The ContraMinds Podcast

Shyam Sekhar is the Ideator and Founder of ithought Financial Consulting LLP. He is an active and renowned value investor with over 30 years of experience in financial markets. His focus as an investor has been on identifying investment opportunities in emerging companies through a sound research driven process. In this episode, Shyam talks to us about his investment process, managing finances as...

Sunder Madakshira currently serves as the CEO of Rezolve in India. He has held leadership roles for over 26 years in Sales and Marketing with companies such as Adobe, Hindustan Unilever, VISA, SAP, WIPRO and Infosys. He is considered a pioneer in Data Driven Operating Models (DDOM) in B2B Marketing in India. In this episode, Swami and Vignesh speak to Sunder about the changing landscape in Marketi...

Adrian Gropper, MD, is the CTO of Patient Privacy Rights, an organisation representing 10.3 million patients and is among the foremost open data advocates in the United States. Adrian’s work focuses on solving critical problems of patient matching, cybersecurity, transparency, access, and delegation to family caregivers. We had a wide-ranging conversation with Adrian where he spoke to us about Pat...

Prof. Yadati Narahari's research work focuses on game theory, mechanism design, and artificial intelligence techniques to research problems at the intersection of computer science and economics. From 2014 to 2021, he served as Dean of the Division of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Sciences (EECS) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. At IISc, he teaches two courses:  Game Th...

Dr. Annapurni Subramaniam serves as the Director of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore. Her research work focuses on Star Clusters, Stellar Evolution and Population in Galaxies and Magellanic Clouds. In this episode, Dr. Annapurni speaks to us about her childhood fascination with the night sky, her thoughts on a long-term vision for Scientific Research in India, and balancing leadersh...

Neil Hoyne serves as the Chief Measurement Strategist at Google and is a Senior Fellow at The Wharton School. He is most recently the author of Converted: The Data-driven Way to Win Customers’ Hearts.  The book focuses on how companies can build trust at the most fundamental level in the the age of Big Data, Analytics, and Machine Learning. In this episode, Neil speaks to Swami and Vignesh about:...

Roger Forsgren served as the Chief Knowledge Office (CKO) of NASA from 2013 to 2021. As CKO, he led NASA’s Knowledge Management efforts, ensuring that the agency’s workforce had access to the critical knowledge needed for mission success.  He also served as Director of the NASA Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership, internally known as APPEL, the agency’s education and training p...

Amit Ranjan is best known as the co-founder of Slideshare, the world's largest community for sharing professional content including presentations, infographics, documents, and videos. In 2012, Slideshare was acquired by LinkedIn and as of 2020, it has been acquired by Scribd. Amit is also an Angel Investor and Advisor to several early stage startups in India, Singapore and the United States such a...

Col. Vijay Chadda served in the Indian Armed Forces for more than two decades, following which, in 1992, he transitioned to the Private Sector. After holding leadership positions in various large multinationals in the logistics, travel and tourism space, he became the CEO of the Bharti Foundation in 2008.    Today, he serves as the CEO of the Air Pollution Action Group, a Foundation set up to assi...

Allison Hartsoe is a three-time entrepreneur and is currently the CEO of Ambition Data. She is, most recently, the author of the book, "The Age of Customer Equity: Data-driven Strategies to Build a Sustainable Company". In this episode, Allison speaks to Swami and Vignesh about Data-driven Marketing, the difference between Brand Value and Customer Value, and her Favourite Books. Click here to buy...

Radhika Dutt is an Entrepreneur and Product Leader, who is most recently the author of "Radical Product Thinking: The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter". She is currently Advisor on Product Thinking to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore’s financial regulator and central bank. In this episode, Radhika speaks to Vignesh and Swami about setting the right Product Vision, the similarities...

Bipindra N.C. is the Founder and Editor of Defence. Capital, a publication which tracks the business and politics of India’s growing defence, homeland security, aerospace and maritime trade and market. In this episode, Bipin speaks to Swami and Vignesh about the role of startups and entrepreneurship in Defence Tech, the structure of India’s Defence ecosystem, and the Knowledge and Skills Veterans...

Suresh is the Co-Founder and CEO of Crayon Data, a Big Data and Artificial Intelligence company with a vision to simplify the world’s choices. In this episode, Suresh speaks to Swami about spotting trends, limitations in being only a left-brained or a right-brained company, and the three types of personalities you need to have when building a company.

Narayan Parasuram is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of the Karadi Tales Company. In this episode, Narayan speaks to Swami and Vignesh about his journey and the lessons learnt in setting up Karadi Tales, the challenges he has faced as an Independent Movie Producer, and why we need to rethink the value of Traditional Institutions in India.

Thomas Kolster is the Founder and Creative Director of Goodvertising Agency, one of the pioneers in turning environmental, societal and health risks into market opportunities where growing the bottom line goes hand in hand with creating better communities and a better planet. In this episode, Thomas speaks to Swami about the new Unmarketing Movement, why Sustainability has a Storytelling Problem,...

Kumar is the Founder and CEO of GoFrugal, one of India’s leading Point-of-Sale solutions for Retail, Restaurant and Distribution businesses. He is also a Co-Founder of Zoho Corporation, one of the world’s leading companies in the domain of Online Productivity Tools and SaaS Applications. In this episode, Kumar speaks to Swami about what it takes to build a great Company Culture, the Importance of...

Prof. Manish Jain is an Associate Teaching Professor at Center for Creative Learning (CCL) , a lab in IIT Gandhinagar , whose goal is to create and foster makers who can take innovation to the next level. In this episode, Prof. Jain speaks to Swami about how the education system robs children of their sense of wonder, the role of the CCL in training teachers and helping students rekindle their joy...

Karthik Srinivasan is one India’s leading Communications Strategy Consultants and an Expert in the field of Personal Branding.  In this episode, Karthik speaks to Swami about how he discovered and fell in love with Advertising, his views on Best Practices related to building Personal Brands, and his latest book, “Be Social: Building Brand YOU Online”.

Dr. Ashwin Mahalingam is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Madras. He is also a co-founder of Okapi Advisory Services and serves as a Director on the Board. He is the Editor of the Engineering Project Organization Journal (EPOJ) and has served on many National Committees. In this episode, Ashwin speaks to Swami about Megaprojects, the multi-dimensional nature of Project Man...

Prof. Vidita Vaidya is the Head and Principal Investigator of the Vaidya Lab at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. In this episode, Prof. Vaidya speaks to Swami about the Architecture of Stress, the impact of Life Experiences on the Neurocircuitry of the Brain, and how Psychological Stressors affect the growth of individuals from their childhood.

Karthik Sundaram is an Entrepreneur, Investor, and Advisor. He is the President and CEO of Purplepatch Services, a leading B2B Digital Marketing firm based in Silicon Valley. In this episode, Karthik speaks to Swami about stepping sideways to move ahead, connecting with people to learn from them as opposed to networking, and being comfortable with discomfort.

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Srikant Sastri. Srikant is one of India's leading Founder-CEOs and Advisors. He is a co-author of the book, The Ventilator Project: How the IIT Kanpur Consortium Built a World-class Product during India’s Covid-19 Lockdown, along with Dr. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay. In this episode, Srikant speaks to Swami about his Entrepreneurial Journey, Innovatio...

This episode features and in-depth conversation with Malaksingh Gill. Malaksingh is a Mumbai-based architect practicing architecture inspired by local, alternative building materials, construction techniques, and crafts.  In this episode, Malaksingh speaks to Swami about Learning and Unlearning Architecture under Laurie Baker, Understanding Architecture as a Meta-Discipline, and the Importance of...

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Ashwin Damera. Ashwin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Eruditus, a worldwide leader in the $280 billion global professional education market. In this episode, Ashwin speaks to Swami about building Eruditus, achieving Product Market Fit, pursuing the Art of Disciplined Entrepreneurship, and democratizing education for all.

This episode features a long-form conversation with Samit Malkani. Samit is the Head of Brand Marketing, South East Asia and India, at Google. In this episode, Samit talks to Swami about the art and craft of Brand Marketing at Google, what he believes will be the make up of the Creative Team of the Future, and the shift in perspective needed when moving from an Agency-side role to a Client-side ro...