Silicon Subcontinent

Aman Sidhant, Shryans Goyal

Silicon Valley is more than a location; it's a mindset. Join Kai & Shryans on Silicon Subcontinent, where we discuss India's growth as an economic powerhouse from an entrepreneurial lens.

  1. 29-06-2021

    Episode 9 - Abhishek Sethi and the Importance of Maximising Upside

    Abhishek Sethi is a co-founder of gradCapital, where he is investing in the next generation of Indian entrepreneurs - current and recent college students.  Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:45 Why are BITS, Manipal, and IIT Roorkee producing so many successful founders? 7:45 What is the biggest constraint while building a company? 10:33 Democratizing access to capital with gradCapital 13:30 Founders v/s the World, and what gradCapital looks for in founders  15:27 Grit  19:06 Abhishek's career before starting gradCapital  24:06 Biotech research and translation to businesses 27:24 How does one start a VC firm to fund startups? 38:45 Abhishek's venture into biology, finding the laws of motion for water beetles (and why this is important) 49:30 As a founder, maximise upside instead of mitigating risks

    55 min.

  2. 21-06-2021

    Episode 8 - Cathy Guo on the Inflection Point in Indian Entrepreneurship

    Cathy Guo is an investor, author, and founder. She currently manages Indian investments for Antler, the world's fastest growing VC firm. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:48 Cathy's journey from China to India via the West, writing Myth of the Entrepreneur, and who an entrepreneur really is 5:07 Entrepreneurship in India v/s the U.S., and how "mission-focused" companies should think about giving back 9:16 Cathy's perspective on Indian Entrepreneurship today, and how yoga ties into this 12:37 Antler and its vision for early stage investing in India 18:42 The mental models Antler uses to identify investments 23:43 Identifying exceptional people 26:07 What separates a VC business from a traditional business? 28:49 Common characteristics of great founders 32:48 Exciting spaces in India (hint: a big one is crypto) 34:02 What is DeFi? 38:01 Developments in crypto this cycle, and Cathy's work at Dunya Labs 42:01 Opportunities in crypto 44:46 Government intervention in crypto 49:40 How can India benefit from crypto? 53:47 Cathy on her First Principles 59:46 Promises of Immortality 1:02:17 Meditation 1:07:32 What problem would you solve if money was not a constraint?

    1 u 10 m

  3. 30-05-2021

    Episode 7 - Rohit Mittal and taking Asymmetric Bets

    Rohit Mittal is old fashioned in some ways, and extremely progressive in others. His company, Stilt, is enabling immigrants to lead easier lives in the U.S., and he hopes that some of his customers will go on to work on future-facing problems in climate change and biotech. Having said that, he still prefers taking notes on pen and paper, and prints documents out instead of reading PDFs online. We learnt what it takes to start a company in the U.S. as an immigrant, the role of luck (and preparation) in becoming successful, and how Stilt is going to revolutionize financial services for the under-served in America. Some sound bites - On starting a company or even a project: Don’t ask for permission. Everything is allowed. Remove all distractions that don’t help in building the company. Change your network to be amongst people working on their own companies. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:58 What Stilt is and How it was Started 6:24 Choosing the First Problem to Solve {Takeaway - Constrain a Problem so much that the Solution becomes Straightforward} 8:33 Starting a Company in the U.S. as an Immigrant  12:53 The Risks Rohit had to Take {More here} 14:29 Getting the First Round of Funding as Someone Without Many Connections  24:08 First steps with Stilt 26:00 Getting into Y Combinator, and facing Impostor Syndrome 35:17 Luck = Preparation + Opportunity, Taking Asymmetric Bets, and the Importance of Consistency while Working on a Startup 42:27 The Present and Future of Stilt 46:06 Growing Stilt, and the Operational Aspect of Running a Company {Takeaway - A lot of doing something new is just Method Acting} 50:43 Rohit's Connection with The Indian Startup Ecosystem 54:03 If Money Wasn't An Issue, What Problem Would Rohit Work On?

    58 min.

  4. 02-05-2021

    Episode 6 - Abhinav Das on Robotics, Pivoting, and Perseverance

    After experiencing homelessness and surviving on bananas, nothing fazes Abhinav Das any more. Abhinav started a company before starting a company was cool. At EVOMO, his first startup, Abhinav, aimed to solve the transportation problem in India. The skills he learnt while building his own truck came in handy when he started Orangewood Labs, where along with his co-founders Aditya and Akash, Abhinav is democratizing access to robotics and automation for businesses of all sizes. Tune in as we discuss how to make the most of limited resources, the not-so-sexy parts of being a founder, and building from India for the world. Timestamps: 00:40 What drew Abhinav to robotics? 01:40 Abhinav's inspiration for EVOMO, his first company 03:10 Initial days of struggle and trying to find grants 05:30 Traveling to rural India to understand the need for affordable vehicles 06:50 Deep tech funding in 2010 and initial days of the company 08:10 Abhinav's Y Combinator experience 09:10 How being in the middle class shaped Abhinav's perspectives 11:50 Importance of quitting on time 13:00 Learning new skills to broaden horizons 14:30 Abhinav about Aditya and Akash, his co-founders 17:15 Inefficiencies in the furniture industry and building CNC machines 19:00 The beginning of Orangewood Labs 20:20 The importance of hustling and not moving mindlessly with trends 23:25 How the Y Combinator experience has changed over the years 29:30 Orangewood's pivot from furniture to robotics 33:40 Recurrent financial instability in a startup 35:30 Thinking big 37:00 Getting investors 41:30 Raising money in the USA 44:40 Future plans for Orangewood Labs 48:20 Advice for students and aspiring entrepreneurs

    50 min.

  5. 08-04-2021

    Episode 5 - Rahul Subramaniam on Moving from America to India, and Managing Multiple Companies

    Rahul Subramaniam is living the Indian dream! After growing up in America, Rahul moved to India about a decade ago. Rahul has started two companies in India — Athena Education, that mentors students for college abroad, and Florence Capital, a microcredit service for women in India. Rahul is passionate about the Indian growth story and has worked extensively to understand the education and fintech landscapes in India. In this episode, he discusses what shaped his decision to move to India, and how he he manages two companies side by side. 0:55 What made Rahul move to India from the U.S. 4:40 How traveling impacted Rahul's life 8:00 What India can learn from China 11:00 Starting Athena Education 18:30 Athena as a Venture Opportunity 21:20 About Athena’s Growth 26:50 Operational Challenges at a Startup 33:15 How to Spot Smart Students 36:50 Florence Capital 41:00 How Florence became an Organization for Women 44:30 Differences between Florence and Athena 47:30 Bootstrapping Florence 50:20 Florence in the next five years 52:10 Advice for Budding Entrepreneurs

    57 min.

  6. 24-03-2021

    Episode 4 - Abhishek Singh on a Tech Friendly Indian Government and Promoting Entrepreneurship

    Abhishek Singh is the CEO of MyGov, President & CEO of the National e-Governance Division, and MD & CEO of the Digital India Corporation (DIC) at the Government of India. After an illustrious career as an IAS Officer that saw him work extensively with Chief Ministers and Governors in Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh, Abhishek is now leading the Indian Government's efforts to build digital services for all Indian citizens. In this episode, we discuss how India is shifting from providing Software Services to building Software Products, how the Government is democratising business opportunities for new companies, and what Abhishek thinks is the future of entrepreneurship in India. 0:00 - Intro and Abhishek's journey from IIT to IAS 10:00 - How India is becoming a Product-based Software economy 18:00 - Indian Government's Policy Changes to Support Startups and Manufacturing 25:42 - The Government's Initiatives to improve the Ease of Doing Business in India (hint: https://www.mygov.in & https://www.startupindia.gov.in/) 29:02 - Operating the Government like a Startup and New Initiatives like DigiLocker  39:02 - Which Digital Initiatives will have the Most Impact in the Future, and how Startups can take Advantage 46:23 - Abhishek's Day-to-Day, how he chooses what to work on, and Engaging Citizens 44:39 54:08 - What it will take for India to become the next Silicon Valley (or as Abhishek calls it, the Indian Valley)

    55 min.

  7. 22-03-2021

    Episode 3 - Angad Daryani on Bootstrapping a Climate Tech Startup

    Angad Daryani is an entrepreneur building one of India's hottest climate tech startups — Praan. After building 3D printers from scratch and working with Ramesh Raskar of MIT Media Lab, Angad studied Electrical Engineering at Georgia Tech, where he built a filterless purification device and soon became popular on his college campus. This device would eventually lead to Praan. Today, when he's not solving fluid dynamics problems or raising VC money, you can find him translating innovative solutions from a Western context to an Indian one. We chat about his life, his interests, and what it takes to solve one of the most important problems we face not just as a nation, but as a species -- Climate Change. If you're interested in solving Climate Change, go to https://www.praan.io/jobs or https://www.praan.io/connect  Timestamps: 0:00 Intro to Angad and Praan 5:14 Angad on the impact of a 1.5C rise in temperatures 13:30 Angad on carbon capture versus re electrification of the grid 20:20 Early life, Mentors, and Problem Solving 40:29 Mental Models at Praan 54:20 Engineering Challenges at Praan

    1 u 9 m

  8. 15-03-2021 ·  Bonus

    Meeta Sengupta on Future Opportunities in EdTech, and the Moment of Learning

    This clip was taken from Episode 2 of Silicon Subcontinent with Meeta Sengupta

    17 min.
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Silicon Valley is more than a location; it's a mindset. Join Kai & Shryans on Silicon Subcontinent, where we discuss India's growth as an economic powerhouse from an entrepreneurial lens.

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    Aman Sidhant, Shryans Goyal
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