Raj Shamani's Figuring Out

Building a ₹1000 Cr Brand: What Every Startup Must Know | Shiv Shivakumar | FO463 Raj Shamani

Jan 27, 2026
Shiv Shivakumar, seasoned corporate leader and former Nokia and PepsiCo India CEO, shares bite-sized lessons on brand building and scale. He talks about why boards and governance matter. He contrasts big-company slowness with startup speed. He outlines niches where small firms can win and how to protect ideas inside giants.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
ADVICE

Build Reputation To Join Boards

  • Protect and build your reputation if you want board and advisory opportunities.
  • Invest in the ecosystem and industry bodies so people and headhunters will approach you for boards.
ADVICE

Use Boards To See The Horizon

  • Use the board to look ahead, enforce governance, and plan succession proactively.
  • Ask the board to assess people capability and horizon-scan so management doesn't stay head-down.
ANECDOTE

Penguin's Deposit Idea To Curb Submissions

  • At Penguin, Shiv suggested asking authors to deposit money to ensure only serious titles get published.
  • The deposit would be returned if 2,000 copies sold, curbing low-quality submissions.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app