Indian Silicon Valley with Jivraj Singh Sachar

In this episode, we speak with Abhijeet & Vanshika, Co-Founders of KNYA Med - an apparel brand built for medical professional. KNYA is building for healthcare, what Nike is for athletes. They are a very unique brand with a very distinct journey and they are only just getting started. https://knyamed.com/ - you can check them out here. This was one of the most interesting brands we have hosted on the show and definitely a very fascinating duo of founders, who have shared very deep insights about the founder life and building in a very different market. Here are the show notes. Hope you like the episode! Follow KNYA, Vanshika, Abhijeet and Jivraj (the host) for more interesting insights, cheers! 00:00 - Preface 01:24 - How KNYA came to life? 03:40 - How to solve for Doctors? 06:40 - Vanshika's Background 09:10 - Abhijeet's Background 11:45 - What is the Market that KNYA is going after? 15:15 - Market Segmentation in Healthcare Apparel 17:13 - Product Range for Medical Professionals 21:54 - Supply Chain Innovation from KNYA 26:49 - Sustainability in Fashion 30:25 - Trust with Doctors 34:00 - Content Strategy for KNYA 39:30 - What does Scaling for a Consumer Brand mean in India? 43:38 - Building a Consumer Brand from Bomday? 52:04 - Transferring Empathy in the Team 56:35 - Personality Traits of the Founders 59:00 - Challenges of the Founder life 1:00:30 - What matters to you and why? 1:02:45 - Mission with KNYA

In this Episode, we host The Perfume Man of India - Aakash Anand, Founder & CEO of Bella Vitta - India's largest new-age perfume brand (INR 600 CR+ in revenue). Aakash is one of the most brilliant founders we have had an opportunity to host on the podcast and this episode is as fire powered as a conversations can possibly be. We understand his journey, his energy and his ingredients of success. You are in for a phenomenal ride, have a super one and keep sharing forward. 00:00 - Preface 01:23 - Introducing the Perfume Man of India 03:35 - The Journey 08:06 - Early days for Aakash 09:48 - Meaning of Wealth 11:31 - Identifying which Business to build 15:23 - Do Not Complicate Business Building 18:14 - Bootstrapped vs Funding 20:48 - Why CAC is stupid? 24:30 - Omnichannel Presence for Brands 26:55 - People Management 29:33 - House of Brands 31:57 - The Founder Energy of Aakash 34:00 - How to become a Great Founder 37:10 - What keeps Aakash going post-success? 39:50 - How do Friends describe Founders? 44:40 - Describe the Indian Consumer 47:01 - The Power of Manifestation 51:02 - Expressing what you want 55:22 - What does Aakash fear? 56:50 - Spaces where Big Companies will be formed 1:01:10 - Final Learnings

In this episode, we speak to Arjun Sethi - the Chief Investment Officer and Co-Founder of Tribe Capital. He has led Tribe to scale to $1.6Bn+ in AUM and has most recently launched an India focused fund to do Series A investments across the geography. Tribe is one of the most successful funds of this generation and they have invested in 13+ Unicorns across the globe with a very differentiated way of investing - quant based Venture Investing. They have a proprietary product Termina, which they use to release their famous 8-Ball reports and share with founders. Through this conversation I understand how Arjun thinks about Venture Capital and how they look at India. This is a great deep dive into one of the most prolific Venture minds of our time. Hope you have a great time listening! 00:00 - Trailer 01:05 - Introduction 03:00 - Data Fascination 05:57 - How to find your North Star? 08:00 - Role of data in Venture Capital 15:03 - Early Stage Investing 19:45 - The value of Tribe 22:35 - Scalability in Venture Capital 28:10 - Qualities of a Great VC Fund Manager 31:18 - How have startups in Emerging Markets evolved? 37:34 - What works in India? 42:07 - How is Tribe building in India? 45:55 - How to back great companies in India? 49:15 - Incubation in Venture Capital 53:18 - Best Investments for Arjun 56:48 - Process of Investing 59:05 - Benefit of Writing in Venture 1:00:34 - How do Founders & Friends define Arjun? 1:02:20 - How to identify great folks? 1:05:05 - Strong Opinions 1:07:25 - What matters to Arjun and Why? 1:08:57 - What works in the US that we can learn from? 1:11:26 - Always forward!

Varun Duggirala is the Smartest Marketer of India having built The Glitch (acquired by WPP) as one of the largest creative agencies in the country and is the OG Indian podcaster having paved the way for numerous Indian creators & podcasters. His insights on marketing and company building are precious, combined with his views on life - fitness and so much more! I have been deeply inspired by his journey and persona for a long time and I am so glad to have recored an in-depth podcast to decode his phenomenal insights. Tune in for an incredible conversation. 00:00 - Preview 00:47 - Introduction 01:38 - What matters to Varun & Why? 04:12 - Well rounded Life vs Outlier Life 07:42 - Values 11:35 - Entry into the Media Ecosystem 16:48 - Looking at things in Hindsight 20:50 - Starting The Glitch 27:35 - How not to complicate Decisions? 32:50 - The Glitch Acquisition by WPP 40:50 - How to be successful as an agency Founder? 47:50 - What is Marketing? 55:22 - Becoming a Podcaster? 01:01:39 - Benefits of Podcasting 01:05:10 - Being a great Conversationalist 01:12:50 - Chasing Dopamine Hits 01:21:10 - Learnings via Podcasting 01:29:15 - Being a Founder Coach 01:36:10 - New Founder Journey with EMoMee 01:42:01 - How would Friends define Varun?

Sanjeev Bikhchandani is an Indian Billionaire, the Father of Indian Entrepreneurship. He built the first major digital-first company of our generation - Info Edge Group and successfully listed it into a phenomenal digital conglomerate Naukri.com, Jeevansaathi.com - INR 685.94 Billion. Info Edge is also a major investor in two of India's largest new-age startups - Zomato and PolicyBazar, which are both public companies and huge outcomes for the ecosystem. Through this episode, we uncover a bunch of interesting topics to leverage Sanjeev Sir's generational experiences. Tune in to get all insights from the episode. 00:00 - Preview 00:46 - Introduction 01:52 - Customer Money or Investor Money 05:15 - The India Story 11:00 - Success or Survival? 13:05 - Jugaad since 1990 15:31 - Outlier Founders 19:20 - The Zomato Story 26:28 - What does the Public Market not get about Startups? 30:24 - Operator Investors or Career Investors 33:15 - Governance 41:44 - Long Term? 43:04 - New Age India & Founders 47:39 - The Consumer of India 49:50 - Power of Education 55:00 - Young India 1:01:15 - Mistakes during the 33 years! 1:05:06 - Meaning of Money? 1:07:25 - Interesting Conversations 1:10:56 - Hustle beyond 35 years 1:12:46 - Final Learnings

In this episode, we speak to the ultra phenomenal - Sarthak Ahuja.

In this episode, we speak to Karan Mohla, General Partner of B Capital India & SEA - leading early stage.

In this Episode, we speak with the Co-Founder of Pristyn Care - Harsimarbir (Harsh Singh) and decode everything about the Healthcare ecosystem of India.

In this episode, we speak to Arman Sood, Co-Founder of SleepyOwl Coffee - which has disrupted the Coffee space completely.

In this episode, we speak with Satveer Singh Thakral and Jai Sumer Singh, Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Riverwalk Holdings.

The India head and Southeast Asia head of Airbnb, Amanpreet Singh Bajaj, appeared on the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast, discussing his career journey and the growth of Airbnb in India. Bajaj praised the sharing economy model of Airbnb and mentioned that although initially there were concerns about welcoming strangers into homes, the platform has managed to instill a sense of reliability and trust amongst users. He underlined how the company localized its approach for the Indian market, drawing upon the inherent hospitality and entrepreneurism of Indian culture. He also stressed the unique aspect of connection and experiences that Airbnb offers beyond just hosting, as an integral part of its appeal and success. 00:00 - Introduction 10:26 - Birth Of E-commerce In India 20:20 - Choosing Airbnb 30:06 - Building Trust with Airbnb 39:43 - Learnings In Expanding 49:40 - Unique Strategies For Growth In India 59:44 - Covid-19 Challenges 1:09:53 - Leadership Lessons

The co-founder and CEO of CaratLane, Avnish Anand, discussed the jewelry company's unique approach to store openings and its focus on customer experience in an interview. He explained that CaratLane always invites a loyal customer to inaugurate a new store, rather than a celebrity. Anand also discussed how the company reached a revenue of 2.65 billion INR ($36 million) by focusing on their customers' needs and creating affordable yet beautiful jewelry designs. He shared that despite COVID-19 restrictions, demand for jewelry continued as it is deeply rooted in Indian culture. Furthermore, he also mentioned CaratLane's commitment to omnichannel sales and the increasing importance of internet-savvy customers. KEY TAKEAWAYS - CaratLane is India's largest Omni Channel jewelry brand. The business was started in 2007, at a time when e-commerce was not widely accepted. CaratLane broke the conventional startup wisdom and emerged successful. - The core of CaratLane's business model is technology, affordability, and lean operation. Unlike traditional jewelry businesses that primarily cater to the high-end market, CaratLane offers beautifully crafted jewelry at lower price points. - A major change in customer behavior was noted over time. People started buying jewelry not just for big occasions, but also as an everyday fashion accessory. The category has seen a shift from investment and locker storage oriented purchases to more wear-oriented buys. - A key learning was that their customer base is not just restricted to internet savvy individuals. People across age groups and places are attracted to their affordable, wearable designs. It was also discovered that older customers often acted as home influencers, influencing the buying decisions of younger family members. - To date, CaratLane has 245 stores across India. The company's approach to scaling includes a combination of digital marketing for raising customer awareness, as well as omni-channel growth strategies for increasing order and

Ragini Das is a renowned Indian entrepreneur, celebrated for founding leap.club, a platform dedicated solely to women. This network aims to bolster and empower women to step forward and lead. Driven by her fervent mission to uplift women globally, Ragini has successfully established a platform that encourages women to thrive in all facets of their lives. LinkedIn Profile of Jivraj - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsin... Instagram Page- https://www.instagram.com/isv_podcast/

We speak to Harshil Karia - Founder & CEO of SCHBANG, which is India's largest Creative Agency!! Through the episode we cover the nuances of how Schbang has scaled a services business successfully, while understanding core learnings of taking an agency business far. Harshil is also the Co-Founder of Level Supermind, a product business building the meditation ecosystem for consumers in India. Thus, we are also able to gauge the product entrepreneur in Harshil, understanding the nuances of building a B2C product business along with a B2B services business. Finally, we learn from his experiences of taking Schbang to the globe, understand his knowledge of the Gita and how it has impacted his life, and finally decode finer nuances of his personal life that shape his professional excellence. This was an absolutely amazing conversation, do watch till the end to find out more! Cheers

Viraj Seth is the Co-Founder and CEO of Monk Entertainment, India’s largest influencer marketing agency. He sits at the intersection of the Creator Economy and Tech Startups, which is exactly what we decode in this episode. We speak at length on the creator business models, the dark sides of being a creator, how agencies succeed and what really works when Tech Solutions are being built for creators. This is one of our best episodes, watch till the end! 00:00 - Coming Up 01:16 - Introduction 01:45 - Where do Startups get Influencer Marketing WRONG? 04:16 - Large Brands vs Startups using Influence Marketing 07:03 - RoI for Influencer Spend? 09:58 - Conversion Ratios for Startups on Influencer Spend 11:42 - How does Monk-E make money? 13:25 - Identifying Breakout Creators 19:35 - What led to the mammoth growth of BeerBiceps (Ranveer Allahbadia)? 23:11 - What should Creators Create? 33:49 - How are local social media apps (Moj, JOSH) doing? 37:35 - How much money do Creators make? 41:25 - The Dark Side of the Creator Life! 45:55 - Global Creators from India 49:40 - How do Creators understand what Brands want? 52:19 - Creators & Brand being directly in touch 54:08 - How did Monk-E get initial clients? 58:26 - The first INR 7,000 Influencer Deal 1:00:25 - Relationships Management 1:03:13 - What is "New Media"? 1:11:01 - Founders becoming Celebrities 1:14:30 - Where did Creator Economy Startups go wrong? 1:20:03 - Which Tech Startups work in this space? 1:21:15 - Creators Investing in Startups! 1:26:29 - Cracking Distribution 1:30:11 - How luck played out in Viraj's life? 1:32:44 - How can we get LUCKIER? 1:38:10 - The business of Dopamine Creation 1:41:55 - Profitability vs Growth in building Businesses 1:47:18 - Any other job in the world except Monk-E (RF) 1:47:39 - One wish to grant everyone (RF) 1:47:58 - One social cause (RF) 1:49:08 - Best Creators out there! (RF) 1:50:08 - Money vs Fame (RF) 1:50:52 - The Social Persona of Viraj (RF) 1:53:39 - Final Learnings!

Arjun Vaidya, a former founder, current investor, father, educator, and social influencer discusses his career and life journey with podcast host Jivraj. Arjun discusses the challenges of scaling his previous business, Dr Vaidya's, how he uses personal reflection periods, and his transition to venture capital. He reflects on the decision to sell Dr. Vaidya's and the impact on the team and himself. Arjun highlights the importance of honesty, hard work, and humility from his family values. He shares his experience as a minority shareholder and discusses how he balances entrepreneurship and parenting. LinkedIn Profile of Jivraj - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsin... Instagram Page- https://www.instagram.com/isv_podcast/

In this episode, we have a conversation with the Founder of the Phenomenal Brand - The Whole Truth - Shashank Mehta. Shashank Mehta, founder of The Whole Truth, reveals how the company creates new products. The process starts by identifying categories where "big food" brands have been misleading consumers, and where The Whole Truth can create a "100% clean" product that still tastes good. This is followed by a product development process which prioritizes maintaining the brand's philosophy and ethos, as well as catering to the unique expectations of each product category. Mehta emphasizes the importance of delivering high-quality experiences across the entire consumer journey – from product proposition, pack design, and price, to distribution and promotion. He attributes the brand's high repeat purchase rate and NPS score to consistently delivering on these elements, and to the brand’s policy of always being transparent and respectful towards consumers.

The Indian Silicon Valley Podcast recently did a podcast with Ashish Mohapatra, Co-Founder and CEO of OfBusiness, a platform aimed at making life easier for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by facilitating new business, procurement of raw materials, and financing. Mohapatra discussed his transition from consulting to venture capital to entrepreneurship and shared his journey of building OfBusiness. He stated that the driving factor behind entrepreneurship for him was having the outcomes in his own hands and being able to put his money where his mouth is. OfBusiness follows a people-first approach, recruits mostly freshers, and follows a non-hierarchical working system. The company was also revealed to focus heavily on profitability by leveraging technology and savvy financial planning. LinkedIn Profile of Jivraj - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Instagram Page- https://www.instagram.com/isv_podcast/

Varun Alagh is the Co-Founder & CEO of Mamaearth, India’s largest Consumer Brand valued at INR 10,000 Cr+ and more. Honasa is the parent company of Mamaearth, which is the house of brands with renowned consumer names such as Mamaearth, Bblunt, Dr. Sheth’s, Aqualogica, Derma Co. and others. The journey of building Mamaearth to INR 1500 Cr+ revenues successfully across channels, across brands - is one of the most distinct stories in the Indian ecosystem across the last decade. All consumer founders in the country today look upto the journey of Mamaearth. Watch this phenomenal episode to know more about how they’ve gotten here 🚀 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

Niren Chaudhary is the Chairman of Panera Brands. He has previously led some of the best F&B Brands globally, including being the President of KFC Global, COO and International President of Krispy Kreme, President of Yum India, and other leadership positions across the globe. Niren also has one of the most fascinating personal stories with a movie made on his life including the story of his daughter - Aisha. This episode entails a host of very interesting global leadership learnings. Watch till the end to grasp the amazing learnings and tell us how you like it! 00:00 - Intro 00:39 - Welcome to the Podcast & Niren 00:58 - Career Trajectory for Niren (Growing up in India to 25 years of Global Exposure) 07:25 - What works in India? 08:51 - Career Growth in the same org (Yum Brands) across 2 decades 12:51 - Being a life-long "Learner" 19:15 - Experience of Leading Panera Brands 22:22 - Global Leadership Learnings 26:19 - Prioritisation Spectrum for Startups 29:55 - Building Generational Brands 33:02 - Personal Principles that guide Niren's Life 40:43 - How to process the loss in the face of it? 47:05 - Embracing Vulnerability as a Leader 50:23 - Understanding the importance of Self-Reflection 52:25 - Happiness Now! 55:24 - Seeking Fulfilment 59:07 - Personal Questions (How do Niren's Friends & Colleagues define him?) 1:00:10 - What is that one thing that you are good at more than 99.9% of the people? 1:01:02 - Don't do these things! 1:03:12 - What is Success? Subscribe to our YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.