From TaxiForSure to Koo: The Entrepreneurial Journey of Aprameya Radhakrishna
Description
Imagine a social micro-blogging platform like Twitter that allows users to express themselves in their local languages on a large scale. Well, that's precisely what Koo offers. In today's episode, we are joined by Aprameya Radhakrishna, the Co-Founder, and CEO of Koo.
Aprameya's first startup was TaxiForSure, which was acquired by Ola Cabs in 2015. Since then, he has invested in over 30 early-stage startups, including Unacademy, TapChief, and Daily Ninja.
During our conversation, Aprameya discusses his thoughts on Indian startups and tech talent building for global markets, his experience with VCs as a second-time entrepreneur, and much more.
Notes -
00:00 - Highlights
01:47 - Aprameya Radhakrishna and Koo's story
03:23 - Koo's scale in India and Brazil
08:30 - Current market headwinds
10:59 - Koo's positioning in the audience's mind
13:17 - VC and investor perspective being a second-time founder
15:13 - Going deeper in India v/s Going Global
16:30 - Exiting TaxiForSure
17:56 - Focus on product and traction while building a product
20:29 - Learnings from TaxiForSure
22:36 - Confidence to go global as a consumer internet company from India
26:50 - Self-doubt while starting Koo
31:14 - Change in Aprameya's ability to read the market
33:22 - Gut feeling about the recession's duration
37:04 - Balancing confidence and arrogance as a founder
40:17 - Relationship with VCs over time
45:00 - Future bets in the next 10 years
46:32 - Riskiest bets that paid off
48:02 - Financial independence's impact on Aprameya as a person
49:57 - Aprameya's other aspirations besides building Koo
51:53 - Is the core India shining?
United States
