
The Startup Operator
The best-curated wisdom from founders, operators, & investors on executing at startups | Hosted by Roshan Cariappa | Head down, execute hard. 🔥 Millions of listeners seek out Bingepods (Ideabrew Studios Network content) every day. Get in touch with us to advertise, join the network or click listen to enjoy content by some of India's top audio creators. studio@ideabrews.com Android | Apple
Latest episodes

Aug 7, 2020 • 1h 2min
EP 28 : Building a D2C Brand with Ganesh & Utkarsh | Co-Founders - Flatheads
Ganesh and Utkarsh had earlier started MomoE, a fintech startup, which was acquired by Shopclues in 2016. In 2018, the duo started a D2C brand - Flatheads - poised to revolutionize the footwear industry in India. In this episode of The Startup Operator, Roshan talks to Ganesh & Utkarsh on how they are bringing Flatheads to the masses, their learnings from a successful exit, and building a D2C brand in India. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Aug 1, 2020 • 1h 20min
EP 27 : Software Testing & Quality with Pradeep Soundararajan | Moolya Testing
We are back with another great interview with none other than Pradeep Soundararajan of Moolya Testing. An author, evangelist, and founder, Pradeep brings the X-factor to software and quality testing. Today, Roshan talks to Pradeep about his journey as a testing guru over the last 2 decades. Amazing insights for every programmer and tester out there, in this episode of The Startup Operator Podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Jul 28, 2020 • 46min
EP 26 : Winning in the Sharing Economy | Abhishek Lahiri (Chief Strategy Officer, Zolo Stays)
Abhishek leads strategic initiatives at India's India's largest Co-Living platform - Zolo Stays. He was a full-time trader with Deutsche Bank for 5+ years before transitioning to become a startup operator. In this episode of The Startup Operator, Roshan talks to Abhishek regarding this transition and his perspectives on executing at hyper-growth startups. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Jul 25, 2020 • 1h 9min
EP 25 : Building a SaaS business with Thiyagarajan | Co-founder - Upekkha
In this episode, Roshan invites Thiyagarajan Maruthavanan, or Rajan, to The Startup Operator Podcast. Rajan has been an engineer, CEO of an early-stage startup, product manager & head of product & innovation in multiple successful startups. In 2018, he co-founded Upekkha to help founders build Value SaaS business. Value SaaS means capital-efficient from the start. These businesses get to the first million in revenue with tiny or no investment. Listen to this episode of The Startup Operator to understand more about how Value SaaS differs from Vanity SaaS, relevant metrics for startup journeys, SaaS ecosystem of India, and much more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Jul 21, 2020 • 1h 2min
EP 24 : Building a profitable venture | Santosh Panda (Co-founder, Explara)
Santosh is the co-founder & CEO of Explara.com - India’s leading experiences marketplace. An operator turned founder, turned mentor - he founded Explara with a shoe-string budget, and now the company serves millions of customers around the globe. Currently, he leads customer success & growth for Thrivly. In this episode of The Startup Operator, we talk to Santosh about his journey from being an operator to a coach, and what startup founders should be mindful of to create a profitable venture. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Jul 17, 2020 • 1h 34min
EP 23 : PR for Startups with Ravi Shankar | CEO @ Aim High Consulting
Co-founder & CEO of Aim High Consulting, Ravi has led some of the best-known PR campaigns for startups in India, ranging from the likes of Flipkart and Ola, to Blackbuck and Livspace. Seven different industry associations have recognized Aim High Consulting as the ‘Best Communication Consulting Company / PR Agency of the Year’, in just the past five years. In this episode, we talk to him about why should a company prioritize its PR efforts and how to go about building journalist relations. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Jul 12, 2020 • 1h 40min
EP 22 : Building a Super-App with Aakash Dharmadhikari | ex-CPO @ Gojek
We had to talk to Aakash after hearing rave reviews from Sidu Ponappa. He joined Gojek in 2016 as Chief Product Officer with the acquisition of C42 Engineering - a startup he founded in 2010. Aakash oversaw the launch of 18 products in 18 months, each product worth millions of dollars in valuation. Who better to talk to about the key ingredients of building a super-app? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Jul 10, 2020 • 1h 3min
EP 21 : 0 to $50M in Sales with Abhijeet Vijayvergiya | Former President & MD - Capillary Technologies
One of Asia's leading SaaS startups, Capillary Technologies has rapidly expanded its footprint across the Asia Pacific. Abhijeet has assisted the company in achieving 200% YoY growth and establish Capillary as an emerging market leader in the Omnichannel Customer Engagement & Commerce space. In this episode of The Startup Operator, we talk to Abhijeet about scaling sales function. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Jul 5, 2020 • 51min
EP 20 : Insurtech Ecosystem with Rahul Mathur | Startup Lead @ Accenture
Rahul Mathur works as a Startup Lead at Accenture's Fintech Innovation Lab. In this episode of The Startup Operator Podcast, we talk to Rahul about how the insurtech ecosystem is rapidly evolving. At 22, Rahul also hosts his own show called the Asia InsurTech Podcast. Prior to joining Accenture, he had worked with multiple consulting firms such as Willis Towers Watson, Insuranceblocks, and Laka. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

Jun 27, 2020 • 1h 37min
EP 19 : Engineering Management with Sidu Ponnappa | SVP - Engineering @ Gojek
Sidu Ponnappa, SVP of Engineering at Gojek, shares insights on transitioning from founder to operator, powering Gojek's growth, building winning products, team dynamics, product development, navigating roles, engineering recruitment strategies, single app vs. multiple apps strategy, transitioning to a platform, onboarding, and overcoming burnout through delegation.