (36:31) : Scaling as a Founder ~ the nuances of building a large company as a first-time founder 11. (41:57) : Dealing with Challenges through the Company building journey 12. (46:12) : Key Takeaways for the Entrepreneurial Journey 13. (49:40) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 77th Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Taking Indian Manufacturing to the World! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E77 - Taking Indian Manufacturing to the World w/Zetwerk's Amrit Acharya

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Aman Gupta, Co-Founder & CMO of boAt Lifestyle.  boAt is one of India’s largest consumer brands, which has completely disrupted and transformed the global audio & wearables industry. Founded by Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta in 2016, boAt was originally ruled out by a lot of critics citing reasons such as crowded market, competitive landscape, what not. However, history shaped up differently and boAt has gone on to become one of the most iconic brands of our time. The journey of boAt testifies to the incredible set of possibilities in the Indian consumer landscape and this chat with Aman, decodes how to get there. Through the episode we discuss - 1. (02:29) : Decoding Aman's Entrepreneurial Journey having started as a CA 2. (04:32) : Starting boAt - the 0 to 1 of the journey! 3. (06:28) : The deep insight to revolutionise the audio industry 4. (07:29) : boAt Product ideology ~ keeping the Consumer at the Centre! 5. (12:05) : Mastering brand building with boAt ~ doing the right things 6. (13:45) : Scaling the boAt-head Community  7. (17:00) : Cultivating an Incredible culture ~ the secret behind the success of boAt // "do what you like" 8. (22:21) : Curating the early team v/s Establishing the senior leadership at scale 9. (25:53) : Learnings for building at Scale ~ keeping it simple ? 10. (29:08) : Decoding what Funding means for a Founder 11. (31:26) : Making crucial company decisions ~ guided by ambition 12. (33:45) : Product Strategy - Launching at Scale for boAt 13. (36:31) : Prioritising & Decisions Making for Aman 14. (38:39) : The hyper-scaling journey for Aman along with boAt 15. (41:30) : How does external validation impact boAt and what truly keeps him going? 16. (45:10) : Final Learnings for the Founder Journey from Aman 17. (46:37) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 76th Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Establishing India's Largest New-Age Consumer Brand!! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E76 - Establishing India's Largest New-Age Consumer Brand w/boAt's Aman Gupta

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Prashanth Prakash, Partner at Accel India.  Accel Partners India is one of the most accomplished institutional venture investors of our ecosystem. Accel has funded ground-breaking Indian ventures including the likes of BookMyShow, MuSigma, Flipkart, Freshworks, Swiggy, BrowserStack, Moglix, Urban Company! Through the episode we discuss - 1. (2:14) : The Accel Ideology of Investing ~ Having a Prepared Mind!  2. (05:05) : The Freshworks Deal for Accel ? 3. (08:58) : Decoding Venture Partnerships from Accel's perspective ~ Co-creating from Seed to Scale 4. (12:32) : Establishing Institutional Venture Practice in the Ecosystem 5. (19:17) : Identifying outliers as a Venture Investor 6. (25:42) : Pattern Matching v/s Prepared Mind 7. (30:36) : Uncovering Prashanth's investor persona  & journey! 8. (38:16) : The decade that lies ahead of us for the Indian Silicon Valley! 9. (40:26) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 75th Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Pioneering Indian Venture Capital! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E75 - Pioneering Indian Venture Capital w/Accel's Prashanth Prakash

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Ashwini Asokan, Co-Founder & CEO of Mad Street Den!!  Mad Street Den is a Computer Vision & Artificial Intelligence Company building the AI architecture of the future. Founded by a Neuroscientist - Designer duo, the company's mission is to build and deliver AI on scale through meaningful applications to billions of people across the globe.  Its first vertical platform is a visual intelligence product Vue.ai, which enables the Retail industry to reimagine the future with AI and it has also recently launched another vertical platform - getblox.ai! Taking AI to the world, MSD is marching towards its audacious goal of an AI Native Future. I sit down with Ashwini to discuss much of what got them here! Through the episode we discuss - 1. (02:17) : Mapping Ashwini's professional decisions & how Design has helped shape her Founder Persona! 2. (07:14) : Navigating the audacious goal of building an AI native future ~ Short term execution & long term vision 3. (12:50) : Getting Lost by Choice as Founders! 4. (16:09) : The role of simplification & evangelism in building a category creating company 5. (20:01) : Organisational Design Principles ~ Curating a multi-disciplinary diverse organisation. 6. (24:32) : Organisational Design Principles ~ Cultivating leaders within a Company! 7. (27:11) : Organisational Design PrinciplesPrinciples to fire folks & let go in an optimal manner ~ Intellectual Honesty 8. (30:09) : Scaling the Non-Scalables as the company grows  9. (33:12) : Decoding the product strategy for MSD - Vue.ai - getblox.ai 10. (36:20) : Populating thoughts & developing clarity as a Founder!! 11. (40:20) : Work-Life balance is a myth ~ Focusing Quality rather than Quantity! 12. (43:08) : Giving back & Uplifting the Ecosystem as Founders Grow! 13. (45:33) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 74th Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Building an AI Native Future! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E74 - Building an AI Native Future w/Mad Street Den (MSD)'s Ashwini Asokan

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Vikram Chopra, Co-Founder & CEO of Cars24.  Cars24 is India's largest used-car selling marketplace, marching towards becoming becoming the largest Auto Company of India. Valued at ~1.85 Bn Dollars, Cars24 has expanded its mission internationally making forays into Australia, UAE and other countries and has further started exploring the buy-side. Cars24 is an incredible testament to what a driven team can achieve. Their story is the epitome of entrepreneurial excellence for all future builders, and they are only just getting started! Through the episode we discuss -  1. (01:55) : Decoding Vikram's early career choices! From IIT-B to McKinsey to Sequoia India to Wharton & dropping in 6 months to Starting Up! 2. (06:03) : Shunning the noise & focusing on one's own choices 3. (08:01) : Recognising the need to go after large markets + managing ambition! 4. (10:43) : Tackling Supply-Side problems with FabFurnish & Cars24 5. (13:01) : Establishing a two-sided marketplace in a nascent industry! ~ The founding 0-1 journey of Cars24 6. (18:37) : Transforming the experience of selling cars ~ curating customer delight 7. (22:51) : Understanding the operational nuance of running a used-car selling marketplace  8. (26:19) : What goes into Operational Brilliance? ~ Automating Early!! 9. (28:21) : Focus on Branding ~ Retaining recall in the mind of the Consumer ~ Evaluating RoI 10. (31:37) : Taking Cars24 international ~ Making bold choices! 11. (35:30) : Building a Happy Place ~ Org + Team Curation for Cars24 12. (39:50) : Prioritisation and  Decision making for Vikram ~ striving to achieve lesser decisions  13. (43:03) : The importance of "Thinking" as a Founder 14. (45:41) : Dealing with Challenges ~ Embracing Vulnerability 15. (50:29) : The larger mission & vision for Cars24 16. (53:29) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 73rd Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Building the largest Auto Company of India! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E73 - Building the largest Auto Company of India w/Cars24's Vikram Chopra

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Vineet Rao & Sourjyendu Medda, Co-Founders of DealShare.  Dealshare is India's fastest growing social e-commerce startup, an online buying platform for multi-category consumer products. It is defining how the next billion Internet shoppers of India transact online! This movement is being enabled by a unique model that leverages some wonderful first-principle mechanisms such as group buying, hyper-local influencers, SME integration on the supply side and much more. All of this on top of operational brilliance and mind-blowing capital utilisation, making DealShare a legendary organisation. Through this episode we discuss the following: 1. (01:52) : Deciding to go after the large E-Commerce opportunity of India!  2. (06:17) : The practical on-ground early consumer reaction to DealShare ~ Going over the early the 0 to 1! 3. (10:31) : Doing things that Do-Not-Scale at Scale!! 4. (13:27) : The secret behind the Operational Brilliance in the DealShare Model 5. (18:38) : How does DealShare execute the principles of Capital Efficiency & Profitability? 6. (23:14) : Tackling the adverse aspects of the Journey! 7. (26:20) : Building a mission driven when disrupting a Category! 8. (30:01) : Staying connected across the Team as the Company Scales ~ the role of the Founders when scaling culture! 9. (33:11) : Thinking from First-Principles and Pioneering Original Mechanisms in the Market! ~ Group Buying, Hyperlocal Influences, Supply-Side integration.  10. (39:29) : Short Term Execution v/s Long Term Vision ~ Lessons for Scaling Exponentially Fast! 11. (44:09) : Time Bracketing & Prioritisation amidst multiple co-founders! 12. (48:34) : Scaling as Founders along the journey exponential growth! 13. (52:36) : The core motivation as a Builder 14. (56:43) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 72nd Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Pioneering E-Commerce 2.0! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

E72 - Pioneering E-Commerce 2.0 w/DealShare's Vineet Rao & Sourjyendu Medda

The Indian Silicon Valley Podcast is a masterclass podcast series, which takes one startup, one episode at a time. I interview top Entrepreneurs building the Indian Silicon Valley, asking them questions pertinent to a particular problem. This series hopes to give a comprehensive taste of the Indian Startup Ecosystem. All of your questions about the space get answered here! Stay tuned for a great journey across the world of Indian Entrepreneurship along with your Host Jivraj Singh Sachar! Feel free to reach out to me on Social Media!

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