Z47 Moments

Z47
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Zero to Infinity, by Z47, is a podcast series dedicated to the founders, startups, and all within the ecosystem through candid conversations on what we think it really takes to survive in this wild startup world. In a world where we are endlessly engulfed with information in all its forms and sizes, this is our attempt to create, curate, and bring to you the insights and reflections that we have had the luxury of having learned the hard way through all the years spent in truly understanding what it takes to build and nurture a startup from ground zero.

  1. 10h ago

    Building a ₹100 Crore hair care brand in 2 years | Nikita Khanna, Moxie

    Nikita Khanna spent fifteen years straightening her hair before she realised the problem wasn't her hair. It was that nobody had built products for it. She was on partner track at McKinsey her only job ever when she started going down YouTube rabbit holes during COVID, trying to find a sustainable way to manage wavy, frizz-prone hair. She found the answers in Brazil: similar hair texture, dozens of local brands, none of it available in India. When she asked people in the industry whether it was a business, almost everyone told her the category was too small and too random. Roughly 80% of Indians have hair somewhere on the wavy-to-curly spectrum. She built Moxie anyway. In this episode of Unstarted, Nikita talks to Avnish Bajaj about validating an idea before you quit your job, the ABC framework she now uses to evaluate any new category, why she never thought she was cut out to be a founder, learning to delegate and build an org for the first time, running a company with her husband as co-founder, and what it actually takes to build a brand in a market where launching a product has never been easier. Unstarted is a series for founders, by founders, with questions crowdsourced from the audience. Chapters  0:00 Intro: the company we should have invested in00:00 Growing up in Delhi, watching her father build a business00:00 DU, XLRI, and landing at McKinsey00:00 Straightening her hair since 13, and deciding to stop00:00 Finding the answer in Brazil00:00 "Am I even cut out to be a founder?"00:00 Q: How do I validate an idea before I quit?00:00 The ABC framework: assortment, business, consumer00:00 Everyone said the category was too small00:00 Q: How does a young founder become a CEO?00:00 Building with her husband as co-founder00:00 Why viral products aren't the goal

    Building a ₹100 Crore hair care brand in 2 years | Nikita Khanna, Moxie

  2. Sep 10

    He Saved ₹50 Lakh in College - Then Sold His Startup at 25 | Aman Goel, Grey Labs AI

    Aman Goel, founder of Greylabs.ai, joins Avnish on Unstarted for one of the most relatable founder journeys yet — a middle-class kid from Kanpur who was hustling for money from his first year of college and never stopped. Aman is refreshingly honest that his motivation was simply to make money. He earned his first ₹4,000 solving JEE papers, built a content-writing business with his now-wife and co-founder Harshita, and had saved close to ₹50 lakh before he even graduated.  He went on to build Cogno AI - an AI chatbot and voice company for banks - in 2017, before generative AI existed, bootstrapped it to a million-dollar revenue run rate, and sold it to Exotel at 25. Now with Greylabs.ai, he's building voice AI for India's banks and financial institutions.  In this episode he breaks down finding customers in an industry you have no network in, the "student not salesperson" playbook that got him into SBI and HDFC, why he and Harshita split the company cleanly into "she builds, I sell," how to part ways with a co-founder without a fight, picking a razor-sharp ICP, and why in a world of weekly AI launches trust is still the only thing that sells. Chapters 00:00 Intro — a genuinely relatable founder story01:00 Growing up middle-class in Kanpur02:50 "My motivation was money" — where ambition came from04:00 The internet, Silicon Valley, and deciding not to settle in the US05:50 Earning in college: ₹4,000 to ₹50 lakh before graduating08:20 How to create your own opportunity in college11:50 Starting Cogno AI — and the RED vs REL framework15:40 Building AI in 2017, before ChatGPT17:20 Getting into banks: the "student, not salesperson" playbook21:40 Negotiating with SBI as two 20-year-olds24:40 The first customer, and the referrals that followed25:30 The co-founder exit: quick decision, generous separation27:20 Harshita joins: "she builds, I sell"30:40 The exit to Exotel — doubling the ask in 10 minutes34:40 Finding the market first: why he stayed in India37:50 Founder-market fit and picking a razor-sharp ICP40:40 Can AI disrupt his AI business? Why trust wins42:50 Eating your own dog food: building internal tools on Replit44:40 AI adoption in banks — from pilots to 50 lakh calls a month46:14 The coming pricing pressure, and how service is the moat49:20 Closing advice: persistence is the one thing that can't be replicated

    He Saved ₹50 Lakh in College - Then Sold His Startup at 25 | Aman Goel, Grey Labs AI

  3. Sep 3

    Why PhonePe bet on UPI when everyone chose wallets | Sameer Nigam | Unstarted

    Sameer Nigam, founder and CEO of PhonePe, joins Unstarted for a candid conversation on building a company that now serves over 700 million users. From a middle-class naval family to a failed music startup (Mind360), an acquisition by Flipkart, and the founding of PhonePe, Sameer breaks down the thinking behind his "asymmetric bets," why he chose UPI when the entire market was chasing wallets, and how the Big Billion Day payments collapse revealed the problem he'd spend the next decade solving. He also opens up on his 31-year partnership with co-founder Rahul Chari, why he embraces regulators instead of fighting them, what PhonePe's data reveals about how India really spends, and the story behind the IPO that was pulled at the last minute. A must-watch for founders thinking about co-founders, market timing, building for population scale, and knowing when to cut your losses. Unstarted is a show about founders, for founders hosted by Avnish Bajaj.  Chapters 0:00 Intro: meet Sameer Nigam & the "celebrity founder" tag2:15 Family background: a Navy dad and an entrepreneur mom at early TCS10:45 Why tech fundamentals still win (and the Google "75% AI code" point)17:40 First venture: Mind360, the "iTunes for India"22:10 Why it failed: wrong market sizing and the piracy era26:00 Acquired by Flipkart and the B2B pivot34:15 Big Billion Day: when India's payment infra collapsed38:00 Why wallets were never the answer41:20 The asymmetric bet on UPI44:30 Ghar Wapsi: merging back into Flipkart to buy time47:10 Demonetization: luck, timing, and near-zero competition50:00 Obsessing over infrastructure and the right foundation52:30 ICP, population scale, and the "painkiller in the hinterland"55:40 Incumbents push back: ICICI blocking and the RBI visit59:00 What PhonePe's data reveals about how India spends1:05:00 The most anticipated IPO that didn't happen1:08:30 Final advice: don't be an entrepreneur by FOMO

    Why PhonePe bet on UPI when everyone chose wallets | Sameer Nigam | Unstarted

  4. Aug 20

    Shiprocket's Saahil Goel on their IPO, PMF & Building AI for Bharat | Unstarted

    Saahil Goel, co-founder and CEO of Shiprocket, joins us for a candid deep-dive into how a self-taught coder from Delhi built the logistics and enablement backbone powering a huge chunk of India's direct-to-consumer commerce. Sahil takes us all the way back selling his dot matrix printer on Baazee as a kid, teaching himself HTML by hacking "view source," and building websites for cash in college. Along the way he shares the hard-won lessons behind every pivot: why Indian SMEs won't pay upfront, why you should never fall in love with your product, and how obsession with the merchant's problem kept the company alive through years when every investor said the market didn't exist. We also get into co-founder dynamics and trust, what actually changed scaling from 25 to 1,500 people, why culture is the "uncodified personality" of a company set by the founder's actions, and being a "microsurgeon, not a micromanager."  Finally, Saahil lays out his conviction on AI - from writing 70%+ of code with AI, to Shiprocket's in-house voice model built for India's 22 languages, to the "AI for Bharat" mission of reaching the next 58 million merchants. A rich, practical episode for anyone still unstarted. What they talk about: 1. From selling a printer on Baazee and self-taught coding to building Shiprocket into India's commerce shipping backbone 2. The real story behind the pivots  KartRocket to Kraftly to Shiprocket and why you stay stubborn with the problem, not the product 3. What PMF actually feels like, plus co-founders, trust, and scaling culture from 25 to 1,500 people 4. His bet on AI: writing most of the code with AI, an in-house voice model for India's 22 languages, and the mission to reach 60M MSMEs 00:00 Intro - Saahil Goel and Shiprocket02:30 Delhi boy, self-taught coder & selling a printer on Baazee07:00 Business family & knowing early he'd be a founder12:00 Meeting Gautam & the start of Bigfoot Retail Solutions17:00 Co-founders: trust, complementary skills & full commitment23:00 PMF is a journey, not a destination29:00 Stubborn with the problem, not the product35:00 CartRocket to Craftly: the pivots and hard lessons42:00 Building Shiprocket & why B2B behaved like consumer48:00 Scaling 25 to 1,500: culture, micro-surgery & builder mindset55:00 Bias to action vs bias for excellence60:00 AI at Shiprocket: 70% of code, voice for Bharat & 60M MSMEs70:00 The IPO ahead & advice for the still-unstarted

    Shiprocket's Saahil Goel on their IPO, PMF & Building AI for Bharat | Unstarted

  5. Aug 13

    How two founders sold to a billion-dollar company with no factory | Wootz Work | Unstarted

    Our first-ever episode with co-founders. Karan and Himanshu of WootzWork join Avnish to talk about building a hardware and manufacturing exports company out of India — and why they leaned into a market everyone told them wouldn't work. From an investment banking and Stanford GSB background (Karan) and IIT Kharagpur mechanical engineering (Himanshu), the two met at a previous company where one interviewed the other as head of engineering a one-hour conversation that ran three hours. In this episode they unpack how a single insult ("we don't talk to Indian engineers, we work with Germans") lit the fire, how they closed their first order from India with no factory of their own, and why the naysayers became their strongest signal to go ahead. What you'll learn in this episode: 1. Why starting in a market everyone doubts can be an advantage — and how to tell real naysaying from noise2. How to win your first customer with no factory, no brand, and no track record3. The co-founder decision that actually matters: why the answer is never "the middle"4. How to choose a co-founder — honesty and complementary skills over everything else5. Why customer obsession beats worrying about network or capital early on6. Manufacturing as a system: how fragmentation held India back and how to fix it7. Scaling global sales by hiring domain experts in their 40s–50s who are local to the market Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:00 Karan's path: banking, AirAsia India, Stanford GSB04:30 Himanshu's path: IIT Kharagpur, ITC, and the machines05:15 "We don't talk to Indian engineers" — the moment that lit the fire06:30 The China vs India buying experience: what's actually broken08:00 Why the market was ripe — and betting on exports11:45 Customer obsession: getting the first customer in13:15 The co-founder dynamic: why the answer is never in the middle20:25 Turning the naysaying into conviction22:30 The first order: won with no factory23:12 Why the customer still needs them: engineering vs manufacturing28:30 Managing people with 40–50 years of experience30:30 AI and robotics in the manufacturing story33:40 Closing: why 2.3 is the right number of co-founders

    How two founders sold to a billion-dollar company with no factory | Wootz Work | Unstarted

  6. Aug 6

    Started with ₹8 Lakhs and built a Billion Dollar Company | Abhishek Bansal, Shadowfax

    What happens if you fail with everyone's money? Abhishek Bansal never let himself ask and he thinks that's the only reason Shadowfax exists.He's the first public-company CEO on Unstarted: a middle-class kid from Meerut who quit his job without telling his parents, asked a VC for $5 million with zero orders, and was the only one still standing after the year every competitor died.In this conversation with Avnish Bajaj, they attempt to answer: 1. Should you have a co-founder and how do you actually pick one? 2. What should founders look for in a VC when there are multiple offers? 3. How do you tell your team you're failing?4. Sustainable growth, or aggressive scaling? By the end, you understand his test: accept the failure, name the core problem, tell your team. Because teams don't break on failure — they break on how you behave in it. Chapters 0:00 Intro: our first public company CEO1:19 Meerut, a middle-class home, and IIT Delhi4:04 Parents didn't know he had quit his job7:50 Q: How do you choose between VC offers?8:47 Why he wanted a co-founder, not a skills match11:03 Why not bootstrap?11:28 Asking for $5 million with no product12:23 The ₹8 lakh phone call13:28 The angels who never sold: 1000x and counting14:31 Three offers: $2M, $5M, $9M17:19 Q: How do founders bounce back from failure?17:46 The 2015 crash: five funded, one survivor23:07 Knowing the core problem is the hardest problem28:07 The offsite: profitable in three months28:32 The retention numbers behind the culture29:20 Q: Aggressive scaling or sustainable growth?29:56 "In India, no idea is unique"32:14 The guardrails: unit economics and 50-30-2037:26 The CAPEX model that ran 100 iterations39:07 When the HR team built its own hiring tool40:20 Closing: teams compound, individuals don't

    Started with ₹8 Lakhs and built a Billion Dollar Company | Abhishek Bansal, Shadowfax

  7. Aug 4

    India's biggest deep-tech exit that nobody knew of | Ravi Annavajjhala | Nxp

    Most people assume serious AI silicon can only be built by a giant, in the cloud, burning hundreds of millions of dollars. Ravi Annavajhala did the opposite. Kinara built two AI chips for under $50M, 90% of it out of Hyderabad, and sold to NXP, one of the world's largest semiconductor companies for $307M,  all cash. It's one of the largest deep tech exits India has seen, and one of the least talked about. In this episode, Vikram Vaidyanathan sits down with Ravi to take apart how it actually happened, and what it says about where AI is heading next. You'll hear: 1. Why the disruption playbook that minted the NAND-flash exits is the same one that explains Kinara's sale to NXP 2. The clearest plain-language explanation of training vs. inference you'll find, and why inference is moving off the cloud and onto the edge3. The four reasons edge beats cloud: cost, latency, privacy, reliability 4. How you actually shrink a frontier model to run on a chip: distillation, compression, purpose-built retraining 5. Why India's real AI edge isn't talent or capital, but the industrial data sitting in its factories — and why it can't afford to become a "data colony" 6. Ravi's distinction between frugal and cheap, and why low cost has stopped meaning low capability ▶ If you're building, investing in, or just tracking India's deep tech story, this is the episode to watch. About Intelligent Indians Intelligent Indians is Z47's thesis podcast on the people building India's technology future, for builders, operators, and investors who want the operator's view, not the press-release version.🔔 Subscribe for new episodes. Chapters  0:00 A $307M deep-tech exit you didn't hear about0:45 Meet Ravi Annavajhala & the Kinara story3:10 The NAND flash lesson: how startups cash in on disruption5:45 2015: betting on edge AI while everyone chased the data center7:00 CoreViz → Deep Vision → Kinara: the naming journey9:15 Why 90% was built in Hyderabad — a talent bet, not a cost cut11:30 Two chips under $50M: engineering for capital efficiency15:20 What "the edge" actually is: training vs inference18:00 Why edge beats cloud: latency, cost, privacy & reliability22:45 Physical AI: robots, self-driving & the real bottlenecks28:30 Advice to VCs: conviction, local demand & the infra gap31:20 Frugal vs cheap: why low cost ≠ low capability33:30 Closing: India on the cusp of the edge-AI wave

    India's biggest deep-tech exit that nobody knew of | Ravi Annavajjhala | Nxp

  8. Jul 30

    How the Ex-Unacademy COO built an edtech solving India's healthcare skills gap | Vivek Sinha

    How much money is enough to make starting up safe? Vivek Sinha thought he knew: ₹50 lakh in the bank. The day he hit it, he quit.Vivek is the founder of Emversity, which trains people for the jobs India actually has in healthcare, hospitality, EPC and manufacturing.  Homeschooled till eight in a Bihar village surrounded by three rivers, he built Buildzar, lost ₹50 lakh, and spent nine years compounding skills at Mobikwik, OYO and Unacademy before starting again in a sector everyone had written off. In this episode, Avnish and Vivek take on,  1. Where did you get the confidence to do this?2. Why didn't it work? What did you think going in that didn't play out?3. Should I drop out and work full time on my startup?" 4. How do I find the right co-founder?5. How can we secure investment in a stigmatized sector despite proven traction?"6. What stays with you: build it for the right reasons  Chapters  00:00 Introduction02:00 Flood village to NIT: growing up in Bihar06:00 First startup & why it failed: market timing11:00 MobiKwik: 0 to 20 lakh merchants in 6 months16:00 OYO & Unacademy: the lessons that compounded22:00 The 9-year gap: how he killed bad ideas early28:00 Should you drop out of college?34:00 How many co-founders — and going solo40:00 Building in a stigmatised, out-of-favour sector48:00 What Mversity does + closing advice

    How the Ex-Unacademy COO built an edtech solving India's healthcare skills gap | Vivek Sinha
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About

Zero to Infinity, by Z47, is a podcast series dedicated to the founders, startups, and all within the ecosystem through candid conversations on what we think it really takes to survive in this wild startup world. In a world where we are endlessly engulfed with information in all its forms and sizes, this is our attempt to create, curate, and bring to you the insights and reflections that we have had the luxury of having learned the hard way through all the years spent in truly understanding what it takes to build and nurture a startup from ground zero.

Information

  • Creator
    Z47
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    270
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    Z47 Moments

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