The Startup Operator

Varun is a 3x entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in technology, startups and general management. He was selected by the Businessworld magazine as one of India's top 3 youngest entrepreneurs in 2011. He is Currently Founder at Crofarm / Otipy, a community group buying startup aimed at improving the supply chain for fresh produce. Previously, he was the CTO at Grofers, India's leading on-demand grocery delivery service connecting consumers with their local merchants. Prior to that he co-founded Mygreenbox that was acquired by Grofers. He had previously co-founded Wirkle Technologies that was acquired by Location Labs, a silicon valley company and a leader in location based services.  In this episode he spoke about making the shift from Tech to Agritech and the mindset changes it requires, how to scale an Ops intensive business, the nuances of optimizing operations and more in his conversation with Roshan Cariappa. Topics:00:00 Sneak Peak00:44 Introduction02:11 Shifting from Software to Agritech05:15 Mindset changes needed to go from Tech to agritech07:09 Going from Idea to Product to Company with Crofarm09:41 What is Crofarm and its use cases14:37 Nuances of Optimizing Operations18:51 Scaling an Ops intensive business21:25 Working with Farmers23:20 B2B v/s B2C25:24 Hiring for this industry27:02 Policies that can help transform the agri sector29:55 Advice for aspiring Agri tech entrepreneurs31:08 Books and podcasts ----------------------------------- Click here to get regular WhatsApp updates:https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 ----------------------------------- Connect with Varun :Linkedin: https://in.linkedin.com/in/varunkhuranaTwitter: https://twitter.com/khurana_varun ----------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/star...​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ----------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Welcome to #88th episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. Today we have Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discussing -  1. Elon Musk Closes Twitter Deal2. BoAt withdraws IPO plans3. Mason Fundraise - Amazon alternative4. Byju's Layoffs and profitability ------------------------------------- Click here to get regular WhatsApp updates:https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 ------------------------------------- Episode with Kaus Manjitha:YouTube: https://youtu.be/zuDDcKlGuiESpotify: https://cutt.ly/KausSpotifyApple: https://cutt.ly/KausAppleGoogle: https://cutt.ly/KausGoogle ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Welcome to #87th episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. Today we have Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discussing -  1. TikTok is top grossing app2. Byju's raises $250mn after layoffs3. Limeroad acquired by VMart4. CCI fines Google Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Ramasubramanian B , fondly known as Subbu, is the founding member of BlackBuck and leads BlackBuck’s corporate business. Subbu has a long history in Supply Chain with extensive experience of over 20 years across geographies and industry sectors. Prior to his journey with BlackBuck, he was the Managing Director at Miebach.  In this episode, he spoke about the insights that helped him start blackbuck, streamlining fragmented markets, pioneering app adoption among truckers and more in his conversation with Roshan Cariappa. Topics: 00:00 Sneak peak00:38 Introduction02:01 Operating in the Logistics market in india06:36 Insights that helped Subbu start Blackbuck09:25 Use Cases Blackbuck solves for19:16 Increasing uptime and economic utilization24:52 Pioneering app adoption among Truckers30:49 Advice on streamlining fragmented markets34:08 National Logistics Policy and other Govt. initiatives42:19 What's coming up at Blackbuck in the next 18-24 months44:21 Advice on executing during a downturn47:54 Books and Podcast Recommendations ------------------------------------- Click here to get regular WhatsApp updates:https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 ------------------------------------- Connect with Ramasubramanian B :Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramasubramanian-b-2a2b99/Twitter: https://twitter.com/SubbuBlackBuck ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Anubhav is a finance veteran and has worked in several finance companies like American Express, Qbera and Razorpay. In this episode he spoke about what inspired him to quit his job at Razorpay as the head of SME lending and start up on his own with Rupifi, how he found his co-founder and more in his conversation with Roshan Cariappa. Topics:00:00 Introduction 00:59 Lessons from his entrepreneurial journey02:58 Finding a Tech co-founder and hiring the right tech talent06:19 Advice for founders trying to find co-founders08:46 What insights helped Anubhav start Rupifi12:09 Use cases Rupifi Solves for14:25 Deciding to be a tech stack between lenders and borrowers16:58 The nuances of Identifying and picking a certain industry20:00 Building a moat in Credit23:32 Advantages of 0 CAC25:51 Expanding the product27:13 Balancing growth and profitability30:42 Lessons from working with SMEs33:45 Building during a downturn36:42 Books and Podcasts recommendations ------------------------------------- Click here to get regular WhatsApp updates:https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 ------------------------------------- Connect with Anubhav :Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anubhav1106/Twitter: https://twitter.com/anubhavrb ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Welcome to #86th episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. Today we have Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discussing -  1. PayU- Billdesk Acquisition Falling through2. Hero Entering the EV market with "Vida" branding3. Govt. Banning Ola Uber from offering Auto services4. NRAI campaigning against Zomato and Swiggy's Dineout5. Cred Launching UPI service  ----------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/star...​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ----------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Welcome to #85th episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. Today we have Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discussing -  1. ONDC launch in Bangalore2. Adobe acquires Figma3. Zomato cracks down on cloud kitchen4. National Logistics Policy5. ED freezes WazirX and Ethereum token ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Welcome to #84th episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. Today we have Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discussing -  1. Smart India Hackathon 2022 comes to an end2. MoHUA has onboarded 76 startups under the ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-Up Challenge.’3. Zomato unveils intercity food delivery4. Indian central bank is looking to address UPI Duopoly in India5. Samudrayaan Mission launched to explore deep seas...and more! ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Praval is the VP of marketing at ZOHO. He has held several positions there over the past 10 years where the company has grown nearly 10X. He spoke about Zoho's marketing evolution, How they think of branding, his pet peeves in SaaS marketing and more in his conversation with Roshan Cariappa. Topics:00:00 Introduction01:42 What changes in the 2-5-10 year journey06:05 What sets Zoho apart from other companies09:36 Evolution of Zoho's Marketing over the past decade13:56 What is a typical day like for Praval17:51 What does Praval's daily MIS look like19:08 Bringing marketers closer to customers23:49 Customer Marketing 28:45 Building a community as a moat31:48 What does the community team do 34:13 Zoho's field marketing genius 36:39 Branding at Zoho40:54 Working with Sridhar Vembu43:05 Praval's Pet Peeves in SaaS marketing45:46 Quantitative v/s qualitative feedback47:44 Career advice for Freshers in Marketing50:44 Books and Podcast recommendations ------------------------------------- Connect with Praval :Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/praval/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Praval ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!

Ranjan is a serial entrepreneur and is currently the founder and CEO of Bureau Inc. Bureau is a startup that secures mobile-first enterprises against new age cyber fraud and enables growth. In this episode he spoke about his lessons from being a second time founder, being a non technical founder in Deep tech, his thoughts on data privacy and convenience and more with Roshan Cariappa. Topics:00:00 Introduction01:23 Ranjan's lessons from being a 2x Founder04:11 How to filter advice06:11 What led to founding Bureau14:03 Being a non technical founder in Deep Tech17:35 Going from Idea to Product to Company21:15 Use Cases Bureau is solving 26:22 Bureau's partnerships 29:12 Getting enterprises to prioritize fraud prevention32:33 GTM motion for Bureau38:54 Ranjan's thoughts on Data privacy and convenience43:21 Non-obvious insights from the data security domain45:14 Communicating your mission to stakeholders48:01 Ranjan's thoughts on the Indian Startup Ecosystem50:01 Music and Books recommendations ------------------------------------- Click here to get regular WhatsApp updates: ------------------------------------- Connect with Ranjan :Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranjanready/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ranjanready ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode!