Kicking off Season 2 of The Indian Dream with Satish Shukla, Co-Founder of Addverb Technologies! 

They build Robots (a lot of them) & make a few hundred crores by selling them all over the world! 

From transforming Indian warehouses to going global —and now building India's first humanoids — their story is incredible! 

We dive deep into automation, manufacturing mindset, R&D, hiring & more!

This was one of the most fascinating conversations I’ve had about India’s future in automation, robotics, and deep tech. If you’re an entrepreneur, engineer, or just someone excited about AI, this one’s for you!

Here’s what we talked about:

00:00 Teaser
01:47 Sid's Prologue
03:54 Podcast Begins
04:00 The Future of Humanoids in Manufacturing
04:46 Addverb's Robotics Innovations
06:15 Humanoids in Indian Context
11:58 Automation in India: The Beginning
16:21 Addverb's Journey and Achievements
17:28 Types of Robots in Warehouses
19:44 Challenges and Success in Indian Manufacturing
25:54 Competing with China: The Automation Blueprint
32:48 The Importance of R&D
41:58 Going Global: Addverb's International Expansion
43:59 Creating a Multicultural Workforce
45:09 Challenges in Different Markets
46:48 Addressing Skill Shortages in India
49:28 Government's Role in Supporting Startups
53:51 Navigating Bureaucracy and Corruption
55:55 The Entrepreneurial Spirit in India
01:00:05 Personal Stories of Resilience
01:04:41 Adapting to Policy Changes
01:13:32 AI and Robotics at AddVerb
01:15:07 AI in Robotics and Fleet Management
01:15:52 Partnership with Reliance and Innovation
01:17:13 Strategic Investors vs. Venture Capitalists
01:17:43 Top Problems for Entrepreneurs to Solve
01:18:32 Automation in Healthcare
01:21:38 Education and Training in Robotics
01:23:31 Robotics in Agriculture
01:25:30 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
01:31:13 Building a Strong Team
01:40:34 Funding for Robotics and Automation Startups
01:44:19 Lights Out Warehouses and Factories
01:45:54 Automation in Indian Warehousing
01:50:32 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Siddharth Betala:
Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharth-betala/
Twitter: https://x.com/sidbetala

Satish Shukla:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satish-shukla-addverb/

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Masterclass on how investing in Research & Development (R&D) can lead to compounding... 

I sat down with Mr. Rishi Aggarwal, Managing Director at JCBL Limited to talk about the multi-decade journey of expanding the manufacturing business. From Buses to Trucks, from Tractors to Defense Armored Vehicles, JCBL is now a key manufacturer of all types of vehicles. 

From starting out as a contract manufacturer of bus bodies to manufacturing bus bodies under their own brand name to diversifying the business into 5 different industries and countless different products, this is episode is a masterclass on how to do forward and backward integration to build a large manufacturing business. 

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We're back with Season 2 of The Indian Dream Podcast 

This season going to be all about talking to founders who have built manufacturing or manufacturing related businesses in India! 

On this episode, we have Swagatika Das, the founder of Nat Habit joining us to talk to us about how they built a Manufacturing & D2C business together! 

Nat Habit is a beauty and personal care brand that took a different approach to building this business from Day 1. From investing in R&D to create new and innovative products to doing all the manufacturing in-house, Nat Habit isn't your usual Beauty and Personal Care D2C Brand. 

On the episode, we double click on the R&D Approach and the decision to do in-house manufacturing and how they navigated solving these tough problems to build a Rs. 100 Crore Revenue business! 

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Make In India. 

The three words that will define the future of the country. 

We have a trade deficit of close to $100 Bn with China. That's Rs. 83,000 Crores that leaves the country and isn't used for our own development. 

Virtuoso Optoelectronics is a manufacturing company that started in 2015 with the idea of making electronic products in India. Started with circuit boards, then manufactured LEDs and now for the last three years, they've been manufacturing Air Conditioners. 

I talk to Sukrit about this fantastic journey of scaling to Rs. 330 Cr in Revenue in 8 years! 

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Movie Production. It's something that most of us don't know much about. I host Ashi Dua, Founder of Flying Unicorn Entertainment to talk about her work in producing movies like Lust Stories, Bombay Talkies, Paava Kadhaigal and More! 

Episode Timeline: 
(01:09) - Introduction of Ashi Dua

(03:39) - Why did Ashi move to Bombay?

(07:12) - Ashi’s introduction to movie production

(10:10) - Anurag’s role in Ashi’s career

(11:53) - Anurag’s style of making movies

(14:42) - What does production entail?

(17:23) - Producer’s involvement in the finances

(18:27) - Producer’s compensation

(19:15) - Bombay Talkies and bringing 4 directors together

(22:17) - How do producers put projects together?

(24:20) - Skills needed to be a producer

(28:37) - Is the industry segregated for producers?

(31:05) - Predicting Bollywood’s trends

(35:17) - Choosing the right platform for a movie

(38:01) - How does someone find their footing in the industry?

(39:45) - The Dhoom Dhaam Company

India has 64 Million Micro, Small & Mid Sized Businesses (MSMEs) in India. However, only 12% of them have access to formal credit. There's a massive $530 Billion Credit Gap in this market. In simpler terms, the total demand for formal loans by MSMEs in $819 Billion, out of which $530 Billion is unmet. 

The problem is that banks don't have the right products and the right business model to serve the MSMEs. That's where Indifi is revolutionizing the market with its Digital Loans made based on Alternative Sources of Data. 

I host Mr. Alok Mittal, Founder of Indifi Technologies on understanding the problems in the market and how they are solving it. 

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Influencer Marketing. A rapidly growing Industry. I sit down with Pranav, Founder of OpraahFx, one of the first Influencer Marketing Agencies in the country to talk about the rise and evolution of Influencer Marketing. We talk about how Influencer Marketing campaigns get executed, how much do creators get paid, his decision to focus on Gaming Creators and the future of creator led brands! 

If you like the Indian Dream's content, please subscribe to the channel! 

Episode Timeline: 

(00:00) Influencers and sponsorship deals

(03:15) How did Pranav identify the Influencer Marketing opportunity in 2016-17

(07:22) Why the Legacy Marketing Agencies failed to identify Influencer Marketing Opportunity

(10:02) First Bollywood x Influencer Marketing Campaign - Fukrey Returns

(11:45) The Evolution of Influencer Marketing, How do Agencies win new business

(19:29) How is ROI calculated for Influencer Marketing

(24:13) Shein & MamaEarth Case Study

(28:08) How do Creators charge for Campaign 

(31:04) Influencers becoming celebrities 

(33:42) Disrupting the micro influencer space

(39:22) Why did Pranav double down on Gaming Creators?

(45:50) Different Opportunities for Gaming Creators

(50:09) Creator-led brands in India

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About time that Indian Direct to Consumer Brands make a global impact...

I talk to Akshay Ghulati - Co-Founder of Shiprocket, who is currently working with many Indian D2C Brands to help them go global!

Episode Timeline:

(00:00) - Introduction to ShiprocketX & Indian D2C brands going global
(03:01) - Why should Indian brands go global now? 
(07:21) - Experience of taking a Indian brand global.
(19:13) - The product market fit on successful Indian brands in the global market
(24:08) - How to select the marketplaces or which market you want to sell in?
(27:45) - What’s the mindset with the pricing?
(30:01) - Possibilities with the upside of global selling 
(33:04) - Pushback from the entrepreneurs 
(36:49) - Compliance laws of selling oversees
(41:52) - The segments who will want to take the brand global
(42:56) - High potential categories to get high global success
(48:22) - What are the opportunities to build agency type of businesses in this ecosystem?
(52:18) - What are the steps I need to take to run an experiment of taking my brand global?

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Artificial Intelligence will change the way our food is grown. Want to know how?

In this fascinating conversation with Dr. Pratik Desai, a Computer Scientist and Artificial Intelligence Expert, we talk about his startup KissanAI and how it's helping the farmers in India get much needed information about all aspects of farming - from fertilisers to crop diseases to ideal crop to grow given soil conditions. 

If you want to know about the future of humanity powered by AI, this episode is a must listen! 

Episode Timeline: 
(00:37)  Introduction to KissanAI and AI in Agriculture
(03:05) How did KissanAI start?
(04:26) What kind of problems do the farmers face?
(06:25) Traditional ways a farmer can seek help
(09:42) How KissanAI help the farmers?
(11:40) The backend of KissanAI
(15:17) How did KissanAI get the attraction?
(25:25) Possible ways to monetize it
(33:54) Product market fit of KissanAI
(40:25) Possibilities of how AI will impact Agriculture
(46:58) Success story of a farmer

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Artificial Intelligence will change the way how we live. 

In this episode, I host Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Venture Capital firm Accel, who invests in AI startups in India. We talk about how AI will have a massive impact on Agriculture, Education,  Healthcare, Infrastructure Development and more and fuel India's journey towards a $10 Trillion GDP. 

This isn't a technical episode, it's an episode focus on the use cases and about the startups that are being built in India. 

Episode Timeline: 
3:12 - What is Artificial Intelligence? 
5:43 - AI for Bharat 
6:40 - AI in Agriculture
8:38 - WhatsApp help for Indian Farmers through AI
9:59 - Impact of AI In Agriculture
10:51 - Use case of AI in Agriculture - Image Identification
11:19 - Attention is all you Need- Paper written by Mr.Vaswani
11:38 - Evolution of AI
13:33 - AI in Education 
15:29 - Use case of Khan Academy
17:15 - AI in Creative Fields
18:58 - Use Case of Descript
19:58 - Impact of AI on Productivity
20:16 - Use case of Wokeio
21:40 - AI in Healthcare
23:08 - Use Case of AI in Healthcare in helping a man walk who had never walked before
25:25 - AI as an assistant to a doctor
26:00 - AI for Mental Health
29:10 - The Negative impact of AI
30:26 - AI for Infrastructure Development
31:13 - Use case of AI for Infrastructure
33:06 - Use case of AIDash
34:26 - How can satellite images can be useful
35:15 - AI for Renewable Energy 
37:42 - How can India make sure that we don’t miss the boat for AI?
39:32 - Who should invest in R&D of AI?
41:39 - Can AI function on Regional languages present in India?
45:25 - AI for Defence
48:20 - AI for Businesses 
1:03:50 - Where will be India in the AI race, 15 years from now

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Learn how DrinkPrime, an innovative water purifier company in India, is tackling the country's water crisis. With millions suffering from waterborne diseases, DrinkPrime offers IoT-enabled purifiers that adapt to varying water quality. Trusted by over 200,000 households in three cities, they are scaling profitably with support from leading investors Alteria Capital, Surge, and Omidyar Network India.

Timestamps for Easy Listening: 
1
(00:30) - Intro to DrinkPrime and Water Purifier Market
(02:54) - Why DrinkPrime was started?
(07:00) - Decision to build new Water Purifier rather add Subscription to existing ones
(11:05) - How water quality in India changes across regions and in different seasons
(14:43) - The Current Landscape & History of Water Purifier Market 
(17:33) - Why Celebrities market water purifiers and how DrinkPrime took a different approach
(23:40) - The challenges with doing Hardware Innovation
(28:34) - Cost Structure of the traditional Water Purifier Industry
(34:19) - STOP over-purifying your water
(37:58) - Why the traditional water purifier companies are too big to change
(40:49) - How DrinkPrime is supplying free water to government schools
(47:29) - If you're buying Water Purifier, here's how you should go about it?