SeedToScale | Curated by Accel

The 56th episode of the INSIGHTS podcast features Sairee Chahal, Founder and CEO of SHEROES- a social networking platform with over 20M women. Sairee is also an Aspen Fellow and serves on the board of Paytm Payments Bank. She has been an entrepreneur for 15+ years. In this episode, Sairee shares insights on building successful products around communitiesTo learn more about Sairee’s inspiring journey, tune in to the latest episode of the Insights Podcast by Accel.

In this episode, we hear from Vetri on what OKRs are, how they are different from other goal-setting frameworks, how businesses can go about adopting them, and some common challenges and pitfalls to be careful about.To learn more about how you can adopt OKRs as a powerful tool in your organization to increase alignment and engagement around achieving goals, tune in to the latest episode of the Insights Podcast by Accel.Listen hereSpotify                                             Soundcloud                                         Apple Podcasts

In today’s special episode of the INSIGHTS podcast on ‘student entrepreneurship’, we cover the journeys of two well-known founders in the startup community whose entrepreneurial journeys started right from their college days: Shashank Murali from Tapchief and Farid Ahsan from Sharechat.We hear from Shashank and Farid on their early life and college days, how they decided to take up entrepreneurship, how they arrived on the idea they went after, how they worked progressively to build their companies, and finally how they would do it differently if they were to do it all over again. Listen hereSpotify                Apple                                     

In this episode of the INSIGHTS podcast, we have with us Neeraj Arora, who played a pivotal role at WhatsApp as an early employee and then as the Chief Business Officer.  We hear from Neeraj on his early career days, non-obvious career moves, learnings from the WhatsApp journey, the multi-billion dollar Facebook- Whatsapp deal, his experiences from investing in India, and finally some advice for startup founders.Listen hereSpotify                                                        Apple                                            Soundcloud

Listen hereSpotify                                                        Apple                                            SoundcloudAnand and Sudheer give a glimpse into their respective startup journeys - skillsets they brought from their previous experiences, new challenges that they were not prepared for, and milestones that marked their journey. The podcast covers all the different phases of their journeys: from identifying the problem to go after and building the MVP to scaling the product, figuring out monetization, and solving for Sales GTM and funding.To learn more about what it takes to build scalable global SaaS companies out of India, tune in to the latest episode of the Insights Podcast by Accel Notes:04:24 – Early days of startup journey11:22 – Picking the right mountain and validating it (Vertical vs Horizontal SaaS)20:40 – Finding the first set of customers29:55 – Business model and monetizing34:55 – Funding the early phase: bootstrapping vs fundraising39:20 – Scaling up phase, expanding geographies48:30 – Advise for early-stage SaaS founders50:30 – Rapid Fire Round

Listen hereSpotify                                                        Apple                                            SoundcloudAlex throws light on how the entrepreneurs from frontier markets are reinventing startup best practices and offering a brand new playbook for innovation that looks different from that of startups in the valley.The podcast centres around the shift of innovation from the silicon valley to the global playground. Alex talks about the incredible stories of entrepreneurs in emerging markets who maneuver challenging environments to build resilient sustainable businesses that create large social impact.To hear more from Alex on global innovation trends, tune in to the latest episode of the Insights Podcast by Accel Notes:02:31 – Genesis of ‘Out-Innovate’, the book04:44 – Future is at the frontier: Innovation increasingly coming from emerging markets08:49 – Social impact of creators16:59 – The camel approach: Building sustainability from Day 120:50 – Going global from the Get-go23:55 – Frontier innovators = Ecosystem builders

Listen hereSpotify                                                        Apple                                            SoundcloudMukesh shares how his journey as a leader has evolved over the last decade and in times of COVID, what got him to write a book, and how he manages to carve out time to give back to the community.The podcast deals with some of the most relevant topics in today’s times: focusing on holistic health, improving performance, and giving back.Notes:02:10 – Productivity in COVID times03:39 – Settling into the new rhythm of running the company05:36 – Executing fast through decentralized decision making09:36 – Hacks for managing personal physical & mental fitness13:04 – Cracking the performance code: No Limits18:09 – Importance of introspecting about purpose20:39 – Long term strategic thinking and daily healthy habits24:00 – Supporting the Olympic Gold Quest initiative 26:14 – ACT Grants and Bharat Health Stack27:50 – Rapid Fire Round

Listen hereSpotify                                                        Apple                                            SoundcloudSubrata and Prashanth share an on the ground view of the state of the VC ecosystem in India amidst the COVID situation and what to expect for the road ahead. They share advice for founders as they plan for the tough times ahead along with learnings and observations from previous economic downturns including some of the positive outcomes.The podcast clears the air around what founders can expect the fundraising situation to look like in the next near future.01:27 – Comparing COVID-19 times with dot-com bubble burst and 2008 recession06:23 – Efforts going on in the startup- VC ecosystem around helping fight COVID09:50 – Current state of Indian VC ecosystem amidst COVID13:00 – Assessing risk at a portfolio level16:08 – Actionable advice to startup founders20:20 – Planning for cash runway- time frame and approach21:55 – Advice for founders looking to startup or in pre-PMF stage24:30 – Fast forward: view of 24 months ahead28:43 – Reinventing yourself in crisis times (INSIGHTS #13: 1999 to 2018 — Ashish Hemranjani recaps the BookMyShow journey)30:25 – Fundamental transformation of some sectors31:13 – Dealing with anxiety33:25 – Rapid Fire Round 

Listen hereSpotify                                                        Apple                                            SoundcloudThis is a continuation to podcast #46 on SaaS. In this podcast, Shekhar and Krish dive deeper into the best practices for building a SaaS company out of India.Shekhar and Krish share learnings on the important tips to keep in mind for founders looking to build a large SaaS company: spending time on market research to identify the right opportunity in your area of interest, validating the problem through multiple customer interviews, building strong context on the problem before building the MVP and having the willingness to pay conversation early on. The podcast is filled with analogies and examples from Shekhar and Krish’s more than decade-long experience in SaaS. To learn more about things you need to get right to be successful in building a large SaaS company, tune in to the latest episode of the Insights Podcast by AccelListen hereSpotify                                                        Apple                                            SoundcloudNotes:01:47 – Climbing the mountain analogy05:18 – The advantage of having a strong industrial experience09:08 – First mover advantage13:32 – India advantage for SaaS startups19:00 – Picking a good founding team21:57 – Co-creating product with initial customers23:30 – Understanding go to market29:28 – Building MVP32:15 – Testing for willingness to pay from early on35:00 – Rapid Fire Round

Listen hereSpotify                                                        Apple                                            SoundcloudHow are Indian Startups dealing with the COVID-19 situation?This is a special podcast episode that deals with the tough situation that the world is facing today amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and features how the startup ecosystem in India is responding to it.We have 4 guests on the podcast this time around:  Vivekananda Hallekere, CEO & Co-founder of Bounce (two-wheeler scooter sharing solution operating in Bangalore & Hyderabad)  Abhiraj Bhal, Founder and CEO of Urban Company (managed market place for all kinds of home services) Suman Gopalan, Chief HR Officer of Freshworks (Software-as-a-Service company focused on customer engagement) Girish Menon, Head of HR, Swiggy (online food ordering and delivery platform)Podcast SummaryOur guests today represent startups employing over ten thousand employees and take out time from their schedule to share some of the best practices for dealing with the disruption to business operations. Vivek, Abhiraj, Suman, and Girish cover some of the most critical themes for business owners which include communicating within the organization and with the customers, prioritizing the health and safety of all stakeholders, planning for business continuity and dealing with challenges that come along the way. To learn more about how these leading startups are dealing with the COVID-19 situation, tune in to the latest episode of the Insights Podcast by AccelListen hereSpotify                                                        Apple                                            Soundcloud Notes -02:04 – Vivek on dealing with business continuity challenges at Bounce05:48 – Abhiraj on steps taken to continue Urban Company’s business line10:24 – Suman on the steps they’re taking at Freshworks globally15:12 – Limiting exposure vs. extreme measure at the cost of losing business20:45 – Best practices on communicating to customers21:58 – Girish on educating customers and 2 lakh + delivery executives at scale27:30 – Dealing with challenges in rolling out Business Continuity Plans for work from home35:24 – Keeping employee productivity in check38:40 – Impact of COVID-19 on business plan and runway