Founder Thesis

Lokesh Daga built up what could arguably be called as the next generation of an Indian family run business. Nasher Miles makes cool and useful trolley bags for travelers who care both about looks and convenience. He shares D2C success hacks, the advantages of offline vs online, and the path to becoming a 1000 cr business.Get notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.comRead more about Nasher Miles:-1.How Nasher Miles is Redefining Travel with Quality and Style2.How luggage brands can drive engagement and sales through influencer marketing3.Nasher Miles: Around the World on just eight wheels!

Are the next trillion-dollar companies going to be climate tech? Veteran VC-operator Shailesh Vickram Singh (Founder, Climate Angels) makes the case—and maps a founder playbook for India’s climate-tech wave.From UTI’s investments desk to SeedFund and then a full pivot to climate in 2017, Shailesh unpacks two decades of venture lessons and why “internet-scale” moats are shifting to resource-efficiency businesses. He explains Climate Angels’ ecosystem-first model (400+ corporate relationships via GoMassive/Massive Earth Foundation), where the real alpha lies in solving water, energy, mobility, and agri constraints—and why climate funds must distribute risk rather than chase winner-takes-all bets. He shared this journey in a candid conversation with Akshay Datt. Expect sharp takes on consumer internet vs. climate tech, how to source and underwrite early climate deals, and how founders can turn regulation and partnerships into GTM advantages. If you’re building in India’s climate economy, this episode is a field manual. How Shailesh built Climate Angels’ climate-first pipeline and investor network (UN/Corporate programs → early access to deals). Lessons from pivoting away from consumer internet to climate—where “edge” and cash-generating flywheels still exist. Climate VC risk 101: why distributed risk beats winner-takes-all thinking in finance. Sector theses founders can use now: precision agri, water efficiency, smarter inputs, and “constrained-environment” engineering. What corporate partnerships actually look like (MOUs, capital, access) and how to unlock them.Subscribe to the Founder Thesis PodcastFollow Akshay Datt on LinkedIn for exclusive clipsVisit founderthesis.com for more founder stories.00:00 - Why Climate Will Mint Trillionaires 01:11 - From UTI to Founder: Origin Story 10:45 - Bootstrapping CoolAvenues & Early Hustle 44:00 - Climate Alpha: Cash-Spinning Flywheels 46:37 - Building a Climate Fund the Hard Way 47:50 - Why VC = Risk Mitigation, Not WTA 52:51 - 400+ Corporate Partnerships: How It Works#tags Shailesh Vickram Singh, Climate Angels, climate tech investing India, climate startups India, Akshay Datt Founder Thesis, venture capital India, early-stage climate fund, GoMassive, Massive Earth Foundation, India decarbonization, EV and clean mobility India, water tech India, agritech sustainability India, energy transition India, climate angel syndicates India, AIF Category I climate, next trillion-dollar climate companies, startup funding India climate, corporate climate partnerships India, founder playbook climate

From college fest vendor to India's kitchen automation giant- Eshwar' tale embodies grit, hustle, and relentless optimism. He crafted Mukunda Foods from zero capital to Zomato-backed success. Learn how he revolutionised kitchen processes for leading restaurant chains.Get notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.comRead more about Mukunda Foods :-1.Interview: Mukunda Foods CEO Eshwar K Vikas On Driving Innovation In Commercial Kitchen Technology2.How Mukunda Foods' kitchen robots dish out dosas, noodles and more3.‘Kitchen robotics will revolutionise food & beverages industry’4.How Mukunda Foods is helping restaurants function smoothly in the current times5.What transformation does the food-tech industry is looking at in 2023?

Wigzo is an automated customer data platform for D2C brands in which Shiprocket has acquired a majority stake. It has grown from an  automated personalized email marketing tool to a  platform that helps brands to understand massive customer data and use it intelligently.What you can learn from this episode: The evolution of Mar-tech, from email automation to Customer Data Platform The journey of finding the right problem to solve Raising more funds vs getting acquiredGet  notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.com

From personal skin allergy woes to pioneering India's first Ayurvedic start-up securing seed funding from industry leaders, The Ayurveda Company is bridging ancient wisdom with contemporary health to provide Ayurveda as a lifestyle choice. Param talks about the journey of discovering product- market fit and taking the brand from zero to one, and then from one to hundred.Get notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.comRead more about The Ayurveda Company:-1.How The Ayurveda Co is bringing high quality, affordable ayurvedic solutions to the masses2.Rapid fire with param bhargava, co-founder of the ayurveda company3.How The Ayurveda Co carving a distinct path in the Ayurveda wellness landscape4.Learning, wisdom and experience: How an ayurveda startup from India is winning on the global front

How does Ganesh Shankar turn mind-numbing RFP chaos into revenue—and build a new SaaS category while he’s at it? Inside Responsive (formerly RFPIO), we unpack AI-powered Strategic Response Management (SRM), Fortune-100 adoption, and the hidden moats of enterprise sales tech.In this candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Ganesh traces his journey from product leader to CEO, the pain point that sparked RFPIO, and the evolution to Responsive as customers began using the platform far beyond RFPs—security/DDQs, emails, and more. He explains why their AI sits on curated enterprise content (not the open web), how governance turns “answers” into an organizational asset, and what makes SRM sticky at scale. We also get into traction: 25 of the Fortune 100 and 2,000+ customers, plus a staggering $400B+ in proposal value processed on the platform—signals of a durable category play in a funding-tight market. If you’re a founder, operator, or investor hunting real moats in B2B SaaS, this one’s your field guide.— How Responsive built SRM beyond RFPs (security, DDQs, email) and why that matters for win-rates. — AI on enterprise-governed content: the real moat in sales tech (compliance, accuracy, tone). — Fortune-100 adoption, 2,000+ customers, $400B+ proposals processed—traction without hype. — Sticky workflows and deep integrations (CRM, email, Slack/Teams, Drive/SharePoint). — Founder playbook: category naming (RFPIO → Responsive), SRM maturity findings, and scaling in a funding winter.Subscribe to Founder Thesis Follow Akshay Datt on LinkedIn for exclusive clipsMore founder stories at founderthesis.com.00:00 — Founder story & the RFP pain 04:30 — RFPIO V1: killing copy-paste 13:00 — SRM: beyond RFPs to DDQs/email 24:30 — AI on enterprise content (not web) 36:30 — Moats: governance, accuracy, compliance 47:00 — Fortune-100 wins & 2,000+ customers 53:00 — Integrations: CRM, email, Slack/Teams 1:14:50 — Rebrand to Responsive & SRM play 1:22:40 — SRM maturity: win-rate lift 1:24:00 — $400B+ proposals & what’s next#GaneshShankar, #Responsive, #RFPIO, #RFPSoftware, #StrategicResponseManagement, #SRM, #SaaS, #SalesTech, #AIinSaaS, #EnterpriseSoftware, #B2BSaaS, #ComplianceAutomation, #ProposalManagement, #FundingWinter, #StartupMoats, #IPO, #Unicorn, #VC, #SalesEnablement, #GlobalExpansion

Balance Hero is one of India’s largest lending apps for the underbanked. They are among the top market leaders in the small ticket loan providers.And the most amazing thing about Balance Hero is that the founder (Charlie Lee) is a Korean who came to India to sell VAS services to telecom companies, and never left.If you want to hear about the evolution of tech businesses and how to adapt to changing external circumstances, then this episode with @Charlie Lee of @BalanceHero is a must-listen.Get  notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.comRead more about Balance HeroMeet the entrepreneur from Gangnam whose True Balance …Balance Hero banks on India's 1.3B with fintechBalancehero India appoints ex-Hero FinCorp exec Jayesh Jain as Group CFO

Discover the incredible journey of an engineer turned healthcare innovator- Rohan Verma's entrepreneurial drive led to the creation of Breathe Well-being, a groundbreaking diabetes reversal platform. He talks about his roller coaster journey of building a bootstrapped health-tech business, facing multiple near death circumstances despite getting into the YC program, and eventually sticking through it to reach where they are today.Get notified about the latest releases and bonus conent by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.comRead more about Breathe Well-being:-1.Healthtech Startup Breathe Well-being Secures $6 Mn+ To Help People Reverse Diabetes

Unlike its counterparts in the health-tech realm, Dozee doesn't just stop at powerful software. Equipped with a novel physical product, Dozee is a special technology that uses smart AI to watch over patient’s vital stats 24/7 without any physical contact. In this episode, Mudeet talks about cracking data collection in a data dark space, innovating using AI, perfecting the product, raising capital and future plans.Get notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.comRead more about Dozee:-1.’Made-in-India Technology Dozee to Elevate Patient Safety Standards with RPM & EWS2.Dozee bets on India's growing home healthcare market with new solution3.How Dozee harnesses the power of AI for continuous patient monitoring and early warning system. 

As one of the oldest early stage startup investors, Mumbai Angels has funded more than 200 startups till date. In this episode, co-founder and CEO Nandini Mansinghka dives deep into the nuances of fund raising from the perspective of investors, thus helping startup founders to be well-prepared to pitch to investors. She talks about the legacy of Mumbai Angels and how it has evolved from an informal network to being a part of a larger corporate group now. She also shares learnings from her own journey as a founder of a media-tech startup.Get notified about the latest releases and bonus content by subscribing to our newsletter at www.founderthesis.comRead more about Mumbai Angels:-1.Mumbai Angels CEO Nandini Mansinghka On What Matters Amid the Funding Crunch2.Mumbai Angels aims to double start-up investments this fiscal3.Investment platform Mumbai Angels Network steps up game with two new funds4. 360 ONE acquires controlling stake in Mumbai Angels