India is expected to be home to 700 million gamers by 2025. So Today my guest Piyush Kumar, he is the Founder and CEO of Rooter. A game streaming and E-Sports platform. Rooter has emerged as the largest player in the Indian gaming category, with close to 50 million downloads, making it the No. 1 app in the ‘sports’ category on the Google Play Store since October 2020. Rooter is at the perfect intersection of Gaming and Content surge in India. So he talks about how it got this off the ground. He talks about what your MVP should look like. Talks about hiring strategies and philosophies. Mistakes made in the early days. Talks about why the future of social networking is gaming. Talks about the business model & raising $25+million. Talks about finding his co-founder via Twitter and talks about the E-sports landscape in India including dealing with the parents! Talks about how to build a consumer app and pivoting. Gives some great book recommendations and finally he talks about why everyone should try entrepreneurship at least once in their life and much much more so please enjoy the show.
Sport tech and driving sports engagement. Today my guest is Amit Purohit CEO and founder of Fantasy Akhada, a fantasy sports platform that provides you with an opportunity to play Fantasy Cricket, Fantasy Football and Fantasy Kabaddi by using your sports knowledge and skill. So today he talks about building a hyper growth sports tech startup, going from the 181st fantasy app to being in the top 5 , amazing stuff. He talks about the USP - focusing on customer delight. Talks about marketing and why they focus on quality not volume. A great story about getting legendary cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle into becoming a brand ambassador and investor with a cold email. Gives advice for first time founders and his primary role as a founder. Nearly giving up , raising finance and finally some fantasy sports do’s and don'ts for first time players and much more.
Get your popcorn ready! Today my guest is Shalibhadra Shah, CEO & Co-founder of ABC Talkies. An online movie platform for filmmakers to submit their films and for cinema lovers to watch independent cinema on a pay-per-view model. He talks about what motivated him to get this off the ground and what problem they are solving . He talks about how they add value to the filmmaker and talks about the business model & revenue streams including variable ticket pricing. He talks about being blessed with failure in the early days and keeping the faith. Talks about the current state of the movie industry in India and the booming regional content in tier 2/3 cities. And finally he talks about the time he spent working with PM Modi sharing some interesting tales and insights including the Modi masks and much more .
Launching rockets into space! My guest is Srinath Ravichandran CEO & co-founder of Agnikul, a Chennai-based Indian aerospace manufacturer specialising in building launch vehicles capable of taking micro and nano-satellites to Low Earth Orbit, on-demand. He started as an outsider , working in finance but his heart was always in aerospace. In this episode he talks about the crazy amount of networking, cold calling professors and asking himself some existential questions to get this off the ground! He talks about going through the Airbus Incubator. Raising $11million in Series A funding. Talks about 3D technology, the business model. Great product milestones. Why India is the best place to build rockets. Talks about the Space Tech community in india. Thoughts on Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos endeavours. Talks about dealing with red tape & the government. He gives great advice on networking if you're a bit shy and finally he talks about why he thinks there is life on other planets and why it could be a good thing!
Transforming storytelling. Today my guest is Summit Nayak - Co-founder of Ekank. They are building a storytelling platform, democratising non-fiction by bringing lost and forgotten history to the forefront. He talks about how they got this off the ground. Talks about ignoring the experts who told him not to build the product because it wasn't cool enough. But since launching they have 13.8 million monthly active users, spending in total 74 million minutes on the app and have raised a cool $1million in funding. He talks about building the community, gives thoughts on product management. He talks about building a niche product. Why they are different from other platforms. Talks about the creator economy and scaling too fast in the early days. Pitching & fundraising insights. Declining attention spans. Having a pool of creators & storytellers. And finally he shares his favourite stories (The Battle of Plassey) and much more.
Disrupting the traditional fashion supply chain with digital intervention. Today my guest is Pawan Gupta. Co-founder and CEO of Fashinza. They are digitising the supply chain to make it more efficient, transparent, fast, and sustainable. It all started with a trip to Jaipur the clothing manufacturing capital of India - not to talk about manufacturing but pain points. He will discuss what those pain points are! He talks about how they went from building the MVP using WhatsApp, AirTable and Excel in 2020 to now being one of the biggest companies in the world in this sector. Amazing stuff! He talks about how they use technology (new and old) to digitise the supply chain. Thoughts on scaling. How they work with brands and how they onboard customers. Talks about building trust in the early days. Dealing with fast fashion and ethical issues. Gives great advice for first time entrepreneurs, Being 2x entrepreneur. Talks about having a successful exit. Talks about his 2 part hiring process. And finally he talks about NFT's , his sporting heroes - Sourav Ganguly, and why you should think BIG!! And much more!
Make your startup investment ready! Today my guest is Priyanka Madnani, Founder & CEO of Easy to Pitch. Easy to Pitch is one of the fastest-growing one-stop pitching solutions for start-up founders & entrepreneurs looking to raise capital for their unique ideas. Since starting she now helps over 500 startups and reviewed over 5000 decks. So in this episode she talks about how she spotted a gap in the market for pitching solutions. Talks about helping founders and what investors are looking for. She talks about what founders should include in the pitch deck & getting your first 3 slides right. She talks about whether you should demo the product and thoughts on Shark Tank pitches. She talks about what founders struggle with when pitching. She talks about the reality of funding and a 10 second pitch which helped her get a client. She goes on to talk about branding, building relationships, winning awards and leadership. and much more!
Your 24x7 singing buddy! Today my guest is Gopal Krishna Koduri CEO & co-founder of Riyaz. A music learning app that offers an easy and convenient way for aspiring singers to practise their music lessons anywhere, anytime make music learning accessible and affordable. He talks about his love of classical indian music which inspired him to build this app. How the app works. He talks about building a venture-funded, steadily growing music learning app that is used around the world. (2million downloads, 4k paid users) Talks about UI & UX design challenges, talks about how they deal with feature requests. Talks about pricing and subscription models. Talks technology stacks , how they use data to improve the product. How they get users to download the app. Dealing with positive and negative feedback. Talks about the EdTech scene in india. Building an MVP in 2017. Thoughts on building an edtech and finally he talks about his fav singers, pays tribute to Lata Mangeshkar, one of India's most beloved singers, who passed recently and he gives you some singing tips for the next time your in the shower! & much more!
Make Memes Earn Money! Today my guest is Kyle Fernandes CEO & Co-founder of MemeChat. Founded in 2019, it is a platform that allows users to create viral memes and get rewarded for them. So in this episode he talks about how he came up with the idea. Talks about being a hyper growth startup (25 million memes , 6 million downloads, 1.3 monthly active users). Talks about how he designed & developed the app from scratch. Talks about getting funding from 500 Startups. Next he talks about a new NFT marketplace he is creating called - MemeClub, so anyone can buy and sell memes globally. He talks about scaling, the business model, Meme marketing, Viral content, being confident and key metrics -( Daily active users) He talks about giving users a solid reason why they should download the app. Creating an acquisition and distribution channel. And finally he talks about his favourite memes and how to get your meme to go viral and much much MORE!
Adding fun to a ‘White’ industry. Today I speak to Sulay Lavsi, the founder of Bummer, whose mission is to disrupt the millennial-focused underwear market. In this episode he talks about his amazing journey from not being taken seriously in the early days to his dramatic appearance on Shark Tank India. He shares brand building strategies and talks about marketing to GenZ & millennials. He talks about pricing philosophies - are you playing the brand game or the price game? & spotting a gap in the market . He talks about the mild negative reaction to Shark Tank india on social media. He talks about the business model and building partnerships. Why they use micro-influencers rather then the big social media influencers. Why he used paid marketing at the start to establish the brand. Talks about Falling in love with the business and brand. Hiring challenges in Tier 2 cities. He talks about spending 2 years on R&D and finally he talks about his life changing trip to America. and much more so please enjoy the show.