Silicon Subcontinent Aman Sidhant, Shryans Goyal

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 


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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?


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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?


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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

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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


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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)






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