Founder Thesis

If we were to write a history of tech startups in India, then surely there would be a pretty big chapter dedicated to Vishal Gondal. From becoming a tech entrepreneur while still in college to selling Indiagames to Disney for almost a hundred mn dollars - Vishal recounts his fascinating story.Insights shared:- Early days of Indian internet gaming How to engage customers with adware gaming Using branding to scale and acquisition strategies

Dhruva Space is in the business of making space accessible to businesses. Sanjay and Chaitanya talk about low earth orbit satellites, why satellites are a big business, and how they are building the full stack for enterprises to take advantage of satellite technology.Additional links:- Dhruva Space launches nano-satellites onboard ISRO's PSLV C54 Dhruva Space was launched to establish India as a global satellite hub Innovative minds behind Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space’s success

"I think being naive sometimes helps you to innovate or do things differently."Gaurav Khatri's counterintuitive take on entrepreneurship reveals how not being a traditional tech insider allowed him to sidestep industry dogma. His "naivety" let him focus on a simple question: could he find a market gap and fill it? This approach, unburdened by preconceived limitations, was the catalyst for creating a market leader.In this episode of Founder Thesis, host Akshay Datt sits down with Gaurav Khatri, the CEO & Co-founder of Noise. A former commercial pilot, Gaurav pivoted to entrepreneurship and bootstrapped Noise into India's #1 smartwatch brand, a position it has held for nine consecutive quarters. Under his leadership, the company achieved a staggering revenue of over ₹1,426 crore in FY23 and cemented its place as a top-three player in global smartwatch shipments.Key Insights from the Conversation: Pivoting from Profit: The conversation highlights the strategic courage to abandon a profitable but commoditized mobile case business to build a true, aspirational brand in the wearables category. The Bootstrapper's Advantage: For nearly a decade, Noise operated without VC funding. This forced a culture of capital efficiency and made the product the hero, relying on organic growth instead of massive marketing spends. Data as a Defensible Moat: By developing its own proprietary app (NoiseFit), Noise gained invaluable data on how consumers use their devices. This allowed them to focus on perfecting the features that matter most to users, creating a powerful competitive advantage. Winning in a "Bloodbath": Gaurav explains the strategic rationale behind sacrificing significant short-term profitability to invest in marketing and defend its market leadership against deeply funded rivals in a hyper-competitive market. The Future is on the Wrist: Noise's vision extends beyond just tracking steps. The goal is to create proactive, AI-driven health companions that reduce reliance on the smartphone, a transition driven by the innovation-focused Noise Labs.Chapters:(0:00) From the Cockpit to E-Commerce: The Making of a Founder(1:37) The Spark: How a Simple Need Led to the Birth of Noise(3:44) The First Experiment: Selling 100 Phone Cases & Instant Market Validation(5:55) "We Didn't Have a Brand": The Harsh Reality of a Commodity Business(12:10) Building a D2C Brand: Owning the Customer Relationship(18:58) The Critical Pivot: Why Noise Moved from Cases to Wearables(26:16) The Bootstrapper's Playbook: Funding R&D with Zero VC Money(30:25) Why We Didn't Raise Funds, Even with ₹150 Crore in Revenue(40:59) How COVID Accelerated Growth & The Health-Tech Boom(50:51) Noise Labs & The Future: Building a Global Tech Brand from IndiaHashtags:#FounderThesis #GauravKhatri #Noise #IndianStartup #Entrepreneurship #Bootstrapping #D2C #MakeInIndia #Wearables #Smartwatch #BusinessPodcast #StartupStory

Pickrr has built an asset-light logistics platform that aggregates logistics service providers and companies seeking logistics services. Gaurav is a serial entrepreneur whose first venture was in the B2B Saas space. He talks about the lessons from his decade-long journey as an entrepreneur and about selling Pickrr to the logistics unicorn Shiprocket for a cool $200 mn.Insights shared:- Building Asset Light business models The business case for aggregation platforms GTM and scale-up of an enterprise product How to think about acquisition offersFor bonus content related to the episode, head over to ThePodium.substack.com

The world of cryptocurrency is currently going through the transition from being something for hardcore enthusiasts to being a mass market technology, and one of the companies aiding that transition is GuardianLink. Ramkumar has been an early participant in the cryptocurrency revolution, having entered this space 7 years ago, and in this fascinating conversation, we learn about how the space has evolved to reach where it is today.Insights shared:- How the technology behind crypto works Smart Contracts and understanding ‘the merge’ in ethereum Real world applications of Crypto Monetizing NFTs through gamingFor bonus content related to the episode, head over to Thepodium.substack.com

Supertails is a trailblazer in the pet care category, taking the approach of building a full-stack platform. Varun traces his journey from ideation to go-to-market and talks about the macroeconomic trends that he is betting on and the amazing metrics of a petcare e-commerce business.Know about:- Insights gained during the pandemic Product offering Building the pet relationship manager team Funding journeyClick here to read the text version of the episode

In today’s world, a startup is no longer dependent on investors to acquire funding. One can fund their startup through revenue-based financing. This is like a business loan, except the repayment of the loan is not via a fixed EMI but rather as a percentage of the revenue for a fixed period of time. Abhiroop shares his insights from his experience as a serial entrepreneur and VC.Know about:- Timing fundraisers without requirements Core product offering Equity is not a good use if deployed for inventory and marketing Future roadmapNote: This podcast was recorded a while back and the metrics shared have significantly improved since then.

One of the hardest problems in the electric vehicle space is the battery tech. The battery can account for as much as 50% of the cost of an EV. Dr. Singhal’s background in fundamental research on material sciences makes him uniquely suited to crack this problem. He talks about building and scaling Log9 Materials.Know about:- UV disinfection Battery technology Partnership with Omega Seiki Challenges in personal mobilityClick here to read the text version of the episode

One of the pioneering fintechs in the wealth management space, Scripbox started over a decade ago. Atul talks about his journey of building two highly impactful startups in the last decade. He built up Scripbox as the leading HNI wealth management fintech in India, and Probe Information as a leading B2B SaaS tool used by most banks and NBFCs in India.Know about:- Report writing on private companies Wealth manager with a digital DNA Pricing strategy Marketing playbook

"It's easy to give money away; the most difficult thing is getting it back." This is the fundamental, hard-learned lesson from a 30-year veteran of the lending industry. Prashant A. Bhonsle explains that the real art of building a sustainable financial institution lies not in aggressive loan disbursement but in mastering the underrated science of collections.Prashant A. Bhonsle is a 30-year veteran of India's financial services industry and the Founder of Kuhoo Edufintech. A true pioneer, he was part of the founding team at HDFC Credila, India's first dedicated education loan company, which he helped grow to a ₹10,000 crore loan book while maintaining a remarkable sub-0.1% NPA rate. In this conversation with host Akshay Datt, Prashant shares how he raised one of India's largest seed rounds—$20 million—to build Kuhoo, a tech-first lender on a mission to make students financially self-reliant.Key Insights from the Conversation: The Three Pillars of Lending: Prashant argues that any successful lending business must be built on a mastery of three core, non-negotiable pillars: Risk, Collections, and Compliance. Underwriting Potential, Not Parents: Kuhoo’s core innovation is its ability to use data science to predict a student's future earning potential, allowing it to offer collateral-free loans to meritorious students who would otherwise be ignored by traditional banks. From "Analog" to "Digital": Having built India's first education loan company with a traditional, "analog" model, Prashant is now using technology to solve the same problem with greater efficiency, scalability, and customer-centricity. Crisis as the Ultimate Teacher: Launching HDFC Credila at the exact moment the 2008 global financial crisis hit provided invaluable lessons in resilience, risk management, and the importance of having fundamentally sound business principles.Chapters:(00:00) Introduction(01:38) From Pepsi's "Cola Wars" to the Dawn of Telecom in India(04:41) The ICICI Bank Playbook: How Third-Party Distribution Disrupted Banking(10:46) Pioneering Student Loans: The "Zero to One" of HDFC Credila(19:21) Launching a Business into the 2008 Global Financial Crisis(24:41) The Secret to a 0.1% NPA: How to Underwrite Risk in Student Lending(39:00) The Kuhoo Thesis: Why India Needs a Tech-First Education Lender(40:19) A Masterclass on Lending: The 3 Pillars of Risk, Collections & Compliance(54:00) Building the Machine: Kuhoo's Fully Automated, App-Based Student Journey(1:13:15) The Future of Edu-Fintech: Building a Billion-Dollar Book & BeyondHashtags:#FounderThesis #Fintech #Lending #Startup #Entrepreneurship #PrashantBhonsle #Kuhoo #VentureCapital #NBFC #StudentLoans #EducationFinance #RiskManagement #IndianStartups #AkshayDatt #MakeInIndia