Founder Thesis

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Dickens said, it was the best of the times, it was the worst of the times. The words have never been truer. Best because there’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur. Worst because the clutter is mind-numbing. Founder Thesis breaks through the noise to bring you stories of success & failure, grit & struggle, bouquets & brickbats from some of the most brilliant entrepreneurs in India.

2 DAYS AGO · VIDEO

Utham Gowda on Building a $1B ARR Seafood Platform Across 3 Oceans

In this episode, Utham Gowda, Founder and Group CEO of Captain Fresh, reveals one of the most dramatic startup transformations in Indian agritech. After raising $90 million and hitting $100 million in revenue, Utham did the unthinkable - he admitted to investors that Captain Fresh wasn't worth its $500 million valuation and shut down the entire domestic business. What followed was a masterclass in radical honesty, strategic M&A, and global expansion. He shares the journey in this candid conversation with host Akshay Datt, unpacking how Captain Fresh went from domestic marketplace to global seafood conglomerate, achieving profitability with 3,421 crore revenue in FY25 while competitors like eFishery collapsed in fraud scandals. From wiring $49 million on a flight to acquiring 10 companies with zero debt, from living on 50,000 rupees monthly to building a $2 million revenue-per-employee machine, this is the playbook for building anti-fragile B2B platforms in the age of supply chain nationalism and capital scarcity. What You'll Learn: 👉How Utham Gowda built Captain Fresh into a $600M+ seafood platform and survived India's funding winter with radical business model honesty 👉The equity swap M&A strategy that acquired $120M+ in companies with zero debt and zero management changes, tripling EBITDA in acquired businesses 👉Why Captain Fresh exited India's $100M domestic market and how the global pivot to US and Europe unlocked 145% revenue growth and profitability 👉How Trump's tariffs accidentally validated Captain Fresh's origin-agnostic supply chain, enabling a 45-day flip from 66% Asia to 66% LatAm sourcing 👉The "Lion vs Cow" founder philosophy behind achieving $2 million revenue per employee and targeting 27-28% ROCE by FY27 👉Inside the collapse of eFishery's $1.4B valuation fraud and why boring tech beats fake tech in B2B physical goods businesses #UthamGowda #CaptainFresh #FounderThesis #AkshayDatt #SeafoodStartupIndia #B2BSeafoodMarketplace #AgritechIPOIndia #IndianUnicorn2026 #StartupPivotStrategy #EquitySwapAcquisitions #MandAStrategyStartups #ProfitableStartupsIndia #GlobalSeafoodSupplyChain #StartupFundingWinter #IndianFoundersGoingGlobal #B2BStartupsIndia #SeafoodExportIndia #AntiDumpingTariffsIndia #SupplyChainResilience #AssetLightBusinessModel #StartupMandAPlaybook #IndianAgritecth2025 #CaptainFreshIPO #SeafoodIndustryIndia #FoodSupplyChainDigitization #IndianStartupSuccess #FromBankerToFounder #ZeroDebtAcquisitions #OriginAgnosticSupplyChain #FrugalFounderPhilosophy Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel

2h 46m
14 JAN · VIDEO

How to Build AI That Actually Delivers with Dr. Arjun Jain (Fast Code AI)

In this episode, Dr. Arjun Jain - Founder of Fast Code AI - reveals why the AI industry's trillion-dollar bet on bigger models is failing, and what's replacing it. Dr. Arjun Jain isn't your typical AI founder. After training under Turing Award winner Yann LeCun at NYU, working on Apple's secretive autonomous vehicle project, and leading Mercedes-Benz's robotaxi AI, he returned to India to bootstrap Fast Code AI with zero venture capital. In just two years, his company grew 8x by doing what the AI giants won't: charging for outcomes instead of software seats, deploying Small Language Models that outperform GPT-4 for specific tasks, and building agents that actually work in production. He shared this contrarian journey in this candid conversation with host Akshay Datt. From explaining why "we have but one internet and we've used it all" (quoting OpenAI's Ilya Sutskever) to revealing how procurement agents train by negotiating with themselves millions of times, this episode dismantles the AI hype and shows what enterprise automation actually looks like. Whether you're a founder evaluating AI vendors, an engineer choosing between foundation model labs and application companies, or an investor trying to separate signal from noise, this is the reality check the industry needs. What You'll Learn: 👉Why scaling laws have stagnated and what test-time compute and reinforcement learning mean for enterprise AI's future 👉How Fast Code AI captures "Salary TAM" (30-70% of revenue) through outcome-based pricing instead of traditional SaaS seat licenses 👉The real reason AI engineers command $10-100 million salaries, and why this won't last as foundation models commoditize 👉Why Project Athena (Mercedes-Bosch's multi-billion euro robotaxi venture) failed, and what end-to-end learning beats modular approaches 👉How Small Language Models fine-tuned on company data outperform massive generic models at 1/10th the inference cost 👉The "self-play" reinforcement learning methodology that makes Fast Code's agents reliable in production, not just impressive in demos #DrArjunJain #FastCodeAI #AgenticAI #AIScalingLaws #EnterpriseAI #SmallLanguageModels #OutcomeBasedPricing #ReinforcementLearning #AIAgents #YannLeCun #BootstrappedStartup #IndiaAIStartups #AIServices #TestTimeCompute #FoundationModels #LLMLimitations #AIForEnterprise #ProcurementAutomation #AIEngineers #AutonomousDriving #ProjectAthena #SalaryTAM #AIInference #AIDeployment #BangaloreAI #AIConsulting #MachineLearningExplained #DeepLearning #TransformersAI #FounderThesisPodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel

1h 51m
5 JAN · VIDEO

Why India Has No Agritech Unicorns; And Why That's About to Change | Mark Kahn (Omnivore)

Mark Kahn is the Managing Partner of Omnivore, India's pioneering agriculture and rural economy venture capital fund with over $325 million in assets under management. Since 2011, Omnivore has backed 50+ startups including DeHaat (India's near-unicorn agritech platform), Pixxel (space tech), Ecozen (climate hardware), and dozens of companies transforming India's 600 million rural population. In this conversation with host Akshay Datt, Kahn unpacks his contrarian thesis on smallholder farming, explains why "B2B SaaS is fucked by AI," dissects the horseshoe politics blocking GM crops in India, and reveals why Trump's 50% tariffs and Modi's dairy farmers are on a collision course. From his operational years at Godrej Agrovet to building India's leading agritech VC, Mark offers a masterclass in sectoral investing, the realities of raising from DFIs, and why India's bioeconomy could hit $300 billion by 2030 - if entrepreneurs stop becoming software engineers and start doing actual biology. What You'll Learn: 👉Why Mark Kahn believes India will never have a unicorn agritech company by traditional metrics, and why he's okay with that 👉How Omnivore's portfolio companies like DeHaat, Arya.ag, and Captain Fresh are approaching profitability and IPOs while others like WayCool imploded 👉The "Kirana shop analogy" - why Indian smallholder farmers are more productive than you think and will beat US industrial agriculture 👉Why both the Indian left and right agree on blocking GM crops (horseshoe theory), and how Indians have been eating GM food derivatives for 20 years without knowing it 👉Mark Kahn's provocative take on US-India trade negotiations: why dairy imports should be blocked but feed ingredients should be welcomed 👉The shocking reality that India's biotech sector has produced zero new billionaires in 20+ years, and what the $300 billion bioeconomy opportunity requires CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Mark Kahn's Journey to Omnivore VC 01:18 - Why Agritech Over B2B SaaS 02:52 - India's Agritech Unicorn Problem Explained 06:37 - Bharat Economy Beyond Agriculture 09:49 - India's Agricultural Future Vision 13:27 - GM Crops Controversy and Yield Gaps 18:26 - The GM Foods Paradox 23:21 - Omnivore's Investment Thesis and Portfolio 30:35 - Fund Size and LP Strategy 31:45 - Origin Story of Omnivore 40:06 - Early Days at Omnivore 50:12 - Agriculture Protection and Trade Policy 52:25 - US-India Agricultural Trade War 57:52 - Why India's Farm Policy is Soviet 1:01:08 - The Farm Reforms That Failed 1:06:13 - AgriStack Digital Infrastructure 1:09:04 - Smallholder Farmers vs Industrial Agriculture 1:13:01 - Zero Percent Probability of Reform 1:14:13 - India Through an Immigrant's Eyes 1:20:31 - Advice for Founders Raising VC 1:26:56 - The Bioeconomy Opportunity #MarkKahn #OmnivoreVC #AgritechIndia #VentureCapitalIndia #IndianAgriculture #AgritechUnicorn #DeHaat #RuralIndia #BharatEconomy #GMCrops #AgriculturePolicy #USIndiaTrade #TrumpTariffs #BiotechIndia #SpaceTech #Pixxel #Climatetech #ImpactInvesting #AgricultureVC #StartupFunding #IndiaVC #FarmersIndia #SmallholderFarming #AgricultureReform #FoodSecurity #SustainableAgriculture #AgriFintech #RuralFintech #DigitalAgriculture #AgriStack Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel

1h 31m
30/12/2025 · VIDEO

How Madhav Krishna's Vahan.ai Became India's Largest Blue-Collar Hiring Platform by Using AI Agents

Madhav Krishna's journey from Silicon Valley to solving India's 450-million blue-collar workforce challenge is a masterclass in finding product-market fit. Starting with a voice-based English teacher called Lakshmi in 2016, Madhav pivoted three times before discovering the real painkiller: recruitment, not training. Today, Vahan.ai powers hiring for Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, and Uber using a unique agency-powered model combined with GPT-4o voice AI that costs just ₹2 per minute compared to ₹3-4 for human recruiters. He shared the complete journey in this candid conversation with host Akshay Datt, revealing why his WhatsApp bot with 500K users meant nothing until he embraced local recruitment agencies instead of trying to disintermediate them. From Y Combinator to backing by Khosla Ventures and Temasek, Madhav explains why SaaS fails in India, how outcome-based pricing became their moat, and why India's trust deficit requires human intermediaries even in the age of AI. With 150 employees generating 40,000 monthly placements and a clear path to profitability at just 3X scale, this is essential viewing for anyone building in India's gig economy, exploring vertical AI applications, or trying to understand what actually works in Indian enterprise markets. Key Highlights: 👉How Madhav Krishna built Vahan.ai from ed-tech pivot to India's largest blue-collar hiring platform with 40,000 monthly placements 👉Why 500K monthly active users meant nothing and how the agency model became the breakthrough to true product-market fit 👉The contrarian insight: why engagement doesn't equal revenue in India and how outcome-based pricing beat SaaS subscriptions 👉Building Voice AI for India: how GPT-4o, proprietary call data, and Hinglish capabilities created a ₹2/minute recruiter cheaper than humans 👉Lessons from scaling through India's funding winter: the path to EBITDA profitability with just 150 employees and capital-efficient growth 👉Why blue-collar workers don't look for jobs online and how Vahan.ai digitized 2,000 local agencies instead of disrupting them 👉The future of gig economy hiring: AI agents, regulatory changes, expansion to manufacturing, and the vision to reach 1 billion people globally #MadhavKrishna #VahanAI #BlueCollarHiring #GigEconomyIndia #VoiceAI #AIRecruitment #IndiaStartups #YCombinator #ProductMarketFit #QuickCommerce #ZomatoSwiggy #DeliveryJobs #GPT4o #VerticalAI #OutcomeBasedPricing #SaaSIndia #KhoslaVentures #StartupPivot #IndiaLabourMarket #WorkforceSolutions #HRTech #RecruitmentPlatform #IndianGigWorkers #AIForIndia #StartupFunding #FounderJourney #TechInIndia #BlueCollarJobs #HiringPlatform #FutureOfWork

1h 23m
15/12/2025 · VIDEO

How Wonderchef's Ravi Saxena Built India's Most Loved Kitchen Brand

What does it take to build India's fastest-growing kitchen appliance brand from scratch - without burning millions in funding? In this episode, Ravi Saxena, Founder of Wonderchef, reveals how he turned a ₹1 crore bootstrap into a ₹500 crore household name set for an IPO. From pioneering India's meal voucher ecosystem at Sodexo to creating the iconic VIP Strolley at age 23, Ravi's entrepreneurial journey spans three decades of market-making in post-liberalization India. After co-founding Wonderchef with celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor in 2009, he disrupted the cookware and appliances industry with breakthrough innovations like the NutriBlend blender and colored non-stick pans that became a cultural phenomenon. He shared the journey in this candid conversation with host Akshay Datt. Unlike venture-backed D2C brands burning cash for growth, Wonderchef achieved profitability by obsessing over consumer pain points, building an 85,000-strong women entrepreneur network, and mastering omnichannel distribution across modern trade, general trade, e-commerce, and direct sales. With 6.5 million Instagram followers and products in every third Indian kitchen, Ravi breaks down the precise strategies behind building brand love without brand budgets. From lobbying for meal voucher legislation in his twenties to cracking the kitchen automation market today, this is a masterclass in patient capital, innovation timing, and building category-defining businesses in India's consumer economy. Key Highlights: 👉How Ravi invented the VIP Strolley name that became a generic trademark for wheeled luggage 👉The counterintuitive strategy that made Sodexo meal vouchers successful in India without tax benefits 👉Why Wonderchef's NutriBlend became the single largest-selling mixer SKU in India, accounting for 25% of sales 👉Building an 85,000-strong women entrepreneur network that operates on negative working capital 👉The "HTC framework" (Health, Taste, Convenience) that guides every product innovation 👉How Wonderchef reached ₹500 crore revenue burning less than $6 million, while competitors burn multiples more 👉Why the Indian MSME manufacturing model must evolve beyond the "Malik culture" to compete globally #IndianStartups #ConsumerBrands #D2CIndia #KitchenAppliances #SanjeevKapoor #StartupIndia #EntrepreneurshipIndia #MakeInIndia #SodexoIndia #VIPLuggage #NutriBlend #StartupFunding #CapitalEfficiency #OmnichannelRetail #DirectSelling #WomenEntrepreneurs #IndianManufacturing #StartupIPO #FounderStories #IndiaConsumerMarket #BrandBuilding Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel

1h 59m
05/12/2025 · VIDEO

Beating PwC & Infosys: How Shubham Garg's CodeVyasa Won Fortune 500 Clients Without VC Funding

How did Shubham Garg bootstrap CodeVyasa to $XXM ARR without a single dollar of VC funding? In this episode, we uncover the contrarian playbook behind India's fastest-growing AI-powered IT services firm and why enterprises are ditching SaaS for custom software. Shubham Garg is the Founder and CEO of CodeVyasa, a 600-person bootstrapped IT services company serving unicorns like Mamaearth, UpGrad, and Yatra, plus Fortune 500 clients including HDFC Bank and major oil and gas PSUs. What makes his story remarkable is the journey itself - from failing at a supply chain SaaS startup in 2019 to pivoting into high-value outcome-based engineering services that reached $XXM in annual recurring revenue, all without external funding. In this candid conversation with host Akshay Datt, Shubham reveals how CodeVyasa helped UpGrad slash their AWS cloud bill by 40% (saving $2M annually), replaced SAP's enterprise software for a government PSU in just two quarters, and is now capitalizing on the AI revolution by selling GenAI implementation services. He shares hard-earned lessons of scaling a services business with no VC money, and his controversial thesis that the era of SaaS dominance is ending as enterprises shift to building custom AI-powered tools in-house. This episode is essential viewing for bootstrapped founders, service business operators, enterprise sales professionals, and anyone navigating India's IT services boom in the AI era. What You'll Learn: 👉How Shubham Garg scaled CodeVyasa from zero to $XXM ARR and 600 employees without VC funding using pure customer revenue and cash flow discipline 👉Why outcome-based pricing beats traditional time and material models, and how CodeVyasa competes with giants like Infosys and PwC for Fortune 500 contracts 👉The build versus buy revolution - why enterprises are replacing SaaS platforms like SAP and Salesforce with custom AI-powered software built in-house 👉CodeVyasa's AI enablement strategy including data pipelines, LLM operations, and identity stitching that now represents 20-25% of revenue #ITServicesIndia #BootstrappedStartup #AIServices #ProductEngineering #OutcomeBasedPricing #DevOpsConsulting #GenAIImplementation #BuildVsBuySoftware #SaaSvsCustimSoftware #IndianUnicorns #DataEngineering #LLMOperations #IdentityStitching #ChinaPlusOneStrategy #FortuneIndiaIT #EnterpriseSales #B2BTechSales #ScalingWithoutVC #CashFlowMasterclass #TechStartupIndia #QAAutomation #CloudOptimization #ReplacingSAP #BootstrappedGrowth

1h 4m
01/12/2025 · VIDEO

India's Semiconductor Bet: Hareesh Chandrasekar on AGNIT's GaN Technology Stack

When China banned gallium exports, it didn't hurt AGNIT Semiconductors, it made them essential. Hareesh Chandrasekar reveals how geopolitical supply chain wars created a $13 million opportunity and why India's first GaN chip company is competing with billion-dollar rivals on just $5 million. In this episode, Hareesh Chandrasekar, Co-Founder and CEO of AGNIT Semiconductors, shares the unconventional journey of commercializing 18 years of IISc research into India's first indigenous GaN chip company. From leveraging ₹300 crores in government-funded R&D infrastructure to competing with billion-dollar global players on a $4.87 million budget, Hareesh breaks down the capital-efficient playbook for deep tech startups. He reveals how China's gallium export restrictions created sovereign demand for AGNIT's chips, why defense contracts came before consumer markets, and the brutal reality of scaling from lab prototypes to 100,000 chips in 12 months. With three chips currently in field trials for defense applications and expansion planned into electric two-wheelers, AGNIT is at the forefront of India's semiconductor manufacturing revolution. He shared this candid journey with host Akshay Datt, exploring the intersection of geopolitics, deep tech commercialization, and the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0. This conversation is essential for founders tackling hardware, investors evaluating deep tech, and anyone interested in India's strategic technology ambitions. In this episode, you'll discover: 👉How Hareesh Chandrasekar spent 18 years building GaN expertise at IISc before raising a single VC dollar, using institutional R&D as non-dilutive capital to de-risk AGNIT Semiconductors 👉Why semiconductor startups take 2-4 years and $2 million just to reach VC-fundable stage, and how the deep tech timeline differs radically from software 👉The military-to-commercial strategy: starting with defense jammers, radars, and drone communication chips before pivoting to high-volume electric vehicle markets 👉How China's control of 87-90% of global gallium reserves and export restrictions created guaranteed sovereign demand for indigenous semiconductor supply chains 👉AGNIT's fab-lite model: controlling IP and critical manufacturing steps while outsourcing volume production, competing with $300M+ funded rivals on $5M 👉The make-or-break challenge: scaling from hundreds to 100,000 chips in 12 months to validate foundry partnerships and achieve commercial viability 👉India's semiconductor ecosystem reality: zero domestic wafer production, complete import dependence, and why $500M GaN foundries are more achievable than $20B silicon fabs 👉Why pitch decks work for investors but defense customers demand working prototypes, data sheets, and field trial results before taking startups seriously #Indiasemiconductor #GalliumNitride #GaNchips #semiconductorstartupIndia #IndiaSemiconductorMission #ISM2.0 #defensetech #compoundsemiconductors #semiconductormanufacturing #chinaexportban Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel

1h 21m
20/11/2025 · VIDEO

Anand Prasanna (Iron Pillar) on Why Growth-Stage VC is India's Biggest Opportunity

In this episode, we unpack the $4M-$10M funding gap that's stranded hundreds of Indian startups, why Anand raised $45M during COVID when everyone else froze, and the brutal truth about unicorn valuations in India's tech ecosystem. Anand Prasanna is the Managing Partner of Iron Pillar, a $400M+ venture growth fund that's cracked the code on taking Indian companies from $10M to $100M in revenue and shepherding them to IPO. With exits like Bluestone's NSE listing and Vyome's historic Nasdaq debut, Iron Pillar proves that the "India for the World" thesis isn't just talk, it's delivering real returns. From his days at McKinsey and Sequoia to running Morgan Creek's Asia office in Shanghai, Anand brings a rare global lens to Indian venture capital. He shared his contrarian playbook, investment discipline, and why he's passing on the AI hype cycle in this candid, no-holds-barred conversation with host Akshay Datt. Whether you're a founder navigating Series B, an LP evaluating fund managers, or an operator curious about what metrics actually matter at scale, this episode breaks down growth-stage VC like never before. You'll learn the 444 process for picking winners, why CAC payback matters more than growth rate, the dual exit strategy for Indian startups, and Anand's brutally honest takes on Zepto, Cred, Physics Wallah, and why 30% of India's unicorns are overvalued. #VentureCapital #GrowthStageVC #IndiaStartups #SeriesBFunding #StartupFunding #IndianUnicorns #VCInvesting #StartupIPO #BluestoneIPO #FounderThesisPod #StartupMetrics #CACPayback #UnitEconomics #InvestmentStrategy #PrivateEquity #IndiaVC #StartupEcosystem #FundingGap #ScalingStartups #IndiaForTheWorld #GlobalExpansion #VCReturns #LPCapital #StartupValuation Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the speaker, not necessarily the channel

1h 36m

Dickens said, it was the best of the times, it was the worst of the times. The words have never been truer. Best because there’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur. Worst because the clutter is mind-numbing. Founder Thesis breaks through the noise to bring you stories of success & failure, grit & struggle, bouquets & brickbats from some of the most brilliant entrepreneurs in India.

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2020 - 2026
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421
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Explicit
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Founder Thesis