#Ecosystem101 by Amit Pandey

For a long time, India’s startup ecosystem felt like a closed room. The same cities.The same colleges.The same circles. Outside that room were millions of capable, ambitious people, founders, students, operators, watching from the fringes, assuming the gap was talent, pedigree, or luck. It wasn’t. It was information asymmetry. India today has ambition everywhere.Bharat is full of builders.What most people still lack is context. How does the startup ecosystem actually work?Who funds whom and why?Where do careers really begin?How do you move from aspiration to execution without elite access? This podcast exists to answer those questions. Over the last 15+ years, I’ve lived inside this ecosystem across its many layers.I’ve been a founder and part of founding teams.I’ve worked closely with first-time founders, seasoned entrepreneurs, and operators.I’ve collaborated with top VCs, angel networks, government officials, consultants, lawyers, and ecosystem institutions.I’ve helped build and shape large events, pitch platforms, training programs, and policy initiatives across India. Along the way, I didn’t just build programs, I built relationships and trust.Conversations that never make it to panels.Context that never shows up in blog posts.Lessons that are usually passed quietly, one room at a time. At some point, you realise something:If you’ve had the privilege of access, it comes with the responsibility to share it well. That’s what #Ecosystem101 is about. Not hot takes.Not gyaan.But structured, experience-backed decoding of how India actually builds. Because the ecosystem itself is changing rapidly. If someone went to sleep in 2015 and woke up in 2025, they wouldn’t have just missed a decade.They would have missed witnessing the real emergence of Bharat as a growth engine, one that will not only shape India’s next chapter, but increasingly influence how the world grows, builds, and invests. The lines between Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3 cities are blurring.Opportunity is no longer owned by geography or pedigree.Bharat is no longer waiting for permission. Consider this: India has 100M+ aspirational founders and startup-curious professionals65%+ of new startups now emerge from beyond the top metrosIndia’s private capital ecosystem has crossed ₹15 lakh crore+ in AUMYet only ~12–15% of that capital reaches early-to-growth stages: angel, micro-VC, seed, early VC where first-time builders actually begin. Capital is growing. But understanding is not growing at the same pace. This podcast is an attempt to close that gap, gradually, honestly, and in a structured way. Through conversations and first-principle breakdowns, we explore how enterprises are being built from Bharat, for Bharat, and for the world, without romanticising the journey, and without hiding the complexity. This is for: first-time founders who don’t come from the “right” roomsstudents trying to understand where they fit in the startup worldprofessionals moving from corporate comfort to startup chaospeople on the fringes, curious, capable, ambitious, but under-exposed If you’ve ever felt:“I know I belong here, but I don’t know the rules” this podcast is for you. This isn’t motivation.It’s orientation.