Founder Thesis

"India is a data-poor country."Most founders would see this as an insurmountable hurdle. In this episode, Devashish Fuloria explains how he saw it as the ultimate business opportunity—building a formidable competitive moat not despite, but because of the chaos of Indian data.Devashish Fuloria is the Co-founder and CEO of GeoIQ, a location intelligence startup recently acquired by Lenskart in a deal valued between $15-20 million. In a masterclass on capital efficiency, he achieved this strategic exit after raising just $3.35 million in funding. With a lean team of around 40 employees, Devashish built a powerful AI engine that synthesizes over 600 disparate data sources to provide street-level intelligence, saving clients like Lenskart and GIVA over ₹300 Cr in potential costs. His journey is truly unconventional, beginning with a PhD in Materials Science from Imperial College London before pivoting to sports journalism at ESPNcricinfo and then to entrepreneurship.In his conversation with host Akshay Datt, Devashish revealed several key insights: The "Data-Poor" Moat: GeoIQ's core advantage comes from its specialized ability to clean and structure messy, unstructured data unique to the Indian market—a feat global competitors struggle to replicate. The COVID-19 Pivot: A free API built to track containment zones during the pandemic became a turning point. It proved that businesses could consume location data at a user-level via API, shifting GeoIQ's model from selling maps to a high-volume, scalable SaaS product for the fintech sector. The Lenskart Playbook: The journey with Lenskart—from a key customer to lead investor to acquirer—serves as the ultimate B2B growth strategy. Lenskart validated the product by opening over 1,400 stores with a 5x increase in speed, which directly led to the strategic acquisition. Capital-Efficient Combat: GeoIQ successfully competed against global giants like Foursquare (with $448M in funding) by being ruthlessly focused on solving a single, high-value problem: de-risking offline retail expansion.Chapters(00:00) - Introduction(01:37) - From the Himalayas to IIT: The Path to Engineering & a Love for Geology(03:51) - A PhD in Materials Science & The Power of First-Principles Thinking(07:02) - The Unconventional Detour: From Engineering to Sportswriting at ESPNcricinfo(12:09) - The Genesis of GeoIQ: Finding Opportunity in "Data-Poor" India(16:03) - Under the Hood: How GeoIQ Turns 600+ Messy Data Sources into Intelligence(25:17) - The Pandemic Pivot: How a Free COVID API Unlocked a New Business Model(29:12) - Finding Product-Market Fit: How Fintech's Need for User Data Drove Scale(41:12) - The Lenskart Story: From Critical Vendor to a $20M Acquisition(46:34) - The Future: Expanding to the US & the Next Frontier of Location AIHashtags#FounderThesis #DevashishFuloria #GeoIQ #Lenskart #AkshayDatt #StartupIndia #SaaS #LocationIntelligence #B2B #DataScience #AI #MachineLearning #Fintech #RetailTech #CapitalEfficiency #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #ProductMarketFit #StartupPivot #Acquisition

"Success is an 'and' condition, whereas failure is an 'or' condition."This profound insight from Satya Prabhakar captures the brutal reality of entrepreneurship: for a startup to succeed, everything from the team and timing to the business model and funding must align perfectly. However, failure can occur if just one of these critical links breaks.Satya Prabhakar is the Founder & CEO of Sulekha and ProManage.biz. A distinguished alumnus of NIT Trichy, he famously gained admission to all four top IIMs before choosing to pursue his Master's in Computer Science in the US. Before his 20+ year entrepreneurial journey, he spent nearly two decades in the corporate world at giants like AT&T and Honeywell, where he led technology projects worth nearly $20 million. Today, Sulekha is a profitable tech company that has connected millions of users with over 50,000 paying small business customers annually, all while raising a modest ~$45 million and having no external funding since 2015.In this conversation with host Akshay Datt, Satya Prabhakar unpacks his two-decade journey of building a resilient, profitable, and ever-evolving tech company in India.KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE CONVERSATION Contrarian Capital Strategy: Satya explains his deliberate choice to stop raising venture capital in 2015, focusing on capital efficiency and profitability as a core competitive advantage while competitors raised nearly 8x more funding. The Power of the Pivot: The discussion covers Sulekha’s multiple reinventions—from a community site to a classifieds portal, then to a focused matchmaker, and now a SaaS-enabled ecosystem—as essential for survival and long-term relevance. The 'Middle Path' Business Model: Satya details his strategy of positioning Sulekha between a simple directory and a capital-intensive managed marketplace, creating a scalable and defensible niche with strong unit economics. Cracking SME Monetization: He reveals that shifting from a subscription model to a pay-per-lead model was the key to unlocking profitability, as it directly aligned Sulekha's value with the primary need of small businesses: getting connected to motivated customers. Resilience Through Crisis: Satya shares how an 80% revenue drop during COVID became a catalyst for innovation, leading to the creation of his new hyperlocal marketing SaaS venture, ProManage.biz.TIMESTAMPS / CHAPTERS(00:00) Introduction(01:28) Early Days: Rejecting all 4 IIMs for a Tech Degree in the US(03:03) Corporate Lessons from Honeywell & AT&T's Failed Disney JV(08:26) The Birth of Sulekha: A Side Project for the Indian Diaspora(13:59) The Painful Pivot from Classifieds to a Local Services Matchmaker(20:11) The "Ant vs Elephant" Problem: Why We Couldn't Compete with Google(24:17) Unlocking Profitability: The Pay-Per-Lead Model That Changed Everything(33:02) How COVID's 80% Revenue Drop Forced Our Biggest Reinvention (ProManage)(36:05) The Future is Hyperlocal SaaS: Building ProManage for Enterprise Clients(48:13) A Founder's Philosophy: Why Success is an 'And' ConditionHASHTAGS #FounderThesis #StartupIndia #SatyaPrabhakar #Sulekha #Entrepreneurship #Bootstrapping #CapitalEfficiency #BusinessStrategy #SaaS #IndianStartups #MakeInIndia #VentureCapital #AkshayDatt

"Even though conceptually there's a degree of product market fit, there are still very few people in the world who understand how to deal with misinformation and disinformation."In this episode, Lyric Jain discusses the complexities of combating misinformation in the digital age. He emphasizes that while the need for solutions is evident, the expertise and understanding required to effectively address this challenge are still emerging.Lyric Jain is the Founder and CEO of Logically, an AI-powered platform dedicated to analyzing information and assessing its credibility. Lyric is working with 3 of the largest democracies in the world and 3 of the largest platforms - Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok. Logically processes over 15 million pieces of content daily. Lyric holds a Master of Engineering from the University of Cambridge and has also studied at MIT and Harvard.Key Insights from the Conversation: Logically's technology is used by major social media platforms and government agencies to detect and address misinformation. The company pivoted from a B2C consumer app to a B2B/B2G enterprise solution. Logically employs a combination of AI-driven analysis and human fact-checking. The episode explores the challenges of identifying and mitigating misinformation, including the rise of synthetic text and sophisticated disinformation campaigns. The discussion covers the complexities of platform regulation and the need for independent organizations in the information integrity space.Chapters: 0:00:00 - Introduction to Lyric Jain and Logically 0:02:16 - Pivoting to a B2B/B2G Business Model 0:06:50 - The Challenges of the Consumer App 0:07:49 - The Maharashtra Election Pilot 0:12:33 - Scaling the Misinformation Solution 0:23:34 - Selling to Platforms and Governments 0:34:23 - Monetization and Business Model 0:39:55 - Key Use Cases: Public Health, Safety, Elections, National Security 0:45:37 - The Technology Behind Logically 0:51:36 - The Enterprise Opportunity: Conspiracy-Driven Threats 0:54:54 - Team Size, Growth, and Hiring 01:01:35 - The Future of Misinformation and Logically's RoleHashtags:#AI #Misinformation #Disinformation #FactChecking #SocialMedia #Startups #Technology #Entrepreneurship #SaaS #B2B #GovTech #InformationIntegrity #DeepTech #ArtificialIntelligence #FounderThesis

Saurav Kumar’s journey with Euler Motors is a powerful story of scrappy, first-principles execution.In this conversation with Akshay Datt, Saurav Kumar, the Founder & CEO of Euler Motors, shares his incredible founder journey. A serial entrepreneur whose previous company Cube26 was acquired by Paytm , Saurav has now raised over $206 million for Euler Motors and is building a manufacturing capacity of 36,000 vehicles per year. The Cornell University alumnus talks about his transition from software to the capital-intensive world of hardware and his mission to electrify India's logistics fleet.Key Insights from the Conversation: The Full-Stack Gambit: Saurav explains why he chose a capital-intensive, vertically integrated model—building vehicles, proprietary batteries, and a charging network—to de-risk EV adoption for customers in a nascent market. Customer-Centric R&D: Euler Motors spent its first few years in an intensive pilot phase, deploying hundreds of prototypes with clients like BigBasket and Flipkart to perfect the product based on millions of kilometers of real-world data before the official launch. Building a Technology Moat: The core of Euler's competitive advantage lies in its proprietary technology, especially its liquid-cooled battery pack, which was developed specifically to solve the thermal challenges of operating in India's hot climate. The "Performance Over Price" Philosophy: The discussion highlights Euler's contrarian strategy of building a more expensive but higher-performing vehicle that offers customers greater "earn-ability" and a superior Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) compared to traditional diesel vehicles.Chapters:(00:00) Introduction(01:31) From Bihar to Cornell: A Passion for Robotics(04:03) Why I Couldn't Pursue Robotics in the US(04:33) The First Startup: Building Cube26 & The Pivot to Hardware(15:18) A Tough Exit: The Cube26 Acquisition by Paytm(17:40) The "Why" Behind Euler: Solving India's Pollution Crisis(22:18) The Core Insight: Why Most Commercial EVs Failed(25:14) The Scrappy Start: Building an EV Company from a Shed(33:21) Building a Moat: The Secret to Our Liquid-Cooled Battery(39:13) Scaling from 100 to 3,000 EVs a Month: The Plan AheadYouTube Hashtags#FounderThesis #SauravKumar #EulerMotors #ElectricVehicles #StartupIndia #MakeInIndia #EV #Entrepreneurship #FounderStory #StartupPodcast #Hardware #Automotive #Logistics #CleanTech #AkshayDatt #VentureCapital #BusinessStrategy

Indegene was founded in an era when VC money was not flowing. Manish talks about Indegene’s journey of sustainable scaling, starting with helping pharma companies with content and training to eventually becoming the full-stack behemoth that it is today with a few acquisitions along the way.  This episode is a masterclass in sustainably scaling a global business!Know about:- Medical representative as a service Difference between CSO and a VSO Past acquisitions Trends in pharma post-pandemicClick to read the text version of the episode

"In a startup, sometimes the most pragmatic decision is also the hardest." This was the reality Byas Nambisan faced when he decided to shut down Ezetap's in-house hardware manufacturing. While the hardware was a source of pride and emotional attachment for the company, he made the dispassionate call that it "stopped making economic sense," a tough decision that ultimately stabilized the business and paved the way for future growth.From spending nearly two decades at a corporate giant like Intel to taking the helm of a disruptive startup, Byas Nambisan's journey is a masterclass in leadership and adaptation. As CEO, he steered Ezetap through a critical post-founder transition, grew it to process over $10 billion in annual transaction volume, and orchestrated its successful acquisition by Razorpay in a deal valued at up to $200 million. Today, he serves as an Independent Director for Avalon Technologies Limited.In this conversation with host Akshay Datt, Byas Nambisan breaks down his incredible journey.Key Insights from the Conversation: Corporate Discipline in a Startup: Byas successfully translated the process-driven discipline from his 20-year career at Intel to instill financial rigor and operational excellence at Ezetap. The "Intel Inside" Model for Payments: Ezetap's core strategy was to become an indispensable software partner by embedding its payment SDK deep into enterprise clients' workflows, creating high switching costs. Post-Founder Success: The episode provides a blueprint for navigating a company after founders depart, emphasizing continuity, stakeholder trust, and disciplined execution over radical, disruptive change. The Omnichannel Thesis: The acquisition by Razorpay was driven by the clear vision that the future of commerce is omnichannel, requiring a single, unified platform for both online and offline transactions.Chapters:[00:00] - From a "Lifetime Intel Employee" to a Startup CFO[06:24] - The First Big Pivot: Re-engineering for Chip & PIN[09:12] - The Core Thesis: Why Software Was More Important Than Hardware[13:43] - The Go-to-Market Strategy: Banking Partnerships vs. Direct Sales[18:52] - Why Ezetap Chose a SaaS Model Over Transaction Fees (MDR)[24:15] - The "Co-Pilot to Captain" Transition: Taking Over as CEO[29:28] - How the Mindset Shifts: From a CFO's Lens to a CEO's Vision[35:46] - The Road to Acquisition: Why We Decided to Merge with Razorpay[41:18] - The Omnichannel Vision: Merging Online & Offline Payments[48:03] - Life Outside Startups: The CEO Who Restores Vintage CarsHashtags:#FounderThesis #StartupPodcast #ByasNambisan #Ezetap #Razorpay #FintechIndia #StartupIndia #LeadershipLessons #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #BusinessStrategy #SaaS #Payments #Omnichannel #StartupJourney #AkshayDatt

"The order of your customers can oftentimes make or break your company."This crucial insight from Bhavin Shah highlights a key lesson for founders: choosing your initial customers strategically is paramount. It's not just about finding anyone interested, but finding the right partners whose problems you can solve effectively now, setting the stage for sustainable growth.Bhavin Shah is the CEO & Founder of Moveworks, the enterprise AI copilot platform valued at over $2.1 billion. A three-time entrepreneur with 20+ years in tech, Bhavin previously founded Refresh.io (acquired by LinkedIn ) and gained IPO experience at Leapfrog. He holds degrees from Stanford University and UC San Diego.Key Insights from the Conversation: Custom AI is Crucial: Building powerful enterprise AI often requires developing proprietary models rather than relying solely on generic, off-the-shelf solutions. Leverage Existing Systems: Integrate with tools employees already use (like Slack, Teams, Okta) for faster adoption and impact. B2C vs. B2B Mindset: Transitioning between consumer and enterprise markets demands adapting skills and strategies, but mastering B2B can be incredibly rewarding. Listen to Your Users: Let employee needs and pain points guide your product roadmap for enterprise solutions. Power of Focus: Saying 'no' strategically is essential for entrepreneurs to maintain focus and achieve excellence in their core mission. AI for Productivity: AI can significantly reduce workplace friction by automating routine IT and HR tasks, boosting overall employee experience.Chapters:00:00:00 - Intro & Bhavin Shah's Unique Background09:42:98 - Growing Up Amidst Silicon Valley's Birth27:51.62 - Leapfrog: Toys, Tech & IPO Experience38:33.34 - First Startup: Gaming with Gazillion & Marvel56:37.94 - Refresh.io: The Digital Dossier Acquired by LinkedIn01:20:23.16 - Genesis of Moveworks: Solving Enterprise Friction with AI01:47:20.92 - Why Picking Early Customers Can Make or Break You02:10:50.86 - Building Moveworks to a $2.1B Valuation02:26:26.30 - Switching Mindsets: From B2C to Enterprise B2B02:32:43.20 - The Future: Enterprise AI & The Power of FocusHashtags:#Moveworks #BhavinShah #EnterpriseAI #SaaS #FounderThesis #Entrepreneurship #ArtificialIntelligence #ConversationalAI #FutureOfWork #SiliconValley #VentureCapital #StartupJourney #LinkedIn #TechFounder #ITSupport #HRTech #Productivity #AIPlatform #StartupAdvice #StartupFunding #FounderStories #B2B #EnterpriseTech

The Retail-as-a-Service platform, Daalchini helps micro-entrepreneurs set up smart vending machines and begin earning revenue within months. They are also a strong distribution network for cloud kitchens and direct-to-consumer food and beverage brands. Prerna shares how she found the right business strategy and their method of growing over 1000 vending machines now.Know about:- Birth of the idea and naming Daalchini Intelligent retail and smart vending machines Revenue strategy Creating a phygital distribution networkClick to read the text version of the episode

"Gold is money. Everything else is credit."This provocative quote by a historic JP Morgan banker is the foundation of Gaurav Mathur's audacious long-term vision. In this episode, he reveals how SafeGold's accessible digital gold platform in India is just the first step toward building a global, gold-backed digital currency designed to be a more credible and stable alternative to the traditional financial system.In this episode of Founder Thesis, host Akshay Datt dives deep with Gaurav Mathur, the Founder and MD of SafeGold. A former private equity investor who co-founded a $350 million fund , Gaurav has built SafeGold into a fintech behemoth that clocked over ₹6,100 crores in revenue last year and reached profitability on just ₹16 crores (~$2.4M) in total funding. His journey offers incredible lessons on strategy, capital efficiency, and building for the Indian mass market.Key Insights from the Conversation: Capital-Efficient Scaling: Learn how SafeGold grew to nearly 50 million users and thousands of crores in revenue with virtually no marketing spend, a masterclass in profitability for any startup. The B2B2C Moat: Gaurav’s decision to be the API-first infrastructure for partners like PhonePe and Amazon Pay, instead of a consumer-facing brand, was the engine for explosive, low-cost growth. Psychology in Investing: Gaurav shares a candid story about his biggest investment miss—passing on Domino's India—and how personal psychological bias can cloud objective business analysis. Innovating a Traditional Asset: SafeGold's vision extends beyond just buying and selling. With innovations like Gold Leasing, they are turning a passive, idle asset into a productive, yield-earning one.Chapters:00:00 - The Investor-Turned-Operator: Gaurav Mathur's Playbook 01:27 - Early Life, IIM-A & First Job on a London Trading Floor 02:04 - Learning the Ropes of Private Equity at JPMorgan Asia 05:42 - My First Startup: How We Raised a $350 Million PE Fund 10:08 - My Biggest Investing Regret: The Psychological Trap of Missing Domino's India 16:46 - The "Aha!" Moment: How Manappuram Finance Revealed the Massive Gold Opportunity 19:04 - The Original Grand Vision: A Gold-Backed Crypto to Disrupt World Banking 22:46 - The SafeGold Pivot: Building the "Trust Infrastructure" for Digital Gold in India 37:05 - The Growth Engine: How SafeGold Reached 50M Users with Zero Marketing Spend 47:59 - Beyond Buying & Selling: Making Gold a Productive Asset with Leasing & Lending 53:18 - The Numbers Don't Lie: Building a Profitable ₹6000 Cr Business on Just 16 Cr Funding 1:01:10 - The "No Global Competitor" Thesis & The Future of MoneyFor more on: #Fintech #StartupIndia #VentureCapital #PrivateEquity #DigitalGold #GoldInvestment #IndianStartups #Entrepreneurship #CapitalEfficiency #Bootstrapping #B2B #API #StartupFunding #MakeInIndia #Investment #BusinessPodcast #FounderThesis #AkshayDatt #GauravMathur #SafeGold

"My first two attempts were my biggest failures... they were stepping stones."This is the core of Vivek Goyal's founder thesis. He believes that for a founder, failure isn't the end; it's the most valuable data you can collect. In this episode of Founder thesis hosted by Akshay Datt, he explains how the lessons from his "deadpooled" startup were directly responsible for building PlayShifu's global success on the first try.Guest BioVivek Goyal is the co-founder of PlayShifu, one of the world's largest and most innovative "phygital" toy companies. An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and Stanford GSB, Vivek has led PlayShifu's expansion into over 40 countries, raising over $41 million in funding and surpassing ₹100 crore in revenue. In this conversation with host Akshay Datt, Vivek shares the playbook he created to build a globally-loved hardware brand from India.Key Insights from the Conversation: The "Phygital" Thesis: PlayShifu's success is built on the idea that combining physical, tactile play with interactive digital experiences creates a superior learning outcome and solves the parental dilemma of passive screen time. A De-risked Global Playbook: The company masterfully sequenced its go-to-market strategy: first validating global demand via Kickstarter, then scaling rapidly using Amazon's Global Selling program, and finally expanding into omni-channel brick-and-mortar retail. User-Centric Design for Kids: PlayShifu's product development process relies on rapid prototyping with 3D printers and laser cutters, followed by direct play-testing sessions with children in schools to gather honest, unfiltered feedback. The In-House Technology Moat: Instead of licensing, PlayShifu built its core computer vision and AR technology from scratch. This proprietary stack allows for a seamless user experience and technical accessibility on older, lower-spec devices, expanding their market. The Power of Platforms: Moving from single products (like flashcards) to scalable platforms (like Plugo and Tacto) with multiple add-on kits has been key to increasing customer lifetime value and building an ecosystem.YouTube Chapters(00:00) The "Stepping Stone" Failures That Led to Success(05:15) The Personal Frustration That Sparked PlayShifu(12:30) Why "Phygital" is the Future of Play(19:02) The First Product: Selling AR Flashcards in Tech Parks(26:45) The Kickstarter Playbook: How to De-risk a Hardware Launch(35:10) Scaling Globally with Amazon: The Go-to-Market Masterclass(44:20) Building the Product Platforms: Orboot, Plugo & Tacto (55:05) The Supply Chain Challenge: Manufacturing in India & China(01:03:10) The Path to a ₹100 Crore Profitable Hardware Brand(01:09:45) The Future of Toys: Vivek's Vision for Emotional AIHashtags#FounderThesis #PlayShifu #VivekGoyal #StartupIndia #MakeInIndia #D2C #Hardware #EdTech #AR #VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #BusinessPodcast #AkshayDatt