Founder Thesis

How did ex-Google leader Rahul Garg build Moglix into a category-defining force in India’s B2B procurement and industrial supply chain ? In this Founder Thesis episode, we unpack the playbook, from procurement SaaS to working-capital rails via Credlix , that powers factories across India and beyond. From IIT Kanpur to Google to founder, Rahul traces the insight that the world would shift from disc...

For the love of travelling, he would take international trips and immensely enjoy exploring diverse backgrounds. Growing up, he would travel to different destinations with his family, his first foreign trip being that to Italy.   Today, he has changed the trend of car ownership with a car subscription model providing tremendous appeal and flexibility to the millennials.  We are talk...

Our guest today is an achiever in more ways than one. Born and brought up in Chennai in a humble household, he pursued his studies from the prestigious IIT, Madras campus.  Well, he tells us that he wasn’t a risk-taker or had an entrepreneurial side to him as a kid but loved to travel and explore new places, people and communities.  In this episode of Founder Thesis, we are talking to Ba...

He is a performing artist by heart, someone who hit the stage when he was merely 4 years old and guess what, he never got off!  A creator, writer, director and entrepreneur, he gets immense joy from words, phrases, and playing with them creatively.  When kids his age would play cricket after school, he would be found doing theatre.   He tells us that his mother always aspired f...

"The interesting thing was that you have the dream and the vision, but you realize the answer is your grandmother's kitchen." This insight from Shauravi Malik highlights a core theme: sometimes the most innovative solutions involve looking back at traditional wisdom. While aiming to disrupt the children's food market with modern, healthy options, Shauravi and her co-founder realized the true marke...

"In India, ideas are everywhere, but you get rewarded for execution." This was the core conviction that led Rashmi Daga to build a full-stack food brand, taking on the immense operational challenges of controlling everything from the kitchen to the customer's doorstep—a bet against the asset-light models that dominated the startup world. About The Guest Rashmi Daga is the founder of FreshMenu , th...

We have all been lost at some point in our lives, uncertain of things and trying to figure it all out at the same time.  Growing up in Mumbai and coming from a business family, today’s guest on Founder Thesis is someone who has a passion for creating stuff and building products. Someone fascinated by the possibilities of the Internet, Mayank Bidawatka, always thought of new things and ideas t...

Today’s episode of Founder Thesis is a story of finding opportunity in adversities & seeking lessons in all the curve balls that life throws at you.  In what has been one of the most spirited conversations on the show join in as we catch up with Prateek Singh - Founder of LearnApp.com over tons of infectious laughter & incredible life experiences.  Born in Abudhabi and educated i...

Investment banker, active seed investor, problem solver and now a founder. Our guest today has worn numerous hats, but her greatest adventure yet is the one that’s allowing her to fulfil her entrepreneurial dreams.  Always driven by a passion to do something for other businesses, Founder of Kodo, Deepti Sanghi is making finance simple for startups and businesses. Imagine being a founder of a...

“Building a product and building an organisation are two different things,” says Abhinav Jain, our guest today.   A bunch of people were very excited about technology in school, they created a computer programming club. Somebody who was always up for honing new skills and specialising new crafts beyond engineering, not worried about books. Fundamentally, he always knew that he wanted to...

How did Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah turn LEAD School into one of India’s most impactful edtech unicorns transforming affordable private schools? In this episode, they reveal how their mission-driven journey is reshaping the future of K12 education in India. Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah, co-founders of LEAD School, share their journey from corporate careers at Procter & Gamble to building In...

This week on Founder Thesis podcast host Akshay Datt is in conversation with Hemant Kanoria - Chairman at SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited. A pioneer in the field of infrastructure finance, Hemant started SREI in 1989 and in the last two and half decades has scaled it to be India's largest integrated infrastructure institutions with an asset base of around USD 5.5 billion.  But that’s not...

We all have that one habit which we’ve developed as kids & that’s still stuck with us even as adults.  Aprameya Radhakrishna, our guest today, recalls that his childhood habit that stayed with him is observing things around him. A habit which helps him a lot today as an entrepreneur to understand things like consumer behaviour and much more.  A habit we think made him take notice of...

It may sound weird for a sports enthusiast to be in IIT. Right?  Well, Saumil Majmudar, our guest today, says that it's possible, and that it's an excuse kids make, there are a lot of people who balance academics and sports. They can coexist! Sports have always been a part of his life and it's something he assumes should be in life always.  Saumil Majmudar is the Co-founder, CEO and Mana...

   "Successful businesses are built on deep customer insights about unsolved problems of the customer." This powerful insight from Sanjeev Bikhchandani underscores his entire entrepreneurial philosophy. It's not just about having an idea, but about deeply understanding a genuine customer pain point and offering a real solution – a principle that led to the creation of Naukri.com and...

As an IIT Bombay graduate in metallurgical engineering and materials science, trying to figure out his way through life, he was not really sure what he wanted to choose as his field of work per se. A problem-solver, Harsh Shah is always thriving and striving to make an impact. In this episode, he shares with us personal and professional experiences he encountered during his quest.  Starting F...

"Raising investment should not be celebrated. It's like you are proving that you are unable to generate a profit from your company so that you need to sell your own equity." This contrarian take from Tanutejas Saraswat offers a refreshing perspective on startup funding, emphasizing sustainable business building over the glamour of fundraising. He believes the focus should always be on creating a f...

"Success isn't about greatness. It's about consistency. And those who are consistent are bound for greatness!" This profound insight from Jitendra Chouksey, founder of Fittr, encapsulates his journey and philosophy. It highlights that sustained effort and adherence to fundamental principles are more crucial for achieving long-term success, both in personal fitness and in building a disruptive busi...

Coming from a small village to building one of the fastest-growing viral content websites, WittyFeed, Vinay Singhal has had an intriguing journey. He was the first person in his family to get educated, and hence he was completely clueless about the outside world. This did not dent his determination to arrive at the grand goal that he had set for himself.    What goal? To become the riche...

Being a modern person in a hidebound culture isn’t easy. Especially when you are a woman because then, your resume is crafted for getting a placement in a ‘good family’. Your qualifications, work experience, education and description all count!  But, the less the better!  Just like many other women, this is a part of Anuradha Agarwal’s story as well. However Anuradha chose to author the...

This week on Founder Thesis Akshay Datt is in conversation with serial entrepreneur  and investor Sachin Bhatia. You may know him best for his stint as the Co-Founder and CMO at Make My Trip. However Sachin is also the Co-Founder of online dating site TrulyMadly.com and, his latest venture, Bulbul.tv  Bulbul is a revolutionary video commerce platform that is redefining online shopping by...

"Why can't we all just work without salary for a few months?" Imagine facing near-certain bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis, only to have your team propose this solution. Aloke Bajpai shares the incredible story of how Ixigo's team rallied, taking pay cuts (with founders taking none), extending their runway, and ultimately surviving to become a market leader. It’s a powerful testament to...

"At the end of the day, I only care about process. I can't care about outcomes." This core philosophy from Dr. Aniruddha Malpani highlights a powerful mindset applicable to both medicine and angel investing. He emphasizes that while outcomes (like getting pregnant or a startup succeeding) involve uncertainty, focusing on a sound, ethical process is what truly matters and is within our control. Dr....

"Offline retail, in spite of being 95% of retail, is dark in terms of data." This core insight drove Anshoo Sharma to leave his successful venture capital career and build Magicpin. He saw a massive, data-poor market ripe for a technology solution that could bring performance marketing, traditionally used online, to the vast world of offline stores. Anshoo Sharma is the Co-founder and CEO of Magic...

“You can't build a large company and build for scale without laying the foundations” - Hari T.N If you are seeking guidance on problem solving or building an organization for scale Hari is the person you should go to. As a part of the management team at various startups, he’s helped shape four successful exits in different industries!  Hari started his career at Tata Steel as a part of their...