Founder Thesis

“For education to be meaningful it cannot be superficial" - Hari Krishnan Nair. Co-founder of Great Learning, India’s largest online learning platform Hari Krishnan Nair is the entrepreneur who made professional education easily accessible to Indians so that they could equip themselves with career critical competencies. A trailblazer in the ed-tech segment Great Learning has delivered over 9 Million learning hours & boasts of 15,000+ alumni with a turnover of approx. 300 Crores! Catch us in conversation with Hari Krishnan where he shares his entrepreneurial story of triumphs, loses & what led to the genesis of Great Learning. Here are our key takeaways from this episode: Perseverance is the key to success. How to market premium service products. Focusing on quality over growth in the inception phase. Nurturing & engaging audiences through content.

“You can’t change what the market wants, you can only serve what the market wants” - Tonmoy Shingal. For this week's Founder Thesis episode, we sat down for a conversation with Tonmoy Shingal the co-founder of HF-tech SAAS platform, Mettl. A tech solution that changed the way organisations hire talent. We talk to Tonmoy about the genesis of Mettl to its stupendous growth to finally being acquired by Mercer & everything else in between. This has been one of the most exciting entrepreneurial journeys we’ve heard so far on this show - and how could it not be? Mettl’s stakeholders got a 7x on their investments as they exited!!Here are the key takeaways from our discussion: An 80/20 approach towards enriched learning. How to find your life’s calling. Raising funds for the startup & the two types of VC investors. Adapting your product as you grow to achieve the right product-market fit. Scaling by being frugal on marketing spends. 

“We will see in our lifetime a generation of products being built online only for women” - Sairee Chahal. Founder of Sheroes - a social networking site exclusively for women, Sairee is a pioneer in building up women at work and future-of-work conversations in India. She has several accolades under her belt, such as Devi Award, Femina Achievers Award, Cartier Award, Editor’s choice for L’Oreal Femina Women’s Award, Business Today and others. She is a tech-entrepreneur who is passionate about women’s internet & has championed the cause of levelling gender disparity in India. In this episode, we spoke to Sairee about her journey from her days of being a Russian Literature Major to the inception, growth & future of Sheroes. Here are our key takeaways from this episode: How to build a social networking platform & community. How to monetize a social network. Using a helpline feature as a means to build consumer trust. The truths about networking. How to manage & hire for remote working teams. 

‘Jo bhi karunga, usme khush rahunga, kidhar bhi mein kaam karu, I want to be happy’ – Akash GehaniHere is a story of an intelligent boy who grew up in the suburbs of Mumbai with one mantra ‘never take yourself seriously’But when it came to starting a business, Akash was very serious about helping small and micro-businesses to grow and help them trust the internet. Instamojo started with Payment Links – a simple URL that one can copy and paste anywhere on the internet and receive payments online via any payment mode.  Today Instamojo has 3 Million+ payment links, 50,000+online stores and a 5 million+ monthly reachAkshay Dutt talks to Akash Gehani about his early days and how the idea for Instamojo was hatched.Some key takeaways from this show are: How to stick to your vision when faced with fast up-scaling options.  Networking the right way to help your business grow. Being persistent with ideas in spite of initial failures; and How to keep constantly learning from your environment 

“It is possible to disproportionately colour consumers’ opinion about yourself” - Aditya Save. A marketing mega mind Aditya has previously worked with big brands such as Shaadi.com, Marico & GSK where he’s held senior leadership positions. Having made his mark in the corporate world Aditya is now the co-founder of Agilio Labs - a startup studio that works with experts to launch innovative & successful startups. He calls himself a student of human behavior & has a keen interest in how technology is helping scale brilliant ideas faster. Aditya Save is also an angel investor and has invested in and incubated ideas for about 8 years now.This episode of the Founder Thesis show is a marketing masterclass with Aditya. Here are a few key takeaways:An open and autonomous work culture encourages employees to take risks & achieve higher performance. The difference between risk & uncertainty.How to create a distinctive brand image, in a market with several competitive & similar products. How to tap into consumers as a source of learning.

“The credit goes to my team always. You can not build a brand single-handedly.” - Vikas Bagaria. Vikas Bagaria is the founder of Pee Safe - India’s leading personal hygiene brand on a mission to empower women with good health and easy hygiene solutions. With several accolades already under its belt, Pee Safe was recently also awarded as The Best SMB Brand of the Year by Amazon India. A serial entrepreneur with over 23 years of business acumen, Vikas believes in leading from the front and never settling or giving up on his goals. In this episode of Founder Thesis, Vikas talks about his entrepreneurial journey & the events that shaped him as a business leader. Here are a few key takeaways from the show: Being persistent in chasing your dreams and never settling for a “No” Taking failures in stride and treating them as a stepping stone to success. Not letting your pedigree, race or economic situation define your ability or future. Leading your team from the front. How building a B2C brand is a continuous learning process.

“In India, dining out is an event, smallest of things can ruin it, and smallest of things can make it better”– Ankit MehrotraAnkit’s tryst with entrepreneurship got ignited when he overcame his fear of failing an exam. The boy who grew in the bylanes South Delhi went to the University of Essex to pursue his engineering, chased his love for finance to got a CFA charter and did odd jobs to survive, before he became a successful investment banker. And then he quit it all and came back to India to start Dine Out with two of his childhood best friends. Today, Dine Out is one of India’s largest Dining and Restaurant Tech platforms that processes more than 100M diners and $800mn worth of transactions across its network of 50,000 partner restaurants in 20 cities.In this episode of Founder Thesis, Ankit talks about being a young professional during the 2008 recession, conceptualising Dine Out, starting out, his acquisitions and creating an ecosystem for the food industry in India The key takeaways are…How do you take an idea from concept to businessWhat common mistakes that start-ups typically makeHow you to keep yourself focused on the vision with which you startedWhat does it take to understand the niche that you operate in How do you create new avenues within your industry

“It pays to stay authentic and talk to millennials in the language they understand” - Hitesh Dhingra.Hitesh Dhingra is the founder of The Man Company - an exclusive men’s only grooming brand. He is a 4x Entrepreneur who has been a pioneer across various industries. Right from starting an eCommerce site, a dating site & now The Man Company, Hitesh has a proven track record of identifying unmet consumer needs and capturing the early adopters market. In this episode of Founder Thesis, our hosts Akshay & Saurabh are in conversation with Hitesh to learn more about what it takes to capture the millennial market. Key takeaways from the show: How to bootstrap and save resources. Generating VF Funding. How to connect with the Millenial consumers. 

"Nothing is free in India, garbage is also not free." This stark realization from Nakul Kumar, Co-founder & CMO of Cashify, encapsulates the gritty realities faced by entrepreneurs. It underscores that even seemingly abundant resources have associated costs in the journey of building a business from the ground up, a lesson learned firsthand during his initial venture in waste management before revolutionizing the re-commerce space.Nakul Kumar is a serial entrepreneur and the driving force behind Cashify, India's largest re-commerce marketplace. Under his leadership, Cashify has empowered over 20 lakh (2 million) people by paying out more than ₹1400 crores (approx. $187 million USD) for their used gadgets. The company has processed over 50 lakh devices, boasts over 10 million app downloads, and has expanded to around 200 offline stores. Nakul's journey from early hustles to building a company eyeing a multi-million dollar revenue and an IPO is a testament to his perseverance and innovative spirit.Key Insights from the Conversation: Early Entrepreneurial Drive: The "bug" of entrepreneurship can manifest early, even without a formal plan or resources. Value of Hands-On Experience: Practical experience, especially in challenging roles like sales or on-ground operations, provides invaluable learning that academia alone cannot. Execution Over Ideas: While ideas are abundant, the ability to execute and navigate real-world challenges is what truly builds successful ventures. Resilience in Manufacturing: Starting and running a manufacturing plant in India comes with significant hurdles, from bureaucracy to labor, demanding immense perseverance.Chapters: 03:16 Early Entrepreneurial Experiences and Initial Learnings 06:28 College Achievements and Building Foundations 08:24 Insights and Takeaways from the MBA 26:55 Navigating Initial Business Challenges and Roadblocks 37:55 The Experience of the First Fundraiser 39:39 Strategies for Reaching Out to Venture Capitalists 44:22 How the Funds Were Strategically Used 49:22 Understanding the Competitive Landscape for Cashify 50:29 Cashify's Ambitious Five-Year Vision for Growth 56:11 Key Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs TodayHashtags:#FounderThesis #NakulKumar #Cashify #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #IndianStartups #Recommerce #CircularEconomy #MakeInIndia #ZeroToOne #StartupJourney #BusinessPodcast #EntrepreneurLife #HustleCulture #TechStartup #WasteManagement #Innovation #Leadership #AkshayDatt

“Organisation has to be larger than yourself” - Girish BatraGirish Batra is the founder of NetAmbit - a 19-year-old organisation that has been powering startups in India to scale their businesses through a unique sustainable sales growth model. The model was so successful that it was featured in Forbes India magazine. A tenacious entrepreneur, Girsh has built NetAmbit from the ground up not once but twice, braving setbacks & rising above challenges stronger than ever. Today NetAmbit is a well known managed sales service provider with a team of over 15000 employees. Girish is a graduate from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He’s always aspired to be an entrepreneur, right from his early childhood days & is amongst the few who’ve had the courage to chase their dreams. In this week’s episode on Founder Thesis podcast hosts, Akshay & Saurabh are in conversation with Girish, where he talks about his entrepreneurial journey and the lessons he picked up along the way. Key takeaways from the show: How to scale businesses successfully. Mistakes to avoid when scaling your startup. Overcoming challenges with a positive mindset. Importance of ethics & culture in scaling the business. Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on investors & how much capital to raise.