The Startup Operator

Welcome to another episode of The Startup Operator Roundup, where Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discuss - 👉🏽 hot takes on the week that was in the startup world, 👉🏽 what they learned this week from executing hard & 👉🏽 best recommendations of articles & Twitter threads. What we covered in this week's Roundup- - Key Takeaways from the week's episodes (01:15) - Recent Fundings of India Quotient, BharatPe, & Hiver (03:15) - How Koo is taking India by storm (11:00) - Swiggy vs Zomato: Who will become India's first startup IPO of 2021? (17:55) - Vembu's Wisdom on growing as a community (22:13) - What's next in The Startup Operator (25:30) Hit the like button on the right if enjoyed this roundup, and do not forget to share among your operator friends! If you liked this episode, do not forget to like and subscribe to The Startup Operator Podcast. Listen to our interviews and conversations with investors, operators, and founders on your favorite podcast platforms. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Hitwicket is an AI-powered gaming platform that was launched in 2015. In 2020 the startup won 1st position in the 'AatmaNirbhar Bharat Innovation Challenge' for its immense potential to be a market leader. Hitwicket is on its path to disrupt the Indian mobile gaming market and aims to disrupt the global market as well in the coming years.In this episode, Roshan talks to Keerti Singh, Co-Founder & VP - Growth, Hitwicket, to find out more about how they are disrupting the market.   Some of the things discussed include - (01:02) The founding story (03:23) Learnings from working with Amazon (06:17) Being relevant to your target audience (10:45) Building a brand in a crowded market (14:14) Managing customer retention (18:12) Product-Market fit in mobile gaming (20:02) Enabling the community (22:03) Monetising a mobile game (25:36) Mobile gaming market in India (29:16) Making data-driven decisions (33:58) User engagement for mobile games (36:30) Winning the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Innovation Challenge (39:10) Capitalising on growth during covid  ---------------------  Connect with Keerti - LinkedIn - https://in.linkedin.com/in/keerti25 Twitter - https://twitter.com/keerti_singh25 ----------------------- Found this episode informative? Let us know by hitting the like button & subscribing to our podcast for regular startup stories. You can also Tweet or DM us on - LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator Twitter - https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Started in 2014, PickYourTrail is India’s biggest online D-I-Y holiday booking platform that empowers users to curate customized holidays. PickYourTrail is also that rare startup whose founders dived into a tech-led venture without any tech background. They even went without a head of engineering for half that time. And yet, the startup has built an enviable technology stack that has helped it scale while remaining profitable. In this episode of The Startup Operator, Roshan talks to Hari Ganapathy, Co-Founder of PickYourTrail, about thriving in the tourism industry during the pandemic. Prior to starting PickYourTrail, Hari was responsible for building and scaling the EMEA Inside and Online sales Team at InMobi - one of the world's leading Marketing Clouds. He also managed high-volume / low-margin and low-volume / high-margin sales at Britannia and Reckitt Benckiser respectively.  Tune in for a deep-dive on -  - Translating passion to a business (04:02) - The founding story (06:12) - Building the supply & demand (11:17) - Building a brand in a fragmented space (14:48) - Managing the ecosystem (17:30) - Building consistent & predictable customer experiences (19:41) - Customer acquisition strategies (23:53) - Key trends among Indian travelers (27:09) - The covid impact (31:23) - Permanent changes in the space going forward (39:29) Connect with Hari - LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hariganapathy/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/haripyt ----------------------- Found this episode informative? Let us know by hitting the like button & subscribing to our channel. You can also Tweet or DM us on - LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator Twitter - https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup #startupoperator #Startups #Podcast #Pickyourtrail #travel #travelpodcast #covid #covidtravel #travelstartup #tourism #experiences #brandbuilding #roshancariappa #hariganapathy --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Welcome to another episode of The Startup Operator Roundup, where Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discuss -  👉🏽 hot takes on the week that was in the startup world, 👉🏽 what they learned this week from executing hard & 👉🏽 best recommendations of articles & twitter threads. What we covered in this week's Roundup-  - Recent Fundings -PhonePe Employees Stock Options  -Pinelabs entering neo-banking space  -Byju's acquisition of Aakash Education Services  -Vembu's Wisdom  -Upcoming episodes  Hit the like button on the right if enjoyed this roundup, and do not forget to share among your operator friends! If you liked this episode, do not forget to like and subscribe to The Startup Operator Podcast. Listen to our interviews and conversations with investors, operators, and founders on your favorite podcast platforms. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

ekincare is a healthcare startup that creates measured and personalized healthcare plans that reduce healthcare costs for employers. The startup also launched a "healthcare marketplace" in 2016, it was also one among 6 startups to be selected by Swiss Re's first Global Accelerator program.    In this episode, we find out how ekincare is making employees healthier.   (00:00) Introduction  (02:23) The founding story  (10:01) Growing importance of employee wellness programs  (14:26) Solving for healthcare   (23:30) Product-Market fit in healthcare  (28:04) Nudging pre-emptive healthcare  (31:05) Customer segmentation in the space  (33:26) Implications of covid   Connect with Kiran -   LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirankalakuntla Twitter - https://twitter.com/Kpowerthree   -----------------------  Found this episode informative? Let us know by hitting the like button & subscribing to our channel. You can also Tweet or DM us on -   LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator  Twitter - https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup    --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Khatabook is a mobile app that facilitates bookkeeping for small businesses or "Kirana" shops. The app was launched in 2018 and has quickly gained more than 10 million businesses and 20 million registered users.   Ved is a stellar operator having worked in multiple hypergrowth startups. Prior to joining Khatabook as its VP - Growth & Marketing, he was spearheading growth initiatives at Rentomojo, and also led the marketing team at ZO Rooms.   In this episode, we try to understand how Khatabook achieved this milestone in such a short period. Here's what we spoke about -    - Getting to 1 crore customers (00:10)  - Use-cases Khatabook is solving for(02:04)  - Customer acquisition & onboarding (04:18)  - Marketing vs. Product-led Growth (06:43)  - Knowing the customer (09:46)  - Acquiring the next billion customers via mass media channels  - (15:56) Measuring effectiveness for TVC campaigns (17:50)  - Building for the Bharat User (20:40)  - Business during covid-19 (23:38)  - Growth plans for 2021 (28:27)  - Propensity to pay for a service (31:05)  - Working in hypergrowth startups (39:42)   Connect with Ved -   LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vedpy/  Twitter - https://twitter.com/vedpy9    -----------------------  Found this episode informative? Let us know by following the podcast. You can also Tweet or DM us on -   LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator  Twitter - https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup    --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Staring as an assistant producer with CNBC TV18, India’s largest business television network, Mihir has over a decade in business journalism focusing on startups. He joined Mint as a Staff Writer in 2012. Currently, he is the Chief of Bureau at Mint's Bangalore Office.   In 2019, he published the book 'The Untold Flipkart Story'.   Listen in as Roshan and Mihir engage in a free-flowing conversation around Flipkart's success and how startups & founders have evolved over time. 01:39 - Lesser-known stories of Flipkart's Journey 05:38 - What Flipkart did differently 12:57 - People of Flipkart 14:46 - Three things we can learn from Sachin and Binny 18:38 - Walmart's Acquisition 21:49 - How the nature of startups has changed 34:49 - ESOP buybacks 38:26 - New-age startups & founders 41:46 - Media Coverage for startups 01:02:19 - Things to look forward to in 2021 ---------------- Connect with Mihir -  LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mihir-dalal-3b602014/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/MihirDTweets --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Farmers rely heavily on traditional cropping calendars and their experiences to maximize their yields. But even experienced farmers have not always been able to escape the perils of climate change, losing their crops to unpredictable weather conditions, soil degradation, and unmitigated pest attacks.   Fasal is an agri-tech platform powered by IoT and A, on the mission to keep the farmers aware of the farm and crop conditions anytime, anywhere on any device.   Founded by Ananda Verma, its goal is to enable farmers to be proactive instead of reacting to crop diseases, weather conditions, and various other critical situations.  Fasal empowers farmers and Agri institutions by decreasing the input cost, increasing the quality and quantity of the yield, and optimizing resources like fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides, irrigation management, etc.   In this episode of The Startup Operator Podcast, join Roshan Cariappa in conversation with Ananda, as we understand more about how the agriculture sector in India has evolved, along with -   - Fasal’s founding story (01:41)  - Making agriculture viable in India(07:32)  - Proving ROI case to farmers (18:42)  - Understanding the business economics (26:07)  - Making contextual insights available to farmers (30:49)  - Building farmer-centric solutions (35:32)  - Making technology economically viable (40:29)  - Recent agricultural reforms (45:15)  - Indian agricultural outlook in 2021 (49:22) Found this episode informative? Let us know by via a  Tweet or DM us on -   LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator  Twitter - https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Are consumer tech & enterprise SaaS really that different?   In this episode of The Startup Operator, Roshan spoke with Anant Vidur Puri of Bessemer Venture Partners to know more about these different, yet similar domains.   Anant joined Bessemer in 2014 and focuses on high potential opportunities in consumer and mobile technology, along with vertical SaaS in the Bangalore office. He is currently on the boards of Travel Triangle, Cashify, and Remedinet in addition to being involved with UC, Swiggy, and StayGlad.   Listen to this conversation for amazing insights on -   - Consumer tech & Enterprise SaaS (00:57)  - Developing an investment thesis (05:39)  - What does a typical day look like for a partner? (13:56)  - How has the ecosystem evolved? (18:57)  - Balancing an idea with a business plan (22:35)  - Taking a decision to pivot (28:29)   - ESOP buybacks (35:25)  - The  VC competitive landscape (38:04)   and  a Rapid-fire round on Venture Capital terms (43:38) What did you think of this episode? Tweet or DM us on -   LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator Twitter - https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

The COVID-19 pandemic was a bolt from the blue. The world never expected it; neither was it prepared. This is a kind of crisis that most of us are unlikely to experience more than once in our lifetimes. Individuals and companies are trying hard to cope and adapt. The truth though is that we constantly deal with crises in our lives. A crisis can be a great opportunity for innovation. Almost every great innovation has been in response to a crisis of some sort. We have seen this in recent times, and we have seen this throughout history. Sailing through a Storm, by TN Hari and Sanjay Swamy, brings us this hope. An inspiring read, this comprises beautiful stories of women and men who dealt with adversity, how they emerged strong and successful, and how drawing from their lives we too can turn the storm around to make it work for us.   Join Roshan in conversation with Hari as we try to understand more about the inspiration behind his latest book. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message