The Indian Startup Show

Giving People a Second Life! We are thrilled to welcome back Rishi Krishna, the visionary Founder and CEO of Symbionic, for his first appearance since November 2021! A lot has changed since our last conversation. 

After losing his right arm in a tragic bus accident in 2018, Rishi channeled his personal adversity into founding Symbionic, an assistive tech startup dedicated to building affordable, life-changing prosthetic devices. 

In this episode, we dive deep into the massive pivots the business has undergone, what it really takes to build and scale in India, and how Symbionic is quite literally giving pe...

Turning Wanderlust into a Business. Can falling in love with a place completely change the trajectory of your life? For Alankar Chandra, a trip to the Masai Mara did exactly that.

Today, I speak to Alankar Chandra, the CEO and Founder of Wild Voyager and Ilora Retreats. An IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, Alankar left his comfortable corporate job to pursue his true passions: wildlife and travel. 

In this episode, we discuss how he turned his hobby into a thriving experiential travel company, born out of a desire to rekindle a true sense of wonder through authentic a...

The India–Scotland Entrepreneurial Journey!  Today’s guest is Nishant Sharma. the Indian-born, Edinburgh-based entrepreneur whose company blends Indian heritage with Scottish craftsmanship. Nishant’s story is one of resilience, legacy and bold reinvention.

After leaving a successful career in financial services, he set out to build a brand with long-term meaning. Inspired by his late grandmother — and a family history that traces back to his great-grandfather becoming a whisky distiller during the British Raj — he brought his Assam roots into the heart of Scotland’s spirits industry. 

The journey, however, was anything but smooth. At one point...

Reinventing Kids Hospitality in India. Today my guest is Kanupriya Poddar, CEO of MagickWorld. She is building a platform to help parents discover kid-friendly stays, experiences, shops, and enrichment services across cities. In this episode, she shares how she launched MagickWorld alongside her 8-year-old daughter (a mini-entrepreneur, Shark Tank fan, business mindset!), onboarded 100+ local businesses within two months of soft launch, and cracking the distribution model. She reflects on lessons from her McKinsey background, explains why she prefers top-down strategy over bottom-up execution, and talks about bootstrapping, investor interest, the pressure of startup life , and staying grounded with advice...

Building a global brand from India. Today my guest is  Ritesh Arora, Co-Founder of TRU.BIKE, TRU.BIKE designs premium, lightweight and safe bicycles for children, and is now exporting e-bikes to Europe. 

In this episode he talks about why India, despite being the second-largest bicycle manufacturer, has no global brand, and how TRU.BIKE is changing that.

Ritesh shares their journey from bootstrapping in year one to raising funds, achieving product–market fit, and growing fast. He talks about building a strong marketing engine.

Being mentally prepared for the startup journey. Why your...

In this episode, I sit down with Saurabh Nigam—HR leader, angel investor, and author of People-Powered Startups: Building a Culture of Collaboration, Innovation, and High Performance. 

With over two decades of experience, Saurabh shares actionable insights on building a thriving startup culture, avoiding common HR mistakes, and hiring the right people at the right time. 

We dive into: Why startups struggle with HR—and how to fix it. The role of AI in recruitment. How to retain top talent and manage toxic high performers. Managing mental wellness in a high-growth startup environment. The three non-ne...

Showcasing emerging artists—today, my guest is Leia Tyebjee, co-founder of Pylot Studios, an interdisciplinary creative platform dedicated to artistic design, curation, and community engagement. In this episode, we discuss the challenges of creating spaces for artists, breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry, and how Pylot Studios is redefining art curation. Leia also shares her thoughts on AI in art, mistakes emerging artists make, the importance of community, and why she still chooses to work with film photography in the digital age. And finally, we talk bananas, interesting first impressions of New York, travel photography tips, and much more!

Indie Hacker Special! I speak to Piyush Patel, the founder of AmplifyX Labs and a prominent voice in the micro-SaaS and indie hacking space. From bootstrapping projects to building in public and exploring AI-powered tools, Piyush shares invaluable insights into his personal journey, product development strategies, getting your first customers and the future of micro-SaaS. This episode is packed with actionable advice for aspiring indie hackers, developers, and entrepreneurs who want to build and scale meaningful projects without funding. He also shares how numerology and astrology influence both his personal and business decisions, and reveals the surprising story of...

Chicken and hot sauce are a match made in heaven! In this episode, II’m joined by Mikhel Rajani, co-founder of Naagin Sauce, India’s first and favourite hot sauce brand. Mikhel and his team spotted a gap in the market about five years ago and have since transformed Naagin Sauce into a household name, now partnering with KFC India and reaching both domestic and international customers.

We dive deep into the story of building Naagin Sauce and what it takes to pioneer a brand in an untapped market. Here's what we cover:

The world is getting fatter! In this episode, we dive deep into fitness and nutrition with Adarsh Gopalakrishnan, founder of Move101 in Chennai. Move101 is a unique strength and conditioning gym tailored for regular folks with little to no training background, and it also offers online coaching.

Adarsh’s journey into fitness began in an unexpected way: he started working out to impress a girl who liked the biceps of a popular MTV VJ. He had no biceps and he wanted biceps and he started lifting weight and he got biceps! Thirteen years later, he’s trained hund...

On a mission to make intimacy easy, approachable, and fun. Today my guest is Anushka Gupta, co-founder of MyMuse. MyMuse is India’s first bedroom essentials brand, dedicated to making intimacy easy, approachable, and fun for Indians everywhere. 

Anushka and her husband started in a small apartment and now operate a warehouse serving over 150,000 customers across 1000+ Indian cities. They've also built a massive community of over 100,000 followers on Instagram and other social media platforms. 

During our conversation, Anushka discusses smashing taboos and disrupting the industry, as well as the different and innovative products offered by MyMu...

Experience real cricket at home! In this episode, I sit down with Prince Thomas, co-founder of MetaShot, a Bangalore-based gaming startup. MetaShot offers a unique and immersive cricket experience through a cutting-edge metaphysical smart bat.

Prince shares how the idea for MetaShot emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss the early days of development, from the initial prototypes—a cricket bat with a sensor and a copy of EA Cricket 2007—to securing significant investments from prominent investors and eventually having a best selling product on Flipkart. 

Throughout our conversation, Prince delves into the intricacies of how M...

Step into the dynamic world of Indian menswear fashion with our latest episode! Join us as we sit down with Karan Singh, the creative force behind Aristobrat, a brand renowned for its premium men's clothing. In this insightful conversation, Karan takes us on a journey from his inspiration drawn from a transformative trip to Scandinavia to the inception of his own fashion brand. 

Delve into his innovative financial strategies, including the use of factoring, and gain a deeper understanding of India's burgeoning menswear scene. Discover Karan's pearls of wisdom as he discusses crafting a brand strategy, mastering s...

Drawing inspiration from the timeless game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, today's guest is Lalit Kalani, the Founder of Rock Paper Rum, an innovative Indian Rum brand prominently featured on Season 3 of Shark Tank India.

 In this episode, Lalit delves into the journey of launching his venture, shedding light on navigating the competitive Mumbai market, mastering branding, product development, and effective marketing strategies. 

He talks about India's complicated relationship with alcohol. He offers invaluable advice on pitching, discusses the transformative impact of Shark Tank, and reveals insights into the decision-making process behind delaying the launch.  

And fin...

Driven by love for Table Tennis. Megha Gambhir, is the amazing co-founder and CEO of Stupa Sports Analytics. Her company is revolutionising the world of sports by providing athletes with cutting-edge analytics and insights to improve their performance.

 She talks about how she got started with a MVP - an Excel spreadsheet, to now working  the ITTF and  multiple international federations on her client list  and a number of global clients. She talks about leaving a well-paying job to figure it all out. 

Talks about working with her husband (pros & cons) She talks about pivoting. Build...

Making India sleep better: More than 55% of Indian adults face trouble falling asleep at least three nights a week. Today, I speak with Surbhi Jain, the founder of Neend, a free app offering stories, soothing sleep sounds, meditation, and more to help users unwind and nod off. 

Launched in 2021, Surbhi shares how she started this journey after contracting Covid and struggling with sleep issues. She released the MVP on YouTube, experiencing significant organic growth. Surbhi discusses building a consumer app in the wellness space, addressing topics like traction, funding, her background, dealing with competition, and a referral s...

Universal factories of the future. Today my guest is Gokul NA, Co-Founder of CynLr.  a pioneering deep-tech startup dedicated to the radical reinvention of dynamic vision-enabled robots, unlocking the potential to create the 'universal factories' of tomorrow. 

In this enlightening discussion, Gokul takes us on a journey back over a decade, recounting the humble beginnings with his co-founder in a modest office that evolved into a sprawling 13,000 sq ft research space. This state-of-the-art facility boasts robot research cells, cutting-edge electronics, a sophisticated camera and vision laboratory, all meticulously managed by an expert team of engineers and researchers. 

From a 13-year-old dreaming of becoming a YouTuber to now leading a 6-figure video content agency, today I speak with Pratham Jindal, Founder and CEO of Praper Media—a content agency collaborating with some of the biggest creators on the planet. 

In this episode he shares insights into launching the agency, recounting the story of securing his first customer by spending 100 Rupees on a super chat. Pratham delves into his unique hiring philosophy and offers perspectives on AI, Chat GPT, and Sora. Additionally, he unveils his distinctive framework for hiring staff and discusses effective cold email strategies.

It's a tough job market out there folks! , and on today's episode, we have an expert to guide us through it. I'm joined by Sarabjeet Sacher, the founder of Aspiration Jobs, with a profound passion for coaching professionals in areas such as career growth, career development, job search strategies, and interview techniques.

He shares valuable insights on crafting a compelling CV—what to include and what to avoid. The episode explores the intricacies of salary negotiation, providing tips on answering pivotal questions like "Why should I hire you?", 'Where do you see yourself in 3 years time?’   And his t...

Enabling the well-being of more than 355 million Indian women through products, experiences, and experts. Today my guest is Aruna Chawla, founder of Salad, a lifestyle planner mobile app that support women to better manage their health throughout the menstrual cycle by providing personalised nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle advice. 

She talks about her own personal journey of being in and out of hospital. She talks about building an MVP without  a CTO or developers. Aruna talks about why they don’t want to go viral and or build landing pages. She talks about the first version of Salad,  a con...

Bye Bye Potholes! Today I have the pleasure to talk to Sourabh Kumar, co-founder of PotHoleRaja, a social venture that 's on a mission to make India & the world pothole-free.  He got the idea After reading a tragic story about a woman who lost her life due to a pothole. He gave up his highly paid corporate job to fill in potholes around the streets of Bangalore at 5AM!  He didn't tell his parents but he started getting goosebumps when random strangers started to praise his work and efforts. 

Without any background in civil engineering he started doi...

Content is king! Today my guest is Gautam Madhavan CEO & founder of Mad Influence and influencer management agency. They do more than just connect creators and brands. They do digital marketing, social media management, content authoring, and providing consulting services to businesses. 

They are trying to create the biggest content companies in the world. In this episode he talks about how he got this off the ground by seeing the shift from Blogging to Vlogging 2017/18, realising the power of video and was laser focussed on tiktok in the early days before it was popular.  He explains why yo...

Building the next wave of technology. Today my guest is seasoned investor Nitin Sharma, general partner & co-founder of Antler India. A global early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the defining technology companies of tomorrow. They're one of the fastest growing VC firms in the world. 

In this episode he talks about his 15+ year investing experience. He talks about how they help early stage founders. He talks about the differences between American entrepreneurs and Indian entrepreneurs. Talks about the No1 mistake founders make after raising money and how he deals with startup failure. 

He talks ab...

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...

Sports tech and driving sports engagement. Today my guest is  Amit Purohit  CEO & 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 crick...

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 curren...

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 mo...

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...

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 stu...

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...

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 request...

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 ta...

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

Hello everyone, Thank you for downloading the last episode 2021. After 5 years of interviewing amazing Indian Entrepreneurs I am thinking about investing in a few Indian startups in 2022! if you are building something exciting and need some seed funding  to get your startup off the ground please contact me. 

Today you will hear some of the best guests I have spoken to over the past 12 months. You will hear from Newslaundry co-founder Abhinandan Sekhri  (2.39m) on building an alternative news model & paying to keep the news free! Next up is Siddharth Manvati (Ph.D) Co-Founder of ClearMeat.  (35.06) He talk...

Today you will hear some of the best guests I have spoken to  over the past 12 months. You will hear from  Raghav Gupta, the co-founder of Nymble labs. (2.57)  His team has built a personal cooking assistant called Julia, so we talk about his appearance on TV. He talks about how they have developed the robot since we last spoke, talks about raising finance ,setting up offices in China and California. 

Next we have Nitesh Salvi Founder & CEO of Pocket52 (39.11)  on building India’s largest poker platform .He talks about how he went from playing poker in the late ni...

India’s fintech adoption is booming. So today my guest is Ankur Joshi  CEO & Co-founder of Nuclei,a bootstrapped software enterprise startup that helps banks improve digital banking services by integrating its API platform to increase customer engagement through merchant marketplace and wealth management services. 

He talks about how he got this off the ground. Mistakes made in the early days. He talks about why they bootstrap and not raise any capital. He explains why the primary product is the team. He then talks about building partnerships, thoughts on B2C and B2B business models.  Talks about...

The wearable devices market in India is expected to reach a sales volume of 16.22 million units by 2024. So today I speak to Anmol Saxena, the CEO & founder of Ashva Weartech. They develop wearable solutions for chronic knee pain & spine. 

So in this episode she talks about her own battles with knee pain that inspired to build a prototype at a hackathon. And since then they not looked back! She talks about how the products work, quitting her job at Ford. Building a MVP. Talks product development. 

She talks about her research in the early days. Sh...

Building bionic arms for people with disabilities! Today I speak to Rishi Krishan, the CEO & Co-Founder of Symbionic. Symbionic is an affordable, assistive technology startup that makes smart prosthetic devices. 

It all started due to a freak bus accident which led to him losing his arm.  So in this episode he talks about the huge challenges building a bionic arm. He talks about how he validated the idea by being a human guinea pig. Talks about how they build empathy into the product and the market size. 

Talks technology and the business model. Talks about the...

Ganesh Shankar is back! He came on the show in October 2017 (EP68) & he is celebrating 10 years as an entrepreneur! Ganesh is the co-founder & CEO of FluxGen FluxGen is on a mission to help industries become water positive, and aims to help save 1 billion litres of water everyday using his product AquaGen, a smart real-time water flow and level monitoring system. So in this episode he talks about improving the product using design thinking. 

He talks about time spent in the Cisco Launchpad Tech accelerator. Talks about dealing with the water crisis. He gives bootstrapping advice. Talks about d...

Nivedha is back on the show!  I spoke to her back in December 2017 (Ep 72). She is the Co-founder of TrashCon. They have created a machine that helps solve India's huge waste management problem by converting mixed waste into Biodegradable and Non-Biodegradable Waste. They started with one tiny machine doing 100kg/day to now doing 200,000 kgs/day!  Last year they did a million dollars revenue and have 3 million dollars in the pipeline this year. She talks about spending 2.5 years working in a dumpsites around India . She talks about working with big corporations and municipalities.  Nivedha then talks about how they lau...