Founder Thesis

"Before you become a Founder... you have to know who you are." In this candid conversation, Ambarish Gupta unpacks this profound insight, stressing that deep self-awareness is the crucial first step before embarking on the intense entrepreneurial path. It's the bedrock upon which leadership and resilience are built. Ambarish Gupta is the pioneering founder of Knowlarity, which became Asia's larges...

"The Big D is not Data.. it's Decision." This core insight from Dhiraj Rajaram encapsulates the philosophy behind Mu Sigma. It highlights that the true value lies not just in accumulating data, but in using it effectively to make better decisions, a principle that guided him in building India's first unicorn. Dhiraj Rajaram is the Founder of Mu Sigma, the pioneering decision sciences company recog...

"I am the most qualified guy to write about the failures of CL, nobody knows it." This powerful statement from Satya Narayanan R encapsulates a key takeaway from the episode: true entrepreneurial wisdom comes not just from success, but from deeply understanding and learning from the inevitable failures along the way. It speaks to the vulnerability and resilience required to build something lasting...

From Ambala to Singapore to London & then back to India! Here is the story of Swati Bhargava, the Co-Founder of CashKaro.com India’s largest & fastest growing cashback & coupons site. Remember your class topper in school? Well, Swati was the scholar of her batch scoring a 100/100 in maths in her 10th standard board exams. A young Ambala girl aspiring to study at the prestigious St. Ste...

In what has been one of the most fun conversations we’ve had on Founder Thesis - we sit down for a chat with Dharamveer Singh Chouhan, Co-Founder & CEO of Zostel - the largest chain of backpacker hostels & experiential homes in Asia.  An explorer & nonconformist at heart, Dharamveer’s journey into entrepreneurship is an exciting story. Through his early career days he has single-m...

“I believe little in luck & more in working hard & getting something done” - Rishabh Chopra In this episode of Founder Thesis we talk Rishabh Chopra, the founder of The Ayurveda Experience (Transformative Learning Solutions). An alum of the prestigious student run global organisation AIESEC, Rishabh started his career here beginning as a volunteer and moving on to be elected to run the loc...

"My loyalty is not to Josh but to unlocking human potential" - Shobhit Banga  A school drop out, a state level Tennis player, India’s youngest qualifier of the elite “Paris - Brest - Paris” International cycling event, founder of two NGO’s - Sach & Half Glass Full, a Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur and the Co-Founder of Josh Talks - Shobhit Banga can be described in many ways. But wh...

“I was never governed by fear” - Bijai Jayarajan  From being a young small town boy in South India to building a Multi Million Dollar company, Bijai Jayarajan is truly a fearless entrepreneur. Bijai founded Loyalty Rewardz in 2008. In his 10 year stint he raised venture capital investment to the tune of USD 26 Million & in 2017 Loyalty Rewardz was acquired for a whopping USD 100 Million!&...

“For education to be meaningful it cannot be superficial" - Hari Krishnan Nair.  Co-founder of Great Learning, India’s largest online learning platform Hari Krishnan Nair is the entrepreneur who made professional education easily accessible to Indians so that they could equip themselves with career critical competencies.  A trailblazer in the ed-tech segment Great Learning has delivered...

“You can’t change what the market wants, you can only serve what the market wants” - Tonmoy Shingal.  For this week's Founder Thesis episode, we sat down for a conversation with Tonmoy Shingal the co-founder of HF-tech SAAS platform, Mettl. A tech solution that changed the way organisations hire talent.  We talk to Tonmoy about the genesis of Mettl to its stupendous growth to finally bei...

“We will see in our lifetime a generation of products being built online only for women” - Sairee Chahal.  Founder of Sheroes - a social networking site exclusively for women, Sairee is a pioneer in building up women at work and future-of-work conversations in India. She has several accolades under her belt, such as Devi Award, Femina Achievers Award, Cartier Award, Editor’s choice for L’Orea...

‘Jo bhi karunga, usme khush rahunga, kidhar bhi mein kaam karu, I want to be happy’ – Akash Gehani Here is a story of an intelligent boy who grew up in the suburbs of Mumbai with one mantra ‘never take yourself seriously’ But when it came to starting a business, Akash was very serious about helping small and micro-businesses to grow and help them trust the internet. Instamojo started with Payment...

“It is possible to disproportionately colour consumers’ opinion about yourself” - Aditya Save.  A marketing mega mind Aditya has previously worked with big brands such as Shaadi.com, Marico & GSK where he’s held senior leadership positions. Having made his mark in the corporate world Aditya is now the co-founder of Agilio Labs - a startup studio that works with experts to launch innovativ...

“The credit goes to my team always. You can not build a brand single-handedly.” - Vikas Bagaria.  Vikas Bagaria is the founder of Pee Safe - India’s leading personal hygiene brand on a mission to empower women with good health and easy hygiene solutions. With several accolades already under its belt, Pee Safe was recently also awarded as The Best SMB Brand of the Year by Amazon India.  A...

“In India, dining out is an event, smallest of things can ruin it, and smallest of things can make it better”– Ankit Mehrotra Ankit’s tryst with entrepreneurship got ignited when he overcame his fear of failing an exam. The boy who grew in the bylanes South Delhi went to the University of Essex to pursue his engineering, chased his love for finance to got a CFA charter and did odd jobs to survive,...

“It pays to stay authentic and talk to millennials in the language they understand” - Hitesh Dhingra. Hitesh Dhingra is the founder of The Man Company - an exclusive men’s only grooming brand. He is a 4x Entrepreneur who has been a pioneer across various industries. Right from starting an eCommerce site, a dating site & now The Man Company, Hitesh has a proven track record of identifying unmet...

“Organisation has to be larger than yourself” - Girish Batra Girish Batra is the founder of NetAmbit - a 19-year-old organisation that has been powering startups in India to scale their businesses through a unique sustainable sales growth model. The model was so successful that it was featured in Forbes India magazine. A tenacious entrepreneur, Girsh has built NetAmbit from the ground up not once...

"Nothing is free in India, garbage is also not free." This stark realization from Nakul Kumar, Co-founder & CMO of Cashify, encapsulates the gritty realities faced by entrepreneurs. It underscores that even seemingly abundant resources have associated costs in the journey of building a business from the ground up, a lesson learned firsthand during his initial venture in waste management before...