Startup Fridays S4 Ep4: ‘To succeed as an entrepreneur, never lose sight of your end goal’ – Ben Mathias

Forbes India - The Startup Fridays Podcast

#Entrepreneur #Business #India #Forbes India The Startup Fridays

22:08

Host Francesca Amiker sits down with directors Joe and Anthony Russo, producer Angela Russo-Otstot, stars Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, and more to uncover how family was the key to building the emotional core of The Electric State . From the Russos’ own experiences growing up in a large Italian family to the film’s central relationship between Michelle and her robot brother Kid Cosmo, family relationships both on and off of the set were the key to bringing The Electric State to life. Listen to more from Netflix Podcasts . State Secrets: Inside the Making of The Electric State is produced by Netflix and Treefort Media.…

2 роки тому 41:59

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In this episode, Ben Mathias, managing partner at Vertex Ventures for Southeast Asia and India, talks about how he decided to leave behind a nice life in the software industry in Silicon Valley, to come to India as a VC investor. With over three decades in the tech and VC industry combined, Ben talks about what investors did to startups over the last two years, distracting them with too much money from the real purpose of building lasting businesses. He also talks about why Vertex is very bullish on India, how the firm invests, and what his investment plans are in 2023

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep4: ‘To succeed as an entrepreneur, never lose sight of your end goal’ – Ben Mathias

Forbes India - The Startup Fridays Podcast

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#Entrepreneur #Business #India #Forbes India The Startup Fridays

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1
Startup Fridays S5 Ep12: Vishal Gupta’s optimism for unicorns turning wealth creators for India 1:12:09

14 weeks тому1:12:09

1:12:09

In this episode, Vishal Gupta, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, talks about his career as a VC investor in India, and gives us an overview of the opportunities he sees on the basis of what Bessemer calls roadmaps that the firm develops for various sectors. In this conversation, recorded on November 26, Gupta also talks about how, from among today’s privately valued unicorns and those that have recently gone public, will arise the next generation of blue-chip companies and large-scale wealth creators in the country.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep11: Zepic’s founders on their approach to marketing automation 53:55

16 weeks тому53:55

53:55

In this episode, Naveen Venkat and Sreelesh Pillai talk about starting another company whose name starts with the letter z. Jokes apart, Venkat, a repeat software entrepreneur, and Pillai, a seasoned marketer, talk about why they think their new startup, Zepic, has something refreshing to offer enterprise customers in the crowded world of marketing automation. In this conversation, which was recorded on November 8, the two also talk about how India’s software products ecosystem is changing.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep10: Ideaspring’s partners on backing the next-gen deep techs in India 1:03:36

21 weeks тому1:03:36

1:03:36

In this episode, Naganand Doraswamy and Suryaprakash Konanuru, co-founders Ideaspring Capital, talk about their enthusiasm for India’s early-stage deep tech startups. The two talk about how, while these startups are part of a nascent ecosystem, they are developing products that are sometimes coming to the fore for the first time anywhere. Doraswamy, who’s more involved with the commercial aspects and Konanuru, a full-time CTO and products mentor for the VC firm’s portfolio of startups are in the very early stage of raising their third fund.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep9: Clairco and Sensiable join forces on decarbonizing buildings 49:16

31 weeks тому49:16

49:16

In this episode, the founders of Clairco and Sensiable, talk about their vision as one company, as their energy management tech and solutions complement each other – offering customers like Brigade Group a fuller suite of products and services. Aayush Jha, Udayan Banerjee, Ashish Singh and Akshay Davasam, talk about how they can help customers monitor one laptop on one desk or an entire multistorey building. Backed by investors including Anicut Capital, the entrepreneurs are about to announce a new round of investment as well.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep8: Parithi Govindaraju on Okulo’s long-endurance drones for India 1:02:32

33 weeks тому1:02:32

1:02:32

In this episode, Parithi Govindaraju, founder and CEO of Okulo Aerospace, gives us a quick update on the solar-electric hybrid long-endurance drones he and his team are developing, for what he describes as “persistent monitoring”. In this conversation, Parithi talks about the importance of such long-endurance UAVs for protecting India’s strategic assets – both civilian and military. He also touches upon his experience so far, in building a deep-tech company out of India.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep7: Abhishek Poddar and Saurabh Arora’s experiment with tech and radical transparency 1:18:02

36 weeks тому1:18:02

1:18:02

In this episode, Abhishek Poddar and Saurabh Arora, founders of Plum Benefits Insurance Brokers, talk about how they are using tech to reimagine employee health benefits and insurance. In this conversation, Abhishek and Saurabh, who started Plum five years ago, also talk about how the journey so far has been one of discovering “a culture of radical transparency” with all stakeholders, which they say is an an important factor in their success.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep6: AI for India – Jan Ki Baat, Sthaan and other use cases from People+ai 52:02

38 weeks тому52:02

52:02

This episode is the second part of a conversation with Tanuj Bhojwani, head of People+ai, a non-profit effort that's working to find population-scale applications of artificial intelligence that are relevant to large problems in India. In this conversation, Tanuj about how both the development and applications of AI in India will be different from what we see happening in the rich countries. People+ai is funded by Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys and former chairman of UIDAI, through his EkStep Foundation.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep5: AI for India – how people+ai was born 39:31

41 weeks тому39:31

39:31

In this episode, Tanuj Bhojwani, head of people+ai, a non-profit effort that’s working to find population-scale applications of artificial intelligence that are relevant to large problems in India, does a quick recounting of how the initiative was seeded. In this conversation, which I hope will be the first of many on AI for India, Bhojwani also gives us a quick overview of the four main objectives at people+ai, funded by Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Infosys and former chairman of UIDAI, via his EkStep Foundation.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep4: Axio's founders unpack lessons from BNPL success 44:28

50 weeks тому44:28

44:28

In this episode, Sashank Rishyasringa, and Gaurav Hinduja, co-founders of Axio, a buy-now-pay-later specialist in Bengaluru, talk about how, while a strong regulatory environment is critical in fintech, it can also become an enabler of innovation. Lower cost of money for “new entrants and challengers” with innovative financial products can benefit millions of consumers, which in turn can help India’s economic growth, they say.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep3: Ashok Jhunjhunwala on why India must say ‘yes we can’ to deep tech 56:07

1 year тому56:07

56:07

In this episode, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, institute professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and president of IITM Research Park, Incubation Cell and RTBI, talks about why the next big push is needed now for India to become a nation of deep tech products over the next decade. He also asks that administrators and bureaucrats change their control mindset to allow our scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs to fail without fear so that they can eventually succeed in building this ecosystem for India.…

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Startup Fridays S5 Ep2: Vinod Shankar’s journey from software techie to lending books to deep tech investor 57:42

1 year тому57:42

57:42

In this episode, Vinod Shankar, founding managing partner at Java Capital in Bangalore, talks about his passion for backing deep tech entrepreneurs. Vinod started out as a software engineer but found himself repeatedly drawn to new experiences. His insatiable thirst for knowledge has taken him from a software startup to leading marketing for a library chain to angel investing to eventually working at a VC firm before starting one of his own. Vinod talks about why he wants to invest in deep tech, and how he identifies entrepreneurs worth backing.…

1
Startup Fridays S5 Ep1: Karan Mohla at B Capital on the convergence he sees coming in India’s startup ecosystem 1:06:36

1 year тому1:06:36

1:06:36

Welcome to a new season of Startup Fridays. In this episode, Karan Mohla, partner at the VC firm B Capital talks about the convergence that he sees beginning to happen, which is bringing different aspects of India’s startup ecosystem to points of inflection. Karan, who’s based in Delhi, has been involved with investments in more than 20 companies including Bounce, FirstCry, HealthifyMe, Xpressbees and CropIn. He has led investments in startups in sectors including ecommerce, healthcare, SaaS, logistics, mobility, ed-tech, agri-tech and gaming. He’s also now actively scouting for opportunities in climate tech and deep tech. In this conversation, Karan also talks about how he figured out early that entrepreneurship was not for him, but backing founders was. He talks about learning from early mistakes as a VC investor and the importance of being self-aware and honest when deciding on investments.…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep24: Kavita Shenoy, Anand Gopal part 2 – from nearly running out of money to a done deal 51:02

1 year тому51:02

51:02

This is part two of a conversation with Kavita Shenoy and Anand Gopal, on their 10-year entrepreneurial roller coaster, building Voiro, an ad-tech SaaS company in Bengaluru. In today’s episode, they talk about how the $750 billion ad landscape is changing, their hopes for Voiro’s future, how building their own company has been life-changing, and why it has them coming back for more every day.…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep23: Kavita Shenoy, Anand Gopal Part 1: 30k from Nandan Nilekani to multinational customers at Voiro 45:57

1 year тому45:57

45:57

Part one of a conversation with Kavita Shenoy and Anand Gopal, on their 10-year entrepreneurial adventure, building Voiro, an ad-tech SaaS company in Bengaluru. Kavita and Anand are natural conversationalists and story tellers, and produce their own podcast as well. In today’s episode, they talk about how they started Voiro, and then went from consulting and services and an "excel sheet from hell" to a software product and winning customers like Hotstar.…

1
Startup Fridays S4 Ep22: Viral Shah on the mission at Julia Hub to help scientists and engineers innovate faster 1:01:58

1 year тому1:01:58

1:01:58

Viral Shah, co-inventor of Julia programming language and co-founder of Julia Hub, an enterprise software startup, talks about this opensource language’s journey that will touch 15 years in the new year. Julia Hub, founded in 2015, today has customers including some of the world’s biggest companies in pharmaceuticals, aerospace, semiconductors, and industrial engineering. With some $43 million in funding, Viral and his co-founders are helping scientists and engineers innovate faster by tackling what he calls the “two language problem.”…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep21: Amit Gupta on sticking to his by-the-pincode approach to scaling Yulu 50:02

1 year тому50:02

50:02

In this episode, Amit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Yulu Bikes, gives us an update on how the electric moped venture will continue its pincode-by-pincode approach to growth. Earlier this year, Yulu added a battery-as-a-service business, called Yuma. Yulu has also entered the OEM business, with Bajaj Auto making the Yulu Wynn, a more stylish version of the Yulu Miracle, that consumers can buy for about ₹55,000 upfront, and then subscribe to a battery and mobility plan. Amit expects to go from about 25,000 of Yulu’s low-speed scooters on Indian roads at the time we spoke, in September, to about a 100,000 by June or so next year. He also expects Yulu to hit breakeven this year.…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep20: Kiran Mysore on his journey from Bhadravati to UTEC’s deep tech evangelist 54:29

1 year тому54:29

54:29

In this episode, we chat with Kiran Mysore, a principal at the University of Tokyo Edge Capital, one of Asia’s biggest deep tech VC funds, on the ninth anniversary of his move to Japan, where he found his calling as a deep tech VC investor, leading global investments including India and southeast Asian ventures. We spoke mostly about his experience with the deep tech ecosystem in India thus far and plans. But Kiran also opened up a bit about his love of learning and how he stays on track.…

Forbes India - The Startup Fridays Podcast

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep19: Kunal Khattar on how the best is yet to come in India’s EV sector 1:00:16

2 years тому1:00:16

1:00:16

Kunal Khattar, founding partner at AdvantEdge, an early-stage VC firm in Delhi, focused on India’s mobility sector, talks about the future of this industry in India and the role that companies ranging from Ather to Tesla could play in it. He also talks about business innovations that could soon make electric vehicles more affordable to the Indian buyer and perhaps even cheaper than the fossil-fuel guzzling ones. Kunal also spoke a little bit about his own entrepreneurial journey, leading up to the setting up of his VC firm.…

Forbes India - The Startup Fridays Podcast

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep18: Arun Raghavan on journey from accidental investor to $40 mln fund at Arali 1:01:41

2 years тому1:01:41

1:01:41

Arun Raghavan, founding partner at Arali Ventures in Bengaluru, talks about how he and his friend Rajiv Raghunandan became VC investors with an operator’s flavour, and the experience that’s helped them invest very early in entrepreneurs across sectors, from fintech and SaaS to deep tech startups. Arun also talks about how India is ready for the next level of sophistication in sectors such as SaaS, where we need to go from application-level plays to infrastructure layers. Such companies would then be truly relevant to global customers…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep 17: TN Hari’s counterintuitive ideas on purpose and other notes on Indian startups 1:04:50

2 years тому1:04:50

1:04:50

In this episode, TN Hari, co-founder of Artha School of Entrepreneurship, who’s also a prolific author on building for India, and an angel investor, talks about his learnings from across his career – from being a corporate executive at Tata Steel to diving into startups like TaxiForSure and BigBasket. He talks about problems in India that aren’t necessarily amenable to the hyper-growth model of VC funded startups. And he talks about the value of some highly effective leaders, who’re almost invisible to the public eye, he says.…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep16: How Shivnath Babu wears two hats lightly, an entrepreneur and a scientist 55:52

2 years тому55:52

55:52

In this episode, Shivnath Babu, co-founder and CTO of Unravel Data, talks about the growing importance of data observability and the contributions being made by his venture. Shivnath started his career as a computer science engineer from IIT Madras and then earned his PhD in the area of data platforms at Stanford University. He spent 12 years as an adjunct professor at Duke University before teaming up with Kunal Agarwal to start Unravel Data. The venture today is a Series D-funded company with investors including Third Point Ventures, Menlo Ventures and GGV Capital.…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep15: Will Poole on investing in resilient founders in the global south 1:00:51

2 years тому1:00:51

1:00:51

In this episode, Will Poole, co-founder and managing partner of Capria Ventures, talks about the opportunities and challenges in investing in the global south. Will started his career with a computer science degree 40 years ago and worked at some of the biggest names in tech, including Sun Microsystems and Microsoft, before turning to VC investing. A significant part of that career involves working in India, where in his own words, an early lesson was about finding “resilient founders.” He also talks about why he wants every company in Capria’s portfolio to have a generative AI strategy.…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep14: The lightness of being Dev Khare and other notes on India’s startup scene 1:03:32

2 years тому1:03:32

1:03:32

In this episode, Dev Khare, a partner at Lightspeed, one of the most prominent global early-stage VC firms operating in India, talks about how and why he became a venture capital investor, and what keeps him going today. Dev also talks about how India’s startups are changing, how Lightspeed is different, in his view, and some lessons from his own career, having tasted entrepreneurship firsthand before turning VC investor—the importance of timing, the value of compounding not just investments but relationships, and a simple productivity hack that always works for him.…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep13: Sayandeb Banerjee on life as a ‘practitioner’ CEO at TheMathCompany 1:09:20

2 years тому1:09:20

1:09:20

In this episode, Sayandeb Banerjee, co-founder and CEO at TheMathCompany, talks about how his six-year-old venture has grown from strength to strength, building custom analytics solutions for some of the world’s biggest companies. He also talks about how he’s always had an entrepreneurial streak; the advantages of not taking VC money too early; lessons Banerjee, and his co-founders Aditya Kumbakonam and Anuj Krishna, had to learn or unlearn as “practitioners,” new to hard-core sales; and finding personal space and time for his love of the sitar.…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep12: Why Rishi Navani seeks founders he can’t help, and what he means by that 46:32

2 years тому46:32

46:32

In this episode, Rishi Navani, founder and managing partner at Epiq capital, a growth-stage VC firm, talks about never losing sight of the core idea of venture capital, which is to make substantial returns for his investors. Over the 25 years that he’s been backing ventures, including previously co-founding Matrix Partners India, Navani’s way of doing this is to not spend time on how he can add value to an entrepreneur or startup, he says. Instead, he seeks founders who are so good that they mostly don’t need his help, beyond the capital…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep11: Arun Kumar at Celesta on tough times revealing resilient founders, great investments 43:58

2 years тому43:58

43:58

In this episode, Arun Kumar, managing partner at Celesta Capital, talks about why some of the best VC investment opportunities can be found in tough times, as they reveal the most resilient entrepreneurs. Kumar’s career includes leading KPMG India and serving in former US President Barack Obama’s administration. He also talks about embracing change—from leading thousands of colleagues at KPMG to being part of a team of about 25 at Celesta—the importance of purpose, his love of poetry and learning to enjoy everything that life threw at him.…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep10: SpotDraft’s founders on spit-and-a-handshake in the age of machines and AI 55:40

2 years тому55:40

55:40

In this episode, Shashank Bijapur, Madhav Bhagat and Rohith Salim talk about how they got to build SpotDraft, which offers a machine learning and AI-based contract lifecycle management platform to legal teams at companies around the world. Founded in 2017, SpotDraft has helped customers process more than a million contracts since the company released its first commercial product. The first-time entrepreneurs have raised nearly $45 million in funding from investors including Prosus, PremjiInvest, and Arkam Ventures. This year, soon, they expect to hit an ARR of $10 million…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep9: Ganesh Rengaswamy’s fascinating trip from Travel Guru to Quona Capital 55:18

2 years тому55:18

55:18

In this episode, Ganesh Rengaswamy, co-founder and managing partner at Quona Capital, looks back at how he once juggled being a co-founder at Travel Guru and an MBA student at Harvard Business School, and what he would have done differently. Ganesh also talks about Quona’s deep interest in fintech in India and several other markets; and how India’s public digital infrastructure and private startups will eventually unlock the massive potential of our SMBs. He also talks about his own experience with respect to seeking and learning from mentors…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep8: Nishchay Ag’s plan to stay scrappy, be shameless and build a Zoho at Jar 55:38

2 years тому55:38

55:38

In this episode, Nishchay Ag, co-founder and CEO of Jar, talks about how there is a massive addressable gap in India's middle class with financial products that go beyond the top 30 million that everyone is targeting. Nishchay talks about how he and his friend Misbah Ashraf went from a few WhatsApp group pilots to 10 million users at Jar, in just two years, helping people save money by investing in gold, every day. With close to $65 million in funding, Jar is changing how millions of small-town Indians save, one user at a time…

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Startup Fridays S4 Ep7: Bala Srinivasa on the great middle Indian opportunity for startups and VCs 55:53

2 years тому55:53