Business Over Chai Business Over Chai

In this very special episode, we have a recording of our first live event in the series: South Asian Entrepreneur Stories. 

We hosted a panel of three fantastic guests who share their experience of launching their business and the challenges that come along with scaling their business.  

In this episode we talk through: 


How they got their business started 
The challenges they faced in the business validation stage 
How they went about growing and scaling their business 
And finally discussing where the business is today and what plans they have for the future  

The conversation becomes particularly interesting as we learn about the different approaches they had to use depending on whether they had a services business or a product business.  

The speaker panel included:  

Dhruvin Patel - Ocushield and Dragons' Den winner 

Whilst studying Optometry at university, Dhruvin developed the initial product offering of Ocushield - blue light filtering technology that makes eyes healthier, improves sleep and makes people happier. Ocushield was featured on Dragons' Den (and winning over Peter Jones & Tej Lalvani in the process) and went on to raise £1m privately as well as being featured on Forbes, The Guardian & USA Today. 

Ocushield has helped over 300,000 eyes in over 70 countries with a mission to let eyes thrive. Their products can be found in John Lewis and Selfridge's stores.   

Sonya Barlow - BBC Radio Presenter, Author & Founder of the LMF Network 

Sonya is an award-winning entrepreneur, founder of the LMF Network, diversity and inclusion coach, TEDx Speaker, LinkedIn Changemaker 2021, Radio Host of the BBC Asian Network’s "The Every Day Hustle" and author of "Unprepared to Entrepreneur".   

Varun Bhanot - MAGIC and Unhoused.org 

Varun is the co-founder and CEO of MAGIC, the world’s most intelligent AI-enabled personal trainer, democratizing access to personal training at scale - saving people time & £100s a week in fees. 

Described by Tech Nation as ‘One of the most innovative Artificial Intelligence companies in the UK,’ Magic has partnered with a number of athletes including England cricketer, Sir Alistair Cook, and English sprinter and gymnast, Asha Philip.   

He is also the co-founder of UNHOUSED.ORG, a non-profit startup that uses innovative technology to help the homeless and those who are unhoused. Their first project is the UK's first online shop for the homeless - the "Amazon.com for homeless supplies".   

Episode recorded in November 2022 at the Leadenhall Building, London  

Ocushield: https://www.ocushield.com/

LMF Network: https://www.lmfnetwork.com/

Magic: https://magic.fit/ 

Business Over Chai Resources 

Our mission is to share startup stories that will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs across the South Asian community. #businessoverchai 

Co-hosts: Andy Paul & Sunny Nagi

Website: https://www.businessoverchai.com/

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/businessoverchai 

Give us a review! 

If you enjoyed this episode please leave a 5 star review wherever you're listening! 

Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends and family!  

Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are of the guest and/or co-hosts and are not representative views held by employers or other related parties.

In today’s episode we speak to Omar Choudhry, Founder of Feedsauce, a platform that customises and builds product photoshoots in minutes, shot by expert photographers. Feedsauce has worked with brands such as Burberry and Adidas, and has been featured in The New York Times, Vogue & GQ.  

Omar is a serial entrepreneur and was intrigued by the world of content and design from his school days. Omar’s other projects have included Flavr, a full-service content creation, brand strategy and social media management agency, as well as designing apps which have reached number 1 on the app store.  

In the episode, Omar also discusses the challenges he has faced in his life and how he has had to overcome these. His story is inspirational and helps reinforce the idea of how important positivity is.   

Feedsauce: https://feedsauce.com/    

Episode recorded in June 2022   



Business Over Chai Resources  

Our mission is to share startup stories that will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs across the South Asian community.   

Co-hosts: Andy Paul & Sunny Nagi  

- Website: https://www.businessoverchai.com/

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/businessoverchai/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessoverchai

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-over-chai-podcast

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bizoverchai

- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/businessoverchai



Give us a review! 

If you enjoyed this episode please leave a 5 star review wherever you're listening! 

Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends and family!  



Disclaimer 

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are of the guest and/or co-hosts and are not representative views held by employers or other related parties.  

 

#entrepreneurship #founder #productphotography

In today’s episode we speak to Nik Sharma, CEO of Sharma Brands. Nik is known as the ‘DTC Guy’ (DTC being Direct to Consumer) and he is widely considered as an expert in the field and has helped generate over $100m in online revenue.

Sharma Brands is a strategic initiatives firm working with a wide range of brands to help grow and scale revenue across digital platforms. They have worked with brands such as Rocnation, Jim Beam Whisky and The Pill Club.

Nik has received a lot of recognition in the field and is one of AdWeek’s Young & Influential and a Forbes 30 under 30. Nik has developed a loyal following through his weekly newsletter where he discusses DTC as well as on Twitter as an influencer where he has over 135k followers.

As well as a DTC and e-commerce expert, Nik is also a very active investor in early stage businesses and has invested in more than 50 companies to date.



Nik Sharma: https://www.nik.co/



Episode recorded in April 2022



Business Over Chai Resources

Our mission is to share startup stories that will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs across the South Asian community. #businessoverchai

Co-hosts: Andy Paul & Sunny Nagi

- Website: https://www.businessoverchai.com/

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/businessoverchai/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessoverchai

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-over-chai-podcast

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bizoverchai

- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/businessoverchai



Give us a review!

If you enjoyed this episode please leave a 5 star review wherever you're listening! Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends and family!

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are of the guest and/or co-hosts and are not representative views held by employers or other related parties.

In today’s episode, we speak to Ishveen Jolly, Founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship – the largest two-sided global marketplace for sports sponsorship.

Ishveen talks us through how she left the consulting world to follow her love for sports and make that her career. She decided to uproot and move to India and found herself working with the Mumbai Indians IPL Team and big brands such as Hero Honda.

She spotted an opportunity in the sports sponsorship market for a cross border global marketplace and founded OpenSponsorship. Today, OpenSponsorship is the largest marketplace connecting brands and smart marketers to over 12,000 professional athletes worldwide. They use analytical insights AI and proprietary algorithms to leverage technology and data to create meaningful partnerships and revolutionise the sports sponsorship model.

OpenSponsorship has completed over 10,000 deals through the platform, covering over 160 sports in 120 countries highlighting their global reach. Athletes on the OpenSponsorship platform include the likes of Tiger Woods, Karim Benzema, MS Dhoni and Caroline Wozniacki, and they work with brands such as Foot Locker, Time Inc and Levi’s. Investors of OpenSponsorship include Serena Williams and David Blitzer, owner of NBA team Philadelphia 76ers, and co-owner of Crystal Palace Football Club.

In our conversation we also discuss the challenges Ishveen has faced in her journey along with what is next for OpenSponsorship where she feels an opportunity also exists in the music industry.

OpenSponsorship: https://opensponsorship.com/

Episode recorded in March 2022

Business Over Chai Resources

Our mission is to share startup stories that will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs across the South Asian community. #businessoverchai

Co-hosts: Andy Paul & Sunny Nagi

- Website: https://www.businessoverchai.com/

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/businessoverchai/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessoverchai

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-over-chai-podcast

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bizoverchai

- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/businessoverchai

Give us a review!

If you enjoyed this episode please leave a 5 star review wherever you're listening! Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends and family!

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are of the guest and/or co-hosts and are not representative views held by employers or other related parties.

In today’s episode, we speak to award winning Parm Bhangal - Founder of Bhangal’s Construction Consultants which started in 2010 providing quantity surveying, estimating and project management services.

Parm quickly recognised a second gap in the market which led him to opening his second business, My Build Estimate, providing online estimating services to private clients, builders merchants and professionals in the construction industry.

Parm has won fourteen awards through various organisations including Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019 in the SME National Business Awards and Small Business of the Year also in 2019 in the SME Northamptonshire Business awards.

In our conversation we also go on to discuss the book he has written which is aimed at helping people with small business success and we also talk about a new venture that he is about to launch in the food industry.

More recently, Parm has launched his business coaching business which aims to help people in the construction and property business through his Mastermind events and One to One coaching.

Bhangals Construction Consultants: https://www.bhangals.co.uk/

Parm Bhangal: https://www.parmbhangal.co.uk/

Episode recorded on September 2021

Business Over Chai Resources

Our mission is to share startup stories that will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs across the South Asian community. #businessoverchai

Co-hosts: Andy Paul & Sunny Nagi

- Website: https://www.businessoverchai.com/

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/businessoverchai/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessoverchai

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-over-chai-podcast

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bizoverchai

- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/businessoverchai

Give us a review!

If you enjoyed this episode please leave a 5 star review wherever you're listening! Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends and family!

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are of the guest and/or co-hosts and are not representative views held by employers or other related parties.

In today’s episode we’re speaking to Ganesh Iyer, founder and CEO of Dotin. Dotin is a B2B AI talent analytics platform that helps in sourcing, screening and engaging talent in real-time, without asking any questions but using concepts such as Colour Theory and Natural Language Processing. Dotin has said to increase hiring efficiency by 60 percent and significantly increase productivity by 2.5x. Dotin has been internationally recognised in many awards and initiatives including being a SalesForce Demo Jam Finalist and being included as a Top 25 Disruptive HR solutions company by CIO review magazine in 2018.

Ganesh was born in Mumbai and studied at IIT, before moving to the US where he continued studies at Binghamton university, San Jose State and Stanford university.

Ganesh started his professional career as an engineer, before moving into business oriented roles at Cisco Systems. This led him to understand the problems in talent acquisition and retention which inspired him founding Dotin.



Dotin: https://dotin.us



Business Over Chai Resources

Our mission is to share startup stories that will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs across the South Asian community. #businessoverchai

Co-hosts: Andy Paul & Sunny Nagi

- Website: https://www.businessoverchai.com/

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/businessoverchai/

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessoverchai

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-over-chai-podcast

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bizoverchai

- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/businessoverchai



Give us a review!

If you enjoyed this episode please leave a 5 star review wherever you're listening! Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends and family!

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are of the guest and/or co-hosts and are not representative views held by employers or other related parties.