First Principles

Premium subscribers of The Ken have full access to ALL our premium audio. They are available exclusively via The Ken’s subscriber apps. If you don’t have them, just download one and log in to unlock everything. Get your premium subscription using this link.Not a Premium subscriber? You can subscribe to The Ken Premium on Apple Podcasts for an easy monthly price (Rs 299 in India). The channel includes ALL our premium podcasts.-Manish Sabharwal isn’t an easy man to nail down. By that, I don’t just mean it was hard to nail down a time on his calendar to meet me for the podcast, which it was. Like with most founders and guests on First Principles, the gap between when I first invite them and when they finally appear is usually measured in months, sometimes years. I had first emailed Manish for First Principles in January 2023.But I’m saying Manish is hard to nail down also because he defies - resists - categorisation. Sure, he co-founded Teamlease, one of India’s largest recruitment and human resource providers. It employs over 400,000 people, is listed on the stock exchanges, and is a great barometer of broader employment trends in India. But Manish is no longer involved with the day-to-day operations of the company, while still being the largest individual shareholder.Instead, he leads a “portfolio life”, dividing his time serving on the boards of think tanks, regulatory bodies, universities, non-profits, and even private companies like Phonepe; advising companies and the government on a host of topics like labour markets, regulation, employment, education, economic policy and reforms; being a columnist; and reading books. Oh yeah, he says he’s read a book a week for the last - wait for this - 42 years!Thus, when I sat down with Manish last Thursday, I went in prepared, or as prepared as I could be, with my research and questions. But 10 minutes into the conversation, I decided to drop the conversation narrative I had in mind and instead let the conversation go where it needed to.Yes, we do cover entrepreneurship, ambition, and finding product-market fit by letting your customers guide your evolution, but we also go much further into topics that we normally don’t. For example, India’s macroeconomic and geopolitical chances, ‘regulatory cholesterol’, higher education and the jobs crisis. All peppered with pithy aphorisms, vivid analogies, and memorable quotes every few minutes, this is something I’ve remembered Manish doing since I first met him as a journalist in the early 2010s.Welcome to First Principles.-This episode was produced by Hari Krishna, and the mixing and mastering of the episode was done by Rajiv CN.Write to us at fp@the-ken.com with your feedback, suggestions and guests you would want to see on First Principles.If you liked this episode, help us spread the word by sharing and gifting this episode with your friends and family.

Manish Sabharwal, Co-founder of Teamlease and expert on labor markets, shares insights on India's development journey. He discusses the importance of long-term thinking in creating a legacy and addresses challenges like wage stagnation and the transition from agriculture. Manish critiques bureaucratic hurdles and corruption, highlighting their impact on growth and AI's potential in society. He also emphasizes the undervaluation of care work and the need for economic reforms to foster innovation and entrepreneurial freedom in India.

Sahil Barua, co-founder and CEO of Delhivery, shares insights into the evolving logistics landscape. He discusses the importance of thoughtful leadership over hasty decisions, emphasizing strategic coherence and team dynamics. The conversation dives into quick commerce in India and the challenges it presents. Sahil also reflects on personal growth through reading and the balancing act of entrepreneurship, revealing how friendships contribute to fulfillment in his professional journey. His take on reaching 40 offers a relatable perspective on life and career.

Sahil Barua, the Co-founder and CEO of Delhivery, shares insights into the logistics industry and his company's unique approach. He discusses the complexities of Indian logistics, emphasizing sustainability and decentralized management. Sahil reflects on stepping away from impulsiveness, opting for direct communication over social media, and the importance of being open to 'happy accidents' in life. He also explores innovative strategies, including transitioning from traditional models to dynamic mesh networks, positioning Delhivery for future challenges and opportunities.

Welcome to First Principles. This is the second part of my conversation with Vidit Aatrey, co-founder and CEO of Meesho, which we had released in full for Premium subscribers of The Ken last week and is also available to subscribers of The Ken Premium channel on Apple Podcasts.Vidit and I discussed a lot of things. From the way his upbringing grounded him, the way he approaches hiring at Meesho and how he approaches life now as a parent. It’s a wonderful 40 minutes where I spent some time talking to Vdit about how he continues to look beyond the horizon to find answers to the more ambiguous questions Meesho faces now.And at the end of it, he has a wonderful book recommendation for everyone. I picked up a copy myself after our conversation.I hope you had the chance to listen to the first part of our conversation, where he covered Meesho’s history of growth and pivots and how it has aligned with the changes and demands of its customers.Here’s the link to part 1 of my conversation with Vidit Aatrey - Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | YoutubeNow, let’s get on to part 2 of my conversation with Vidit Aatrey.-If you're a premium subscriber of The Ken. You can listen to the full conversation with Vidit Aatrey right now using this link.The full conversation was made available early to Premium subscribers of The Ken on our app and subscribers of The Ken Premium channel via a separate standalone subscription on Apple Podcasts.Write to us at fp@the-ken.com with your feedback, suggestions and guests you would want to see on First Principles.

I met Vidit Aatrey, Co-founder and CEO of Meesho, on 14th February, exactly two months ago. We met at Spacebot Studios in Indiranagar. Vidit is tall, lean and clean-shaven. He is a careful listener and a measured speaker. When you ask him a question, you get the sense he’s spending time parsing all its meanings, and then playing out a few versions of responses in his head, perhaps doing a little bit of editing, before replying. Of course, all of this happens in a few seconds, so it’s easy to miss unless you are, well, having a conversation with him for over two hours. That’s enough time for both of us to pick and read cues from each other.Think about it. Can you spend two hours in a room having a truly open-ended, candid and widespread discussion with another person about their life, their business, their colleagues, their company and its culture, and even their family, without getting to really know them?I’d been wanting to have Vidit as a guest on First Principles for a while, even during our first two seasons. But as it turns out, things clicked only in 2025. I’m glad though, because I do feel Vidit’s and Meesho’s journey are a wonderful opening to Season 3 of First Principles.There’s a lot of good stuff we talked about. Why Vidit is so eager for Meesho to build for a long-term view, why he values problems way more than solutions, the humility and willingness to be led to new places by customer insights, the much talked about zero commission model, and building products for users who aren’t the top 5% of India.Let’s get started with the conversation, shall we?Welcome to season three of First Principles.-If you're a premium subscriber of The Ken. You can listen to the full conversation with Vidit Aatrey right now using this link.Write to us fp@the-ken.com with your feedback, suggestions and guests you would want to see on First Principles.

A new premium business podcast, Two by Two, delves into the rivalry between Flipkart and PhonePe, exploring their moves in FinTech and grocery delivery. Hosts Rohin Dharmakumar and Praveen Gopal Krishnan invite guests to dissect the conflict in a 2x2 matrix format, highlighting winners, losers, and future trajectories.

Hello, we're back again with part 2 of our final, final supercut where we’ve spliced together one interesting bit of conversation from the last 21 guests I interviewed on First Principles. And like the last episode where we covered founders 1 to 20, you’ll hear super sharp slices of a few minutes each which are reflections on their approach to organization building, risk taking, decision making and life living.Here are the guests you’ll get listen to in this episode: Krish Subramanian, co-founder and CEO of Chargebee; Varun Dua, founder of Acko; Yashish Dahiya, co-founder and Group CEO of Policybazaar; Archit Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Clear; M N Srinivasu, co-founder and Director of Billdesk; Radhika Gupta, MD and CEO of Edelweiss Asset Management; Lalit Keshre, co-founder and CEO of Groww; Niraj Singh, founder and CEO of Spinny; Karthik Jayaraman, Managing Director of Waycool; Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of Oyo; Soumya Rajan, founder and CEO of Waterfield Advisors; Viren Shetty, Executive Vice Chairman of Narayana Health; Aneesh Reddy, Founder and MD of Capillary Technologies; Vaibhav Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Udaan; Girish Mathrubootham, Founder and Executive Chairman of Freshworks; Harsh Mariwala, Chairman of Marico; Chetan Maini, co-founder and chairman of SUN Mobility; Jaydeep Barman, co-founder and CEO of Rebel Foods; Alok Mittal, co-founder and MD of Indifi Technologies; Kapil Chopra, Founder of The Postcard Hotels; and Manav Garg, founder of Eka.This is not the end of the road for me as a podcast host as you’ll soon find out. Actually, very soon. I'm Rohin Dharmakumar, your host. And here's part 2 of the final, final supercut.------Also, if you haven't already, do subscribe to the First Principles newsletter. You can sign up for free here!

Entrepreneur and founder Kabeer shares insights on entrepreneurship, leadership, and life in a collection of snippets from the first 20 podcast episodes. Topics include feedback loops, instinctive decision-making, risk vs. reward, optimizing decision-making, financial management, managing feedback in a tech company, and empowering employees through cultural values and entrepreneurial mindset.

First Principles is coming to an end. But it's not the end of the road for you as listeners.We still want to hear from you and know what you expect from the podcasts from The Ken. Let us know with your suggestions and critique.We'd love to know your thoughts and you can let us know here.Also, you can always write to us at fp@the-ken.com with your thoughts.