The Neon Show

In this episode, we chat with Malika Datt Sadani & Mohit Sadaani, The Moms Co. which deals with toxic-free products for newborns and mothers.The Mom’s Co’s journey started from a personal experience. Both the couple’s daughters had skin conditions which made them scourge for natural products that were free of toxins and artificial fragrances.During the podcast, they talk about how to build trust amongst customers in D2C products, what are the things a first-time entrepreneur in D2C should consider, and how they’ve built a closely knit community to stay connected with their customers, amongst other things.Notes - 01:12 - Background of The Moms Co.02:32 - Family & career background prior to The Moms Co.03:27 - Meeting each other as life partners & co-founders05:22 - Mindset prior to the launch of the first product07:47 - Raising initial funding for a D2C brand in 201710:22 - Life-changing conversation & insight for Malika in the early days of The Moms Co.16:12 - “How do we change the definition of what mom’s skin, face & hair care look like and allowing us to play into a lot of other very large categories with a very different proposition.”17:32 - Consumer journey over the past 5 years19:04 - Close touch with customers over Whatsapp & Facebook community22:27 - Brand advocates, including Genelia D'Souza to build brand trust24:55 - Challenges while setting up distribution channels29:35 - Advice to D2C entrepreneurs31:36 - Malika’s experience shifting from a home-maker to an entrepreneur38:43 - Founders & Mentors they reach out to for brainstormingSend us a text

In this episode, we chat with Pravin Agarwala, founder BetterPlace. Blue-collar workforce management is one of the biggest industries in the Indian economy.Urbanization and deeper penetration of the internet have helped players like QuikrJobs, LinkedIn, Just Jobs, Aasaan Jobs, and Google to make inroads into this segment.BetterPlace is India's largest technology platform delivering digital solutions for blue-collar workforce management, throughout the entire value chain. Pravin started Betterplace in January 2015 as a background verification company. However, they eventually realized the need for an enabler to bridge existing demand and supply gaps in the ecosystem, thus moving to a B2B2C business model and creating a digital platform to enable the ecosystem.During the podcast, Pravin talks about defining and solving the challenges for the blue-collar workforce in India and also shares the company's vision to go global soon.Notes - 01:26 - Coming from Dibrugarh (North-east India), working with SAP India03:15 - Backstory behind starting BetterPlace05:20 - Defining Workforce Management Solution for blue-collar employees07:04 - Solving for improving productivity, attrition, time & attendance among other challengesFt3 - First step in the product - Onboarding solution with background verification14:39 - Current key customers, metrics & milestones16:09 - Challenges while raising funding for a SaaS startup impacting blue-collar workers19:58 - Global expansion plans for BetterPlace23:28 - Approach behind the valuation of early-stage SaaS startups26:35 - Focus on: Customer value, Step-by-step approach, Team building among other elements30:18 - Bringing an Angel Investor within the company full-time to build on core principles30:31 - Value addition from investors34:01 - Things he’ll do differently if he got another shot at building BetterPlace37:25 - Starting early in your startup journey as a founder39:40 - Why a founder shouldn’t have a Plan B while starting up?Send us a text

From investing all his savings in Sahil Barua's Delhivery in 2011 to becoming an angel investor in 130 Indian startups, the story of Abhishek Goyal, Co-founder, Tracxn is worth listening for everyone in the ecosystem.  Being an Ex-Yahoo & Amazon employee, Abhishek stepped into the startup investing ecosystem with Accel Partners in 2008.Traxcn aims to become the largest platform tracking Innovative Startups, Private Companies & Emerging Sectors globally. They track millions of companies, to enable Investors & global corporates to track sectors of their interest effortlessly.During the podcast, Abhishek talks about how to identify founders who’ll make category-creating startups, important signals to predict a brand’s success, starting as an Angel investor in the ecosystem.Notes - 03:06 - Background with Yahoo & Amazon, joining Accel Partners09:58 - The story behind Accel's investment in Flipkart16:33 - Identifying patterns and traits in successful founders18:09 - Unlearning your existing beliefs as an investor22:01 - Explaining Unicorn startups and the general notion of ownership amongst investors29:47 - Importance of customer signals at an early stage31:28 - “Capital doesn’t follow fundamentals, fundamentals follow the capital.”36:10 - “10 years later we as Indians won’t be celebrating Unicorns.”37:44 - Sectors he’s bullish for this decade: SaaS, EdTech, and Banking among others46:42 - Preventing forced exits being an Angel investor49:36 - Advice to first-time investors in Startups55:01 - Reading and keeping himself updated with Startup newsSend us a text

In this episode, we chat with Ashish Jhina & Karthik Venkateswaran, co-founders of Jumbotail, a 5-year-old online wholesale marketplace for grocery and food items. Jumbotail serves more than 30,000 neighborhood stores (popularly known as kiranas in India) in the country with its full-stack B2B e-commerce model, which includes warehouses, a last-mile delivery supply chain network, and a fintech platform for payment and credit solutions to store owners.During the podcast, they talk about breaking down a problem to its finest version and then solving for it, they also talk about how capital has wrongly been seen as a golden solution by most entrepreneurs for solving all challenges at a startup. Notes - 02:44 - Karthik & Ashish’s backgrounds as a Major in the Indian Army and Apple farmer respectively08:55 - First-principle thinking applied at Jumbotail13:57 - Core-Engineering Principle: Build for utility, not for the use case19:24 - Problem statements solved by Jumbotail, for Kirana (Grocery Retailers)23:18 - Capital cannot be an only moat, where “unit economics” are extremely difficult to figure out24:32 - Rapid scale-up pushing towards $250 Mn27:25 - Raising first-funding from Nexus Venture Partners38:16 - Identifying your co-founders at a mature-career stage Send us a text

Harpreet Singh Grover founded CoCubes.com, an online platform for assessments and hiring along with his batchmate Vibhore Goyal in 2007 after completing his graduation at IIT, Delhi.  CoCubes was acquired by Aon Hewitt in an all-cash deal in 2016. Harpreet has also authored a book titled Let’s Build a Company along with Vibhore Goyal. This book is a tale of persistence & grit and about a company built in India by two Indian founders. It is written in the hope that entrepreneurs can avoid the mistakes Harpreet and Vibhore made and learn from what they did right.Harpreet is also an active angel investor, with his deals including Chaayos, ShopKirana, and Avail Finance. When it comes to entrepreneurship most people only talk about immersing themselves in the company they’ve been building while ignoring everything else. To contrast with this, during the podcast, Harpreet shares the emotional and personal aspects while making the tough decisions and the importance of spending time with family in an entrepreneur’s life.Join this heart to heart conversation with Harpreet to know how entrepreneurs, while building their dream startup, compromise on their emotional and personal aspects, and how Harpreet’s journey can add value to anyone who is doing a startup and experiencing the ups and downs while building a company in IndiaNotes - 02:47 - Harpreet’s journey: Lowest point as an entrepreneur08:42 - “My best investments were done when I had less money.”15:12 - “At any point in your journey, if you’ve been in a tough spot, talk to someone who has been in that tough spot.”21:30 - “Companies are not sold, they are bought.”22:16 - Life after the acquisition 29:12 - Importance of having family time in an entrepreneur’s life35:19 - What choices he would have changed in life, 10-12 years back?39:42 - Being an Entrepreneur: Solving for simple problemsSend us a text

In this episode, we chat with Mitesh Shah, who has headed finance at startups like Ola, BookMyShow & Being Human Clothing, and currently is co-founder at Inflection Point Ventures. IPV comprises about 4,000 investors, who are CXOs at various top of line brands across the globe. Till date it has been part of 55 deals and these include names like Milkbasket, Blusmart, Truly Madly, and Multibhashi among others.During the podcast, Mitesh emphasizes how the average early startup mortality rate is generally 70-80% across industry and has been brought down to 30-40% in the case of IPV portfolio companies. And he credits this to the robust support system between startup founders and IPVs extensive network of CXOs who guide and enable them to solve problems across hiring, growth, and monetization amongst others, with their rich experience.For any early-stage founder looking to raise funding, or CXOs who wish to contribute to the Indian startup ecosystem, this conversation can be of great value, and help them take their first step with a structured approach.Notes - 02:20 - From being a traditional CFO to becoming a VC 05:47 - What role does Inflection Point Ventures play?07:01 - Helping the founders with CXOs on platforms09:35 - Back Story: Investing & exiting from BharatPe10:56 - IPV Thesis: “Businesses will keep pivoting, invest in great founders.”19:05 - Portfolio investments in E-vehicles, Healthcare, SaaS among other sectors28:02 - Message to founders: “Be very selective & critical while choosing the investor you want to have.”Send us a text

In this episode, we chat with Ghazal and Varun Alagh, Co-founders, Mamaearth. Ghazal & Varun’s entrepreneurial journey began when they were expecting their first baby and were on the lookout to ensure that they could use the best childcare products to keep their baby safe. But what came up as a shock for them was that every product out there had some or the other form of harmful chemical component.This experience drove the duo to create then a babycare brand: Mamaearth.Mamaearth is Asia’s first brand with MadeSafe certified products and has recently crossed Rs.500 crore revenue run rate.During the podcast, they talk about how they initially started interacting and understanding their future customers and their concerns. They also share how they built a closely-knit community of parents with a newborn where prior to every product launch, they would take feedback from them, and then they’d launch the product after working on their suggestions.For anyone looking to start up a D2C brand, this conversation can be of great value. From building a close connection with your prospective customers to earning their trust to building your brand, to differentiating your brand vs other players, this podcast has it all.Notes - 03:13 - Their personal experience which led to founding Mamaearth04:30 - Career prior to Mamaearth07:42 - Things to prioritise early on to build a base for a D2C brand11:28 - Top-seller product categories at Mamaearth13:36 - Journey & Challenges from 0 to $1 Mn ARR and beyond15:34 - Major milestones and fundraises17:43 - Difference in Mamaearth’s growth strategy vs other D2C brands21:47 - Future plans with Mamaearth 23:38 - Connecting & Understanding with the first few customers (mothers)26:51 - Identifying vendors for packing, shipping, and production29:02 - Bringing Shilpa Shetty on board as a Brand Ambassador & Investor33:11 - Leveraging Influencer marketing to propel growth35:01 - What they admire in each other as Co-founders & life partnersSend us a text

In this episode, we chat with Dilipkumar Khandelwal, Limited Partner with Stellaris Venture Partners & Fireside Ventures, and an active Angel Investor in 25+ companies.He’s Ex-President at SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud business and came closer to the startup community in late 2016.He has keen interest in D2C, Consumer-Tech and B2B SaaS. Some of his portfolio companies include Whatfix, Signzy, Moglix, Yellow Messenger, Credgenics, and Pepper Content among others. During the podcast, he shares how he initially got introduced to investing in startups and began building his portfolio.For anyone looking to begin investing in startups either by their own-self as an Angel Investor or as an LP with a VC firm, this conversation can be of great value. From building your own thesis to curating an exit strategy, this podcast will really help you through it.Notes - 00:59 - From a Traditional Rajasthani business family to Investor in Early stage04:28 - First interaction to Startups via Alok Goyal - Stellaris Venture Partners07:12 - Change in perspective; investing in startups08:51 - Thesis: Solving small but focused & specific problem statements11:15 - Scaling can only work with the overall fundamental mechanism of the Org15:09 - Making a product scalable is different vs adding more features18:11 - Exit strategy as an Angel Investor27:30 - Importance of deeper understanding with a sectoral perspective28:14 - Upcoming trends over the next decadeSend us a text

In this episode, we chat with Arun Venkatachalam, who comes from the Murugappa Group - family, and is also an active Angel Investor. Arun has invested in 25+ companies including Posist, ZoomCar, ZestMoney, AdPushup among others. And he has also got successful exits from companies like Innov8 CoWorking (acquired by OYO Rooms), Yourbus (acquired by Naspers/Ibibo Group), Endless Robotics (acquired by Mojay) etc. During the podcast, he also shares how he initially invested in equity markets to build his own capital, which he later invested in his studies and his portfolio companies.For anyone looking to start up as an Angel investor, this conversation can be of great value. From gaining a deep understanding of a particular space, to sourcing potential deals, to making your first investment, this podcast will really help you start and build.Notes - 00:55 - Belonging to Murugappa Group (Family Enterprise); starting in Investment Banking04:56 - Initial investments as an Angel investor07:42 - “In order to be an expert down the line, someone has to start somewhere.” 12:50 - Creating an impact on Cap-table25:21 - Investing in Recykal; creating impact because of ESG28:01 - Advice for a first time Angel investor32:12 - Having a conservative approach as an Angel investor34:32 - “Opportunity isn’t in running with the herd, it's always in running against the herd.”36:51 - Finding investment deals as a first-time investor39:17 - Having a nuanced view while investing in FintechSend us a text

In this episode, we chat with Nishith Rastogi, Founder of Locus.sh; a startup that uses technology and proprietary algorithms to provide smart logistics solutions to businesses such as route optimisation, real-time tracking, insights, and analytics, vehicle allocation, and utilisation.In 2015, Nishith along with his former AWS-colleague Geet Garg, built RideSafe, a real-time route deviation detection, for passenger safety in cabs. However, they eventually realised the potential of this concept in logistics & supply chain, which led to pivoting to Locus.Apart from India, Locus.sh is present in Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh, San Francisco, and the East Coast.For anyone looking to explore horizontal pivot or growth strategy, this conversation can add great value. From identifying the problem statement to creating customer-focused solutions, by leveraging a committed team & inward focus for efficiency, this podcast will guide you through it all.Notes - 01:55 - Graduating from BITS Pilani, joining Amazon03:11 - Creating RideSafe, a geo-tracking app for women’s safety04:26 - Identifying the problem statement in supply chain & logistics05:53 - Early adopters of Locus.sh09:30 - Having more PhD’s in the team than engineers early-on11:58 - Onboarding experience with Unilever; as first enterprise customer17:56 - Scale up journey from India to 20+ countries22:15 - Clarity of purpose both as a startup & founder30:40 - Inward focus on efficiency in terms of capital31:20 - Cultural shift with the growth of Locus.sh31:35 - Focus while hiring: Ambition, Commitment & Integrity36:48 - Concept of “Yes process, but no policy”.39:21 - Implementation & Ideation OKRs42:01 - Helpful books & resourcesSend us a text