Z47 Moments

229: What if my startup fails? | Ahana Gautam, Open Secret | UnStarted Ep2

Z47 — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 10:31:26 +0000

Ahana grew up in Bharatpur, a small town in India where many believed girls shouldn’t always have the same opportunities. But her mother believed otherwise and pushed her to dream bigger.

That belief eventually took her to Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and later to Harvard Business School. But this story isn’t about degrees or credentials. It’s about resilience, grit, and the relentless pursuit of building something meaningful.

From taking bold bets to navigating failures, Ahana’s journey eventually led to building Open Secret - one of India’s most well-known healthy snacking brands today.

This conversation dives into the real founder journey behind the brand: the risks, the setbacks, and the determination it took to keep going.

But this isn’t just a success story, in this episode, Ahana openly shares about failed experiments, her mother’s contribution to her life and why she’s passionate about unjunking India.

If you're building a startup, thinking about entrepreneurship, or navigating early-stage chaos - this conversation will give you clarity on what truly matters.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Growing up in Bharatpur & breaking glass ceilings
06:40 IIT, Harvard and Open Secret
16:12 Q1 - Leaving behind a job in US to startup
18:00 Q2 - How does Ahana deal with failures
23:17 Q3 - How does one maintain funding until profitable
27:30 From -47% EBITDA to profitable growth
39:00 Women-led manufacturing and leadership
43:30 Losing her mother during COVID and finding strength

About Open Secret

Open Secret is a better-for-you snacking brand focused on removing maida, trans fat and artificial preservatives from everyday Indian packaged foods. With strong repeat rates and rapid quick commerce penetration, it is one of India’s fastest-scaling health-focused FMCG startups.

Unstarted is built for 1 to 1 founders — people thinking about starting, or just getting started.
Real questions. Real answers. Real founders.

Have a question you want answered by top founders? Submit it here:
https://z47.com/unstarted/ask

Follow Z47

Website - https://www.z47.com/
Instagram - / z47.vc
LinkedIn - / z47-vc

228: Do you need work experience BEFORE starting up? | Revant Bhate, Mosaic Wellness | UnStarted Ep 1

Z47 — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 10:41:47 +0000

Unstarted is a new Z47 series, by founders, for founders.

Most people think they need more experience before they start.

More operating. More pattern recognition. More certainty.

If you’re waiting to feel “ready,” this episode will force you to rethink that.

In Episode 1 of Unstarted, legendary investor Avnish Bajaj sits down with Revant Bhate (Founder & CEO, Mosaic Wellness — Man Matters, Be Bodywise, Little Joys) to unpack the real shift. What actually changes when you stop backing founders… and become one?

This is a founder mindset autopsy.

Inside this UnStarted episode:

1. The difference between scepticism (as an investor) and conviction (as a founder)
2. How much experience is actually “enough” before you start
3. Profitability vs scale: when the trade-off is real, and when it’s lazy thinking
4. Why founder–market fit may matter more than the idea
5. Building in an AI-first world when speed is default
6. The quiet mental tax of being the one responsible

Unstarted is built for 1 to 1 founders — people thinking about starting, or just getting started.

Real questions. Real answers. Real founders.

Have a question you want answered by top founders?

Submit it here: https://z47.com/unstarted/ask

⏱ Chapters

00:00 Introduction UnStarted
3.04 Revant's background & early career
9.23 The importance of discovering yourself
13:40 How do I pivot from VC to investor?
20:28 How do I stress-test my startup idea?
26:30 Should I choose profitability of scale?
31:13 Fundraising myths

Follow Z47

Website - https://www.z47.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/z47.vc/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/z47-vc/

227: This company is building the IKEA of India

Z47 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 11:21:38 +0000

Beautiful things shouldn’t cost the world.

India exports - $13B in home decor annually, expected to cross - $21B by 2030.
Factories everywhere. But almost no global consumer brands built from here.

In this episode of Z47 Moments, Sudipto Sannigrahi sits down with Abhik Ghosh, Co-founder & CEO of Trampoline (ex-Amazon, Wayfair), to unpack how they’re building an India-to-world home decor brand, starting factory-first.

Abhik breaks down:

Why they chose B2B before B2C and how it creates predictability

How trust with factories and sofa changed payment terms from advances to credit

How they reduced working capital in a 90–120 day category to under 30 days

Why “value” in Western markets means quality first, not just price

How AI powers creative, catalog, and performance marketing

And what it takes to build a brand across borders, from India to the UK and beyond.

This is a conversation about systems, sequencing, and discipline. If you’re building in D2C, exports, supply chain, or global consumer categories, this episode offers a practical playbook.

Chapters

⁠00:00⁠ Why build a global brand from India

⁠01:05⁠ Founders’ background Amazon, Wayfair, Europe

⁠02:10⁠ India home decor opportunity $13B → $21B

⁠03:30⁠ Broken supply chain 8k–10k factories

⁠05:00⁠ Factory-first model explained

⁠07:10⁠ Starting with 4–5 factories → 30 today

⁠09:20⁠ Why cross-border must start B2B

⁠11:40⁠ Wayfair & Williams-Sonoma playbook

⁠13:40⁠ Selling to UK from India

⁠15:10⁠ Customer value 30–80% savings promise

⁠17:10⁠ Western home refresh behavior 4-year cycle

⁠18:40⁠ GTM B2B acquisition strategy

⁠20:00⁠ D2C strategy Why avoid marketplaces

⁠21:40⁠ Unit economics & working capital under 30 days

⁠24:10⁠ Pre-orders & dropshipping from India

⁠26:00⁠ ROAS, LTV/CAC & marketing efficiency

⁠27:30⁠ Selection & design prediction

⁠29:00⁠ Unexpected demand signals

⁠30:20⁠ AI-generated creatives & catalog
100% AI product imagery

⁠35:10⁠ 2030 Long-term global brand ambition

Follow Z47

Website - ⁠https://www.z47.com/⁠

Instagram - ⁠ / z47.vc ⁠

LinkedIn - ⁠ / z47-vc ⁠⁠#ikea⁠ ⁠#howtostartastartup⁠

226: Why VCs regret not investing in Acceldata - From IIT to Silicon Valley

Z47 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 09:44:30 +0000

Enterprise AI doesn’t fail because models are weak.

It fails because data pipelines break, permissions drift, costs explode, and governance is treated like an annual checkbox instead of everyday operational discipline.

In this episode of Intelligent Indians!, Vikram Vaidyanathan sits down with Rohit Choudhury, Founder & CEO of Acceldata, for a deep conversation on how enterprise data systems actually behave at scale and why AI makes every weak foundation visible.

Rohit’s founder journey mirrors the last 15 years of data infrastructure: from scaling InMobi in the pre-cloud era, to the Hadoop days at Hortonworks, to pioneering data observability, and now pushing into Agentic Data Management as enterprises move from AI pilots to production.

The conversation goes deep into:

1. Why AI POCs often work in one team but collapse at enterprise scale
2. The real cost of fixing data late, and why ingestion is the only place to fix it
3. How AI agents change the stakes: real-time failures, hallucinations explainability and ai updates
4. A practical playbook for CIOs and CDOs: SLAs, rapid experimentation, and leadership upskilling
5. Why cost control is becoming existential, from reruns to cloud bills to private/hybrid AI

The “India edge” in building global enterprise companies, and what DPI × AI could unlock next

Watch the full episode to understand what it really takes to make AI work at enterprise scale.

Chapters:

00:00 Why AI POCs Fail at Scale in Enterprises
02:30 Introducing Rohit Choudhury (Acceldata Founder)
05:30 Early Days at InMobi & Rewriting the Stack 3 Times
08:30 First Startup Failure & Learning Customer Obsession
11:30 Birth of the Data Observability Category
14:30 How Enterprise Data Pipelines Really Work (1000+ Apps)
18:00 Why Enterprises Need End-to-End Data Visibility
21:00 COVID Story & Missed Investment Moment
24:00 Why hallucinations are dangerous for enterprises
27:00 Governance in AI
30:00 How Banks Should Prepare for AI at Scale (4 Steps)
33:30 Why Leaders Must Learn AI Themselves (Cursor Story)
36:30 From Tool Sprawl to One Agentic Platform
39:30 Cost Explosion: Cloud vs Private AI
42:30 Self-Healing Data & Preventing AI Hallucinations
45:00 – Future of Enterprise AI & Closing Thoughts

Follow Z47

Website - https://www.z47.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/z47.vc/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/z47-vc/

#podcast #podcasts #future #ai #aiindia #aicourses #aiupdates

225: How this IIT Alum is scaling India's ₹10,000 Cr AI Initiative | Intelligent Indians #AI

Z47 — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:43:49 +0000

India’s AI moment will be defined by architecture.

In our new series Intelligent Indians! we sit down with the builders, policymakers, scientists, and founders shaping India’s AI decade as it unfolds. In the first episode, Avnish Bajaj and Vikram Vaidyanathan sit down with Abhishek Singh, CEO of the IndiaAI Mission, to unpack how India is designing AI as infrastructure, not experimentation.

The conversation goes deep into what Abhishek describes as “DPI to the power of AI” for an ai learner in India extending India’s proven Digital Public Infrastructure (Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, Account Aggregator and more) into the AI era and India AI Mission. The discussion covers how population-scale systems, once thought impossible, are now becoming India’s execution advantage.

This conversation is a must watch for anyone curious about:

1. How affordable compute, open datasets, and India-native foundation models remove first-order constraints

2. The seven pillars shaping of the IndiaAI mission:from compute and data to deployment, trust, and governance

3. Why AI in India must work across languages, income levels, devices, and real-world conditions

4. How the India AI Summit is a milestone in India's longer-term systems build

Chapters

00:00 Trailer
1:57 Introduction
2:36 What is India AI Mission
4:30 Nandan Nilekani's advice
5:03 What is DPI in AI
6:22 7 pillars of Indian AI
10:30 Rs. 65?
12:00 Developing applications that will benefit people
14:20 Knowledge and access to AI
15:25 AI helping Indian farmers
16:48 India's consent architecture
18:54 Where is AI helping?
21:00 DeVc AI founders
22:15 Is data labs a government initiative
23:50 Tools to code faster
25:24 Why is AI failing at production scale
26:16 What is free AI commission
27:41 Should data monetisation be banned
28:31 Is govt doing AI startup financing
31:20 Conclusion

Also watch:

India's secret advantage in AI - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqvInPvPkhQ&t=1430s

AI Committee Report - https://kpmg.com/in/en/insights/2025/08/rbi-free-ai-committee-report-on-framework-for-responsible-and-ethical-enablement-of-artificial-intelligence.html

Follow Z47

Website - https://www.z47.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/z47.vc/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/z47-vc/

#podcast #podcasts #future #ai #aiindia

224: Where will $12 Billion VC capital go in 2026? | India’s Top Investors Explain

Z47 — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 12:38:54 +0000

Future Signals is Z47's view on where the next category-defining companies are likely to emerge, and the spaces we’re actively tracking alongside the founders building them.

For Indian startups, 2026 promises to be an inflection year where experiments from previous years create a foundation on which the future is built.

Market-defining investing rarely arrive fully formed. They are assembled, piece by piece, by founders who are willing to do the unglamorous work: shaping behaviour, stitching infrastructure, earning trust before scale shows up in a spreadsheet.

Over the last two decades, we’ve observed India’s technology story unfold in phases. First, we built capability, then scale. And finally, the confidence to build world-class businesses and public-market-ready companies. We are now moving into the next phase, where founders start redefining how value is created: by owning outcomes instead of features, and by building systems that work at population scale and travel globally.

These are the Future Signals that will define 2026 and beyond.

Follow Z47

Website - https://www.z47.com/
Instagram - / z47.vc
LinkedIn - / z47-vc

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
01:49 Are founders creating markets?
05:23 Evolution of AI
7:59 How is AI changing consumer companies?
10:25 Disruption via Agentic AI
12:01 Fin Ops is largest SaaS opportunity
14:28 Speed takes over startups
16:46 AI in Intelligent hardware
18:42 AI in banking and finance
20:48 Consumer companies making AI personal
22:43 The next META/ Binance?
23:59 What does India need?
28:21 Commerce is being re-built
30:03 Indian companies going global
32:47 SaaS products scaling globally
36:11 Manufacturing goes global
38:03 Co-pilots in businesses
41:43 2026 is the year of deployment

#podcast #podcasts #future #ai #aiindia

223: Trends in Term Sheets: What Founders Need to Know

Z47 — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 06:31:00 +0000

Between overprotective term sheets and oversimplified ones lies the real market.

On this episode of #ZeroToInfinity, Avnish Bajaj and Tarun Davda, are joined by Archana Rajaram to weigh in on one of the most misunderstood parts of startup building: the term sheet. As the founder of River Law (formerly Rajaram Legal), Archana’s work has quietly shaped the “market standards” that nearly every Indian SHA now follows.

In this episode, they break down the real-world changes in Indian term sheets post-2021:
from liquidation preferences and reverse vesting to governance, exits, board control, and how AI is already reshaping negotiations. The way a founder negotiates a term sheet often foreshadows how they’ll build their company, handle conflict, and navigate hard decisions later.

Tune in for a rare inside look at venture’s most misunderstood document

01:23 Introduction to the Z47 podcast
02:52 Handshake deals to hyper-detailed clauses: how India’s term sheets have evolved
05:55 Why written guardrails matter, even in trust-based relationships?
08:48 Between one-pagers and legal novels lies the real market standard
10:38 Founders lose leverage the moment they sign without counsel
12:42 What founders miss at incorporation, they pay for at IPO
16:20 You can’t switch from founder-led to board-led overnight
28:02 In India, governance runs through SHAs, not boards
34:07 Every founder’s dilemma: what terms really matter in your term sheet?
37:39 Event of Default: India’s most controversial term and why it exists
49:49 How you negotiate your first term sheet predicts how you’ll scale
59:57 AI may change diligence, but judgment still writes the rules

For more insights, revisit the related Z47 episode:
• The Terms of Term Sheets
• Hard clauses in a term sheet
• From (Z)omato to (A)ther: India’s Tech IPO...
Article: / calculating-liquidation-preference

Follow us on:
Website: https://www.z47.com/
LinkedIn: / z47-vc
X: https://x.com/z47_vc
Instagram: / z47.vc

222: How Emversity Is Bridging Higher Education with Real Industry Skills | Zero to Infinity

Z47 — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 06:02:10 +0000

In this episode of Zero to Infinity, Rajat Agarwal and Chandrasekhar Venugopal sit down with Vivek Sinha, second-time founder and CEO of Emversity, to unpack one of India’s most urgent and least-discussed problems:

👉 Why are millions of young Indians still unemployable after 16 years of education?
👉 What will it take to build a truly job-ready workforce?
👉 And why might the biggest opportunity in education lie in the “grey-collar” economy, not tech or test prep?

Vivek takes us deep into the realities of India’s higher education system, the failure of legacy institutes to prepare students for real-world roles, and the massive talent gaps in healthcare, hospitality, construction, and manufacturing.

He also breaks down Emversity’s groundbreaking model:

On-the-job learning (not online, not offline)
Industry-backwards curriculum co-designed with employers
Earn-while-you-learn degrees that effectively cost students ₹0
VR simulation labs and real-world skill training
50%+ organic student acquisition driven purely by outcomes

If you care about India’s future workforce, social mobility, or building meaningful businesses at scale, this conversation is a must-watch.

01:47 - Introduction to the Z47 Podcast
02:52 - What really happened to India’s EdTech boom?
03:25 - The three faces of EdTech: daycare, test prep & higher education
06:24 - Intent and Outcomes: the two pillars of real education
10:51 - From disruption to discipline: building an education business that lasts
15:47 - Emversity’s goal: make every student employable, not just enrolled
18:59 - Bridging academia and industry through tech + training
22:43 - Why Emversity bets on India’s grey-collar workforce
27:55 - Earn while you learn: the zero-cost degree model
31:24 - Tech-enabled, execution-driven: how Emversity scales smart
37:27 - The long road ahead: can Emversity educate a million students
40:30 - Changing lives, one job at a time
42:00 - Building India’s next-gen education infrastructure

Follow us on:
Website www.z47.com/
LinkedIn www.linkdin.com/company/z47-vc/
Twitter: https://x.com/z47_cv
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220: India’s Secret Advantage in AI: The FDE Revolution

Z47 — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 11:12:06 +0000

70% of enterprise AI projects never reach production. The solution: Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs).

In this episode, Vikram Vaidyanathan and Rocketlane CEO, Srikrishnan Ganesan unpack the rise of the FDE model, from Palantir’s origins to how AI companies use it today to bridge the gap between prototypes and production.

They discuss why traditional SaaS orgs break in AI, the governance needed to scale FDE teams, and why India is emerging as the global engine room for AI deployment.
A crisp breakdown of the role shaping the future of enterprise AI.

Chapters

00:01:29 - Introduction to the Z47 podcast
00:04:16 - The 70% problem: Why enterprise AI fails to scale
00:05:25 - The origin story: Inside Palantir, where it all began
00:12:43 - Evolving from deployment to GTM engine
00:14:23 - The Vision Selling era: from POCs to production ROI
00:17:09 - What does a great FDE motion look like?
00:18:59 - Building with FDE DNA: How Rocketlane practices what it preaches
00:24:06 - Product, success, or stand-alone: Where should FDEs sit?
00:26:22 - Scaling the FDE model: from speed to structured governance
00:33:38 - Pairing on-site FDEs with India’s 24×7 talent engine
00:34:21 - AI adoption as India’s next big export
00:37:49 - FDEs: The human bridge between AI promise and delivery

221: How MoEngage Is Powering Global Customer Engagement | Zero to Infinity

Z47 — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 10:25:00 +0000

From a small apartment in Bengaluru to powering over 2 billion users across 60+ countries, MoEngage is one of India’s most quietly global success stories. This is more than a startup story — it’s a story about India’s rise as a product nation, and the founders who are reimagining how the world engages with technology.

Raviteja Dodda, Narasimha Reddy and Yashwanth Kumar built a world-class customer engagement platform out of India — long before “SaaS for the world” became a buzzword.

We trace MoEngage’s journey through its toughest pivots, its cultural DNA, and the product decisions that made it indispensable to brands like Airtel, Ola, Nestlé, and Samsung.

In this episode of #ZeroToInfinity, MoEngage co-founders Raviteja Dodda & Narasimha Reddy join Tarun Davda & Pranay Desai of Z47. In a wide-ranging chat, they discuss the MoEngage journey - from initial failures to serving over 2Bn users.

219: The Startup That Can Build Anything

Z47 — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

756 of 1,009 rows displayed Submarine parts. Metro casings. Agricultural harvesters. Even bombshell casings for the defence sector. In this episode of the #ZeroToInfinity podcast, Ximkart founder explore how solving the “thinking loop” first makes it possible to deliver parts for any industry, anywhere. Once the right inputs hit the execution loop, size, sector, and material become irrelevant, it’s all just precision manufacturing at scale.

218: India’s Role in an AI-First World? | Zero to Infinity

Z47 — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 09:30:00 +0000

The US innovates. China industrializes. Can India deploy at scale and claim its right to win in AI?

India’s edge has always been its people: engineers, data, and scale. But as LLMs automate language and logic, can that advantage still hold?

In this episode of #ZeroToInfinity, Chandrashekhar Venugopal speaks with Avnish Bajaj and Vikram Vaidyanathan about India’s crossroads in the AI race and what will define the country’s next decade.

The trio unpacks:
The rise of Forward-Deployed Engineers (FDEs): India’s secret weapon in AI deployment
How data, assurance, and governance could become India’s strongest moat
Why AI might finally flip India from back office to frontline
How voice and vernacular interfaces could erase the digital divide
And what government, investors, and founders must do to spark India’s inference leap

With Aadhaar, UPI, and consent layers powering population-scale systems, India has the infrastructure and now the opportunity to lead the world by deploying intelligence at scale.

217: How Scalekit is Revolutionizing Access Management for Agents | Zero to Infinity

Z47 — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 09:06:00 +0000

In the near future, less than 10% of access will come from humans, the rest will be agents?

What happens when your next user isn’t human?

In this episode of the #ZeroToInfinity podcast, Pranay Desai sits down with Satya Devarakonda and Ravi Madabhushi, founders of ScaleKit, to decode a fundamental shift in software: the rise of agents as first-class users.

Humans log in and out with predictable patterns. Agents are transient, transactional, and unpredictable, hitting systems hundreds of times a minute. ScaleKit’s modular approach is built for this new reality, where AI agents, not humans, dominate usage.

Satya and Ravi bring rare scar tissue and foresight. From PipeMog in 2013, to FreshID at Freshworks, to now ScaleKit, they’ve spent a decade solving identity and access at scale, and are rethinking it for an agent-first world.

The duo also shares what it means to build again as second-time founders: why distribution matters more than product, what they’ve unlearned from Freshworks, and how agents are evolving from assistants into colleagues who accelerate productivity.

216: Disruptor, Digitiser, Enabler: AI’s Role in India's Apps | Consumer Trends Part 2

Z47 — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:02:00 +0000

Dive deep into the transformative power of AI in India’s consumer app landscape. In this episode of Zero to Infinity, Avnish Bajaj, Chandrasekhar Venugopal aka CV, and Kishan Kashyap break down:

✅ Why ChatGPT is AI’s MS‑DOS moment and what comes after
✅ How token costs dropped 1000x in a year (and why Sam Altman calls it the “new Moore’s Law”)
✅ The Disruptor–Digitizer–Enabler framework for founders building in consumer tech
✅ Why QuickCommerce for “X” (fashion, pharma, events & more) is the next frontier
✅ And why India’s rails: UPI, Aadhaar, WhatsApp—mean everything is aligned for founders

After tracing India’s growing consumer instinct in Part 1, this segment explores what happens when that intuition meets AI and what gets reimagined when UX, infra, and distribution evolve together, not sequentially.

Whether you’re an early‑stage founder, an operator, or just AI‑curious, this conversation will spark ideas on what to build next.

215: What it’s like to work at a young AI startup: Inside GreyLabs AI | Zero to Infinity

Z47 — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 06:11:13 +0000

Most startup journeys are told in hindsight, GreyLabs AI’s told in the middle of figuring things out.

In this episode of the #ZeroToInfinity podcast, the founding team of GreyLabs AI reflect on what building actually looked like in year one: navigating a cofounder exit, cash running out, COVID hitting collections, and a work culture being built reactively.

This conversation with co-founder Aman Goel is about what startup life feels like before structure, where ESOPs are misunderstood, leave policies don’t exist, and the only way to build trust with enterprise clients is to keep showing up.

What started as a speech analytics platform for BFSI quickly turned into something more: a layer that could coach agents, surface cross-sell opportunities, and turn raw call data into revenue. But the real build wasn’t technical, it was emotional.

GreyLabs was built without funding, a co-founder or a roadmap. Just presence, product sense, and a willingness to stay in the room longer than expected.

Inside the team, hiring moved fast and policy came later. Hiring was led by instinct, and culture was shaped by how the team responded to mistakes, not how they talked about values. Who gets ESOPs? When do you make a leave policy? How do you scale trust without layers of management?

When COVID hit: collections slowed down and revenue dried up, but even without clarity on survival, the team promised zero layoffs, and that appraisals happen.

Because sometimes, the strongest signal a startup can send isn’t product, it’s how it shows up for its people.

Why sustainable startups start with sustainable founders, only on the #ZeroToInfinity podcast.

214: 5 Consumer Trends We're Watching Closely | Part 1 | Zero to Infinity

Z47 — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 12:53:26 +0000

We’re not seeing enough entrepreneurship in India, not for lack of talent, but because most founders haven’t yet internalized how quickly India’s consumption story is shifting. As GDP curves bend upward and new behavior patterns emerge across services, spending, and aspirations, in this episode of the #ZeroToInfinity podcast, Kishan Kashyap, joined by Avnish Bajaj & Chandrasekhar Venugopal, maps out the biggest trendlines shaping consumer India through the next decade. From rising discretionary income to evolving expectations around access, quality, and convenience, the Z47 team makes a case for how premiumization is no longer about luxury but about discernment, service, and experience. How full-stack brands are winning not by controlling supply, but by owning end-to-end experience and why India’s microtransaction economy is quietly creating massive consumer surplus in places few are watching. Tune-in

213: Meet the Founders of Finnable: ₹3,000 Cr Phygital Lending Powerhouse | Zero to Infinity

Z47 — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 10:35:00 +0000

India’s largest creditworthy segment remains invisible to the lending ecosystem, not because of a credit problem, but because of a design problem.

When every lender chased the top tier or flooded the informal market, Finnable saw an opportunity to build for the 60–70% in between: salaried, PF-backed Indians earning ₹15–40K a month.

Join co-founders Amit Arora and Nitin Gupta on the Z47 podcast as they trace their vision behind building a full-stack, risk-first, and collections-led lending engine—designed to scale, but built customer-backward.

The duo, in conversation with the Z47 team, reflect on the decisions that shaped the company: from making collections the third hire, to designing 200+ fraud algorithms rooted in field intelligence.

Understand why their model went against the industry wave, offering longer-tenure, higher-ticket loans designed for credit discipline and repeatability.

When COVID hit, their customers didn’t default. They returned. That resilience validated the model across cycles, powering a ₹3,000 crore book & pointing to a lending business quietly built for public markets.

Listen to the latest #ZeroToInfinity podcast on building lending systems that stay with the customer.

212: From (Z)omato to (A)ther: India’s Tech IPO Shift Decoded | Avnish Bajaj | Rajinder Balaraman

Z47 — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 14:39:16 +0000

India will see 100 tech IPOs by 2030. While Silicon Valley still waits for $5B+ exits, Indian founders are going public earlier - at $600 million.

Why? Because market receptivity has fundamentally shifted. The buyers want this asset class.

On the #ZeroToInfinity podcast, Avnish Bajaj and Rajinder Balaraman define what it actually takes to go public in India today. Through the lens of four distinct IPO waves, the duo traces how market expectations have evolved — from the early public-market pioneers, to the pricing missteps of 2021, and into a new phase where predictability and return on capital lead the way.

The team argues that IPOs are no longer about valuation peaks but about narrative control, access to permanent capital, and owning the category early. For founders, that means shifting how companies are built, instead of chasing scale at any cost to designing for profitability, pricing discipline, and long-term market trust from the outset.

This conversation unpacks the why, when, where, how of IPOs and the thresholds that separate companies that list from those that last. The team reframes the “To IPO or not to IPO” debate into a first-principles question for founders: Are you building with the intent to go public?

India may be heading toward its own Nasdaq moment - the first 100 tech companies that go public will reshape how founders raise, grow, and exit.

See why India's IPO math has permanently changed and what it means to be IPO-ready in India only on the latest episode of the Z47 podcast.

211: Beyond ISRO: India's SpaceTech Startups Are Firing Up

Z47 — Fri, 23 May 2025 06:20:00 +0000

The next 30 global SpaceTech giants will be built and 10 could come from India.

But DeepTech is clunky, Series A is brutal & government still writes 70% of the cheques. So what makes a SpaceTech startup VC-backable and what makes one global? That's where the duo of Anurag Srivastava & Sudipto Sannigrahi from the Z47 team map out the government to private inflection point, opportunity, the reality, and the path forward for India’s SpaceTech ecosystem.

This episode of the #ZeroToInfinity podcast isn’t about rockets but what comes after launch. ISRO gives us the talent & India gives us the cost advantage but enduring companies will be built by founders who design customer-backward, know how to navigate Series A, and solve with insight — not just technology.

The conversation reframes spacetech as a build-now opportunity, backed by sovereign demand, frugal innovation DNA from ISRO, and a rare cost advantage in the global supply chain.

Their top-down analysis covers application-specific payloads, downstream applications like earth observation as a go-to-market wedge to building full-stack solutions for vertical use cases, asking what it really means to build full-stack, export-ready, insight-led space businesses.

Learn how India’s frugal edge is powering global SpaceTech, only on the #ZeroToInfinity podcast.

210: 4 P&L Secrets D2C / Consumer Brand Founders Use to MAXIMIZE Growth

Z47 — Fri, 09 May 2025 07:18:26 +0000

How do India’s top founders actually think through a P&L?

This special episode of #ZeroToInfinity podcast takes you inside Z47’s experimental panel event with India’s leading consumer founders, including voices from Mamaearth, Urban Company, and Mosaic Wellness.

From CAC to contribution margin, & retention to revenue models, Kishan Kashyap, Avnish Bajaj & Chandrasekhar Venugopal, share insights on what it really takes to build a durable consumer business in India today.

Listen for a break down of the P&L as a series of strategic choices: It starts with revenue, where TAM is reframed as a lens on market creation vs. market share, and demand signals emerge from how India vs. Bharat actually spends.

Gross margin becomes a moat, shaped by what you build vs. buy. Contribution margin reveals the true cost of platforms, and why owning your channel matters. And finally at the bottomline, it’s about cash, control, and building a business that lasts beyond funding cycles.

Explore the full P&L rethink from an operator founder lens only on the #ZeroToInfinity podcast.

00:25 Introduction
02:32 Breaking Down the P&L of Building Consumer Brands
04:37 Reframing the P&L as Strategic Choices for Founders
04:58 The Revenue Rethink - What & Who are We Really Biulding for?
08:58 Market Creation or Market Share?
12:27 Revenue = Clear Articulation of the Opportunity You're Going After
12:39 Gross Margin Isn't Fixed - It's a Function of the Choices you make
18:43 Don't Just Hope COGS Will Fail - Design Margin from Day Zero
21:39 Contribution Margin: The True Cost of your Channels
25:13 Q-comm's Biggest Mistake: Chasing Scale, Not Sustainibility
28:44 Find the GTM Unlock: PLG, Word of Mouth & Retention
32:52 Bottom Line: Where your P&L becomes your Reality
34:14 RoCE Matters more than EBITDA
35:27 The ZIRP Era Skewed Founder Behaviour
41:20 Limit your Highs. Ground your Lows. Build with Zen Mode on

Follow us on:
Website www.z47.com/
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/z47-vc/
Twitter https://x.com/z47_vc
Instagram www.instagram.com/z47.vc/

209: How B2B Companies Scale to Infinity | Zero to Infinity | Avnish Bajaj | Sudipto Sannigrahi

Z47 — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 12:41:00 +0000

What if the next great Indian startup isn’t another consumer app — but a B2B company quietly owning a supply chain, exporting to 40 countries, and compounding capital without ever chasing a billion-dollar valuation?

This #ZeroToInfinity podcast episode walks us through a decade-long arc of insight — from Z47’s first B2B bets to the inflection points that changed everything: GST, UPI, COVID, and the rise of trust-based distribution models.

Avnish Bajaj and Sudipto Sannigrahi lay out the real arc of India’s B2B evolution - from ignored category to unstoppable force. From how horizontal and vertical marketplaces came to dominate post-2015, to why cheap capital created artificial winners in the ZERP era, the conversation is all about rewiring how you think about margins, moats, and manufacturing.

This #ZeroToInfinity conversation isn’t about B2B vs B2C — it’s about what it really takes to build for India’s core economy.

208: The Last Software You Will Ever Shutdown - Meet the founder of WizCommerce

Z47 — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 05:42:00 +0000

Z47 invested in WizCommerce in 2022. Since then, Divyaanshu Makkar and team have scaled to $1mn in revenue from the B2B Commerce SaaS mid-market.

In this episode of #ZeroToInfinity, Divyaanshu Makkar, Co-founder & CEO of B2B Commerce SaaS startup WizCommerce -, joins Sudipto Sannigrahi and Ashwin Pandian to unpack:

🚀 WizCommerce's pivot from SourceWiz
📈 Scaling to $1M ARR in 5 Quarters
💥 India-made SaaS is eating the world

From selling to enterprises to winning trust in slow-moving industries — this episode is a crash course in building category-defining SaaS.

Tune-in

207: Jobs, Startups, & Trillions: How AI Will Rewrite the Rules of Everything

Z47 — Sat, 29 Mar 2025 08:30:00 +0000

The real revolution is not just AI building products - it’s AI rewriting how we build them.

In this episode of #ZeroToInfinity, Avnish Bajaj and Aakash Kumar cut through the noise to reveal why AI is far more than just another tech wave - it’s a paradigm shift.

This conversation offers a comprehensive, unfiltered exploration of AI’s evolution, its current impact on industries and knowledge workers, and how it’s reshaping the future of work.

From drawing parallels with past tech bubbles like dot-com and crypto to decoding AI’s leap from correlation to causation and the emergence of “Servitization of Software,” they break down why founders who wait will be left behind.

Discover why the future isn’t about AI replacing humans - but enhancing human capability. Only on the #ZeroToInfinity podcast.

206: Meet the Founders of Wootz.work: Reimagining Indian Manufacturing for the World | Zero to Infinity

Z47 — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 11:02:00 +0000

What if India transformed from outsourcing hub to global engineering powerhouse?
In this episode of #ZeroToInfinity, Sudipto Sannigrahi, Z47's investor in B2B Commerce and Manufacturing, sits down with the visionaries making it happen—Karan Anand and Himanshu Uniyal, founders of Wootz.work.

Their conversation unlocks the ambitious blueprint behind India's largest advanced engineering export company.
Witness how they're breaking the "build to print" ceiling, catapulting Indian manufacturing into the elite "build to spec" territory—where cutting-edge solutions aren't just manufactured but conceptualized, engineered, and perfected on Indian soil.

The founders reveal how they're harnessing India's untapped engineering brilliance to create precision systems that global industry giants now depend on.
With candid insights and surprising revelations, Sudipto explores their unconventional journey and the high-stakes gamble that's quietly positioning India as the next engineering superpower.

Can the ancient legacy of Wootz steel—once the most sought-after metal in the world—inspire a modern manufacturing renaissance? Find out for yourself in this episode of the #ZeroToInfinity podcast.

206: Consumer Unicorns in the Next Tech-Ade

Z47 — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 10:57:00 +0000

Consumer brands are being built differently and the next wave of unicorns won’t just be about speed or scale - they’ll be built on AI, hyper-personalization, and a global-first mindset.

In this episode of #ZeroToInfinity, Rajinder Balaraman, Tarun Davda, and Rajat Agarwal demystify the rise of real-time commerce and how AI is no longer an add-on - it’s the foundation for intelligent shopping.

Indian founders? The winners will be those who break past borders & build for the world.

The next consumer unicorns won’t play by old rules - will you?

205: The Next Tech-Ade of FinTech

Z47 — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 06:13:16 +0000

FinTech is transforming the economy at every level.

India’s financial ecosystem is at an inflection point, where technology isn’t just enabling transactions but engineering entirely new economic structures.

In this episode of the #ZeroToInfinity podcast, Avnish Bajaj, Pranay Desai, and Vikram Vaidyanathan bring the sharpest insights to the table, revealing the forces shaping FinTech’s next decade.

The businesses that will define the next decade are not where everyone is looking right now. This conversation reveals the contrarian bets, the high-stakes risks, and the market forces shaping the biggest opportunities ahead.

If FinTech is the future, who’s building it right?

00:00: Coming up
01:50: The Compounding of Value in Financial Services
02:42: The Opportunity Sets in FinTech
04:55: Vital Viewing: How to go Phygital for Growth
05:45: Is FinTech Phygital or Digital
08:30: What are the New Opportunities in FinTech for the 1%?
09:38: The Tight Credit at the right time can have a Multiplier Effect on the Economy
11:27: Opportunities for the Next 10% in FinTech
12:00: Will How India Saves Money Change with Tech?
13:20: The Future of FinTech is Infinite ROE Businesses
13:47: Untapped potential across Credit, Insurance, and Wealth Products

Follow us on:
Website: www.z47.com/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/z47-vc/
Twitter: https://x.com/z47_vc
Instagram: z47.vc

204: The next tech-ade in Enterprise and AI

Z47 — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 10:26:00 +0000

In this episode of Zero to Infinity, Avnish, Vikram and Pranay dive into the latest trends shaping the future of AI and enterprise software. From the evolution of enterprise solutions to India’s growing influence in the global AI landscape, this discussion unpacks the future of technology and its impact on businesses.

🔹 How is AI revolutionizing enterprise workflows?
🔹 What role does India play in the global AI boom?
🔹 Where are the biggest opportunities in the Indian startup ecosystem?

Whether you're a tech enthusiast, an entrepreneur, or just AI curious, this discussion offers crucial insights into where technology is heading and how it's reshaping the global business landscape.

203: Why Z47, Why Now: Developed Nation Building | Zero to Infinity

Z47 — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 10:06:00 +0000

Welcome to 'Zero to Infinity,' the new face of the Z47 Podcast.

In this series premiere, tech veterans Avnish, Rajinder, Vikram, Tarun and Rajat chart the remarkable evolution of India's 25 year internet revolution. From the early dot-com pioneers to today’s AI-innovators today, travel back in time to the moments that shaped India’s digital transformation.

Learn about Z47's mission: Developed Nation Building, as we work towards India’s emergence as a global digital superpower by 2047. This is one of those rare, unfiltered chats about the future of Indian startups that you wouldn't want to miss.

Subscribe startup insights, founder stories and sector deep dives.

202: How redBus CEO Drives Impact with Every Hire

Z47 — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 14:41:00 +0000

What does it take to lead a 17-year-old legacy brand like redBus into international markets? In this episode of the #Z47podcast, CEO Prakash Sangam shares an unmissable journey—from his transition to the world of startups to selling 87 million tickets globally.

Discover how a passion for innovation, cultural alignment, and a relentless focus on customer-centricity propelled redBus to break records, such as selling 400,000 bus seats in a single day!

What's in for you? Actionable insights, leadership hacks that built high-performing teams, the power of cultural alignment, and why embracing ambiguity is key to success in today’s startup ecosystem.

201: Founder Archetypes - The First Time Founder Edge Part 2

Z47 — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Going deeper into their discussion on first-time and experienced founders, Avnish Bajaj and Chandrasekhar Venugopal dissect everything from failure zones founders should watch out for, to increasing one’s chances of success and finding purpose.

But the question remains: How first-time founders truly leverage this evolved ecosystem to outpace seasoned counterparts? Can there be just one winner?

Watch the second and final part of the #Z47Podcast on Founder Archetypes and find out! And, if you haven't already, catch episode 1 here: • Founder Archetypes: The First Time Fo...

▶️Some more of our podcasts that came up in the conversation:
Burn Rates: https://www.z47.com/podcast/whats-the...
PMF: https://www.z47.com/podcast/finding-s...
Org 3.0: https://www.z47.com/podcast/finding-s...
Single VC Multiple VCs: https://www.z47.com/podcast/single-ve...

198: Founder Archetypes: The First Time Founder's Edge | Avnish Bajaj | Chandrasekhar Venugopal

Z47 — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 10:12:00 +0000

60% of Indian unicorns are helmed by first-time founders, 29% by second-time founders, and 6% by those on their third attempt. Why is that?

First-time founders bring audacity, fearlessness, and unencumbered first-principles thinking. Experienced founders solve deep problems with domain expertise and strong customer networks.

But here’s the big question: Are founders born or made?

Join Avnish Bajaj and Chandrasekhar Venugopal as they dive into this age-old debate on the #z47podcast. Gain valuable insights into entrepreneurship, startup journeys, and what it takes to build a unicorn.

💡 Discover the secrets to success in the #FounderPlaybook!

200: How Startups Can Supercharge India's Aerospace & Defence Sector

Z47 — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 14:03:00 +0000

The aerospace, space, and defence sector is pivotal to India's journey toward self-reliance and global leadership. Over the years, this industry has seen a growing startup ecosystem addressing challenges in supply chains, autonomous systems, indigenous manufacturing, and space technology.

In this exclusive panel discussion, featuring industry stalwarts like Air Chief Marshal (Retd.) Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, Lt Gen PJS Pannu, and Ashish Saraf, CEO, Thales India, we delve into:

1️⃣ Strategic Entry Points for Startups
2️⃣ Why Customer-Focused Innovation Matters
3️⃣ Leveraging Policies and Support Systems

From understanding market dynamics to leveraging opportunities like iDEX, Aditi, and the Space Tech Fund, learn how startups can create a lasting impact in this high-stakes sector.

199: dd-Matrix CEO Sid Sheth Shares His Blueprint for Chip Success | Seed to Silicon

Z47 — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 13:59:00 +0000

The DMII: Seed to Silicon edition in Bangalore brought together builders in India’s semiconductor story. Z47’s Sudipto Sannigrahi hosted d-Matrix CEO Sid Sheth on the panel about India’s rising semiconductor potential and d-Matrix’s growth. d-Matrix’s commitment to lowering adoption barriers and hyper-interactive video solutions promises to reshape the industry.

The riveting chat was a goldmine: Sid’s insights about a vital space for India’s tech-ade are a blueprint for how Indian founders can chart a path to success in semiconductors.

5 Key Takeaways:
Breakthroughs Take Time: d-Matrix Took a Year
Even though Sid’s background at Intel and Aeluros gave him deep domain expertise, he took a year to explore ideas before launching d-Matrix. This reflects the importance of taking time for reflection and eliminating weak opportunities before venturing forward.

Focusing on What’s Overlooked in Chip Design to Disrupt Incumbents
By developing a unique chip architecture that integrates compute and memory, d-Matrix carved out a niche in the semiconductor market where larger players couldn’t compete.

Energy & Cost Efficiency Drive d-Matrix’s Semiconductor Success
d-Matrix’s focus on building energy-efficient, cost-effective chips addresses key pain points for customers, positioning them as a more practical solution for data centers.

Betting on India as the Tech Hub is a Competitive Advantage
Recognizing the immense talent pool and market potential, d-Matrix set up its largest tech hub in India, positioning the country as a critical player in the future of semiconductors.

Building Trust with Proof-of-Concept Chips is the Way to Grow
d-Matrix invested heavily in developing proof-of-concept chips in the first few years. This demonstrated real progress and minimized risk for investors and customers, enabling efficient innovation in their chip design.

197: SaaS in the Era of AI: How to build an enduring SaaS AI company

Z47 — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 08:44:00 +0000

"If you are an AI founder, buy a .com domain and not .ai domain" says Pranay Desai (MD, Z47) as CIOs often restrict access to most .ai domains within their organisational networks.

In conversation with Ashwin Pandian, Pranay addresses the facets of AI in SaaS, talking about various dimensions of the trade and shares insightful nuggets on the subject:

He engages with key topics, including:
▶️ The shift in role of CIOs - from enabling businesses and creativity to protecting them.
▶️ The future being consolidated stacks instead of point solutions, as clients are sceptical about giving away their data.
▶️ The founder’s conundrum: to ship fast, or take time and build a full stack.
▶️ Focus on distribution innovation to win in a mature product market.
▶️ A good AI business could be measured on the basis of product usage, repeat usage, revenue, and talkability.
▶️ Founders building in large markets need not build their own models, unlike players in smaller markets

Globally, we are on the verge of a complete overhaul of the software stack, and India is positioned to capture a significant share of this emerging landscape due to its strong capabilities in data curation and labelling.

Tune into the full podcast if you are a founder interested in AI in SaaS and want to know about the markets to consider.

196: Economic PMF is the ONLY PMF: App Economy 3.0.

Z47 — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 08:40:00 +0000

How do you monetise your app business from 600 million connected smartphone users in India? This is the only question founders in India’s App Economy 3.0 need to ask themselves.

Vivek Ramachandran, Chandrasekhar Venugopal and Aakash Kumar from Z47’s consumer team talk about the shifts in India’s app economy over the years and how engagement, retention and monetisation became the key pillars for app-based businesses.

They answer questions useful to any and every founder trying to succeed in India’s app economy 3.0:

▶️ What is the core nature of the value exchange in the app economy?
▶️ What effect will AI have on production?
▶️ What are the exciting trendlines?
▶️ Where do founders make mistakes when measuring success?
▶️ What key vectors do founders need to focus on building in 2024?

If you’re someone looking to build in or understand India’s app economy, this episode will give you years of insights in less than an hour.

195: How this founder turned 1000 interviews into a potential Rs.1000 Cr brand?

Z47 — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 11:07:00 +0000

Romita Mazumdar is channelling her love for skincare into a Rs. 1000 Cr Brand.
She started with almost 1000 interviews over a course of six months to find a market gap. And now, inspired by the likes of P&G, she has her eyes set on the Rs. 1000 Cr mark for Foxtale.
As a former VC, she closely observed consumer brands before shifting her focus to building in skincare, a category where she is a power user.

In conversation with Z47’s Rajat Agarwal, Romita recounts her journey from investment banking to founding Foxtale and answers gripping questions that all D2C founders can learn from :
▶ How consumer needs have changed in skincare
▶ How she thinks about channels for her business
▶ Where the 1000 Cr goal comes from
▶ Her thoughts on new ventures and diversification

If you’re passionate about entrepreneurship, building in skincare or branding, this episode will provide insights to help you get started on your journey.

194: How Unsecured Lending Became More Viable in India | Vikram Vaidyanathan | Anish Patil

Z47 — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 08:24:00 +0000

If you’re a founder working to solve for an underserved market in unsecured lending, this episode is required listening! Vikram Vaidyanathan and Anish Patil trade trendlines in unsecured credit landscape, and highlight four key insights that underpin the Z47 thesis for this sector.

👥Solving for Under-served Market Potential
Borrowers with low, but stable incomes and good credit culture have been under-served by traditional lenders, presenting an opportunity for new lenders.

🗂️Forecasting with Robust Payments Data
The evolution of UPI, account aggregators, and GST has streamlined underwriting, enabling precise borrower profiling, and accurate cash flow estimation, all of which allows lenders to tailor financial products.

🤳🏽Why A Phy-gital Approach Is Optimal
Digital tools enable fraud prevention, enhanced risk assessment and monitoring, while physical presence helps build trust and strengthen operations.

🌏Financial Inclusion & Strong Credit Demand
Improved infrastructure, steady GDP growth, and better law & order, especially in northern states, have opened new credit markets. Strong credit demand and smoother operations have made previously underserved areas more appealing to lenders.

194: The Future of E-commerce is Kwik & Bright! | Chirag Taneja | Avnish Bajaj | Rajat Agarwal

Z47 — Sat, 13 Jul 2024 08:22:00 +0000

HOW IS THE INDIAN E-COMMERCE TRANSFORMING?

With the adoption of quick commerce, the launch of the latest GenAI technology, and the increasing purchasing power of GenZ, the Indian e-commerce industry is poised for transformation.

In this episode of Matrix Moments, we analyse it further with Chirag Taneja, founder of GoKwik, a rapidly expanding e-commerce enablement startup, our founder Avnish Bajaj, who also launched one of India’s pioneering e-commerce ventures, Bazee, and Rajat Agarwal, MD at Matrix Partners India (aka Z47).

📲Digital penetration of Indian e-commerce stands at just 6% today.
It is set to increase drastically as GenZ consumers are on the rise while the digital public infrastructure is thriving.

🛵 Is Quick Commerce a feature, or a standalone company?
Every e-commerce player will have to embrace it or they’ll lose market share. This creates opportunities for infrastructure providers to facilitate this transformation.

🦾 The AI native apps are yet to come.
The enablement of consumer AI is expected to be similar to the era when mobile apps were first introduced, leading to the launch of various apps offering innovative solutions, many of which made a notable impact.

🕺🏾 Consumers no longer trust paid influencers. Co-creation is key.
The success of Freakins hints towards the opportunity that lies in co-creating with influencers instead of just paying them to promote products.

💥E-commerce disruption is boosting competition for companies that still have a firm foothold due to strong distribution.The original mode key to building consumer brands was distribution and that is getting disrupted.

If you are a founder exploring the e-commerce sector, this episode of Matrix Moments will provide you with insights into the diverse opportunities that are set to thrive in this space.

194: Meet the Founders of Neysa Networks | Sharad Sanghi | Anindya Das | Avnish Bajaj | Pranay Desai

Z47 — Fri, 05 Jul 2024 08:21:00 +0000

The Indian Internet Pioneer Starting Up AGAIN in AI

Sharad Sanghi is a pioneer of internet in India: from the early days of VSNL to rapid cloud adoption, when it comes to internet infrastructure, he’s seen it all. He founded among India’s earliest IT infra startups, NetMagic in 1998. In 2012, the IT Services company was acquired by NTT, where Sharad also served as CEO. Sharad Sanghi was an early partner to many Indian startups, and the NetMagic story is required reading in the evolution of the internet in India.

In 2022, Sharad & longtime NTT tech leader Anindya Das started Neysa Networks - spotting the opportunity in AI Cloud infrastructure early. Co-founded by experienced founders with deep domain expertise, Neysa is solving to democratise AI for enterprises, offering a suite of Generative AI platforms and services. Neysa’s AI Cloud products help clients discover, plan, deploy, and manage their Generative AI projects cost-effectively, and secure their AI landscapes in the cloud and at the edge in a consumption-based model. Earlier this year, Matrix Partners AKA G47 led the investment in Neysa Network’s $20mn seed round.

On this special episode of Matrix Moments, AI SaaS investor Pranay Desai is joined by Avnish Bajaj, to talk to the Neysa leadership, Sharad Sanghi, Founder & CEO, and Anindya Das, Co-founder & CTO. From evaluating the hype around artificial intelligence to discussing the future of Indian AI startups, they break down the AI landscape in India.

This one is unmissable, and covers:
🚀Why AI is Different vs. other hyped up tech
✋Why AI Adoption Needs AI Infrastructure
🤝Why Democratizing AI is the Way Forward
📈Why India Will Lead in AI

194: Meet the Founder of SiftHub | Manisha Raisinghani | Pranay Desai

Z47 — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 08:19:00 +0000

“Not just wealth… I think experience is all about compounding”
Says Manisha Raisinghani, founder of SiftHub.

After her stint as the CTPO at LogiNext, Manisha Raisinghani spent some time looking for the right problem to solve before starting up again. In her search, she found a sales enablement problem that could be solved through AI: enterprise sales teams have over 100 touch-points to tap into when collecting the data needed to make an effective sale. This sapped sales team effectiveness, since sales teams spent time doing non-sales tasks. This is the problem Manisha & the team at SiftHub are setting out to solve, with AI.

In this episode of Matrix Moments, she explains how SiftHub stands apart in a crowded space. Ultimately, just because a sector is ‘crowded’, doesn’t mean it has run out of problems to be solved.

📍Identifying the problem: Manisha’s experience and research showed that sales resources spend 70% of their time doing non-selling activities.

👥 Approaching a crowded market: With so many SaaS applications designed for salespeople, it gets confusing to find what information lies where, complicating an already complex sales process.

👩🏻‍💻Building High-Performing Teams:
Manisha’s 3-O framework for SiftHub is unmissable if you want to build high-functioning, high-agency teams.

This episode of Matrix Moments is flush with insights on building in AI. Tune in.

193: The Park+ Playbook for Early Stage Hires

Z47 — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 15:20:00 +0000

HOW DID PARK+ ACE 🛞HIRING FOR AN EARLY-STAGE STARTUP

Founded in 2019, Park+ drove through various challenges and introduced a plethora of services to find its footing today. However, it always had one clearly defined goal - to make car ownership easy and hassle-free. Park+ Founder and CEO Amit Lakhotia takes us through his interesting ways of building the team at Park+ in this episode of Matrix Moments.

-Amit mentions how hiring when the startup is going from 0-to-1 is different as compared to when it's at 1-to-10 and why getting a good Talent Acquisition Head is essential for any startup.

-0-to-1: At this stage, a startup needs people who can deal with ambiguity and are naturally inclined toward solving problems.

-1-to-10: This is the stage where a more disciplined team is required since the answers are already figured out.

-Amit has an interesting way of training leaders. He hires people with 4-8 years of experience to work in the founder's office for six months and understand how each department works. Later, they’re allocated to a specific department.

Amit says, “We are not going to randomly hire, we are not going to randomly fire.”

His conscious hiring method has helped find the right folks to bring on board. This has helped with solving new consumer problems, leading Park+ to offer services like issuing FASTag, car washing, parking, challan, and more.

If you’re a founder stepping into an untapped territory, this episode of Matrix Moments will provide you with meaningful insights.

193: Meet the Founders of GreyLabs AI

Z47 — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:19:00 +0000

IS GreyLabsAI PLAYING THE AI GAME BEFORE TIME?

The founders of a leading speech analytics platform for financial institutions, GreyLabsAI, Aman Goel and Harshita Srivastava, take us through the journey of identifying their market, building the product, and distributing it over the past few years. Setting up an AI business in India might seem a bit earlier than recommended, but is it?

This episode of Matrix Moments unpacks the nitty-gritty of a young AI startup.

📍 Identifying a meaningful problem
Customer service chats are recorded to be analysed later. GreyLabsAI helps large enterprises with analysing this data. The problem proves to be quite meaningful for enterprises.

🤝 Collaboration among co-founders
They stress on how compatible traits and mutual trust are necessary among co-founders. It allows them to create clear boundaries. While Harshita builds the product, Aman handles the business aspect of GreyLabsAI.

🌏 India or USA?
Working for American clients while living in India brings a larger risk from companies functioning completely in the States. Aman and Harshita chose India as the base for their company as well as their market.

🦾 Is it too early for an AI start-up?
While Harshita sees the opportunity NOW as the technology is reasonably mature to solve real-world problems but hasn’t been explored yet, Aman believes that it’s the right time to gain the trust of the customers.

✨ Distribution in a new market.
Although Financial enterprises have a lot of tech spending, it’s necessary to establish trust. Furthermore, one can analyse more customer problems and solve them with new products.

Harshita says, “It is said that sometimes little things happen in decades and sometimes decades happen in little time.”

If you’re a founder exploring the potential of AI products in India, this episode of Matrix Moments will give you pointed insights on various aspects of building and distributing young technology in India.

192: The Middle Journey of Fintech

Z47 — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 08:43:00 +0000

WHAT’S THE FUTURE OF FINTECH IN INDIA?

The Indian Fintech ecosystem is entering its middle journey. With $100bn+ in market cap already created by these businesses, the twin engines of Compounding and market penetration project potential for large-scale growth. Anand Khetan and Vikram Vaidyanathan dissect the past, present, and future of the finance industry in this episode of Matrix Moments.

On this Matrix Moments episode:
•⁠ ⁠What can FinTech learn from the success of Financial Services behemoths like HDFC & VISA?
•⁠ ⁠What is the importance of TRUST while building a FinTech brand?
•⁠ ⁠How can FinTech businesses compound without growing user base?
•⁠ ⁠How should founders view regulation & the costs of compliance? Is it a feature or a bug?

191: How to Go Phygital for Growth: Myths vs Reality

Z47 — Thu, 13 Jun 2024 08:38:00 +0000

How should founders think about using offline channels for growth? Is phygital a real option or just a mirage? Rajinder Balaraman and Vikram Vaidyanathan double-click on the myths around phygital, bust them and share learnings for founders thinking of going phygital.

👉MYTH #1 Phygital has a higher CAC - It depends basis category, users and ticket size - Dezerv who employs a phygital model has a lower CAC than its competitors, whereas OneCard, operating purely online has a CAC that is 4-5x lower than SBI cards.

👉MYTH #2 Going offline slows you and makes it harder to scale - When you employ the right tech, scalability at speed becomes possible. Mamaearth’s online presence has spiked from 15% to at least 50% in 3 years.

👉MYTH #3 Customer experience journey is too complex in phygital - The journey is actually complex, but is an opportunity for founders to create an edge, and potentially a long-term moat.

👉 MYTH #4 Phygital is not relevant for all sectors - While there are sectors in the extreme who don’t need a phygital model, a significantly larger number benefit from creating a phygital experience. SaaS is an excellent example, where prima facie it looks like a purely digital model, but the sector spends much more on offline branding and events.

If you are a founder who is evaluating going phygital, this episode of Matrix Moments would help you make an informed choice.

191: Where to incorporate SaaS Startups: US or India?

Z47 — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 08:35:00 +0000

PICKING THE PERFECT SaaS LAUNCHPAD - US or INDIA?

For SaaS founders, the incorporation decision hinges on factors like business outlook, end goals, and access to capital markets. The US has often been the default choice for incorporation, but this is changing in recent years - India is increasingly considered a viable choice to start a SaaS company.

So what should founders do? Watch this episode of Matrix Moments. Dig deep into the incorporation dilemma - Harish Sekar, Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, talks to Pranay Desai and Ashwin Pandian and they've got tips on:

1. Shattering Location Myths: India's burgeoning startup ecosystem is challenging US dominance with lower costs, faster setup, and abundant domestic capital.

2. Choosing Your Target Market: The optimal incorporation location depends on the target market, IPO aspirations, and founder location.

3. IPO vs. Acquisition: Strategise for both scenarios, including the United States' stringent IPO standards and India's more accessible path to local listings.

4. Transitioning from the US to India: Navigating the complexities of restructuring and the potential opportunities in Indian capital markets.

190: The Founder's Handbook - Internal vs External Funding Rounds

Z47 — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 07:02:00 +0000

THE FOUNDER’S PLAYBOOK: INTERNAL FUNDING ROUNDS

Internal or pre-emptive funding rounds are a major topic on founders' minds. Internal rounds refer to financing events where a company's existing investors, rather than external new investors, provide additional capital. They can signify confidence from current investors in the company's potential and can help maintain momentum without the complexities of bringing in new stakeholders.

If you’re a founder, Internal rounds can be a complex decision to make with several variables to consider. To help, Vikram Vaidyanathan & Rajinder Balaraman weigh up the pros & cons of internal or pre-emptive funding rounds on Matrix Moments.

👉Valuation-Dilution trade-offs are inevitable - Both the founders and investors make trade-offs during pre-emptive rounds, requiring nuanced decision making.

👉The stability of internal interest - An existing investor is likely to have the highest intent in terms of new investment commitment.

👉Efficiency of internal funding - It is the fastest process with the least capital dilution.

👉Price advantage of external funding - The wider discovery process can lead to higher price if there’s very high interest in the market.

👉Criticality of external validation - An external round is a crucial as a validation of TAM, quality of the team and the business model.

If you are a founder thinking through fund-raising choices, this episode of Matrix Moments is for you.

189: How Domain Alphas master success?

Z47 — Fri, 31 May 2024 08:27:00 +0000

Domain Alphas are founders whose edge lies in their domain knowledge, and their market-tested experience of solving problems for customers. Watch Rajinder Balaram & Vikram Vaidyanathan share their views on Domain Alpha founders, and trade great examples of how Domain Alpha founders build great businesses.

1. Getting to PMF Faster: How the experience of building the ICICI cards business helped the founders of OneCard launch slow, but get it right faster

2. Choose the Right Problems: How the founders of Country Delight didn’t rush, and spent a significant amount of time understanding the market problems before scaling

3. Know the Consumer Deeply: Why Ola Electric chose to build in two-wheeler EVs when everyone was betting on cars

Domain Alphas are able to turn their unfair advantage into real success. As a founder, you have it, or you have to acquire it. What do you do if you don’t have domain expertise?

188: How OTO Sold 1,00,000 Two-Wheelers online?

Z47 — Thu, 23 May 2024 06:07:00 +0000

Sumit Chhazed is a serial entrepreneur, who figured out his first startup as soon as he graduated from IIT Bombay. OTO is the fourth company that he has founded, employing a business model that combined commerce and finance to disrupt the two-wheeler purchase landscape in India. OTO has already sold over 1lakh two-wheelers through their online marketplace and apps.

On this episode of Matrix Moments, Sumit delves into the levers behind the success of OTO, sharing his approach with Rajinder Balaraman and Anish Patil. Here are the key takeaways about building a disruptive business model:

1.⁠ ⁠OTO is betting big on India’s 2-wheelers: with over 60% of new purchases coming from 18-25 year olds, living outside the metros.

2.⁠ ⁠Two-wheeler financing is a big opportunity: OTO has built a full-stack financing business that allows consumers to lower their 2-wheeler loan EMIs by 30%.

3.⁠ ⁠A phygital experience brings the buyers to the yard: This space is ripe for disruption as new-age audiences are not keen on going to multiple dealerships and scouring the market for financing. OTO’s partnerships with payment apps and OEM partners is driving their reach with young consumers.

4.⁠ ⁠EVs are the future of 2-wheelers: the younger buyer is more keen on EV 2-wheelers than 4-wheelers. OTO is helping brands like Ola Electric penetrate deeper into India.

If you’re a founder who is seeking to build a disruptive strategy and business model, watch the episode and gain insights into how OTO charted their road to 100000+ 2-wheelers sold, while changing the two-wheeler play in India.

187: The Whole Truth about Brand Communities

Z47 — Thu, 16 May 2024 05:59:00 +0000

The Whole Truth Foods founder Shashank Mehta is a rare breed of a CEO who is also a creator. 🌟 A lifelong student of the content & community game, Shashank’s content journey started as a stand-up coming on YouTube, long before he became the face of The Whole Truth.

On this episode of Matrix Moments, Shashank goes deep on content & community, sharing with candour in a deep chat with Vikram Vaidyanathan. Here are 4 big takeaways around building brands through content & community for founders:

1.⁠ ⁠Founders must be clear on the WHAT of their content marketing, the HOW is easier with modern tools & AI. 💡

2.⁠ ⁠Transparency is the biggest tool in the content marketer’s arsenal. Consumers are the best bullshit detectors in today’s hyper-connected world. 👀

3.⁠ ⁠Brand communities are more about GIVING than TAKING. 🤝

4.⁠ ⁠ROI from Content Marketing shouldn’t have a hard linkage to Sales: Founders must leverage content as an editorial lever, and not tactically link it to sales. 💼

If you’re a founder who wants to level up your brand’s content & community marketing game, watch this episode as Shashank & Vikram’s easy camaraderie uncovers the Whole Truth.

186: The Whole Truth about Company Culture

Z47 — Thu, 09 May 2024 11:01:00 +0000

If you're a founder seeking advice on how to build great teams, this episode of Matrix Moments is for you. Vikram Vaidyanathan hosts The Whole Truth Foods Founder & CEO, Shashank Mehta and they share their wisdom around building great company cultures.

🌟 Shashank sent The Whole Truth Foods' culture document, titled Why We Exist, before he met Vikram Vaidyanathan for the first time. The document outlines the company's mission about the Whole Truth.

💼💡Shashank's conviction in his company’s mission is unparalleled, with a clear vision of positive societal impact and the ability to inspire others to make it a reality, so much so that the team at The Whole Truth Foods has imbibed the founder's mission, made it their own, and keep him accountable.

👷‍♀️ The Whole Truth's manufacturing is run by women - Shashank shares the challenges they faced in doing this, and shares a story about how the company's culture & mission have been received on the factory floors.

185: 0:03 / 23:04 • Introduction How INDMoney's Ashish Kashyap Builds Successful Teams AGAIN & AGAIN | People First with Rupali

Z47 — Thu, 02 May 2024 09:52:00 +0000

Ashish Kashyap needs no introduction. The first country head for Google in India, before he turned entrepreneur, Ashish is a serial founder. He's founded and scaled marquee Indian internet startups RedBus, PayU, GoIbibo, before starting his most recent FinTech venture, the super app, INDMoney.

Ashish was a guest on Matrix Moments People First with Rupali, where shared startup and team-building learnings from his journey across the companies he's built.

184: Building the Organisation from Ground 0 with Revant Bhate

Z47 — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 05:51:00 +0000

Revant Bhate on #PeopleFirst by Matrix Moments!
Passionate about building a people-centric culture, Revant takes on dual roles at Mosaic Wellness as both CEO and CHRO. In a conversation with Rupali Sharma on our latest episode, Revant delves into the intricacies of building his startup from scratch, emphasising the pivotal role of human capital.

Key takeaways from the episode:

1️⃣ Fundamental Team Building Principles: Revant shares insights on leveraging his network of seasoned operators who trust his vision, a crucial asset in the volatile startup landscape. His core team comprises individuals who have previously collaborated with him, highlighting the importance of building trust from the onset.

🔎 Strategic Recruiting: Transparent communication about challenges and expectations is paramount during the hiring process. Revant's clarity from day one ensured that team members joined with the right mindset and expectations.

🧲 Aligning Incentives: Revant stresses the significance of employees understanding the startup's growth trajec

183: Investing in Digital India - Trends for 2024

Z47 — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 06:10:00 +0000

On the latest episode of Matrix Moments, catch Aakash Kumar, Sudipto Sannigrahi, Pranay Desai, and Anish Patil of Matrix Partners India as they discuss the India consumption and growth story, insights on investing in Digital India and their predictions for 2024.

This episode covers:

🚀 India's $10 Trillion Vision: Anticipating India's trajectory, there's a strong belief that India will grow into a $10 trillion economy by 2035. Growth is fuelled by deepening markets, robust internal demand coupled with strong public and private capital investments

🌐 Secular Trends & Growth: Long-term growth seen in sectors like manufacturing & exports, energy, defence, financial services and consumer retail

📊 Market Dynamics & Investment Strategies: The sectors that Matrix Partners India is bullish about in 2024, exploring India's growth dynamics and entrepreneurial landscape.

🔮 Predictions & Optimism: The advent of experienced founders and digital industrialists, the rise of “phy-gital” business models and a dispersion in value-creation beyond traditional hubs will help India retain its lure as an attractive market for venture capital

182: Leading the B2B frontier: People fueling profitability

Z47 — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 06:07:00 +0000

Join Asish Mohapatra, Co-founder and CEO of OfBusiness, and Rupali Sharma on the latest episode of "People First" by Matrix Moments. Explore OfBusiness's remarkable journey and unravel the intricacies of building a resilient organization.

This episode covers:

🌐 Innovation Hub: OfBusiness leads the way in innovation, with the team embodying a fusion of values and innovation, working collectively towards profitability and shared achievements.

🔐 Org-Building Secrets: Asish delves into the organizational alchemy that catapulted OfBusiness to market leadership in just seven years.

🌱 Investing in Tomorrow: The conscious decision to build in-house talent, as Asish shares the challenges and benefits of this unique approach. He highlights why nurturing young talent for sustained success yields substantial returns long-term.

📈 Non-negotiables in Hiring: The hiring philosophy, focusing on qualities like a commitment to doing the right thing, a strong work ethic, and a commercial mindset.

👥 Maintaining Organizational DNA: OfBusiness ensures the preservation of its core values and culture as it scales, with Asish sharing both successes and mistakes in this journey.

181: Matrix Moments: Investing in Human Capital; The VC Perspective

Z47 — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 12:22:40 +0000

The driving forces propelling the Indian startup ecosystem forward all share a common thread—they are all People. Founders, investors, employees—all united working towards growth and success.

At Matrix, we believe in putting our founders first, and now, we want to shine a spotlight on the talent and teams that move these visionaries forward. In the very first episode of "People First" by Matrix Moments, Avnish Bajaj and Rupali Sharma from Matrix Partners India, highlight the pivotal role of human capital teams in shaping successful ventures.

The episode covers:

💼 People First Philosophy: The significance of prioritizing founders and recognizing that, at their core, founders are people. This underscores the essence of the podcast's title, "People First."

🚀 Evolution of VC Ecosystem: The Indian venture capital landscape focusing not only on investments but also on aiding companies in building robust teams.

💰 Investment in Human Capital Teams: As the venture ecosystem expanded, why Matrix invested in a human capital team, viewing it as a strategic function crucial for supporting startup growth.

🏆 Value Creation: The core objective is to expedite startups' value creation, with human capital teams playing a vital role in ensuring that the right talent propels this growth.

🌐 Reinvention: Founder roles and team dynamics evolving to stay relevant. Managing human capital strategically is a vital competitive advantage in the digital age.

🤝 Communication and Transparency: Fostering trust and collaboration within the organization for clarity in expectations and skillsets, ensures optimal returns.

180: Matrix Moments: Code to Commerce - The Mobile Gaming Evolution

Z47 — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 06:43:00 +0000

On the latest episode of Matrix Moments, Ashish Aggarwal, Co-Founder, AppBroda and Vivek Ramachandran, Matrix Partners India discuss the world of mobile apps and the growing segments in the gaming landscape in India.

This episode covers -

📈 Growth Potential: Discover why India's gaming industry is on the brink of an inflection point in the next 18 months.

🌐 Developer Talents: Learn about India's vast developer talent pool and their evolving role in the global gaming industry.

🌍 Global Perspective: Gain insights into the importance of expanding beyond local markets to maximize revenue and user acquisition.

💡 Monetization Strategies: Advice on incorporating ads, premium formats, and effective user acquisition to boost your game's success.

📈 Scaling Success: How developers who started small and grew into million-dollar studios and why now is the perfect time to embrace the entrepreneurial plunge in the gaming industry.

179: Matrix Moments: Simplifying employee support with AI - Atomicwork

Z47 — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 06:40:00 +0000

Atomicwork leverages the power of AI to seamlessly bring together employees, IT systems, and HR operations. On the latest episode of Founder Moments, Vijay Rayapati, CEO and Co-Founder of Atomicwork, along with Vikram Vaidyanathan and Pranay Desai, discuss his phenomenal founder journey.

This episode covers -

🚀 The Minjar Journey: Vijay shares insights from his entrepreneurial experience with Minjar, highlighting the challenges faced in fundraising, seeking suitable partners, and entering foreign markets. He also discusses the significance of cultural alignment, which ultimately led to the sale of the startup.

💼 Building a SaaS company: Vijay emphasizes the creation of value through service and encourages a deep focus on redefining AI rather than simply adding it on top of existing solutions. He introduces the concept of Act 1 in a company's evolution, describing it as an iterative phase where various approaches are explored to solve problems.

👥 Co-founders' Chemistry: He also elaborates on the qualities that drew him to his co-founders. Patience, perseverance, curiosity, and a shared cultural context played crucial roles in their partnership.

📈 Team Building and Hiring: Vijay highlights the founder's role in not only selecting but also fine-tuning the team's DNA to align with the company's vision and values.

179: Matrix Moments: Maximizing Return on Investment - The Key to Stable Money

Z47 — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 06:36:00 +0000

Amidst the lack of innovation & transparency in traditional fixed return assets, which constitute approximately 70% of Indian household savings (with around 45% in FDs), a significant opportunity arises to bridge the gap.

On our latest episode of Matrix Moments, Saurabh Jain and Harish Reddy, join Anand Khetan to discuss their foray into wealth fintech with Stable Money, India's first of its kind fixed-return investment platform.

This episode covers:

🚀 Transitioning to Entrepreneurship: Saurabh and Harish share their incredible personal journeys. Harish's transition from a lifelong trader to Saurabh's wealth of experience from organizations like Navi and Swiggy, adds depth to their story.

💹 Drive Behind Wealth Fintech: Discover the driving forces that led them to launch the Stable Money product, its standout features, and their relentless pursuit of building trust among investors.

👥 Forging the Team: Explore the early stages of team building and the qualities that the founders were seeking in their initial hires.

📊 Customer Insights: Saurabh's conversations with customers and the insights gained, emphasizing the importance of trust and feedback.

💼 Navigating Regulatory Challenges: Drawing from their past experiences at companies like Navi and Estee Advisors, the founders share insights into navigating the regulatory hurdles in the fintech landscape.

📈 Future Vision: The episode also showcases a glimpse into Stable Money's long-term vision and how they plan to shape the future of India's wealth fintech industry.

#FoundersFirst #MatrixMoments #MatrixFintech

178: Matrix Moments: Investing in India's B2B Potential

Z47 — Tue, 05 Sep 2023 16:06:00 +0000

In the latest episode of Matrix Moments, Sudipto Sannigrahi, and Anurag Srivastava, delve deeper into the existing B2B landscape and cover why Matrix Partners continues to be bullish on the segment and the fundamentals that make a good B2B business

This episode covers:
1. Is B2B still an attractive segment to build in
2. Fundamentals of a good B2B business
3. Sustainable, defensible moats in a good B2B business
4. Pitfalls for B2B founders to be aware of in their 10 – infinity journey
5. Importance of good corporate governance

Traditionally centered on distribution, B2B investments are now shifting toward core IP-led manufacturing. We consider ourselves fortunate to witness the inner workings of a diverse range of B2B businesses, spanning from well-established companies like OfBusiness, FarMart, Captain Fresh, and VEGROW to upcoming innovative product companies like ZippMat, XIMKART, and bijnis among others.

177: Matrix Moments: Insights From Second Time SaaS Founders - Part 2

Z47 — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 15:02:00 +0000

On the latest episode of Matrix Moments, we feature seasoned entrepreneurs including Arvind Parthiban, CEO & Co-Founder at SuperOps.ai; Rishi Kulkarni, Managing Director at LegalZoom; Vijay Rayapati, Co-founder and CEO of AtomicWork; along with Pranay Desai. These founders share valuable insights from their second innings building SaaS companies.

This episode covers -
Strategically aligning go-to-market approach with market demand.
Embracing market immersion and adapting to international markets.
Fostering agility for success in the dynamic SaaS landscape.

175: Insights from second time SaaS founders - Part 1

Z47 — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 11:31:00 +0000

The Indian SaaS ecosystem has demonstrated greater resilience than its global counterparts. Revenues crossed $7 billion, formation of new SaaS companies expanded three-fold, and India now corners 2% of the global SaaS market, as per a report by SaasBoomi and McKinsey.

On this episode of Matrix Moments, Arvind Parthiban, CEO & Co-Founder at SuperOps.ai; Rishi Kulkarni, Managing Director at LegalZoom; Vijay Rayapati, Co-founder and CEO of AtomicWork, and Pranay Desai, delve into the journeys of second-time SaaS founders.

Explore the driving forces that led to embarking on a fresh journey, coupled with their approach across pivotal domains including market strategies, co-founder synergies, product innovation, customer exploration and much more.

176: Matrix Moments: Gaming Reloaded - What is next?

Z47 — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 12:56:00 +0000

On our latest episode of Founder Moments with Salone Sehgal, Founding Partner at Lumikai Fund, and Aakash Kumar, we shine a spotlight on why India stands at the cusp of revolutionizing gaming.

This episode covers:
👥 Shifting Demographics
📈 India's Gaming Potential
🖥 Emergence of Indian Talent
🎮 Convergence of Gaming and Social Media & much more!

174: Digital Industrialists with Avnish Bajaj and Rajinder Balaraman

Z47 — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 10:28:00 +0000

After building a large profitable digital company, what do such infinity founders do next?! Become “Digital Industrialists!”

Up next on Matrix Moments, we discuss a counter narrative concept – that its okay for infinity founders to start multiple businesses as long as it is about value creation for all stakeholders and not value capture. As big a violation of first principles of company building as it sounds, we invite you to tune in to know more in our latest episode.

173: Matrix Moments: India's First Lifestyle App For The Elderly, GenWise

Z47 — Mon, 07 Aug 2023 10:14:00 +0000

GenWise, founded by Geentanshu, Nehul, and Rajat, is driven by a collective vision to develop a lifestyle app that empowers the elderly and bridges the digital gap between generations.

GenWise leverages innovative features such as a personal digital assistant, streamlined digital passbook, medication reminders, scam education, and engaging social tools. They employ cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence, for a seamless user experience, creating an elder-friendly digital environment.

Within two months of their launch, GenWise has hit ~100k installs

Hear the founders next on Matrix Moments, as they share their vision to empower and enrich the digital experiences of the elderly through India's first lifestyle app.

172: Matrix Moments: The AI revolution in Media & Social - Part One

Z47 — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 10:52:34 +0000

The tailwinds in the Media Social and Gaming space are building up to a perfect storm. At a high level Media, Social and Gaming seems to be converging especially for GenZ. Marry this with the fact that AI is going to disrupt Media Social and Gaming by significantly altering the Quality/Quantity isoquant as well as allowing for personalization at scale. High velocity of content will also lead to innovations in content management in general.

At the core of this lies content, catering to ever-changing attention spans. With its multi-modal capabilities encompassing text, image, video, audio and more, AI acts as a catalyst, igniting revolutionary experiences, sparking creativity and fostering meaningful connections between content creators and their audiences. It’s why we’re calling this piece ‘Feel good inc.’ internally. If you thought you are binging today, wait for AI to be properly integrated into your content.

Up next on Matrix Moments, Tarun, Aakash and Chandrasekhar Venugopal, delve deep into the AI Revolution in Media and Social, where they uncover the potential, challenges and countless opportunities that lie ahead in this evolving landscape.

172: Matrix Moments: Anil Goteti, Founder of Scapia on building a travel fintech company

Z47 — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 10:48:00 +0000

Scapia has made a remarkable entry into the market with the launch of its co-branded credit card in collaboration with Federal Bank. The response has been overwhelming, with massive growth in customer sign-ups. Tailor-made for travel lovers, the card turns a customer's everyday expenses into exciting travel rewards. And the perks are unparalleled! From zero-forex markup to unlimited domestic lounge access, zero joining and annual fees, it is the ultimate travel companion. Founder Anil Goteti’s passion for travel and understanding of the younger generation's needs, has been the driving force behind Scapia.

Brace yourselves for our latest episode of Founder Moments, as Vikram uncovers Anil’s approach to building Scapia and his vision for the future. With less than 5% of the population currently possessing credit cards and India projected to have 200 million credit cards in circulation by 2030, the opportunities are vast.

171: Why now, for the India Semiconductor opportunity? Seed to Silicon part 1

Z47 — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 11:16:53 +0000

To unlock India's immense potential in the semiconductor industry, Sudipto and Nivedith deep dive into the possibilities that lie ahead on our latest episode of Reflections.

1. The Complex Semiconductor Supply Chain: Dive deep into the intricacies of the semiconductor supply chain and its pivotal role in shaping the industry.

2. India's Role in the Global Semiconductor Value Chain: Explore India's limited participation and the golden opportunities arising from recent changes.

3. The Semiconductor Opportunity in India and its Subsets: Uncover the vast potential of the semiconductor market in India, along with the most promising subsets.

4. The "Right to Win" for Indian Companies: Discover winning factors that can drive Indian companies to make a mark in the global semiconductor value chain.

5. Commercial Implications of Moore's Law: Explore how Moore's Law evolution impacts the semiconductor landscape and the commercial implications of advanced technologies like 3D architecture.

6. Notable Players in RISC-V Adoption: Learn about leading global and Indian companies driving the adoption of RISC-V.

7. The Rise of Artificial Intelligence and India's Role: Discover how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing semiconductors and the potential role of India in this transformative trend.

8. Where will the Next Set of Indian Founders Emerge: Uncover potential sources of the next wave of Indian founders and valuable insights for those building in India.

170: Unravelling Fintech Infra and Banktech Opportunities

Z47 — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 11:55:36 +0000

On our latest episode of Reflections, join us as we unravel opportunities in Fintech infrastructure and Banktech. We will explore the changing landscape of BaaS and delve into how it has revolutionized the delivery and accessibility of financial services. The episode covers:

🚀 BaaS 2.0: BaaS 2.0 represents the evolution and maturation of the concept since its initial inception. BaaS 2.0 offers a more robust and scalable platform, enabling a wider range of services and features.

🔀 Fintech vs. SaaS: What aspects are different? While both Fintech and BaaS focus on leveraging technology in the financial sector, they differ in their primary offerings.

💡 Exciting spaces and our investment framework: Within the BaaS ecosystem, we are excited about certain spaces like payment gateways, lending platforms, wealth management solutions and more. We will discuss our investment framework used to evaluate and select opportunities.

🌐 Identifying adjacencies and tapping into them: Adjacencies play a crucial role in the growth and expansion of BaaS platforms. Tapping into adjacencies is essential for expanding the customer base, increasing revenue streams and creating synergies.

🔧 Skillsets required for building a Banktech play: Building a successful Banktech platform requires a specific set of skillsets. These include expertise in banking operations and regulations, technology infrastructure, regulatory compliance, and customer experience.

📲 Indian rails as public goods vs. private in the US: Boon or bane? The Indian rail infrastructure, including Aadhaar Authentication (AA), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN), is considered public goods. In contrast, the rail systems in the United States are predominantly private. Comparing these two models raises important questions about the benefits and challenges of each approach.

🌍 Global expansion: Is it imminent? As the BaaS industry grows, evaluating the Total Addressable Market (TAM) in India is crucial to assess its potential for building a large-scale business. Additionally, exploring the feasibility and necessity of expanding to geographies similar to India provides valuable insights into global expansion opportunities and challenges.

169: The GenAI Revolution in Fintech

Z47 — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 06:45:00 +0000

In our latest episode of Reflections, we explore the use cases of generative AI in fintech with Aakash Kumar, Anish Patil, and Anand Khetan. Hear them as they discuss AI's disruptive impact, emerging patterns in technology development, future trends, as well as risks and opportunities in financial services. Tune in!

168: Murf Unplugged: Winning in GenAI

Z47 — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 12:14:47 +0000

In this latest episode, Ankur Edkie and Sneha Roy pull back the curtain on how they have built a rapidly growing business. Tune in.

167: Ready, Steady, Zupee! Elevating Gaming in India

Z47 — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 11:20:17 +0000

In this exciting new episode of Matrix Moments, Tarun Davda, MD, Matrix Partners India, is in conversation with Dilsher Malhi, the founder of the booming gaming platform, Zupee. Dilsher delves into the trends in the gaming industry, human psychology, and the advent of AI in the gaming space. Join the conversation as they talk about Dilsher’s journey and what he learned along the way.

166: What’s Next for Matrix over the Next Techade

Z47 — Thu, 25 May 2023 04:09:55 +0000

In our latest episode of Matrix Moments, we uncover what's next for Matrix Partners India in the next Techade, with the closing of our fourth fund.

165: Matrix Moments: Indian ConsumerTech - Coming back to life

Z47 — Tue, 23 May 2023 16:30:00 +0000

"The best product wins, right, and the best product means the founder who has the closest insight to the consumer, who spent time on the backend researching it, truly passionate about it I think can really create large opportunities." shares our VP, Chandrasekhar Venugopal, on our latest episode of Matrix Moments titled " Indian ConsumerTech - Coming back to Life." Joining him are our Founder and MD, Avnish Bajaj, our MD, Rajinder Balaraman, and our Principal, Siddharth Agarwal.

What's next for ConsumerTech? Will ConsumerTech witness an evolution? What would this mean for entrepreneurial innovation? Tune in to know this and much more

164: Matrix Moments: To IPO or to not IPO?!

Z47 — Wed, 10 May 2023 04:39:00 +0000

To go IPO or not to go IPO is a dilemma that companies face as they consider raising capital and providing liquidity. Despite the potential benefits, some choose to remain private to avoid the challenges and limitations of being publicly traded. The objective of this podcast is to spark a discussion to share our perspectives. We have framed both the positives and some of the issues to think through before a company decides to go public.

164: Demystifying GenAI: A Founder's Primer with Vijay Rayapati

Z47 — Thu, 04 May 2023 04:42:00 +0000

In our latest episode of Founder Moments, listen in from Vijay Rayapati, Co-founder and CEO at Atomicwork, on why every founder should be thinking of GenAI, how AI can be leveraged within organisations and his predictions for the future.

163: Infinity Entrepreneurs

Z47 — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 19:09:00 +0000

Watch our Founder and MD, Avnish Bajaj, in conversation with our MD, Rajinder Balaraman, on what it takes to be an infinity entrepreneur.

162: The top 4 B2B verticals founders should invest in

Z47 — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 19:07:00 +0000

"A lot of raw materials today are untouched across all the value chains and functionality that we spoke about. Choose out a new raw material, choose out a new value chain, or choose out financing to learn the market structure a lot better," said Asish Mohapatra, Co-founder and CEO, OfBusiness, as one of the four B2B verticals founders should invest in. Watch him in conversation with Sudipto Sannigrahi, Principal, Matrix Partners India.

161: Environment, Valuations and Starting Up in 2023

Z47 — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 19:03:00 +0000

“The West or the US specifically has always been built on a 222 kind of model, it’s 2 percent growth, 2 percent inflation, 2 percent interest rates, and India has always been more 777, 7 percent growth, 7 percent interest rate, 7 percent inflation, give or take in India maybe a little bit more but it’s not a shock to the Indian economy and you can see it around you because people are spending, businesses are investing.” said Rajinder Balaraman, MD, Matrix Partners India in our latest episode of Matrix Moments on “Environment, Valuation and Starting up in 2023” with Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India.

160: 2022 Recap & Forecast 2023

Z47 — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 18:57:00 +0000

2022 was a year of unprecedented change and disruption, with the world having to adjust to a new normal. As we look back at the past year, it is important to take stock of what happened and reflect on what we have learned. At the same time, it is also important to look ahead and anticipate what the coming year may bring, Tune – in.

159: Jump-starting crypto: road ahead to building applications in web3

Z47 — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 06:19:00 +0000

In this episode, Aakash, Principal at Matrix Partners India, talks to Shanav, VP of investments at Jump Crypto, about what builders in the crypto space can look forward to and other interesting trend lines for 2023.

Tune in to know more

158: Founder Market Fit

Z47 — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 10:31:54 +0000

In today's episode, Avnish Bajaj and Rajinder Balaraman, discuss Founder Market Fit and how it differs from the concept of building within a domain. Tune in to know more.

157: Institutional Staking in the post merge era

Z47 — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 07:16:28 +0000

In today's episode, Aakash, Principle at Matrix Partners India, talks to Andrew Vranjes, GM, APAC at Blockdaemon, about the future of Staking, selling, and building a business in enterprise in the domain of Web3. Tune in to know more.

156: Building scalable vertical social communities

Z47 — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 07:55:54 +0000

In today's episode, Ayush Chamaria, Associate VP, along with Vipul Allawadhi, Co-Founder, Kutumb and Prashant Sachan, Founder and CEO, AppsForBharat, deep dive into vertical social communities

155: Learnings from experienced founders

Z47 — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 10:24:50 +0000

Anurag Sinha, co-founder & CEO of OneCard shares advice on the key choices he made while building OneCard - important decisions related to choice of domain, market risk, profit pools, GTM, followership and much more.

154: Tokens of Wisdom

Z47 — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 09:25:24 +0000

Blockchain, Web3, crypto what is so fundamentally transforming about these technologies and where do we see value creation emerging over the next few years in this space? Tune in to hear Matrix's POV on this and more.

153: Cash’ing in on crypto

Z47 — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 07:56:08 +0000

In this episode, we dive deep into Aakash Kumar's (Principal at Matrix) journey of crypto investments - he talks to Rajinder Balaraman (MD at Matrix) about why he's been an early believer of the space, his thoughts on the rise (& fall) of the market & more. Tune in.

152: Built for scale - OneCard's company building journey

Z47 — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 08:35:12 +0000

In today's episode, Anurag Sinha, Co - founder and CEO, OneCard, in conversation with Avnish Bajaj, Founder and Managing Director, Matrix Partners India, tells us what it takes to build for scale, learnings from his company building journey & much more. Tune in.

151: Starting, fundraising & PMF: navigating the seed stage journey

Z47 — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 08:06:07 +0000

Revant Bhate, Co-founder & CEO at Mosaic Wellness, shares advice on building for growth at the seed stage, in conversation with Aakash from the Matrix team. Tune in.

150: Building the organisation of the future

Z47 — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 09:20:00 +0000

Talent has increasingly become a competitive advantage amongst fast-growing companies and on today's episode, we have Maya john& Anuradha Bharat, HR leaders respectively at Dailyhunt (VerSe Innovation) & Razorpay, in conversation with Rupali Sharma, to share learnings from their journey & give us their perspective on building the org of the future. Tune in.

149: How to create category defining SaaS companies feat. Rocketlane

Z47 — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 10:42:11 +0000

Hear from Srikrishnan of Rocketlane on his journey of creating the customer onboarding category, in conversation with Pranay from Matrix Partners India, learn about the importance of driving the narrative, tactical advice to build a thriving community of advocates, and how to measure your brand efforts. Tune in

148: Razorpay’s hypergrowth journey: learning’s & what’s next?

Z47 — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 08:09:50 +0000

In today’s episode we have Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur, co-founders of Razorpay, along with Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD at Matrix Partners India. In this episode they talk about the evolution of Razorpay and learnings from its hypergrowth journey - tune in the find out.

147: The past, present and future of Edtech

Z47 — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 06:52:39 +0000

In today's episode, we have Vamsi Krishna, CEO & Co-founder, Vedantu as well as Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD at upGrad, who walk us through their respective company building journeys as well as the their thoughts on how they expect the future of edtech to unravel. Tune in the find out

146: The gaming series part 4: uncovering the untapped opportunities

Z47 — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 08:35:45 +0000

In part 4 of our gaming series, we talk to Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Technologies, Thomas Purtell, Co-founder & CEO, Omlet, and Anirudh Pandita, Founder, Loco, talk about the untapped opportunities within the gaming industry. Tune in.

145: The gaming series part 3: how Web3 can transform the gaming industry

Z47 — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 08:33:51 +0000

In part 3 of our gaming series, we talk to Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Technologies, Thomas Purtell, Co-founder & CEO, Omlet, and Anirudh Pandita, Founder, Loco, about the rise of Web3 and how we expect it to impact and transform the gaming industry. Tune in to find out.

144: The gaming series part 2: Estreaming - fandom, platforms and tools

Z47 — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 05:29:11 +0000

In part 2 of our Gaming series, we cover the rise of Estreaming and the key trends stemming from it, with insights from Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Technologies, Thomas Purtell, Co-founder & CEO, Omlet, and Anirudh Pandita, Founder, Loco. Tune in.

143: The Uppercase Podcast

Z47 — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 10:22:49 +0000

Avnish Bajaj of Matrix Partners India on how he picks winners and what it takes to be one
Founder and managing director of one of India's most well known venture capital firms, Matrix Partners India, Avnish Bajaj, has a knack for picking winners. It’s not luck; it’s an ability he hones through intense research and also by studying human nature and decision making.
So, how does he pick a winner? What are the traits he looks for in entrepreneurs? Avnish talks about all that on this episode of The Uppercase Podcast. Tune in

142: Gaming series part 1: Esports: key trends & what's next?

Z47 — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 10:05:08 +0000

In part 1 of our Gaming series, we talk about the future of e-sports with Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Technologies, Thomas Purtell, Co-founder & CEO, Omlet, and Anirudh Pandita, Founder, Loco. Tune in for an insightful discussion.

141: B2B Marketplaces part 4 - Decrypting the Indian manufacturing boom

Z47 — Fri, 03 Jun 2022 07:02:50 +0000

Today on Matrix Moments, we address the recent manufacturing explosion - how much of it is real? what are the tailwinds contributing to this boom and why now? tune in to find out.

140: The Whole Truth on building enduring, scalable brands

Z47 — Tue, 31 May 2022 12:35:19 +0000

On today’s episode, Shashank Mehta, founder of The Whole Truth gives us a play by play rundown on what it takes to build a consumer brand from scratch, while in conversation with Rajat Agarwal, MD, Matrix India. Tune in.

139: B2B marketplaces part 3: how do you solve for perishable supply chains?

Z47 — Fri, 27 May 2022 04:42:49 +0000

On today's episode, we talk about perishable supply chains - the challenges that come with it, & the learnings we've gained from partnering with our founders who are building in the space. Tune in for more.

138: Demystifying GoKwik - building & scaling "kwikly"

Z47 — Thu, 26 May 2022 07:22:30 +0000

In today's episode Chirag Taneja, Co- founder & CEO, GoKwik, walks us through the business building frameworks that have helped him scale and build a fast-growth company.

137: Leadership factory at OfBusiness

Z47 — Tue, 17 May 2022 09:11:38 +0000

Ankush Jain (Sales Head @ OfBusiness) & Vasant Sridhar (Co-founder & CSO @ OfBusiness) talk to Rajinder about the construct of their management trainee programme and the leadership factory they've built out at OfBusiness. Tune in to know more.

136: B2B Marketplaces Part 2 – What is a good B2B Marketplace?

Z47 — Fri, 06 May 2022 06:54:08 +0000

On today’s episode we dive deep into the makings of an ideal B2B marketplace. Tune in to know more.

135: B2B marketplaces part 1 – why now for B2B?

Z47 — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 07:57:30 +0000

In this episode, we discuss the what, why, how of b2b marketplaces. Tune in to know more.

134: “When it seems too good to be true, it likely is”! aka thoughts on corp governance for digital co.’s

Z47 — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 07:38:55 +0000

Today we talk about corporate governance & digital companies, why this topic has gained increasing importance in board rooms and the global practices we’ve seen companies follow. Tune in.

133: The Art of Venture Investing

Z47 — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 06:34:29 +0000

In this Episode, Jivraj Singh Sachar speakS with Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director, Matrix Partners India on his journey as a venture investor.

132: FarMart – building the world's 1st OS that powers value chains

Z47 — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 09:38:59 +0000

In today’s episode we hear from the founders of FarMart on the ground reality of building a large SaaS led Agri company. Tune in to know more.

131: Org building with the Captain Fresh team

Z47 — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 09:26:18 +0000

In this episode we discuss Captain Fresh’ org building journey with Utham, Venu & Abhishek along with Rupali Sharma, Director, Human Capital, Matrix Partners India

130: Decoding life as a junior VC

Z47 — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 10:10:23 +0000

On today's episode, we discuss the ins & outs of the role of a junior VC - a crucial role that helps drive the core function of a VC firm. Tune in for a candid conversation between Nitisha & Avnish.

129: Market environment, Feb ‘22

Z47 — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 08:28:51 +0000

In today’s episode, we take stock of the current market volatility and its impact on the early stage startup ecosystem - tune in to hear our perspective.

128: Boards

Z47 — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 08:57:52 +0000

As a first time founder - how do you decide the dynamics of your board?When should the board discussion happen? when does it become relevant? How many people should be on a board, who should be on the board? We try to unpack learnings & reflections from our experience of being on boards, tune in to find out.

127: A look back at 2021 & forecast for 2022

Z47 — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 09:05:28 +0000

The Matrix team takes stock of the year gone by and discuss trend predictions for 2022. Tune in to hear our thoughts.

126: Inside out versus Outside in

Z47 — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 09:20:29 +0000

Inside out vs outside in: what is the better business strategy to adopt for an early-stage startup? Tune in to hear our thoughts.

125: Behind the scenes with Ilya Sukhar

Z47 — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 09:30:44 +0000

On today's episode we have Ilya Sukhar (Partner at Matrix Partners) in conversation with Vikram Vaidyanathan (MD at Matrix Partners India). Through this conversation, we uncover Ilya's journey from founder to VC, learnings & insights gained from his journey at Parse.com, YC, Facebook and Matrix. They then dive deep into Ilya's investment in Fivetran - leading provider of automated data integration. He takes us through the thought process behind the investment and much more. Tune-in

124: Hiring an in-house head of talent

Z47 — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 10:23:58 +0000

At the early stages, building your company's recruitment muscle is paramount to its growth, but is an in-house head of talent a necessity to accelerate this process? Tune in for key insights on team building & recruitment from Avnish Bajaj & Rajinder Balaraman.

123: Executive coach: what role do they play in a company’s success?

Z47 — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 11:03:50 +0000

Here's #AMatrixMoment with our take on the role of an executive coach, tune in to find out.

122: Hard clauses in a term sheet

Z47 — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 09:19:32 +0000

On today’s episode Avnish Bajaj, Founder & Managing Director at Matrix Partners India, & Sudipto Sannigrahi, VP at Matrix Partners India, dissect the Hard clauses in a term Sheet.

121: When to hire a chief of staff?

Z47 — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 03:57:24 +0000

What does a 'chief of staff' role entail, and when is the right time to hire one?

Startup India's C-suite has increasingly been hiring for this role - but what is the definition of a 'chief of staff' and when should you hire one?

A few thoughts from Avnish Bajaj & Rajinder Balaraman on the 'chief of staff' role, and what the benchmark of this role is across the various stages of a company. Tune in.

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120: DaMensch - building India's largest Men’s Fashion Essentials brand

Z47 — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 05:48:03 +0000

On today’s episode we have the co-founders of DaMensch, Gaurav Pushkar & Anurag Saboo, along with Sudipto Sannigrahi, VP at Matrix Partners India. They talk about the origin of the brand DaMensch, how the company attained strong customer love over a short span of time and what it takes to build a profitable D2C brand and much more.

119: What if I want to startup, but don't have a problem statement

Z47 — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:23:25 +0000

"What if I want to startup but don't have a groundbreaking idea?"

Aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to build a company often do so to solve a personal pain point - but is solving for a personal problem the only way to build a company? Tune in to hear what Avnish Bajaj & Rajinder Balaraman have to say.

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118: IPO readiness & startups

Z47 — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 11:02:45 +0000

On today’s episode we have Rajinder Balaraman, Director at Matrix Partners India, as well as Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India. They cover they key markers that help determine a company’s IPO readiness, the right size for an IPO, the role played by the board of directors and the board can be leveraged for an IPO and much more. Tune – in.

117: Downturns & M&A's

Z47 — Thu, 11 Nov 2021 12:23:54 +0000

"When industries are changing in structure, either you shape that structure, or you can get shaped by that structure" - Avnish Bajaj

Here's #AMatrixMoment where we talk about M&As & downturns and the real value creation that can come out of mergers. Tune in to know more.

116: Decoding the BNPL model

Z47 — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 09:14:55 +0000

On today’s episode we have Dana Stalder, Partner at Matrix Partners. Dana is in conversation with Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India. They cover Dana’s journey into the venture capital world, his learnings from his investments in Afterpay and much more. Tune – in.

115: How to pick the right CEO

Z47 — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 10:35:34 +0000

While each co-founder has a unique set of strengths, a company ultimately needs one decision maker - but how should a founding team decide who amongst them becomes CEO?

Tune in to hear our take on it.

114: OTO Capital - reimagining the 2 wheeler ownership experience

Z47 — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 07:28:59 +0000

In today's episode, we speak with Sumit Chhazed, the founder of OTO Capital, a company focused on reimagining the two wheeler ownership experience. Sumit opens up about why he chose this market & his vision to transform the future of bike ownership in India. Tune in to know more.

113: When to bring in an external CEO

Z47 — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 06:33:22 +0000

Should startup founders hire an external CEO? and if so, is there a right time/stage to bring in an external CEO? Tune in to find out how we think about it.

112: dezerv. - building an expert investing platform

Z47 — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 15:19:44 +0000

In today’s episode we are in conversation with Sandeep Jethani, Co-founder of dezerv. and Sarthak Malhotra, senior associate at Matrix Partners India and Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India. In this episode we cover dezerv. Differentiated integrated portfolio approach and much more. Tune-in.

111: Captain Fresh: Building the future of fresh fish and Sea food

Z47 — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 09:39:26 +0000

Joining us today is Utham Gowda, founder of Captain Fresh, along with him are Sudipto Sannigrahi, Vice President at Matrix and Tarun Davda, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India. In this episode, we cover Utham’s journey from a banker to a founder of a B2B Sea Food Marketplace.

110: Performance versus loyalty: how should employees be evaluated?

Z47 — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 05:26:00 +0000

One of the toughest questions employers struggle with & there are various schools of thought around it, here's #AMatrixMoment where Avnish Bajaj & Rajinder Balaraman discuss a framework to help think through it. Tune in to know more.

109: The Delhi Belly edition: Digesting the wisdom of our NCR founders! - Part 2

Z47 — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 12:13:10 +0000

Hi and welcome back to part 2 of our Delhi edition Founder Moments episode. In todays episode we take stock of startup environment and the growing and burgeoning founder eco-system in Delhi NCR. we have with us today, Chirag Taneja, the Co-founder of GoKwik, Anindya Dutta, the Co-founder of Stanza Living, Amit Lakhotia, Founder of Park+, and Asish Mohapatra, Co-founder of Ofbusiness, along with Avnish Bajaj, Founder and Managing Director at Matrix Partners India. Tune - in.

108: The Delhi Belly edition: Digesting the wisdom of our NCR founders! - Part 1

Z47 — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 04:18:00 +0000

Todays discussion is heavily centered around the prevailing start-up environment and we’re here to essentially take stock of the current scenario, from the overheated funding situation, to exits, MNA’s, remote hybrid working models, the COVID impact, all of these and more. We have with us today, Chirag Taneja, the Co-founder of GoKwik, Amit Lakhotia, Founder of Park+, Anindya Dutta, the Co-founder of Stanza Living and Asish Mohapatra, Co-founder of ofBusiness, along with Avnish Bajaj, Founder and Managing Director at Matrix Partners India.

107: bijnis - taking factories to the world!

Z47 — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 11:18:17 +0000

Today on FounderMoments, we dive deep into Bijnis's journey of empowering the manufacturer community & their vision of taking factories to the world!

106: Convertible round vs priced equity round?

Z47 — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 11:40:16 +0000

What should founders be raising and what's the market standard? Avnish Bajaj & Rajinder Balaraman discuss the thought process behind this decision for both the founder and investor. Tune in to find out.

105: Co-founder Conflicts

Z47 — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 12:36:42 +0000

Co-founder conflicts: one of the trickiest situations that a founding team goes through.

How should founders engage with one another amidst a conflict & maneuver such a situation? Tune in to find out.

104: Fundraising: Speed, Frequency & Size

Z47 — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 06:57:19 +0000

Amidst the current overheated funding environment - what is the right speed, size & frequency a founder should fundraise at?

Here's #AMatrixMoment where Avnish Bajaj & Rajinder Balaraman discuss the nitty gritties of fundraising, tune in.

103: Democratizing the e-shopping experience with GoKwik

Z47 — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 12:39:26 +0000

In today’s episode, we have Chirag Taneja, co-founder of GoKwik in conversation with Rajat Agarwal, MD at Matrix Partners India, and Sarthak Malhotra, Senior Associate at Matrix Partners India. Through the course of this episode, we discuss the growing need for the one-click check-out product such as GoKwik, what led Chirag to start this company, the early traction received, and much more.

102: Fundraising when you don't need it

Z47 — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 12:49:49 +0000

"The best businesses raise money inbound, not outbound" - Avnish Bajaj

As a founder, if you don't need the funding but capital is chasing you, should you still raise a round? Here's #AMatrixMoment with our perspective on fundraising when you don't need it. Tune in.

101: Toddle - Superpower for teachers, by teachers

Z47 — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 10:24:54 +0000

In today’s episode, we have Deepanshu Arora, co-founder of Toddle, In conversation with Rajat Agarwal, Managing director at Matrix Partners India. As part of this episode, we cover the learnings from Deepanshu’s journey of building a global EdTech platform, from what triggered the inception of the company and what it's like to sell to schools, to managing a team remotely and much more

100: Toddle snippet: working with schools as your clients

Z47 — Fri, 03 Sep 2021 06:49:31 +0000

Deepanshu Arora, co-founder of Toddle - Your Teaching Partner, talks to Rajat Agarwal on his journey of building a "teachers-first" global edtech platform.

Here's a snippet where Deepanshu shares his POV on what it's like working with international schools as his clients. Stay tuned for the full episode!

99: Stanza Living: Learnings From Hyper-Scaling A Phygital Business

Z47 — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 12:46:37 +0000

In today’s episode we have Anindya Datta and Sandeep Dalmia the co-founders of Stanza Living. In conversation with Tarun Davda, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India. In this episode we cover what it takes to hyperscale a phygital business amongst pandemic and biggest learnings that have emerged from this experience

98: Should you care if your VC backs your competitor?

Z47 — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 12:19:33 +0000

There's a lot that has been said about this - if you're a founder who is fundraising & thinking about this, here's #AMatrixMoment capturing our take on it.

97: Where should I incorporate my company?

Z47 — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 11:37:06 +0000

India, US, Singapore are some of the more common options that founders consider but what are the driving factors for this decision?

Here's #AMatrixMoment on our perspective, tune in to find out.

96: A decryption of the DealShare journey

Z47 — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 13:43:02 +0000

In today's episode, we have Sourjyendu Medda and Vineet Rao, the co-founders of DealShare in conversation with Tarun Davda, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India. We talk about what makes them unique and also cover highlights from their growth journey.

95: What's the right burn rate for your company?

Z47 — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 08:27:35 +0000

What's the right burn rate for your company? and how does this vary across stages?

One of the most discussed topics by founders & VCs both, tune in to hear Avnish Bajaj share a framework to help think through it.

94: The Rocketlane Journey

Z47 — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 11:33:29 +0000

In today’s episode, we have Shri and Vignesh the Co-founders of Rocketlane. They’re in conversation with Pranay Desai Vice – President, at Matrix Partners India. They talk about the team's deep SaaS history, learning from their prior venture, Konotor, their vision for Rocketlane and much more.

93: Behind the Scenes with Tarun Davda

Z47 — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 11:53:33 +0000

This episode is an audio recording to the recent Clubhouse session, that Tarun Davda, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India, Did with Priya Rajan, MD at Silicon Valley Bank, as well as Anand Chandrasekaran, Who is Executive VP at Five-Nine, Anand was formerly Director, messenger platform at Facebook and prior to that CPO at Snapdeal. In this episode, they cover the latest trend emerging in India tech. Matrix’s investment strategy through and post-Covid. IPO and MNA trend amongst other topics.

92: When should a founder announce their fundraise?

Z47 — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 12:59:03 +0000

Announcing your company's fundraise is a big deal - but when is the right time to announce it? and more importantly, why should you be announcing it?

Tune in to find out how we think about it.

90: Network effects in a nutshell.

Z47 — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 19:33:00 +0000

Network effects: one of the most spoken about & most important concepts for tech businesses - it helps a co. scale, build moats and contributes to virality. But what really is a network effect? Tune in to hear Avnish Bajaj summarize network effects in a nutshell.

89: Product vs Distribution

Z47 — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 11:46:59 +0000

Product versus distribution capability - what's more crucial for a founder to focus on at the early stages & why?

Tune in to know how we think about it.

88: The PhonePe journey with Sameer Nigam

Z47 — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 10:38:20 +0000

Sameer Nigam, Co-founder, and CEO at PhonePe takes us through his journey of building India’s leading payments platform. In conversation with Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD at Matrix Partners India, they cover Sameer’s early days at Flipkart to starting up & scaling PhonePe & then selling to Flipkart, and much more. Tune in

87: Marketplaces - Part "2" : B2B&2C&2R&2E = 2B or 2E that is the question!

Z47 — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 13:57:50 +0000

This episode is part 2 of the episode we did earlier on Marketpalces. Joining us for this podcast is Rajinder Balaraman (Director, Matrix Partners India) and Avnish Bajaj (Founder & Managing Director, Matrix Partners India).

86: Tarun Davda - Building Matrix Partners India

Z47 — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 10:57:10 +0000

About Tarun Davda: He is the Managing Director of Matrix, India. Prior to joining Matrix, Tarun was the Co-founder, India CEO and Board Member at StepOut.com, a venture-backed startup. StepOut became India’s #1 online dating site with over 5 Million users. Before that, Tarun established BigRock.com (incubated by the Directi group) - India’s #1 provider of domain name registration and other web services. Tarun started his career at Infosys as an IT consultant. He has an MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad and an Engineer from VJTI, Bombay.

85: Tarun Davda on AngelList India radio

Z47 — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 10:19:56 +0000

Tarun Davda (Managing Director at Matrix Partners India) speaks to Utsav Somani of AngelList India to take stock of the current startup scenario and Indian entrepreneurial drive

84: Nithin Kamath unplugged

Z47 — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 05:07:00 +0000

In today's episode, we have Nithin Kamath the founder and CEO of Zerodha, India’s largest tech-broking discount firm as well as Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India. This is Nithin's second podcast with us and in an unplugged and candid conversation with Vikram.

82: From both sides of the table: Kunal Bahl unplugged - snippet

Z47 — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 13:33:15 +0000

Here's a snippet, from our #FounderMoments episode, where Kunal Bahl (Founder & MD, Snapdeal) talk to Tarun Davda (MD, Matrix India) about the people that were most instrumental in his childhood & the qualities he imbibed from them very early on. Tune in to find out.

To catch the full episode, go here: https://lnkd.in/ec4GxSn

81: Founder Compensation

Z47 — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 12:30:07 +0000

As a founder how do you determine what your own compensation should be? & what is the right salary to be drawn across stages?

Here's how we Matrix Partners India think about it, tune in:

80: Co-founder Disputes

Z47 — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 13:09:03 +0000

A conflict within the founding team is a situation that unfortunately arises more often than not, but when conflict does occur amongst two or more founders, how should one tackle it?

Tune in to hear how Avnish Bajaj thinks about it.

76: LTV-CAC – what’s the right number?

Z47 — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 13:45:00 +0000

LTV-CAC – what’s the right number early-stage founders should track?

77: Is marketing scalable?

Z47 — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 13:46:00 +0000

Is marketing a scalable function for companies to leverage? Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India, decodes how marketing is used to “fuel the fire” and why it’s far more impactful for digital businesses. Tune in for more.

79: Reverse Vesting

Z47 — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 06:42:00 +0000

s founder reverse vesting standard practice? Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India & Rajinder Balaraman, Director, Matrix Partners India, decode how we think about this at Matrix Partners India. Tune in for more

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78: Founder Ownership Structures

Z47 — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 13:48:00 +0000

How should founders think about it at across the different stages of a startup? Avnish Bajaj, (Founder and MD, Matrix Partners India) shares his perspective, while in conversation with Salonie Ganju, ( Marketing Manager, Matrix Partners India ) Tune in to find out

75: Valuation versus Dilution

Z47 — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 08:49:57 +0000

Valuation versus dilution is something all founders spend a lot of time thinking about. Avnish Bajaj (Founder & MD, MPI) shares his point of view on how founders should approach this.

74: The Hack Job – Hacking Your Way Through Growth and Profits

Z47 — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 09:17:49 +0000

What matters more – growth or profitability? In this episode, Rajinder Balaraman, Director, Matrix Partners India, and Avnish Bajaj, Founder and MD at Matrix Partners India talk about hacking the way to profitable growth vectors and loops.

73: From both sides of the table: Kunal Bahl unplugged

Z47 — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 08:02:19 +0000

In today’s episode, we have Tarun Davda Managing Director at Matrix Partners India, with Kunal Bahl, co-founder of Snapdeal and Titan Capital. Through the course of this conversation, we cover Kunal’s early childhood and background that helped him shaped him into who he is today. The biggest learnings from his journey at Snapdeal, transitioning from an entrepreneur to an investor.

72: What role does human capital play in venture investing?

Z47 — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 04:41:00 +0000

Here's a snippet from an upcoming episode where Debleena Das & Rajinder Balaraman share learnings and insights on team building at the early stages.

83: Customer versus Competition

Z47 — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 11:17:00 +0000

How much should a founder worry about competition & the threat of being disrupted by a new startup? tune in to find out how Avnish Bajaj, (Founder and MD, Matrix Partners India), and Rajinder Balaraman, (Director, Matrix Partners India) think about it.

71: Redefining wellness, one mosaic at a time

Z47 — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 08:43:50 +0000

In today’s episode, we have Revant Bhate, the co-founder of Mosaic wellness in conversation with Sanjot Malhi, Director and the lead for the consumer sector at Matrix Partners India. Mosaic Wellness is a house of brands, focused on redefining the Indian wellness market and on today's episode we cover Revant’s transition from investor to founder and what that was like, what it takes to build a consumer brand in India and the problem they aim to solve through their recently launched brands ManMatters and Bodywise. Tune in to know more.

70: Profit Pools – fishing in the right pond!

Z47 — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 13:06:24 +0000

The pandemic & recent global trends have brought about a shift in the way companies are thinking about profit pools at the early stages, but what’s really changed? and how does one go deeper into the value chain of an industry in quest of the right profit pool - tune in to find out.

69: OZiva unplugged: building India’s leading clean, plant-based nutrition brand

Z47 — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 11:52:09 +0000

In this episode, Sanjot Malhi (Director & consumer sector lead at Matrix Partners India) sits down with Aarti Gill & Mihir Gadani, the co-founders of OZiva, to dissect & decipher their journey of building India’s leading clean, plant-based nutrition brand.

68: Gaming+: some games are companies but all companies need to up their game!

Z47 — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 07:02:27 +0000

In this episode, we explore the concept of “gamification” and the impact it has on user growth & retention at the early stages, tune in to know more.

67: A look back at 2020 & forecast for 2021

Z47 — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 09:35:31 +0000

In today’s episode we take stock of the biggest learnings from the last 12 months and trends we think will explode in 2021. Tune in to find out!

66: Commerce N.0 - crystal ball gazing!

Z47 — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 10:11:02 +0000

In today’s episode, Rajinder & Avnish are crystal ball gazing into the future of commerce – tune in to know more about trends and sectors we expect to explode in 2021.

65: Working from home to working from anywhere to finally from work – our experience!

Z47 — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 09:53:35 +0000

While choosing to ‘work from office’ is a personal & company specific decision, we at Matrix Partners India have slowly inched back towards operating from the office, with all measures & protocols in place.
Tune in to hear what our experience has been like over the last few months.

64: From dream to reality - the journey of Dream11

Z47 — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 05:57:23 +0000

Harsh Jain, CEO and Co-founder, Dream11, sits down with Tarun Davda, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India to retrace the journey of building Dream11 – they discuss the key inflection points, fundraising struggles, winning the IPL title sponsorship, Harsh’s personal growth journey as a leader & much more. Tune in.

63: The untapped opportunities in agritech

Z47 — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 10:39:04 +0000

Welcome back to episode 5, the last episode of this series. In today’s episode we talk about the unsolved opportunities in the agri-tech space. We have with us Thirukumaran Nagarajan, co-founder of Ninjacart, Shashank Kumar, Founder & CEO, DeHaat, Karthik Jayaraman, Co-founder of WayCool and Shobhit, Co-founder of VeGrow. The conversation was moderated by Ankush Goyal, Sanjot Malhi & Tarun Davda who look over the investments in the agri-tech sector for Matrix Partners India.

62: The role of tech in the Agri sector

Z47 — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 12:26:33 +0000

Welcome back to part 4 of this series. In today’s episode we discuss the importance of technology adoption in the Agri tech sector and how behavioural change plays a large role in the farmer community when it comes to leveraging tech. This episode is part 4 of a 5 part series on the Indian Agritech ecosystem, with insights from Thirukumaran Nagarajan, co-founder of Ninjacart, Shashank Kumar, Founder & CEO, DeHaat, Karthik Jayaraman, Co-founder of WayCool and Shobhit, Co-founder of VeGrow. The conversation was moderated by Ankush Goyal, Sanjot Malhi & Tarun Davda who look over the investments in the agri-tech sector for Matrix Partners India.

61: Learnings from Ninjacart on building a sustainable agritech model

Z47 — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 11:35:30 +0000

Welcome back to part 3 of this series. In today’s episode, we discuss about the journey of Ninjacart and learnings on building unit economics positive business in Agri. We have with us Thirukumaran Nagarajan, co-founder of Ninjacart, Shashank Kumar, Founder & CEO, DeHaat, Karthik Jayaraman, Co-founder of WayCool and Shobhit, Co-founder of VeGrow. The conversation was moderated by Ankush Goyal, Sanjot Malhi & Tarun Davda who look over the investments in the agri-tech sector for Matrix Partners India.

60: The inception of Waycool – insights from Karthik’s journey

Z47 — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 09:14:42 +0000

Welcome back to part 2 of this series. This episode is focused on the inception of WayCool and insights from Karthik's journey on building and scaling the company. Also part of this episode are prominent founders from the agri-tech startup industry, Thirukumaran Nagarajan, co-founder of Ninjacart, Shashank Kumar, Founder & CEO, DeHaat and Shobhit, Co-founder of VeGrow. The conversation was moderated by Ankush Goyal, Sanjot Malhi & Taun Davda who look over the investments in the agri-tech sector for Matrix Partners India. Tune in.

59: Agri – tech startup advice – for founders, from founders.

Z47 — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 11:23:50 +0000

In this episode we deep dive into one of India’s largest industries, which is agriculture, and the associated agri-tech disruption that is underway in India, we discuss the opportunities and the pitfalls in agri-tech, with Thirukumaran Nagarajan, co-founder of Ninjacart, Shashank Kumar, Founder & CEO, DeHaat, Karthik Jayaraman, Co-founder of WayCool and Shobhit, Co-founder of VeGrow. The conversation was moderated by Ankush Goyal, Sanjot Malhi & Taun Davda who look over the investments in the agri-tech sector for Matrix Partners India.

58: India venture opportunity – part 2

Z47 — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 12:08:58 +0000

This episode is part 2 to the India venture opportunity, a podcast we hosted last year. We cover the state of affairs in the Indian startup and Venture community, the recent China ban, and its ramifications. Jio’s impact on start-ups and the fund-raising environment and the COVID effect on India’s digital economy among other topics. Tune - in

57: The Whole Truth, and nothing else

Z47 — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 12:41:34 +0000

In today’s episode we have Shashank Mehta the founder of The Whole Truth, (formerly known as and nothing else) with Sanjot Malhi, Director, Matrix Partners India. Sanjot and Shashank dive deep into the brand story, starting with Shashank’s real motive and personal journey behind founding The Whole Truth and the reason behind the recent brand transformation exercise.

56: Mobility trends & leanings from redBus's journey

Z47 — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 11:39:01 +0000

In an episode focused on the mobility sector, Tarun Davda, MD, Matrix India & Prakash Sangam, CEO, redBus decode the bus ticketing ecosystem, they talk about COVID recovery patterns, changing consumer behavior, and learnings from redBus’ journey in the international markets.

55: Moats

Z47 — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 12:54:03 +0000

In today’s episode, we do deep dive on the importance of economic moats for early-stage startups, and why they matter.

54: Performance Management Systems Decoded

Z47 — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 12:42:54 +0000

In today’s episode, we have Rupali Sharma, ( VP, Human Capital, Matrix Partners India ) and Rajinder Balaraman, ( Director, Matrix Partners India ), they cover performance management systems & HR best practices for early-stage startups. We work closely with founders in this area and have tried to summarize some of the key learnings from our experience. Tune - in

53: The Journey of building Razorpay

Z47 — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 13:19:06 +0000

In today's episode, we talk to Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, the Co-founders of Razorpay, as well as Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India. This episode is primarily focusing on the early part of the founder’s journey, we cover their fundraising process. Living together as founders and building an amazing product culture and much more.

52: Dailyhunt’s Journey – Part 2

Z47 — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 09:04:13 +0000

Welcome back to part 2 of the Dailyhunt episode, with Virendra Gupta (Founder, Dailyhunt) and Umang Bedi (Co-Founder, Dailyhunt), as well as, Vikram Vaidyanathan (Director, Matrix Partners India). We talk about the dynamics of their partnership and also the cover the changing face of content consumption in India, and how Dailyhunt has been at the forefront in each of these changes. Tune in.

51: Dailyhunt’s Journey – Part 1

Z47 — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 08:59:46 +0000

In today’s Matrix Moment episode, we have Virendra Gupta ( Founder, Dailyhunt ) and Umang Bedi ( Co- Founder, Dailyhunt ), with Vikram Vaidyanathan ( Director, Matrix Partners India ). We talk about the dynamics of their partnership and also the cover the changing face of content consumption in India, and how Dailyhunt has been at the forefront in each of these changes. Tune in.

50: Marketplaces

Z47 — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 10:19:19 +0000

With Marketplaces on the rise, today’s episode covers how Marketplaces have evolved as a sector and an analysis of the differentiated business models that work for different markets. Joining us to discuss this is Rajinder Balaraman ( Director, Matrix Partners India ) and Avnish Bajaj ( Founder & Managing Director, Matrix Partners India ). Tune in to know more.

49: The Journey of building OfBusiness – Part 2

Z47 — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 12:45:57 +0000

Welcome to part 2 of Matrix Moment episode with Asish Mohapatra, Co-Founder & CEO – Ofbusiness opens up to Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director, Matrix Partners India, about transitioning from an investor to entrepreneur, building Ofbusiness from ground zero, co-founder relationships & dynamics, his thoughts on profitability vs growth and much more

48: The Journey of building OfBusiness – Part 1

Z47 — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 10:09:57 +0000

In today’s Matrix Moment episode Asish Mohapatra, Co-Founder & CEO – Ofbusiness opens up to Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director, Matrix Partners India, about transitioning from an investor to entrepreneur, building OfBusiness from ground zero, co-founder relationships & dynamics, his thoughts on profitability vs growth and much more.

47: COVID -19 & its after effects on the grocery business.

Z47 — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 12:06:45 +0000

In today’s Matrix Moment episode, we will cover the opportunities in the grocery and E-Commerce space post-COVID-19, joining us for this discussion are Vineet Rao and Sourjyendu Medda, the co-founders of DealShare as well as Tarun Davda, Managing Director at Matrix Partners India, and Gourav Bhattacharya, Director at Matrix Partners India.

46: The journey of building Country Delight

Z47 — Wed, 27 May 2020 06:52:00 +0000

Today’s Matrix Moments episode is a masterclass on the journey of building Country Delight, India’s leading direct to home, mass premium, dairy, and fresh grocery brand. Country Delight currently serves 200,000 families across Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Bangalore. With a $50 million run rate along with the 3x year on year growth rate. The episode outlines the highlights and milestones of the journey with insights and inputs from both sides of the table – founders and investors. Tune in to know more.

45: Marginal Value add

Z47 — Wed, 06 May 2020 04:45:52 +0000

In this episode Avnish and Rajinder talk about why not all margin is equal and how margins relate to valuation.

44: Exit Strategy for startups

Z47 — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 11:17:00 +0000

What is the change required to survive this crisis and how will each sector navigate their way through it? In this episode of Matrix Moments, the Matrix team shares their thoughts from a macro + sectoral view point. Tune in to know more.

43: Overreaction is the only reaction for Fintechs

Z47 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 11:32:00 +0000

In this episode of #MatrixMoments, Vikram Vaidyanathan, ( Managing Director, Matrix Partners India ) and Rajat Agarwal, ( Director, Matrix Partners India ) share guidelines for Fintech firms on how to navigate their way through the perfect storm that is Covid-19 and why overreaction is the only reaction at this point. Watch the full episode to know more.

42: Covid - 19 & its implications on startup India

Z47 — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 06:38:00 +0000

With rapid evolution taking place in the business environment world over, we’re dedicating today’s #MatrixMoments episode to discuss and decode the implications of the Covid-19 on the startup ecosystem. Here’s how we at Matrix are thinking about it. Tune in to know more

41: Building India’s first discount broking model, Zerodha

Z47 — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 06:31:00 +0000

In this episode, Vikram sits down with Nithin to uncover what it takes to build and scale India’s largest tech broking discount firm, Zerodha. Nithin talks about the early years of his career, co-founding a company with his best friend and brother, what he looks for in a person when hiring, why he hasn’t raised any form of external capital till date and his future plans for Zerodha

40: Decoding the Founder – VC Relationship

Z47 — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 11:12:00 +0000

Joining us in this episode of Matrix Moments is Asish Mohapatra, Co-Founder of OfBusiness – India’s leading tech driven B2B lending platform, and is also a Matrix portfolio company, along with Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix India. Prior to founding OfBusiness, Asish actually worked at Matrix as part of the investment team and worked very closely with Avnish during that time. This episode follows a role reversal of sorts, where Asish in the capacity of a founder interviews Avnish on all things fundraising, early stage and VC investing, he asks the hard questions that first time founders have always wanted to know but haven’t got the answers to. Tune in.

38: Creating new Consumer brands digitally

Z47 — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 11:13:00 +0000

In today’s episode, we talk about DINVIBs i.e. Digitally Native Vertically Integrated Consumer Brands and our thesis behind investing deep into this sector. Joining us to discuss this is, Sanjot Malhi (VP & Consumer Sector Lead at Matrix Partners India), Avnish Bajaj (Founder and Managing Director at Matrix Partners India ) and Rajinder Balaraman (Director, Matrix Partners India). Tune in to know more.

37: Crafting Your Company Culture

Z47 — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 11:09:00 +0000

In today’s episode we cover the importance of inculcating a strong and health culture in your company right from the early stages. Joining us to dicuss this is Ahana Gautam, ( Co Founder & CEO, Open Secret ), along with

Avnish Bajaj, (Founder & MD, Matrix Partners ) and Rajinder Balaraman, (Director, Matrix Partners India)

36: A look back at 2019

Z47 — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 09:08:15 +0000

With 2019 coming to an end, we decided to do a quick look back and summarize some of the macro themes that emerged from the year. In some ways it’s been a record year for the Indian VC industry and a very busy year for Matrix, Avnish Bajaj (Founder and Managing Director Matrix Partners India), Vikram Vaidyanathan (Managing Director Matrix Partners India ) Tarun Davda (Managing Director Matrix Partners India), and Rajinder Balaraman (Director, Matrix Partners India) take us through the highlights of the year gone by and what to expect from 2020. Tune in to know more.

35: POS Framework

Z47 — Fri, 27 Dec 2019 06:11:18 +0000

In this episode, Avnish Bajaj, Founder & Managing Director, Matrix India, talks about decision-making and applying the 'POS framework' as a guiding tool to navigate through hard decisions, both personally & professionally. Tune in to know more.

34: Founding Team

Z47 — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 08:51:00 +0000

Today’s episode, Founding Team, is about a topic that we as a firm are very passionate about, it’s also a topic that forms the basis of Matrix’s investment philosophy, foundersfirst!. In this episode, Avnish Bajaj talks about the importance of a strong founding team, how this can shape a company’s journey, frameworks that can help reach the ideal founding team, learnings from Avnish’s experience with his 2 prior co-founders at Baazee and then Matrix Partners India.

33: What’s "Neo" about them?!

Z47 — Thu, 28 Nov 2019 08:44:13 +0000

With the recent spate of investments made by Matrix Partners India in the NeoBank space, we decided to host an episode with serial entrepreneurs, Jiten Gupta (Co-Founder of a Neobank venture, Jupiter and previously founder of Citrus Pay) and Anurag Sinha (Founder of neocard, OneCard and previously founder of Walnut, a personal finance management startup) to discuss the current landscape and what makes Neobanking so exciting at a time like this. The episode was hosted by Rajat Agarwal, Director and fintech sector lead for Matrix India as well as Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD, Matrix India who has led the investment in market leading fintech companies like, Razorpay, Mswipe, Five Star Business Finance, and OfBusiness to name a few.

32: GTM for startups

Z47 — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 07:41:00 +0000

In this episode, Avnish Bajaj, Founder & Managing Director, Matrix India talks about the varied GTM strategies used by startups to drive a wedge into the market.

32: Fundraising & Valuations

Z47 — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 08:35:25 +0000

In this episode of Matrix Moments, Tarun Davda, (Managing Director, Matrix Partner India) guides founders on how to think about fundraising & valuations at the early stages. He covers how much capital is required to be raises at each stage, what the typical dilutions are at each stage, the downside that comes with raising too much capital and that at the end valuation is vanity, what matters is a founders percentage of ownership. Tune in to know more.

31: Stanza Living: transforming the student housing sector

Z47 — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 10:35:37 +0000

Stanza Living is one of India’s largest student housing networks, co-founders Sandeep and Anindya share their journey of building the company from ground zero, with guest moderator, Gourav Bhattacharya (Director, Matrix India) and also the investment lead for Stanza Living.

30: Startup Temperature Check

Z47 — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 09:31:08 +0000

In this episode, Avnish Bajaj (Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India) and Rajinder Balaraman, (Director, Matrix Partners India) discuss the current environment in the startup and investments ecosystem.

Funding in early stage companies versus later stage, repeat entrepreneurs, investment cycle bubbles and the trends expected to play out in 2020, tune in to know more.

29: Learnings from Serial Entrepreneur, Bhavin Turakhia – part 2

Z47 — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 09:47:20 +0000

In part 2 of a 2 part episode, serial entrepreneur, Bhavin Turakhia, founder and CEO of Flock and Zeta, joins us to share learnings from his journey on what it takes, personally and professionally, to build and sell a series of successful companies. Tune in to know more.

28: Learnings from Serial Entrepreneur, Bhavin Turakhia

Z47 — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 07:57:29 +0000

In part 1 of a 2 part episode, serial entrepreneur, Bhavin Turakhia, founder and CEO of Flock and Zeta, joins us to share learnings from his journey on what it takes, personally and professionally, to build and sell a series of successful companies. Tune in to know more.

27: Exits

Z47 — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 06:17:07 +0000

In this episode of Matrix Moments, Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, at Matrix Partners India shares his views on Exits: learnings from his journey with Baazee.com which was acquired by Ebay, key factors to evaluate when making this decision, and how to deal with multiple investors at a time like this.

26: Finding & Scaling PMF

Z47 — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 06:32:55 +0000

As a company scales, how you scale & grow with it as a founder is crucial to business success. A fundamental part of this transition includes knowing how to shift your strategy pre and post attaining PMF, in this episode Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix India sums up the key indicators and metrics to keep in mind at each stage.

25: The journey of building Citrus Pay & learnings on the fintech landscape

Z47 — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 08:07:23 +0000

Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD, Matrix India, catches up with Amrish Rau and Jiten Gupta, Founders of Citrus Pay, which was later acquired by PayU, where both founders took on the role of CEO and MD, respectively. In this episode they go over the journey of building Citrus from ground up, the decision making process that went behind exiting Citrus, their investment strategy as angel investors and lastly their advice to founders looking to startup in the fintech space.

24: Investor Value Add & Engagement

Z47 — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 09:23:33 +0000

In this episode of Matrix Moments, we deep dive into the relationship dynamics between a founder and his/her board. Specifically for first time founders, board room etiquette is an unknown area and thus we decided to put together an episode that covers all queries founders may have on this subject. From setting the right rules of engagement to knowing how to deal with a difference in opinion in the board room, Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India shares his views on the best practices to keep in mind when dealing with a board of investors.

23: Metrics & Dashboard

Z47 — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 09:45:14 +0000

Tracking and measuring your company’s performance is crucial not just at the early stages but through the course of your companies lifecycle. In this episode of Matrix Moments, Tarun Davda & Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Directors at Matrix Partners India, share learnings from their experiences with founders on why tracking the right metrics can help you measure what is working for your company and what isn’t. In addition to measuring performance, picking a North Star metric as the one metric to align the entire company on what is important helps keep all teams focused on working towards the same goal. Listen in to know more.

22: Structuring incentive plans – ESOP, Cash and Balanced Scorecard

Z47 — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 09:04:03 +0000

Structuring and designing an effective incentive plan is key at the early stages to help promote retention as well as high levels of motivation among the team. From cash versus equity, how much equity is apt at each stage, bonus plans to measuring employee performance through a balance scorecard, in this episode of Matrix Moments, Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India, outlines simple thumb rules to keep in mind when structuring your employees incentive plan.

21: The State of the Indian Venture Market 2019

Z47 — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 09:19:41 +0000

In this episode of Matrix Moments Tarun Davda, (MD, Matrix Partners India) and guest speakers, Miten Sampat, (VP Corporate Development, Times Internet) and Samidha Sharma (Emerging Business Editor at Economic Times) discuss the current state of affairs within the Indian startup and VC ecosystem and the way forward from here

20: The Terms of Term Sheets

Z47 — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 13:38:36 +0000

In this episode of Matrix Moments, Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India, and Rajinder Balaraman, Director, Matrix Partners India, do a deep dive on the significance of terms within a Term Sheet, what founders should focus on, and essentially provide a guide for founders who are working on a Term Sheet for the very first time.

19: The Journey of Building LoadShare

Z47 — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 10:54:59 +0000

In this episode of Matrix Moments, we spoke with Raghuram Talluri, Co-Founder, LoadShare Networks, on the learnings of being a first time founder and scaling an asset light logistics platform. Rajinder Balaraman, Director, Matrix Partners India, also joined this episode to share insights from an investor perspective.

18: Budget & Burn

Z47 — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 07:44:53 +0000

At the early stages a critical factor that determines your startups success or failure, is the level of spending or burn rates. Practicing extreme financial discipline is a crucial part of controlling your companies burn rate. Tune in to this episode of #MatrixMoments, where Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India, talks about the importance of business performances, plans, burn rates and budgets.

17: Org 3.0

Z47 — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 08:57:12 +0000

Every successful company goes through 3 distinct phases, the startup phase (0 – 1), the scaling / growth phase (1 – 10) and finally profitability (10 – 100). The archetypes of people required to help the company transcend all phases, is different at each stage. Avnish Bajaj, Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India, shares his experience on building the perfect Org in this episode of Matrix Moments.

15: The journey behind building Itilite

Z47 — Tue, 07 May 2019 09:35:50 +0000

Episode description: Founded by Mayank Kukreja and Anish Khadiya, Itilite is a corporate travel management solution that balances company’s savings and the traveler (employee’s) experience. Itilite is also a Matrix portfolio company and this episode features a conversation between Gourav Bhattacharya (Director, Matrix India) and Mayank (Co-Founder, Itilite) on what it’s like to make the shift from a stable job at Myntra.com to founding your company.

14: The InMobi journey

Z47 — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 08:37:12 +0000

Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD, Matrix Partners India, catches up with Naveen Tewari, Co-founder, InMobi, who unravels the journey behind building India’s first unicorn startup. Naveen gets candid about strategies implemented for expansion to international markets, creating a family-like work culture and rising above the challenges that come with building a weatherproof company.

13: CODS

Z47 — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 06:50:45 +0000

12: Discovering Fintech Religion - Part 2

Z47 — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 07:56:43 +0000

As part of our guest series, Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD, Matrix India catches up with Rajeev Ahuja, Executive Director, RBL, Bank on “Discovering Fintech Religion”. The conversation is spread across a 2 part episode, and covers the transformational journey of Ratnakar to RBL Bank, a debate on Fin versus Tech, and phygital as a means for fintech companies and banks to scale.

11: Discovering Fintech Religion - Part 1

Z47 — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 06:13:00 +0000

10: Extreme Hiring

Z47 — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 09:30:12 +0000

Hiring at the early stages helps define the momentum at which a company grows. In this episode, Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD, Matrix Partners India, captures some of his learnings from having worked closely with founders on what works when hiring for a startup. Dna based hiring versus hiring for skill set is another challenge that founders deal with and in most cases founders have found the former to be more effective at least in the initial phase of their company. Listen in to know more.

9: Extreme Referencing

Z47 — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 08:31:00 +0000

Hiring a strong team is the one of the proven ways to ensure startup success. Yet, it’s the biggest issue that founders / CEOs face when building their organization. In this episode of Matrix Moments, Tarun Davda talks about ‘Extreme Referencing’, and how this helps him go beyond the surface level interview process when trying to hire for senior executive positions.

8: State of the Indian Venture Ecosystem - Part 2: Forecast 2019

Z47 — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 09:20:00 +0000

In an attempt to forecast for 2019, this episode of Matrix Moments talks about the trends we expect to play out, sectors expected to explode (or not), the changing face of the average Indian entrepreneur and how 2018 will impact the momentum of 2019. Tune in to hear Avnish Bajaj, Founder & Managing Director, Matrix Partners India, take us through this.

7: State of the Indian Venture Ecosystem - Part 1: A Look Back at 2018

Z47 — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 11:00:00 +0000

A snapshot of the year gone by for the Indian Venture ecosystem: the aftermath of the Flipkart – Walmart deal, government policies surrounding angel tax, the possible rise of trade unionism within startups and the question on everyone’s mind – will India ever see IPOs for consumer internet companies in the near term?

6: Living in the Middle of the Funnel (MoFu)

Z47 — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 11:59:51 +0000

In this episode, Avnish Bajaj, (Founder & MD, Matrix India) talks about MoFu: what it takes to continue retaining & engaging your users post the initial burst of customers, how to evaluate CAC, and what metrics to keep a track of.

5: Extreme Productivity

Z47 — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 10:46:37 +0000

Why do some people seem to have more bandwidth than others, and how do they achieve extreme levels of productivity? This episode talks about the principles and practices followed by successful leaders when it comes to time management, prioritization and clarity of thought.

4: Making Sense of Valuations

Z47 — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 09:14:28 +0000

Going back to the fundamentals of investments and valuations, and to ascertain whether a company's valuation is more than just a quixotic pursuit. Avnish Bajaj (Founder & Managing Director, Matrix Partners India) gives us a piece by piece break down of the valuation techniques and strategies used to analyse and determine a company's real value versus price.

3: Operator VCs versus Investor VCs

Z47 — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 10:55:31 +0000

Addressing the much debated question of who makes a better venture partner - operators or investors? Tarun Davda, Managing Director, Matrix Partner India, talks about his journey of transitioning from an intrapreneur to a venture investor, what his experience has been like having been on the other side of the table as an operator, his views on both types of venture investors: operator VCs and investor VCs and the biases that come with each.

2: Fear & Greed

Z47 — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 09:45:41 +0000

In this episode, Avnish Bajaj (Founder & MD, Matrix Partners India), talks about the investment cycles of fear and greed with reflections from his first exposure to the high's and low's of the cycle. From Peter Lynch to Warren Buffet, he touches upon the investment philosophies that helped shape his own strategy and approach to the cycles, how to avoid the most common mistakes made in investing and navigate your way through a bear market.

1: Intrinsics

Z47 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 11:52:00 +0000

We chose to launch our series with an episode on a topic that we believe is extremely integral for both personal and professional development, a concept that is at the core of Matrix’s ideologies and forms a large part of the foundation, intrinsics. In this episode, Avnish Bajaj (Founder & Managing Director, Matrix India) takes us through what he thinks are the traits required by an individual to succeed against all odds, the ingredients of what goes into the makings of the best founders, and the essence behind our foundersfirst! philosophy.