Founder Thesis

Cannabis is a controversial ingredient to base your buisness on, given the many stereotypes around it. However, that didn’t deter Avnish from going the extra mile to build an ethically and scientifically driven company that has been awarded The Social Innovation Leadership Award. Listen on to this masterclass on all things hemp. Know about:- Indigenous uses of Cannabis The incident of ”wearing Can...

Mukesh Kalra speaks about how to scale up using a product-led growth approach and how his venture is challenging the status quo of the entire financial service industry. Know about:- Stint at InMobi, India’s first tech unicorn Factors for running a successful Fintech business Mutual fund as customer acquisition tool Personalising investing strategies ----- If you want to be a podcaster, then check...

Tech giant Google uses an approach called OKR to manage its employees which has taken the startup world by storm. Abhinav’s venture is a platform that helps fast-growing companies adopt the OKR methodology. This episode is a masterclass in both OKRs and building a vertical SaaS business. Know about:- First startup and learnings Ideation of Peoplebox Concept and benefits of 1-on-1 Features of OKR -...

In a gold rush, the ones who sell the shovels are the ones who make the most money.  In the fintech gold rush that we are seeing today, it’s a company like M2P Fintech that is selling the shovels; connecting banks, fintechs, and businesses with custom APIs for financial services.  This episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to understand the fintech ecosystem in India! Know about:...

An IIT Delhi alumnus who, inspired by the Chinese startup scene, built India’s largest hyperlocal tech-backed gig marketplace- Abhishek’s story is truly like that of Frodo Baggins.  In an insight-packed conversation, Abhishek tells Akshay about the journey of building Shadowfax. Know about:- Aggregating supply and demand Pivoting towards enterprises Creating static hotspots Data-feedback loop...

Unlike most founders who first have an idea, then build a prototype and then raise funds, Shachindra started big - by directly acquiring a publicly listed financial institution that he transformed into U GRO Capital. In this episode, you’ll hear about some unique innovations of this fintech platform that is at the forefront of the digitization of SMEs. ----- If you want to be a podcaster, then che...

Bhakti and Bharat are inseparable. Finding its root in Sanskrit, Bhakti means spirituality and encompasses community, mental well-being, and philanthropy. Being a uniquely Indian concept, the market for this space remains hugely untapped. Prashant is an Internet entrepreneur who created a spiritual-tech app to serve the emerging devotional needs of Indians. He tells Akshay Datt about his journey o...

"If the bet had not worked out, we would have died". This was Clear's reality when it pivoted from a beloved consumer brand into enterprise software for the new GST regime. This single, high-stakes gamble reveals the conviction required to build a category-defining company, moving from a product people liked to a platform businesses couldn't live without.  Bio Srivatsan Chari is the Co-founde...

There are 2 ways to build a startup - one is through cash burn and the other is by bootstrapping it- the harder but sustainable way. This episode is a masterclass in building a startup the harder way. Akshay Datt speaks with Neel Kothari who built iZooto , a push notification platform that touches the lives of billions consuming news on the Internet! Know about:- Concept of “owned audience marketi...

This edition is a delectable one where Akshay Datt chats with a couple elevating India’s experience of bread consumption. Aditi Handa and Sneh Jain are the founders of The Baker’s Dozen , India’s first artisan bakery brand serving an exquisite variety of authentic European breads and bakery products.  Aditi is a trained baker from the renowned International Culinary Institute in New York and...

This episode is a crash course in molecular biology, a $62 billion industry, and its several real-world applications. Akshay Datt speaks with Dr. Manoj Gopalkrishnan, Founder and CEO of Algorithmic Biologics , a deep-tech startup providing the highest quality molecular testing at a fraction of the market cost. Their first product, Tapestry, is an award-winning software delivering affordable large-...

"It's very hard to read a label when you're inside the bottle." This insightful quote from Mohit Sadani highlights a key theme of the conversation: the crucial role of external perspective, often from mentors, in navigating the intense, 'inside-the-bottle' experience of entrepreneurship. Founders need trusted advisors to see the bigger picture they might miss while deep in the daily grind. Malika...

"Money follows a very simple mathematical formula. Its magnitude multiplied by impact." This is the beautifully simple principle that Karan Bajaj landed on after years of searching for a path to financial independence. It cuts through the noise of online gurus and get-rich-quick schemes, arguing that true wealth is a direct byproduct of creating deep and wide-ranging value for people. In this epis...

Saransh Garg ’s journey represents the quintessential Silicon Valley founder story that began with his first venture being launched straight out of college. An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Saransh has had a glorious career trajectory working with Boston Consulting Group, a prestigious global consulting firm and Accel, a leading VC fund. After a successful first inning as entrepreneur, he launched Nova B...

"MVPs are dead for mature markets - launch fully-formed." In a direct challenge to the "lean startup" gospel, Srikrishnan Ganesan argues that in today's crowded software landscape, launching a half-baked Minimum Viable Product is a recipe for failure. He reveals the "Clarity Before Code" strategy Rocketlane used to build a polished, full-featured product before launch, ensuring they made a massive...

"The conventional solution to healthcare gaps—building more hospitals and training more doctors—is simply not a viable solution." This powerful, contrarian view from Dr. Dhruv Joshi forms the basis of his entire mission. He argues that the traditional model of healthcare is too slow and expensive to scale , and the only way to provide quality care to everyone is through technology that acts as a "...

In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Abhishek Poddar, Founder and CEO of Plum , the startup helping companies provide unique & affordable employee health insurance plans. An alumnus of IIT Kanpur and Stanford University, Abhishek has had a glorious career working with global giants like McKinsey & Company & Google. Spotting a clear opportunity to reform the broken...

"Failure hurts, but it is the bitter medicine of failure that leads to a healthy and sustainable business." Ankit Garg's journey exemplifies this. His first venture failed miserably, teaching him invaluable lessons that paved the way for building Wakefit into a home solutions powerhouse. Embracing failure isn't just about bouncing back; it's about learning and building resilience. Ankit Garg is th...

In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Sanjeev Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Amplus Solar, Asia’s leading distributed company, supplying clean energy solutions to Commercial & Institutional customers. An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, Sanjeev has spent more than a decade in the power sector. As part of his career, he has served various roles and responsibilities, including projec...

In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Madan Somasundaram, Founder of Sugar. Fit. Sugar. Fit is a healthtech startup that aims to reverse diabetes through a consumer-centric data-driven digital health experience. An alumnus of The Wharton School and Harvard Business School, Madan has a commendable career working with J.P Morgan as an investment banker. He started Sugar. Fit wit...

In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Swagat Sarangi, Founder of Smytten, one of India’s leading product discovery and trial platform that is revolutionising the way consumers interact with brands. An alumnus of Indian School of Business, Swagat worked with Google as the Head of Business Marketing before starting his entrepreneurial journey. His extensive 17 years of experienc...

"Energy is like money—it's a finite resource. When it's gone, we die. When it's there, we're bubbling with energy. So spend it judiciously." Deep Bajaj shares a powerful perspective on personal energy management, a critical factor often overlooked in the hustle of entrepreneurship. Conserving your energy and avoiding "energy vampires" is just as important as managing your finances. Deep Bajaj is t...

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) safeguarded the Indian economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this segment's financial health used to suffer owing to the lack of a robust framework for logging data. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Sumit Agarwal, Founder of Vyapar which is an easy-to-use software for business owners that provides billing, inventory, a...

This episode is a time capsule. We had the chance to sit down with Reshamandi's founder, Mayank Tiwari, at the peak of his company's hyper-growth. Listening to his vision now, after the company's widely-reported collapse, offers a unique and powerful lesson for every founder. It's a chance to understand the brilliance of a startup's dream, the conviction that drives it, and the hard realities that...

In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt talks with Dr. Anand Anandkumar, CEO and MD of Bugworks Research Inc., a remarkable drug discovery company focused on developing novel broad-spectrum antibiotics and immunotherapies that stand to transform the healthcare ecosystem worldwide. A veteran in the semiconductor industry with almost two decades of experience, Dr. Anandkumar wears many hats....