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Tag: Crafting Bharat

  • Crafting Bharat’s Season Finale: How AWS is Accelerating Growth of the Indian Startup Ecosystem

    India has the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem and is on track to become the third-largest economy globally. India offers abundant opportunities, and great potential, and is home to disruptive innovators with transformative ideas. Furthermore, it has the second-largest developer base in the world, reinforcing its position as a leading technology and innovation powerhouse.

    The ‘Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series’ is powered by AWS and is an initiative by NewsReach in association with VCCircle. The podcast aims to uncover the secrets behind successful entrepreneurs’ journeys, providing valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts. The series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, a well-known personality with a diverse range of TV and digital programs. He currently serves as a consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.

    In a podcast discussion with Kumara Raghavan, Head of Startup Sales at AWS India, we explored how Amazon Web Services (AWS) supports Indian startups through various programs and initiatives, enabling them to enter new and global markets. The conversation highlighted the growth of India’s startup industry and how entrepreneurs leverage technology to solve widespread problems. For instance, MoEngage, a customer engagement platform, expanded into the ASEAN market with AWS’s assistance. They gained networking opportunities to connect with over 200 CMOs across six ASEAN countries, leading to high-quality business prospects. AWS’s support and networking capabilities, along with the advantages of an Activate program, opens up new possibilities and help lower the cost of curiosity for startups.

    Crafting Bharat Episode 12 With Kumara Raghavan, Head of Startup Sales at AWS India

    We are seeing Bharat in terms of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities and towns emerge as a fertile ground with over 50% of DPIIT recognized startups coming from these areas today. What’s your sense of the transformative effect of these Bharatiya startups in making India Atmanirbhar?

    As of December 2023, there were over 117,000 startups listed with DPIIT. That’s quite a phenomenal achievement, and as you say, a lot of this is coming not just from Tier 1 cities, but also from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. If you look at jobs, for example, over 12.4 lakh jobs have been created, which is quite something. Today’s startups are emerging from every state and union territory, spanning 80% of the districts. This truly shows India’s potential and the untapped power of innovation that we are all eagerly looking forward to.

    In running a startup there’s always a balance needed between innovation and costs, especially in their starting phase since building a minimum viable product involves constant experimentation and being curious about upcoming consumer habits, trends, and pain points. How is AWS helping startups build products without worrying about costs?

    I think you have touched upon an important point. Often, people see it as two diametrically opposite ends: either being innovative or being very cost-conscious. However, I think they are really two sides of the same coin and, counterintuitively, both go hand in hand. Typically, when depicting the journey of a startup, particularly those in their initial stages, they conceive a brilliant concept, develop their MVP, and endeavor to attain product-market fit. At this phase, extensive experimentation is essential to substantially enhance the customer experience, not just marginally. This is where AWS’s flagship ‘Activate Program’, in operation since 2013, comes into play. Startups in the early stages can benefit greatly from AWS credits, which offer access to a range of services, including computing, storage, networking, databases, and advanced solutions like AI/ML. This access allows them to experiment and innovate with minimal risk, as they can “fail fast” with little to no penalty.

    For example, when it comes to technological innovation, AWS’s custom Graviton processors offer a significant advantage. Compared to traditional x86 compute options, Graviton provides a 40% improvement in price-to-performance ratio. This leads to a substantial increase in ROI, as businesses benefit from enhanced performance while also reducing costs. This innovation not only boosts performance but also delivers significant cost savings.

    Take us through some conversations that you’ve had with startups on challenges that they face around building capabilities and mastering new technologies to future-proof their business since the narrative has shifted from pure growth to profitability for this ecosystem?

    Currently, our conversations tend to be around how to use Generative AI, which is one of the most transformational technologies of our times. What they’re looking to do is improve the efficiency and creativity of their own employees while also enhancing the customer’s journey. When they try out new technologies, they want to do it right. That’s where our philosophy comes in: although there is a new technology, there are some foundational principles that are best adhered to if you want to get it right.

    A great example is DeHaat, which operates with a “farmer-first” philosophy. They currently serve about 1.8 million farmers across 11 states in India through 11,000 DeHaat centers. DeHaat assists farmers by addressing various challenges, such as crop classification, disease prediction and remediation, and yield forecasting, to optimize the supply chain.

    By utilizing tools like Amazon SageMaker and Amazon Redshift, DeHaat has achieved impressive results. They have helped farmers reduce costs by up to 15%, improved yield predictability by 90%, and increased the accuracy of disease prediction and remediation by 80%. This highlights how integrating advanced technology with a strong foundational philosophy can drive significant improvements and create lasting value for both businesses and their customers.

    For startups with game-changing ambitions for Generative AI, how does AWS Accelerator enable them to be up and running within weeks?

    Last year, we launched AWS ML Elevate, an accelerator program for generative AI startups. We have had a number of generative AI startups participate in that program; to name a few, we had Blend and Dubverse.ai. To elaborate on Blend, they’re making commercial-grade photography accessible to SMBs. Blend can help you with removing backgrounds and polishing images in a matter of seconds, making them readily available to be displayed on 16 different e-commerce sites and 8 different social media platforms. They are essentially reducing the dependence of SMBs on professional photographers for making their products highly visible.

    The startup ecosystem in India has witnessed significant growth over the last decade, driven by increasing technology adoption and urbanization. With various AWS services, they are making the startup journey more efficient for disruptive founders.

  • Eleventh Episode of Crafting Bharat Podcast Series Featuring Krishnan Vishwanathan, Founder & Executive Director of RING and Kissht, Delves Deep into the Indian Startup Ecosystem

    Krishnan Vishwanathan, Founder & ED of Kissht discusses his entrepreneurial journey, building s solution-oriented business and trends in the FinTech Industry with host Gautam Srinivasan.

    Entrepreneurship is in the air! India has witnessed a surge in the number of startups over the last decade with an increasing tech-savvy population. The pandemic changed the way people consume services with the growth of digitization making everything accessible. 

    The “Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series” powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.

    India’s rapid adoption to digitization is opening new avenues for budding entrepreneurs, and intrigued and determined entrepreneur Krishnan Vishwanathan, Founder & ED of Kissht, is on a mission to make the borrowing experience of individuals seamless. In the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, Vishwanathan talks about his entrepreneurial journey, building s solution-oriented business, and trends in the FinTech Industry.

    Explore the tales of Indian startup founders’ transformation from dreams to reality, navigating challenges to seize opportunities through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series.

    Crafting Bharat, Episode 11 With Krishnan Vishwanathan, Founder & ED of Kissht

    Segment 1: The Incubator

    While you try to solve for A particular customer, you seem to have ended up solving for customers of many other segments. What does this blurring of lines indicate for how you approach your business now?

    If I’m a new start-up today, starting with access to credit on a differentiator will fall by the wayside within six months, and therefore the answer must be something beyond that. For us the answer has been evolving from a product innovation standpoint, lending is one of the most commodity and a centuries-old product. Large institutions today would not even afford basic flexibility for a person to choose his own loan amount, repayment schedule, repayment flexibility if he wants weekly or monthly. I mean these are basic things we started on day one. The segment we started with I’m not talking about the affluent segment I am talking about the segment we started with a lot of people who are irregular salaried and small business owners. 

    How do you survive and manage to stand out from the pack?

    When you put risk and your customers first, I think the solutions start appearing in front of you. The drawback for some of these things are we’ve probably grown slower than some of our peers. I know a couple of organizations started after us technically on paper valuation they’re ahead of us. It doesn’t bother us because we know we are here for the long term. We are here to create an institution like Infosys and TCS. Something that will outlive us and I think that approach is unit economics-based fundamentals not chasing undue growth and keeping customers first. 

    How do you view GenAI helping you with this big opportunity? What are the next-level use cases that you see GenAI delivering for Ring? 

    GenAI is a very wide canvas, and I am not an expert, but I’ll tell you where we are focusing on with GenAI today in the company. We are today focusing on two things; one is mass customization and improving interaction with the customer. Ring is a culmination of saying how do I blend payments and lending into one platform which is very seamless to the customer. The idea being that we want to be a one stop solution to the customer. 

    Segment 2: The Accelerator

    Take us through the highlights of your funding journey.

    There are two big highlights. First, all our early-stage investors continued to remain with us and in fact they have invested in the last round as well, which is a testament to the fact that they believe in us, our business model and our team. Second big highlight is that we have always chosen investors not for the capital but something more they bring, whether it is market connect or international peer exposure that they give us. That has really helped us remain and largely we have chosen investors who share the same long-term vision as us.

    If existing lending products are viewed as digitized versions of their earlier analog experiences, What’s the second layer of innovation of a truly digital lending experience going to look like? 

    I am belaboring the point, but it must be menu-driven mass customization. It must be something that fits. Customization has happened in other industries and generally, people feel that it might not work in financial services, but it must be the way forward. I think the needs of specific customers are very different.

    The startup ecosystem is continuously evolving with newer sectors growing with increasing internet penetration and digitization. The country’s steady growth and commitment to science and technology, is emphasizing technology-driven innovation in shaping India’s future. 

    Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as they bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.

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  • Tenth Episode of Crafting Bharat Podcast Series with Dale Vaz, Founder & CEO of Aaritya, Explores Future Insights of the Indian Startup Ecosystem

    Dale Vaz, Founder & CEO of Aaritya discusses his entrepreneurial journey, building a trading platform, and upcoming trends in the industry.

    India is a country with great potential considering its population size, open global economy, and increasing digital adoption. India’s startup ecosystem is the driving force for India’s economic growth. 

    The “Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series” powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.

    Financial independence awareness is rising with the increasing young generation of India, and passionate and astute founder, Dale Vaz, Founder & CEO Founder of Aaritya, is on a mission to make financial independence seamless. In the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, Vaz talks about his entrepreneurial journey, building a trading platform, and upcoming trends in the industry.

    Explore the tales of Indian startup founders’ transformation from dreams to reality, navigating challenges to seize opportunities through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series.

    Crafting Bharat, Episode 10 With Dale Vaz, Founder & CEO of Aaritya

    Segment 1: The Incubator

    What was going through your mind when you put in your papers around this time last year as the CTO of a (reclaimed) decacorn to lead a startup of your own?

    There were a couple of factors that were running through my mind back in December of the 1 year. One factor was that I have always seen my career in chunks of 5 years. Every five years I would take out time to relook at what I am doing and plan the next 5 years. I believe that 5 years is a good chunk because it gives you enough time to build something meaningful and at the same time it’s a good enough chunk where you can then think of the next 5 years as a certain plan. So, I was coming up on 5 years at Swiggy and one option was always open which was to continue. But I have always had this itch at the back of my mind about taking the experience I have gained in working at a consumer product company and applying it to some transformative space. That itch was very strong, and it became even stronger as I was thinking about the next phase of my life.

    How did you sync your expectations with the investors for Aaritya?

    My journey with the VC Community has been a revealing one because from the outside it would appear that they would just give the money away. But interestingly what I learned is that the VC Community is very well educated about the space and so they have their own perspective and belief on what will work and what won’t. In terms of aligning the investors with my vision, it was largely mutual agreement, where we both came to a place where we both felt that we need to focus on the long-term goal and the long-term is really looking at the new age generations of users coming up, as more than half of our country is 29 years and below.

    Considering your vast tech experience with Amazon, how do you think AWS could be an effective partner to help you scale up?

    I have a history with AWS due to my past work at Amazon and Swiggy, we have chosen AWS as our partner for Aaritya. There are a few reasons why we prefer AWS; one, they give us the ability to scale but in a very cost-effective manner; second, some of the AWS managed services allow us to take away some of that operational load and give it away to AWS.

    Segment 2: The Accelerator

    Considering your experience, what would you say is the key to a good working relationship with the venture capital folks, for all the newly minted founders listening in?

    It’s very early for me to give advice as I have been doing it for a year now, but one thing that has really worked for me so far is being transparent.

    What’s your view on dealing with tech debt that some startups face when they scale up too quickly?

    I have this model which I have used which has kind of helped me. I see debt as two different types, one is a short-term mistake that is expensive to fix like a credit card debt and second is the kind of debt you consciously take like a home loan which is not too bad to have around. As a leader, you need to balance on when you are taking conscious debt which you can pay off over time versus when you are taking a poor decision that can lead to a big pain. As a leader, if you can manage conscious calls then you can achieve the balance between debt and speed of execution.

    The Indian startup ecosystem has been booming making its mark at the global level. With increasing digital adoption and passionate entrepreneurs, the future of the Indian startup ecosystem is promising.

    Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as they bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.

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  • Ninth Episode of Crafting Bharat Podcast Series Explores the Intricacies of the Indian Startup Ecosystem with Aditya Sharma, Co-Founder & Director of The Souled Store

    Aditya Sharma, Co-Founder & Director of The Souled Store discusses his entrepreneurial journey, building a D2C apparel brand around pop culture and upcoming trends with host Gautam Srinivasan.

    The startup ecosystem of India has grown tremendously in the last decade. India has emerged as a predominant player in the global startup ecosystem and is home to various successful startups and innovative entrepreneurs. 

    The “Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series” powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.

    Digital adoption has made shopping online effortless, and a zestful and passionate entrepreneur, Aditya Sharma, Co-Founder & Director of The Souled Store, is putting the ‘pop’ in pop culture. In the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, Sharma talks about his entrepreneurial journey, building a D2C apparel brand around pop culture and upcoming trends. 

    Explore the tales of Indian startup founders’ transformation from dreams to reality, navigating challenges to seize opportunities through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series.

    Crafting Bharat, Episode 9 With Aditya Sharma, Co-Founder & Director of The Souled Store

    Segment 1: The Incubator

    How confident were you of a product-market fit considering India was a very nascent market for such options?

    The only way to get official merchandise in India was either to call a relative who is abroad to get it for us or to buy fake merchandise from the street side. We saw the gap and knew that there definitely was a demand because people wanted it. There is a very low barrier to entry to start an apparel brand in India as it requires very less capital. 

    Dealing with challenges of ecosystem peer pressure and an urge to grow fast. How did you handle this phase? 

    When we raised our first round of funding, I wouldn’t call it pressure but more like responsibility to use the funding at the right place. We had a lot of cash in the bank, so we decided to increase the marketing spend which in turn increased our revenue. We burned cash in the short term but eventually it helped us in the long term. We did two things with the cash, one we increased the marketing and branding spend and second, we started hiring aggressively. To cut the long story short, we wanted to achieve the growth in 2 years which would have ideally taken us 5 years to achieve. After 2 rounds of funding and making the same mistake of achieving fast we established that the business would take its time to grow, we need to make sure we’re not burning cash, is profitable and at the same time if your product is good then your success is going to be a little delayed but it will come for sure. 

    What was the reasoning behind going physical considering most of your revenue still comes from the website and mobile app?

    We did real-life AB testing with the store. The store was 500 sq ft in size, which was a lot of cost to us back during that time. To our surprise the store worked well. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit, and we had to slow down but we managed to pick up the pace and reached 23 offline stores. There was no pressure from the investors, but we wanted to give the offline channel a shot. The Indian audience loves to shop online but there is a great chunk of the audience who wants to shop offline to get the touch and feel of the products.

    Segment 2: The Accelerator

    From a cost-benefit perspective for a startup, what are the dos and don’ts of working with influencers and celebrities to drive brand popularity?

    I would say that be true to yourself and the brand. What we’ve seen through our journey is that whenever we try to do something for views it never works out. Our brand endorsement with Hardik Pandya aligned with the brand because the type of apparels he wears is like what we sell, and he genuinely loves our products. If we would have done this with someone else from the Indian cricket team whose vibe doesn’t align with our brand, it won’t work as effectively.

    As you evolve beyond Superheroes and Sitcoms, what’s the next pop culture phenomenon that you are looking to tap into at The Souled Store?

    The next pop culture phenomenon we aim to tap is Anime. We’ve been working heavily to get a Japanese brand like Attack on Titan. We are trying to get these brands to India and generally Japanese brands have very strict requirements. It’s a matter of them understanding that there’s a huge market here in India and we want to be the first ones to bring it to India.

    The Indian startup ecosystem has not only disrupted the traditional market but also created new markets and opportunities, showcasing India’s potential for innovation and entrepreneurship. 

    Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as they bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.

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  • Eighth Episode of Crafting Bharat Podcast Series featuring Tejas Rathod, Co-Founder and COO of Mobavenue, Shares Insights on the Indian Startup Ecosystem

    Tejas Rathod, Co-Founder and COO of Mobavenue discusses his entrepreneurial journey, building a successful startup and the future of MadTech Industry.

    The startup ecosystem of India is blooming exponentially with great various human capital advantages and enormous opportunities coming in limelight due to technological adoption and digital transformation across sectors.

    The “Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series” powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.

    Digital transformation across sectors has brought forward various opportunities for budding entrepreneurs, and a humble and visionary entrepreneur Tejas Rathod, Co-Founder and COO of Mobavenue, is streamlining how brands communicate to users. In the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, Rathod talks about his entrepreneurial journey, building a successful startup, and the future of the MadTech Industry.

    Explore the tales of Indian startup founders’ transformation from dreams to reality, navigating challenges to seize opportunities through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series.

    Crafting Bharat, Episode 8 With Tejas Rathod, Co-Founder and COO of Mobavenue

    Segment 1: The Incubator

    From starting off with 100$ in a small cubicle to creating a leading ad-tech and mar-tech platform; It all began at a very early age for you. Describe the experience of being a startup founder at a very young age?

    Kunal (Co-founder & CGO) and I started with content monetization, which got us our first paycheck of $100. This motivated us to do more. With that, we started off by helping brands… through digital marketing. When that was going well, we met Ishank (Co-founder & CEO), and he helped propel us with the clientele. With that we got on the journey of Mobavenue. The journey was amazing, we never thought of creating such a big company coming from a humble background. It was overwhelming to have so many clients and various products across our table along with doing exceptionally well in the industry.

    How has Mobavenue enabled more creative ways to bridge the gap between publishers and advertisers while still maintaining a privacy-first approach during this shift?

    It was a great challenge for us because the AdTech industry is ever evolving and very dynamic. You need to be on top of everything. Privacy has been a major concern of government institutions and the entire ecosystem. We thought of including contextual targeting in our Demand Side Platform (DSP). This is where we try to understand the users, what they are reading from the content, and how we can target the users. We try to target the content that is being read by the user and place the advertisement around that content.

    As Mobavenue evolved its solutions to address single and multiple use cases to build an end- to-end platform for growth and ad-tech, what were the key challenges that you faced in trying to address client needs from diverse sectors?

    Each sector has different requirements with respect to acquiring customers through our platform. Every company has a different problem statement. As we work with enterprises, they have already acquired the initial set of customers, their purpose of approaching us is to discover and acquire a new customer base. 

    Segment 2: The Accelerator

    What lessons can we learn from Mobavenue’s journey of being bootstrapped and the ways to achieve profitability at a quick pace?

    Finding the right talents, especially in a lean team, being adaptive to situations, and understanding finances deeply in terms of revenue and expenses can be helpful for budding entrepreneurs. We even try to avoid overburdening our cash flows— as we directly work with clients without any mediators to effectively show our value proposition.

    What’s the best way to stay grounded as a startup founder if you achieve a lot in very little time?

    We come across a lot of people and converse with them. When you come across someone who has done greater things in life than you, it makes you realize that you need to achieve more. I haven’t reached the peak where I can say that I have done everything. I would say that you should thrive better and achieve more.

    Over the past decade, India’s startup ecosystem has evolved dynamically, offering fertile ground for innovation and abundant opportunities for entrepreneurs to thrive and compete at global level in the years to come.

    Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as they bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.

  • Seventh Episode of Crafting Bharat Podcast: Sravanth Aluru, Avataar Co-Founder & CEO, on AI’s Future & Spatial Storytelling in India

    ‘Startup’ has become the buzzword for the current generation. It has become a career path where students and professionals are changing their career to pursue their dreams and passion. For decades this wave has hit India, making it the 3rd largest ecosystem globally.

    The “Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series” powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.

    The Indian Startup ecosystem has witnessed an exceptional leap with AI/ML technologies. Sravanth Aluru, Co-Founder and CEO of Avataar, is the light bearer in revolutionizing the industry with the power of spatial storytelling. In the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, Aluru talks about his entrepreneurial journey, spatial storytelling, and trends in the AI industry.

    Explore the tales of Indian startup founders’ transformation from dreams to reality, navigating challenges to seize opportunities through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series. 

    Crafting Bharat, Episode 7 With Sravanth Aluru, Co-Founder and CEO of Avataar

    Segment 1: The Incubator

    How did your previous stints help you zero in on this new way of enabling consumer interactions for brands?

    I found the passion of spatial storytelling and the power of spatial depth towards visual discovery at Microsoft, where I kind of started my career, I was a computer vision fanatic back then. Kinect is a depth sensor that would sit on top of Xbox and do the skeleton tracking and some of those early AI and computer vision use cases. That’s where I saw the power of spatial depth and just to allude to that we all live in a physical world which has a third dimension, our digital experiences are flat today on the flat screens that we carry be it a mobile, laptop or tablet and I could see there’s a huge gap or a digital physical divide, in terms of how consumers are today consuming content and visual experiences on digital versus how physical happens.

    Anything that we should look forward to from your moonshot factory called Avataar Reality Labs?

    I think the physical and the digital reality will not be distinguishable anymore if you were to fast forward to maybe 5 years from now, we are seeing that already in the pilot R&D POCs that we’re doing internally in the Avataar Reality Labs. But the kind of photo realism and the way we can blend the physical and digital reality today with devices like Quest 2 by Meta or Vision Pro by Apple. I think it is going to give superhuman capabilities across everything digital starting from communications to even just information consumption to productivity in various different contexts.

    Could you expand on your partnership with AWS and how it helps you scale up and innovate?

    We are focused on a very clear AI computer vision convergence era and having said that AWS gives us a lot more capabilities to connect various dots that either remove friction or create delight for our clients or the end consumers and that’s where I see the partnership to be very complimentary of a strong win-win for both entities.

    Segment 2: The Accelerator

    What’s your idea of the perfect product? 

    Honestly, the perfect product is like infinity to me, where you can tend to it and limit it but there’s nothing called reaching infinity. Similarly, I don’t think there’s a perfect product that exists in the world. But if I must express my point of view, a perfect product would be something that is continuously improving with a very clear utilitarian purpose of either removing existing friction today or driving value in terms of delight where you are able to do things that you couldn’t do yesterday.

    How challenging was it to attract the right talent?

    I do think that people want a purpose, they want to be part of a journey that’s value creation from nothing and if you can spin on the ability for people because it’s a collective journey as just one founder cannot achieve anything by himself but it’s a collective team that achieves it.

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    Everyone wants to scale quickly but how about staying small till you really understand the business inside out and scale smartly and sustainably? Your thoughts? 

    I think there’s a little bit of instant gratification that’s creeped into the startup philosophies. I am not sure if that’s the right approach, I’m not saying that you should spend 10 years. What I mean is you really need to find a true value proposition that’s sustainable.

    The Indian Startup Ecosystem is having a quantum shift with motivated startup founders bringing forth exceptional innovation. Startup founders’ vision and dedication drive India’s startup surge.

    Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as they bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.

  • Sixth Episode of Crafting Bharat Podcast with Rajat Deshpande, Co-Founder and CEO of FinBox Offering Valuable Insights into India’s Startup Landscape

    A startup founder’s life comes with layers of challenges, responsibilities, commitments, all-nighters, long hours, and more. It can be heartbreaking when things don’t work out, and rewarding beyond belief when they do. 

    The “Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series” powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times. In this episode of Crafting Bharat, Gautam speaks to Rajat Deshpande, Co-Founder and CEO of FinBox, and a shining star of India’s fintech ecosystem. Here, he talks about what motivated him to embrace entrepreneurship and the ways in which credit infrastructure is changing India’s fintech landscape.

    Through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, let’s discover the stories of Indian startup founders’ journey of turning dreams into reality and turning challenges into opportunities.

    Crafting Bharat, Episode 6 With Rajat Deshpande, Co-Founder and CEO of FinBox

    Segment 1: The Incubator

    They say there is a thin line between genius and insanity. What made you sure about being on the right track since India’s digital payments and lending revolution was yet to take off then, there wasn’t much bureau penetration yet, and none of you were engineers early on.

    FinBox was founded twice, once in 2015 as a Personal Finance Management App which didn’t work, so we reworked the product, launching it again in 2 years in a B2B format which you see now. The interesting piece was that we got so involved and we learned so much in that period. These experiences kept building, and we had so much fun along the way that we weren’t thinking about whether it would be a success or not. We were focused on building this, and we knew once we had built it, it would be great.

    Was there ever a situation where if you didn’t secure a client, the future of Finbox was at stake? Or did the B2B model, where it’s easier to build something that customers pay for from a use case perspective, enable a smoother ride that trained you to sell before you build versus the reverse? 

    This first sale was for more than $1 million which we thought was insane. When we received that payment in our bank account, we were in a state of shock, and we were counting zeros. It’s in that stage where you feel a huge burden because of the trust people are putting into your vision, which then makes you worry about what happens if things go wrong. But then suddenly, there’s a resolution that validates your vision.

    Besides generating personalized credit risk profiles with limited data and fraud detection, which emerging use cases for GenAI are you most optimistic about in terms of adding value for your company? 

    I look at GenAI in two different ways. One of the most talked about use cases is the customer experience layer and the second is the operational nature of GenAI in the B2B SaaS space. I am most excited about the latter, because if you get this right then the way the software is delivered and consumed changes meaningfully.

    Segment 2: The Accelerator

    The balance between hustle and process for startup founders. How do they achieve this to hyperscale effectively?

    Every startup founder is trying to find an answer to this question. I would say that the balance between hustle and process evolves as the company scales. In the early stage, you are the aggressor, all you want is hustle. As you grow larger and become a company, you have a lot to defend, a reputation to protect and customer experience on various layers, that’s where the process kicks in that you need to set up.

    From a product manager to a startup founder. What has this journey taught you? 

    Firstly, the product is not everything, distribution is equally important. Secondly, have real gumption for the startup roller coaster ride, and lastly, give importance to family support because they will be there through thick and thin. India’s startup landscape is expanding rapidly, emerging as a vibrant ecosystem in the global landscape. And it’s the founders’ vision and commitment that’s propelling this ecosystem forward.

    Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as they bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.

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  • Unveiling Valuable Insights in the Fifth Episode of the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series with Shubhi Agarwal, Co-founder & COO at Locobuzz

    Shubhi Agarwal, Co-Founder & COO of Locobuzz, Dives into Entrepreneurship, Funding, and Innovative GenAI Applications.

    The journey of a startup founder is filled with good times and bad times, successes and failures. Being a female founder in a male-dominated tech industry can be uniquely demanding. As a startup founder, they are not only breaking barriers and shattering stereotypes but are awe-inspiring entrepreneurs. 

    The “Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series” powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.

    The Indian startup ecosystem has grown rapidly and evolved over the past decade. Shubhi Agarwal, Co-Founder and COO of Locobuzz is creating a buzz with their unified CXM platform. In the Crafting Bharat Podcast series, Shubhi Agarwal shares about her entrepreneurial journey leading to the incorporation of Locobuzz. She also talks about the lows and highs of being bootstrapped and how they are innovatively using GenAI.

    Through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, let’s discover the stories of Indian startup founders’ journey of turning dreams into reality and turning challenges into opportunities.

    Crafting Bharat, Episode 5 With Shubhi Agarwal, Co-founder & COO of Locobuzz

    Segment 1: The Incubator

    What are your thoughts on taking a strategic time-out? Any benefits that you see especially for startup founders?

    While this whole presumption may look very counterintuitive, I completely agree with your observation of this, because 8 hours of sleep is sacrosanct. I recently read a book by Matthew Walker named ‘ Why We Sleep’. The book talks about why sleep is required like any good fitness regime needs a day of rest and recovery, an individual also needs rest and recovery to induce ideas and creativity. It helps to be in sync with the innovation happening around you. So, a strategic timeout is very important, the best ideas happen when you are with yourself.

    Locobuzz started as a tool for monitoring and analyzing social engagement and is now an end-to-end customer experience platform. What were the highs and lows of that transformation and the lessons that it taught you in growing a business?

    Being a bootstrapped company we have to be very cognizant of the inflows and outflows which have been happening. One thing that we have been very careful about is to maintain unit economics. I think every journey is full of highs and lows and ours has been the same. I remember this very fondly when we started Locobuzz, every single win got us so much joy whether it was a new customer acquisition that gave us maybe $200 or $300,000, where we knew that most of that money would go back into the business where we would invest into technology or build the team.

    From the largest telecom player to the largest hospitality chain, your customer base of around 300+ is diverse. Any insights on how the CX needs of your large customers differ from the smaller startups that work with you?

    Be it a small startup or a big enterprise, their reputation is of utmost importance to them and they trust us to maintain that and that is the common factor which brings it all together. Big enterprises require the platform to work along with their existing system and startups require a platform that is self-sufficient and can be managed by a lean team. The platform that we have created can address both spectrums of clients easily.

    Segment 2: The Accelerator

    Someone wrote on social media that women in tech are over-mentored and under-sponsored. What’s a professional tactic you could suggest to overcome this problem – especially type casting for roles?

    I have done a TEDx talk on this topic. At Locobuzz, we have a very meritocratic society, where your capability is your capability, and you will be hired based on that and not based on gender or where you come from. I would say that one needs to show that they have a result-oriented mindset, take initiative and get them to their logical end. That solves most of the under-sponsored part.

    Sometimes startup founders can get enamored by an idea and end up not keeping the consumer pain point that is supposed to be addressed in focus. How should one avoid this?

    It’s honestly very tricky. It happens with us also. What we do is create focus groups within the organization and if all the focus groups unanimously agree on building a certain kind of concept we go ahead with that, however, if we are not taking that approach we do what we did at the start of our journey which is we go to our clients.

    Entrepreneurs who embark on the journey of making an impact in the world, often face unique challenges. Their undying motivation and dedication to building something exclusive and leaving a mark on India’s startup landscape is what drives them through the challenges.

    Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as they bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.

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  • Fourth Episode of Crafting Bharat Podcast Series: A Treasure Trove of Insights into India’s Startup Landscape

    Chirag Taneja, Co-Founder and CEO of GoKwik discusses his entrepreneurial journey, E-Commerce trends, GoKwik’s growth story, and venture capital funding with host Gautam Srinivasan.

    There is no one-size-fits-all formula for startup success, each company’s journey is unique and full of uncertain challenges. The founders behind these successful startups possess an admirable spirit of determination, passion and vision to bring change through innovation. 

    The “Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series” powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.

    In the dynamic landscape of India’s startup ecosystem, Chirag Taneja, the Co-Founder and CEO of GoKwik, stands out as a visionary leader driving innovation and reshaping the e-commerce sector. In the debut episode of Crafting Bharat, Taneja shared how he embarked on a challenging entrepreneurial journey that led to the founding of GoKwik. He also talks about building a remote-first company during the pandemic and the future of the e-commerce industry with emerging technologies like GenAI.

    Through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, let’s discover the stories of Indian startup founders’ journey of turning dreams into reality and turning challenges into opportunities.

    Segment 1: The Incubator

    Which parts of your original thesis of founding GoKwik panned out and which did not?

    The initial thesis centered around whether India would embrace direct-to-consumer models, mirroring the USA rather than China. Another thesis was targeting the untapped Cash-on-Delivery market globally. Finally, the focus shifted to building a diverse VC-backed business in India, requiring multiple products to foster D2C market growth, embracing a vision yet adaptable strategy.

    Crafting Bharat, Episode 4 With Chirag Taneja, Co-Founder and CEO, GoKwik

    What were the challenges you faced in building a remote-first company?

    GoKwik is a pandemic-born company. By the time we could even think about whether we were going to be remote or in-office, we were already 150 people. We had already crossed the Dunbar Number, the mark where the organization starts to change. I am still not married to the fact that we must build the company remotely, I am married to our overall vision with GoKwik.

    As a founder how did you manage that transition from intuition to data-driven decision-making while GoKwik was exponentially scaling up? How do cloud platforms like AWS make this transition easier? 

    If you see second or third-time founders, they would have done something and would have figured out that this is a problem nobody else is solving, for me, I came from that world and I knew nobody was solving this problem and I didn’t require data to support that it was purely my gut and starting figuring out what is the right way to solve this problem.

    Segment 2: The Accelerator

    You are a big fan of Rahul Dravid. Tell us about his influence on your leadership approach.

    He has stuck to one field and played the long game. I have learned how to take long-term calls which are important for what you’re trying to build and it’s applicable in almost everything. It is okay to be impatient in the short term but your results should yield in the long term.

    What’s your view on this conversation that is happening around work-life balance?

    I am a firm believer that outcomes matter more than the number of hours you have put in, which helps us drive the remote-first company. Simply put, if you’re working in India you shouldn’t be thinking about the work-life balance at the moment especially as a startup founder, as it is our opportunity to build the country and we have a huge responsibility on our shoulders in building the country.

    How do you stop overthinking and overcomplicating and spending bandwidth on things you shouldn’t when starting up?

    From a simplicity point of view, I would say that overthinking does not lead to anything. My view is that if you’re overthinking or if you’re in confusion then act, don’t overthink. The action will tell you whether it’s working or not working instead of spending one month thinking or having excessive strategic discussions.

    Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers. What is your view on this?

    It is said that all customers are looking for their problems to be solved rather than buying our solutions or products. Typically, I would say that always the pitch or product discovery calls that you do is to discover what is the real problem you’re trying to solve for your client.

    India’s startup landscape is growing by leaps and bounds, coming forth as one of the most vibrant startup ecosystems on the global stage. Entrepreneur’s unwavering motivation and dedication to building something unique have greatly contributed to shaping India’s startup landscape.

    Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as they bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.

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  • “Crafting Bharat: A Podcast Series” Released Its Third Episode With Sanket Shah, CEO of InVideo

    The startup industry of India is flourishing, especially rising entrepreneurial drive amongst the younger generation of India. With numerous success stories, the Indian startup ecosystem has witnessed a remarkable increase in venture capital investments, attracting both local and global investors.

    The “Crafting Bharat – A Startup Podcast Series” powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’ journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Mint, HT Media, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.

    Given the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in today’s technological context, a seasoned entrepreneur Sanket Shah, CEO of InVideo, is changing the way people create video content. In the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, Shah talks about his founder journey, building AI-enabled video editing software and upcoming trends in the industry.

    Explore the tales of Indian Startup founders’ transformation from dreams to reality, navigating challenges to seize opportunities through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series.

    Segment 1: The Incubator

    Between the 2012 to 2017 phase how did your seed of an idea for Invideo germinate, considering you had founded Visify Books and MassBlurb (with Pankit) in the meanwhile, and how did it evolve further in the 2017 to 2019 period? Give us the highlights when it comes to the ups and downs?

    I was thinking about starting a business in India while I was in the US, but I think that’s not how it works because to do a business in India then you need much deeper Indian insights. You need to be in India and work here, you can’t sit somewhere else and think that I will start a recurring business in India. In 2014, there was NACH where you needed to fill a form and submit it, for them to initiate recurring payments allowing you to start a recurring business. That was my biggest mistake to think that way. I never got a closure from Visify Books. I thought that videos should not be made like this and sometime in 2017, I started InVideo.

    Crafting Bharat, Episode 3 With Sanket Shah, CEO, InVideo

    Your seed round in May 2018 and the second one in October 2019 were tepid. But the third round in Feb 2020 brought in $2.5 million, that helped you launch your automated assistant, then in October 2020 you got another $15 million as Series A, and then the biggie, $35 million in July 2021 for Series B. What changed in 2020 that drove investors to you?

    First, We operate in a bottomless market; the market is extremely large. I believe that over a billion people in the world are going to create videos and I don’t think there is any debate there. Second, it comes down to confidence in the founder. Track record and talking to the founder gives that confidence to the investors to invest.

    I read somewhere that you are now the largest prosumer SaaS company in Asia. What are the lessons that you have learnt in scaling up Invideo from a tech standpoint?

    If the creators can create videos in a very natural environment that’s what I think gets to a billion users. It is a series of stability, how it’s distributed and how it can all be tied together. The future of all the software is in the browser and it is also across all devices. Our entire system works on AWS and the scaling was very smooth. AWS supported us in a very early stage.

    Segment 2: The Accelerator 

    You met Sam Altman of OpenAI recently. What did you two talk about? 

    I met him for over 2 hours, and it was a fun conversation. We briefly talked about what to expect in the future. There will be a requirement of more electricity for advancement in the world of AI, which hopefully will get solved by nuclear fusion. Second, is that compute has become extremely important.

    What do startup founders need to focus on when thinking of the risk? 

    It’s very risky. I do not think you can do this journey for money. You pick up this journey for fun. The gratification point of this journey is not the money you will get later, because most likely you might not earn money.

    Is it a better approach to release a good product and improve it to perfection with feedback received? 

    In my opinion there needs to be a judgment and a time to launch but the earliest you go out is the best for the business.

    The startup ecosystem in India has grown tremendously in the last decade. The increasing adoption of digitization coupled with government initiatives have opened new avenues for budding entrepreneurs. 

    Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series as they bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.

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