Indian Silicon Valley with Jivraj Singh Sachar

How do you build a ₹1500 crore food empire — with no restaurants, no chefs, and no legacy playbook? In this episode, we sit down with Jaydeep Barman, co-founder and CEO of Rebel Foods, to decode how one of India’s most ambitious startups is reimagining the entire food industry — from the cloud kitchen up. This isn’t a story about biryani and wraps. It’s about systems, second-order thinking, and wh...

How do you deliver 100 crore orders a year — without bloating, breaking, or burning out? In this episode, we sit down with Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Food Marketplaces at Swiggy, to break down what it really takes to scale India’s most complex consumer business — and still operate like a startup. From McKinsey to Max Healthcare, from OYO to Swiggy — Rohit has led high-stakes transitions across industrie...

What does it take to challenge China in energy, batteries, and manufacturing—without being a tech founder? And how is one Indian group quietly building a ₹1.5 lakh crore empire across India’s most strategic industries? In this episode, we sit down with Devansh Jain, Executive Director of the InoxGFL Group, one of India’s most ambitious conglomerates operating at the intersection of chemicals, rene...

Why do most Indian beverage startups die in Tier 1 cities? And how did a bootstrapped brand from Chandigarh crack ₹500 crore selling ₹10 drinks across India? In this episode, we sit down with Saurabh Munjal, co-founder and CEO of Lahori Zeera—one of India’s most remarkable mass-market brand stories. What started as a kitchen recipe is now a household name, with 50 lakh bottles sold every day, 3 la...

What if India leads the next computing revolution? Suraj Aiar, founder of QWR, is betting on it—by building XR headsets from the ground up. No VCs. No shortcuts. Just a relentless pursuit of redefining how India builds hardware. In this episode, we sit down with Suraj Aiar, Founder & CEO of QWR—one of India’s only companies building XR (Extended Reality) hardware from scratch. He walks us thro...

Why do 90% of Indian brands never cross ₹100 crore? And what separates the few that do? In this episode, we sit down with Vivek Gambhir—former CEO of Godrej Consumer Products, boAt, and board member at Mamaearth—to decode what it really takes to build a high-scale brand in India. This isn’t theory. It’s the actual playbook behind India’s biggest consumer breakouts. Vivek has been at the helm of ₹1...

India’s startup playbook worships speed, scale, and funding. But what if you rejected all of it—and still won? In this episode, we sit down with Gautam Sinha, founder and creative director of Nappa Dori, who built a global luxury brand from India by going against every startup norm. No VC. No MBA. No blitz-scaling. Just instinct, craftsmanship, and relentless belief in design. Gautam didn’t just b...

India’s lending ecosystem is crowded with banks, NBFCs, and fintechs—but very few have managed to build institutions with scale, discipline, and long-term trust. In this episode, we sit down with Sandeep Menon, Founder & CEO of Vastu Housing Finance, one of India’s largest and most respected affordable housing finance companies. With a ₹11,000 Cr+ loan book and a customer base most banks would...

India’s startup ecosystem has reached escape velocity — but how do you actually build a breakout company in this market? In this episode, we sit down with Mohit Bhatnagar, Managing Director at Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India & SEA), and one of the earliest backers of Zomato, Meesho, Freshworks, CARS24, and more. This conversation unpacks what it really takes to win in India—across sec...

India’s biggest success stories weren’t built overnight. What does it really take to build institutions, scale businesses, and create a lasting legacy? In this rare business legends’ roundtable, we sit down with Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Info Edge), Ashish Dhawan (ChrysCapital), and Pramath Raj Sinha (ISB & Ashoka University) to break down the mindset, risk-taking, and long-term vision behind bill...

India is at a once-in-a-lifetime inflection point—Can we replace China as the world’s manufacturing powerhouse? In this episode, we sit down with Sunjay Kapur, Chairman of Sona Comstar, to break down India’s China+1 moment and why manufacturing is the next trillion-dollar startup opportunity. We explore:- Why the next Indian unicorns won’t be SaaS—they’ll be manufacturers- The brutal truth about I...

In this episode, we sit down with top founders to tackle one of India's biggest startup debates—Is Mumbai the next startup capital, or does Bangalore still dominate? We dive deep into why Mumbai is underrated as a tech hub, how founders are secretly choosing Mumbai over Bangalore, and what’s driving the rise of Mumbai’s startup ecosystem—from stronger talent retention to massive AI investments...

In this episode, we sit down with Gaurav Rathod, Joint MD of Cello World, to uncover the brutal reality of why most D2C brands fail—and how Cello scaled to ₹2000 Cr without chasing VC funding. Gaurav shares deep insights on manufacturing-led brand-building, why factories are the real profit centers, and how to dominate India’s complex distribution landscape. We break down how Cello built a retail...

In this episode, we sit down with Raul Rai, co-founder of Nicobar, to uncover the hidden challenges of scaling Indian brands and why so many fail to reach their full potential. Raul shares his contrarian approach to brand-building, balancing premium positioning vs. mass-market appeal, and why growth at all costs can kill a brand. We dive deep into how Nicobar built a premium Indian lifestyle brand...

In this episode, we sit down with Saurabh Mukherjea, a billion-dollar investor and Chief Investment Officer at Marcellus Investment Managers, to decode India's unique growth model, its divergence from China, and the evolving landscape of Indian public markets. Saurabh unpacks why India’s economic trajectory is unlike any other, how the next decade will reshape Indian startups, and why most inv...

In this episode, we sit down with Shashwat Goenka, a leader at the helm of the ₹80,000 Crore RPSG Group, to uncover his journey of steering one of India’s largest conglomerates toward innovation and growth. Shashwat shares his unique approach to managing legacy businesses, adapting to India’s rapidly evolving consumer landscape, and building future-ready ventures. We delve into how Shashwat prepar...

In this episode, we sit down with Ganesh Prasad, the visionary co-founder of Think School, a platform revolutionizing education and content creation in India. Ganesh takes us through his incredible journey—from his days as an engineering student to building Think School into a movement that merges education, storytelling, and business. We explore his bold ideas on the creator economy, the three es...

In this episode, we sit down with Niren Shah, Managing Director at Norwest Venture Partners, a seasoned VC investor with 17+ years of experience shaping India’s startup ecosystem. Niren takes us behind the scenes of iconic investments in companies like Swiggy and OffBusiness, revealing what it takes to identify and build billion-dollar businesses in India. We dive into his framework for evaluating...

In this episode, we sit down with Suhail Sameer, founder and managing partner at OTP Ventures, and former CEO of BharatPe. Suhail unpacks his incredible 400x return on Mamaearth, turning a ₹15 lakh investment into ₹60 crore. We dive deep into the world of angel investing, spotting high-growth startups, and the future of consumer brands in India. Suhail shares how he transitioned from leading Bhara...

In this episode, we sit down with Nikhil Taneja, co-founder and CEO of Yuvaa, a leading youth media organization creating impactful and empathetic content for India's Gen Z. Nikhil shares the powerful story behind Yuvaa’s inception, shedding light on the loneliness epidemic affecting young people and how media can be a force for positive change. From producing some of India’s first web series...

In this milestone episode, we sit down with Nithin Kamath, the founder and CEO of Zerodha, to uncover the untold secrets behind building India’s largest broking platform. Nithin shares his incredible journey of scaling Zerodha into a billion-dollar empire while remaining bootstrapped, customer-first, and uncompromising on values. From navigating personal challenges like a health scare earlier this...

In this episode, we sit down with Sumit Joria, the co-founder and CEO of NewMe, one of India's fastest-growing fashion brands redefining how young Indian women shop. Sumit shares the untold story behind NewMe's success, revealing the bold decisions, innovative strategies, and consumer-first philosophy that have made the brand a household name among Gen Z shoppers. From humble beginnings to launchi...

In this episode, we sit down with Prashant Desai, a seasoned business leader, investor, and health influencer, to uncover why Indians are sicker than ever before and how to fix it. With over three decades of experience in business and investing—including his role as Managing Director at Everstone—Prashant brings a unique perspective to the health challenges facing India today. Beyond his corporate...

In this monumental 100K episode of the Indian Silicon Valley podcast, we welcome back Pratham Mittal, Co-founder of Masters’ Union and TETR, to explore his vision for the future of education. Pratham shares the incredible journey of launching TETR, a groundbreaking undergraduate program that blends global travel with experiential learning. (Watch here: YouTube Link) We dive into how Pratham is ret...

In this episode, we sit down with Rohit Gupta, Co-founder and COO of College Vidya, to discuss how he is tackling India’s broken education market. Rohit shares the journey of building College Vidya, an ed-tech platform that simplifies and democratizes access to online education, catering to millions of students from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. (College Vidya Website link - https://cvadm.com/HaXvQo)...