Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha

In this episode, our host,  Dheeraj Sinha delves into the intriguing world of millets and their resurgence in India. He engages in a conversation with Prashant Parameswaran, the MD & CEO of Tata Consumer Soulfull Pvt. Ltd., who brings invaluable insights to the table with his extensive experience in the food industry. Prashant's discussion touches on the challenges of popularizing millets, bridgin...

In the fourth episode of 'Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha – Season 4, Nitin Chhabra, the CEO of Ace Turtle, the company behind the success of retail brands such as Lee and Wrangler in India.  Nitin in this episode, discusses with Dheeraj, about how brands can scale in a diverse market like India, how a fashion brand should approach tier 2, tier 3 cities of Bharat, how traditional legacy brands are em...

In the third episode of Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha, we talk to Mukesh Kalra, the founder and CEO of ET Money, one of India's leading wealth tech startups. With fifteen years of experience in shaping businesses and consumer internet products, Mukesh brings a wealth of knowledge to our discussion. At ET Money, his vision is to simplify the financial journey for all Indians and provide them with in...

In the second episode of 'Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha – Season 4,' Manish Chowdhary, Co-Founder of WOW Skin Science, delves into his experiences about establishing a thriving D2C brand. He discusses the hurdles within the beauty and wellness sector and emphasizes the offline market's significance. Manish's journey from an IT giant's laptop retailer and wholesaler to a prosperous beauty brand crea...

In the inaugural episode of 'Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha – Season 4' Gaurav Agarwal, Co-Founder of 1mg, delves into pivotal healthcare shifts in India, unveiling insights on consumers transitioning from traditional pharmacies to virtual medical platforms. As leader of Tata's eCommerce and technology strategy, Gaurav' journey from co-founding 1mg to his Silicon Valley tenure brings unique perspect...

How are digital loans triggering economic change for Bharat? How does one stand out in a saturated category such as financing? What's behind the speed at which brands are scaling-up today?  In Episode 10 of the podcast ‘Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha – Season 3,’ Deepak Jain, Co-Founder at FlexiLoans speaks about how regional micro business enterprises in India are contributing towards the national...

How is digital eCommerce gearing up to match the population of the nation? What are the initiatives and policy-making decisions channelled towards a positive nation powered by digital? How have entrepreneurs and start-ups been contributing to the new era of digitalization? In Episode 9 of the podcast ‘Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha – Season 3,’ Arvind Gupta, Head and Co-Founder of Digital India Foun...

What has changed in the process of brand building over the period of time? How hasD2C product marketing been adapting to media evolution? What is an effective marketingmodel for a successful brand? In Episode 8 of the podcast ‘Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha – Season 3,’ AnilViswanathan, Vice President – Marketing at Mondelez India speaks about how data and technology are ushering in a new way of bui...

What challenges do women face to wear an entrepreneurial hat? What does it take for a woman to climb through the leadership ladder? What is the role of men in boosting women empowerment?   In Episode 7 of the podcast ‘Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha – Season 3,’ Aabha Bakaya, Founder and CEO at Ladies Who Lead speaks about the challenges that women face to wear an entrepreneurial hat and shares a sni...

It takes around seven generations for children living in extreme poverty to break outof poverty and earn a meaningful income. So, how does one break this povertycycle? Do social enterprises need a strong brand purpose to build trust andcredibility among volunteers and contributors? And, in this new age, what isthe role of Gen Z in social causes? In Episode 6 of the podcast ‘Speakeasy with Dheeraj...

Has the playbook for marketing changed from what it was two decades ago? In the age of social media and influencer marketing, should marketing let go of some of the guardrails? What’s the future of EVs in India? Would we see a complete shift of the ecosystem to electric in a few years? Or is it that, like every other change will this too will be an ‘and’ rather than an ‘or’?   In Episode 5 of podc...

Every week, there is a new roaster popping up and, India is seeing a sort of coffee revolution. Coffee consumption is a rising trend in India and people are adapting to the habit of drinking coffee over tea. Therefore, the food and beverages segment in India has gone through dramatic changes over the last couple of years, but the questions are – what has changed and what hasn’t for them? Is India...

With internet being democratised, entertainment is no more a luxury. Gaming and content are the new ways of digital consumption. But is this a pattern across India? Or is it restricted to metro cities? Can gaming indeed be a full-time profession in India? Also, how are gaming platforms approaching Metaverse?     In Episode 03 of Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha – Season 03, we have Anirudh Pandita - F...

Gaming is set to be the next big thing. What goes behind creating a market for gaming in India? What kind of games and what kind of players are coming up? What’s the role of local languages and characters in this? What could be the role of brands in all of this?   In Episode 02 of Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha, we converse with Salone Sehgal about how access to mobile data is opening doors for game...

How do we create a new category in a crowded market such as personal care? That too for men? Are Indian men finally warming up to the idea of grooming? Is this an India-wide phenomenon or just top metros? And finally, in the mad rush for the unicorn status, have the fundamentals of business changed? In Episode 1 of Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha, we converse with Hitesh Dhingra, Co-Founder & MD at T...

About a decade ago, English was the language of access, if one didn’t know the language, in most cases you’d end up with limited opportunities. But today we are experiencing a whole new India with the country opening up for the wider masses thanks to the internet revolution. With new platforms emerging in the content space everyday will vernacular content be the key to reach the next billion inter...

There is no love greater than the love for food. But is doing business in food loveable, fun, and exciting? What are the watch-outs when one decides to take a plunge to open a food business? The pandemic sent huge tremors in the F&B industry seeing the rise of new ventures. But what is the future of food and how technologically-driven will it be? And finally, does leadership take on a new meaning...

Is our education system partial or elitist? How can our existing education system be made accessible and equal for all? Is there an educational class divide in the nation? And what can we do to bridge this critical gap so our demographic asset does not turn into a demographic nightmare? And finally, how can new-age technology get integrated into new-age education/lessons for effective learning? In...

2020 saw the rise of the influencer which completely revolutionized the Indian marketing ecosystem. But what was the journey like for a content creator to commit to being a full-time influencer? What was the epiphany, the journey, and the challenges that led him to reach the covet Million-follower mark? In episode 7 of Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha, we chat with Raj Shamani, entrepreneur, motivatio...

How exactly should a brand go about selecting the right influencer for their campaign. The burden of ‘responsibility’: should the influencer bear it or the brand, or should this burden be shared? How can an influencer’s omnipresence ensure their influence continues to have an upward growth trend. And finally, how can one become an influencer in an already crowded market? In episode 6 of Speakeasy...

Having gone from 250 to 600 Million internet users in 5 years, how has building for India changed? Are we ready to build our own ByteDance or Alibaba equivalent? What does it take to build a 50-100 Billion Dollar platform out of India? In episode 5 of Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha, we talk with Umang Bedi- Co-Founder at VerSe Innovation - the company that’s building Dailyhunt & Josh. Umang was prev...

How has the venture fund narrative shaped up in India? Is there a so-to-say Indian way of venture funding? What are the big areas of future growth for those wanting to build brands and businesses in this market? In episode 4 of Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha, we deep-dive into understanding the Indian investment landscape with our guest Anand Lunia, Founding Partner at India Quotient, A Venture Capi...

What is creativity today? How has its role changed? Also, how does one sell great work? In this episode, we talk about how creativity as a function and a process has evolved. Creativity, today, has to be more original. It has to acknowledge that the world has changed. It has to be from the heart. And finally, creativity has to connect. In this episode, our CEO & CSO Leo Burnett, South Asia - Dheer...

Who really builds the brand? How do consumers make choices? How can marketers reduce consumer indecision? In this episode we chat about a marketer’s responsibility to help consumers make simple choices and frictionless decisions. It’s all about turning planet-sized problems into brain-sized ones as we improve people’s decision confidence while making it easy for them to connect with and adopt bran...

There is a general erosion of the truth, and thereby trust. The rampant disinformation has made it challenging for brands to navigate through the murky waters of fake news. In this episode we speak easy about what measures can be taken by brands and people alike to take up the cause of data and truth-based discourses in society. In this episode, our CEO & CSO Leo Burnett, South Asia - Dheeraj Sinh...