The Indian Startup Show

Today i speak to Venk Potula. Venk an award-winning Indian-American filmmaker and actor, producer & creator of the new Indian-American fiction podcast called Masala Jones. A subversive and daring new comedy about one man's journey to become the world's first Indian-American adult actor. Venk talks about his life in Hollywood as an Indian-American , how he come up with idea. his entrepreneurial spirit. An amazing story of how he got discovered. What fame is really like and what comes with it. His dream role. We go through his IMDB appearing in VEEP and finally a great story about playing a zombie (make sure your not eating anything!) in this conversation we also talk about How much research did he do? Working with hall of fame AVN actress Aurora Snow Virtual Reality in the theater Appearing on Veep was he star struck? Time spent at UCLA Hollywood parties Stay out of L.A! Making money in the entertainment business Taking acting classes - Running around staring at walls Being a hustler and much more!

Firstly, I would like to pay tribute to everyone listening and subscribing to show for the past three years. Without you, this podcast would not have been possible! So I’m very grateful. So sit back & enjoy some of the best moments. I am looking for feedback on the show. So If you could fill out the audience survey. It talks 2mins https://forms.gle/iNkXMauT7azY81sK8 So Today you will hear from Parag Agarwal Co-founder of JanaJal. Startup building Building the world’s first water sharing economy. He talks about: The water ATM concept His top project management tips Time spent working in the jungles of Indonesia The ONE quality entrepreneurs should have Next up Rakesh Verma Chairman & MD of MapmyIndia (@MapmyIndia) India’s leader in premium quality digital map data , GPS navigation, tracking, and location apps. He talks about: Top leadership advice Not having the Monday Morning blues! Conviction , passion , happiness Are your building a startup or a business? <---Important! Next is Anaka Naray

Taking fun seriously! Today I speak to Yashika Shah the co-founder of Nandoo. Nandoo is India's only FUN health & wellness startup. Since launching 5 months ago . They already have 200,000 members. So in this episode she talks about how it all works. You will learn how she manages a full time job working in investment banking, while working on this startup. Being married to the co-founder. She talks about building a community & targeting stressed out Indian millennials and find out how many minutes you need to walk to get an IPhoneX! In this episode we also talk about: 4.30AM starts! How they went from 0-200,000 in under 6 months Future business models Indian marketing strategies - what worked, & what didn't work Work life balance and much more! links https://www.nandoo.in/ P.S Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes in design, business, tech, and more. Anyone can join the millions of members in our community to learn cutting-edge skills, network with peers and d

'You can't please everyone - Not even chocolate can!' Today I speak to Akshaara Lalwani founder of Communicate India one of the fastest growing Marketing and PR companies in India. She started this business from her bedroom age 23 and now in the 8th year employs over 100 people has clients around the world and won a number of awards. So in this episode she talks about her amazing journey. Some of her favourite PR campaigns - including flying pizzas. You will learn about client relationships and how she measures success , and dealing with crisis management and finally some chat about Margaret Thatcher , sushi , Will Smith, Tequila, insects and eating pizza 14 days in row! In this conversation we also talk about: Challenging first year Growing 150% in the last year Getting a pizza delivered by a drone! The dream company she would like to work with. Being careful of how you use social influencers Establishing a 90:10 gender ratio Learning on the job What she has learned as a female entrepreneur Being cal

"If you don't lead in your business you will bleed!" - Today I speak to Rajiv Talreja India’s Leading Business Coach and is the author of the International Bestseller called – “Lead or Bleed” So in this episode You will learn how to stand out from the competition. Mistakes entrepreneurs make. Examples of core strategies that you can use in your business. And why the customer is not the king! And much much more . So please enjoy the show. Thank you! in this conversation we also talk about: Having a strict father Being in debt Two failed businesses. Anyone who has scaled a business is not the most intelligent person on the team. Spirituality. Business heroes Being a selfish cricketer Being a freak of work life balance. Living an 'And' life not an 'Or' life TedX talk Why self employment is a trap. links https://www.rajivtalreja.com/ P.S Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes in design, business, tech, and more. Anyone can join the millions of members in our community

As a little girl Pooja Dhingra was obsessed with desserts. Now she is the force behind the immensely popular Patisserie chain, Le 15 Patisserie in Mumbai. We talk about how she learned everything from scratch , the challenges she had to overcome. Building a brand. Her love of chocolate . The reality of being a celebrity chef. And finally find out what is her food heaven and food hell. It's truly an amazing story and one that will inspire you as well. So please enjoy the show. In this conversation we talk about: Starting with 3 people and now employing 140+ Falling in love with Macaroons! Bringing a piece of Paris back to Mumbai Starting a business being young & female Going to events in the early days and getting asked about her husband and father Dropping out of law school after 2 weeks. Management styles Building a brand Eating dark chocolate Being open to change Setting crazy goals. Oprah Winfrey chat Book recommendation - Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike and much much more! links https://

Disrupting the education system in India. Today I chat to Divyam Goel CEO of AttainU a new school teaching software with zero upfront fees you only pay after you get a job. He talks about, why he wants to disrupt the Indian education system, how it all works, having a quarter life crisis, his past experiences of working in the Bay area and his biggest challenges so far. so please enjoy the show In this conversation we also talk about: The deferred payment model $30 billion industry Why 70%-90% of students coming out of education are unemployable. Who is this for? Dealing with negative feedback. What does success look like? A love of swimming! Have strong convictions - ignore the buzzwords and do your research Good book recommendations - Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, and much much more! links https://www.attainu.com/ P.S Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes in design, business, tech, and more. An

One billion underprivileged people have no access to footwear. This inspired my guest Shriyans Bhandari to start Greensole. This social enterprise takes used sneakers which would otherwise end up in a landfill and refurbishes them into sandals that get donated to hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries in India. Shriyans talks about his amazing journey from designing and manufacturing his first shoe to receiving the Forbes 30 under 30 social entrepreneurship award and receiving a letter from Barak Obama and much much more so please enjoy the show. 150,000 pairs of footwear being upcycled Retail model How it works Working with corporate partners - Skechers, Adidas Dreaming of being on the cover of Forbes Being 20 years old running a factory with no manufacturing experience. Being in it for the long term. Every day is a new day! Meeting his co-founder running Favourite pair of shoes! Reading spiritual books Don't look at the final result. and much more! P.S Learn something new in 2019 - Try Premium free for 2

He quit his job at ThoughtWorks 4 years ago. Became an entrepreneur with 0 experience in running a business. But he is still alive & kicking, and is doing very well. He now has a team of 9, close to profitable, and has over 25K+ developers on the platform. So in this podcast, he shares valuable insights from the last 3 years. That you can use in your business. So please enjoy the show. If you like my podcast, please consider buying me a coffee. Buy Me A Coffee Thank you for your support! Taking the plunge Stats so far Being a first generation entrepreneur Being In it for the long haul. Figuring out your core value It's time to move on from the outsourcing industry and build kick-ass products for the world from India! Marketing strategies - Writing things from the heart! not clickbait. Don't drink your own Kool-Aid! Business model Being mentally prepared. Startup life is a lonely journey. Indian VC's, China VC's, American VC's Its time to move away from resume Great blog recommendation -> Mark Suster

Forbes 30 under 30 Asia social entrepreneur Dr Binish Desai is my guest today. He is the founder of Eco-Eclectic. They create eco-friendly solutions for domestic and industrial waste by turning them into assets. Binish first dabbled with the idea when he was just 10 years old, experimenting with paper and chewing gum. Today the company has developed around 150 eco-products and recycled more than 600 tonnes of waste and he made the Forbes 30 under 30 - Social Entrepreneurs list. it's truly an amazing story and one that will inspire you as well! in this conversation we also talk about: Being inspired by Captain Planet! Building houses, toilets, lamps & other products out of waste - What's next? First brick looking like a roti Working in slums Dealing with negativity & proving people wrong. Why he takes 2 bricks with him everywhere he goes! Creating a micro social enterprise to help women 3D printing houses in the future Dreaming of getting on the Forbes list & getting on the list. Being cheated b

Ha Ha Ha, Ho Ho Ho Ho, Hee Hee Hee! Today I speak to the founder laughter yoga club, Dr Madan Kataria aka ' The Guru of Giggling'. He started out in 1995 with 5 people and now has over 16000 laughter clubs worldwide in more than 100 countries. So in this episode, he talks about how it all got started, people, thinking he was crazy. And why laughter really is the best medicine even in the tough times. Also please stay tuned to the end to hear some audio of a laughter yoga expert with exercises you can try at home. in this conversation we also talk about: What laughter does to your body scientifically The body not being able to differentiate between fake laughter or real laughter. His mother being embarrassed when she found out and how he turned it around. Milkshake laughter Bring very popular in Japan Dealing with shy and inhibited people The gibberish workshop! Skype laughter club. Being a social crusader Not having a business brain! but reaching 100 + countries. Depression is the No1 sickness in the worl

Today I speak to Anirudh Narayan author of an amazing new book called Scale Smart: How To Get Your First 1,000 Customers in India. Scale Smart is an actionable guide to start and scale a startup in India., So in this podcast, we talk about great digital marketing strategies - Facebook, Youtube, Whatsapp, email marketing, etc you can use today to get your startup off the ground. We also talk about his time at Shutterstock with a 250K budget to life as a digital nomad in South America and much more! In this conversation we talk about: Examples of Indian focussed growth stories When should you start the growth hacking process? Product market fit. Focus on consistency, not virality It's your responsibility to build a community and not sell Get smarter using Facebook Life in the US and South America Example growth hacks and experiments at Shutterstock. Email marketing edge case examples. Build relationships offline Youtube marketing examples - create primary, secondary, tertiary content vidIQ is the tool that he

Happy New Year. Hope you have a great 2019. Today I speak to Rajeev TamHankar the Founder of TBS Planet. TBS Planet is a comics and animation startup. They have developed a range of comic books featuring Indian action superheroes. In this episode, he talks about how this got started. he talks about getting his inspiration from Indian mythology. he talks about attracting readers using Whassup, why his dad is his best & worst critic. Which Bollywood actors/actresses would be ideal to play the roles. He talks about his favourite superheroes and what superpowers he would like to have and finally some chat about the late great Stan Lee! in this conversation we also talk about: Subscriber stats Whassup sales strategy Leaving the corporate life Attending Comic-Con Developing superheroes including Karma & Mother Nature Writing his first novel - Get corporate before you get fired! Joining an accelerator Handling marketing & distribution operations Creating an augmented treasure hunt at Comic-Con Dads

I speak to Siraj Raval the Director of The School of AI. Youtube personality and best selling author. In this episode he talks about how it all got started, Why AI? Interesting things going on in China, a look back at 2018, and plans for 2019. He talks about speaking at the United Nations, being happy, lifehacks and the one thing you should do after listening to this podcast episode. So please enjoy the show and speak to you in 2019. Stats Solving problems with AI e.g climate change Teaching people. Advice on doing your own Youtube channel. Don't be afraid of AI - Be afraid of human beings! Being open to all feedback. Changing his name and changing it back again. Book recommendation - AI Superpowers by Kai-Fu Lee Putting in the hours. Working over the weekends Main attribute for a developer Rapping Reaching out to the Indian government and much much more! Links https://www.theschool.ai/ P.S Thank you for a great 2018! P.P.S Follow me on @Skillshare. Try Premium free for 2 months and access all my class

Bringing solar-powered light to students in India & Africa. My guest today is Govind Upadhyay the CEO of LEDSafari - LED Safari partners with local schools, NGOs and governments to bring solar-powered light to students in India and Africa. Students receive training to build solar-powered lamps, so they learn about the physics of circuits and solar tech while improving their studying conditions.- it's a great idea. So in this episode, he talks about his amazing journey from going from village to village training students in India to becoming Forbes 30 under 30. social entrepreneur. So please enjoy the show In this conversation we also talk about: Stats. Why solar? Climate change. Going from one village to the next with a suitcase Studying in Europe A great example of entrepreneurship in Uganda The one child one lamp initiative. Reflecting on 2018. Grandma & Grandpa thoughts! Having 2 business models Dealing with the knockbacks Interesting story where the name comes from Growing up in an army fami

Firstly, I would like to pay tribute to everyone listening and subscribing to show for the past three years. Without you, this podcast would not have been possible! So I’m very grateful. So sit back & enjoy some of the best moments. Today you will hear from - Deepak Srinivasan: Co-founder of Crofters, he talks about tackling the water crisis in India with IOT based farming! He talks about: How it works. State of the IOT industry at the moment in India. Production plans Nice example of senior citizens using the product. Partnering with Teach for India. His advice on getting early adopters. Elon musk chat. Movie chat We hear from Mansi Zaveri - Founder of Kidsstoppress, on creating India's most trusted, award-winning parenting website. She talks about: What inspired her to do this. Obstacles. What she has learned on her roller-coaster journey so far! The top 3 priorities in their life - it's very interesting! 15 years experience in branding, content All things digital marketing Life as a solo founder an

Virtual Reality (VR) is here to stay! Today I speak with Tithi Tewari co-founder of a Trezi a virtual reality (VR) solutions startup. This startup builds immersive technology solutions for the building industry that brings together all stakeholders in the design project — from architect/designer to engineering services to owner/tenant — to collaborate on the 3D design in an interactive and immersive environment and make better decisions. So in this exciting episode, she talks about how it all works. Quitting her prestigious career to follow her dreams of building a startup. She talks about raising funding, she talks about building a global product based in India and how they deal with the big US competitors and finally, some gives great leadership advice and much much more! In this conversation we also talk about: Stats How it works The lightbulb moment Her favourite project - designing/building a school in New Delhi Taking a leadership course at INSEAD Why she quit the corporate life for a life of uncertai

Counterfeit goods are estimated to drain more than $1.6 trillion from the global economy, a figure that is slated to climb $4.2 trillion by 2022. So today I speak with Nitin Gupta, the co-founder & CTO of NeuroTags. A start-up that is helping companies to fight the huge counterfeit market. So we talk about how this works, how things are going so far. Talking to big brands in India and USA . the business model, how they plan to scale. he also talks about his previous life working at Yahoo, eBay, PayPal in the mid-2000 ’s. And he also gives great advice for first-time founders. in this conversation we also talk about: Stats Getting good traction How they catch the counterfeiters Million people being killed due to fake pharmaceutical drugs Thoughts on what went wrong at Yahoo (B players hiring C players!) Book recommendation - Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey Thoughts on finding talent. Industries they are specifically targetting. Talking to the big VC's Creating value Trust. and much much more! ht

Global demand for natural skin care products is expected to reach £13 billion by 2019. So today I speak to the co-founder sisters of SkinYoga. A 100% natural luxury, vegan skincare brand. It is Founded by 3 Indian sisters. Radhika, Jagriti and Deepika Choudhary. So we have Radhika and Jagriti to talk about their amazing entrepreneurial rollercoaster journey from growing up on a farm to exporting to 29 countries around the world to winning a number of awards. They also talk about the (occasional) fights over the dinner table! Thoughts on the Kardashian culture. The lessons they have learned on the way and finally some Rodger Federer & Christiano Ronaldo chat! In this conversation we also talk about: Stats 100% natural not 99%! Growing up on a farm Growing rapidly in 2/3 years. How do they compete with the big players 97% of the team are women Why Vegan? Don't put entrepreneurs on a pedestal. Don't expect miracles Social media anxiety & superficial looks How they use Instagram to promote their prod

Sit back & enjoy some of the best bits of The Indian Startup Show Part 6. But First I would like to pay tribute to everyone listening and subscribing to show for the past two years. Without you, this podcast would not have been possible! Over 420,000 total downloads so far. so I’m very grateful. Today you will hear from: Shruti Gandhi, the managing partner at Array Ventures. a VC firm based in the U.S. focus on solving impactful problems using revolutionary technology. In this conversation we talk about: Stats What she looks for when investing Whats Silicon Valley really like? Meeting awesome people Fear of missing out Vitamins V Painkillers! What first-time founders should be focusing on? Career highlights The importance of using your gut instinct Machine learning Favourite startups Ashwin Damera Co-Founder of EMERITUS an Edtech start-up. They are making Ivy League education accessible to the world. In this conversation, we also talk about: Stats Dealing with competition Amazing two years spent at H