Sagar Kochhar is the Co-founder of Rebel Foods, and CEO of Eatsure. After completing his engineering degree from NIT Kurukshetra and an MBA from SCMHRD Pune, he began as a design engineer with Larsen & Toubro, then moved to Perfetti Van Melle and Vodafone in marketing roles. At Rebel Foods, he initially joined as Sr. VP of Operations, playing a crucial role in building brands from scratch to multi-million-dollar valuations. Since becoming Group CMO in 2016, Sagar has led brand growth across geographies, focusing on innovative campaigns and community engagement to strengthen brand equity and deliver memorable consumer experiences.

In 2020, he launched and became the CEO of Eatsure, a food delivery platform and brand created by Rebel Foods that focuses on providing safe, quality-assured food from a curated selection of restaurant brands. It’s known for its "100% Safe Food Guarantee," where every meal is prepared following strict hygiene and safety protocols. Eatsure's app aggregates multiple brands under one platform, offering a wide variety of cuisines through a virtual food court concept. It also uses technology to track and assure quality across Rebel Foods’ cloud kitchens, enabling customers to order from different brands in one single order.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. The journey of Rebel Foods: From inception to today (2:50)
2. Cracking the cloud kitchen business model (24:11)
3. Insights from Sagar on India's evolving food consumption habits (31:45)
4. Leveraging technology and AI to drive Rebel Foods' operations (43:13)
5. Leadership transformation throughout the company’s growth (52:55)

. . .

Social links

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sagar on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sagar on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠

⁠Karthik Prabhakar⁠ is the Managing Partner at ⁠PeerCapital⁠, an early-stage investment fund in India focused on seed to Series A rounds. Karthik has been a part of the Indian tech ecosystem since 2005, with a wealth of experience in venture capital, product development, and marketing. Prior to PeerCapital, Karthik was the Managing Director at Chiratae Ventures (formerly known as IDG Ventures).

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. What still excites Karthik about India today (2:35)
2. Staying ahead of trends as an investor (5:11)
3. India’s trajectory over the next 10-15 years (10:18)
4. Karthik’s evolution as an investor from the beginning to now (17:40)
5. How to build a strong network in venture capital (21:20)
6. Building a world-class institution in venture capital (26:40)
7. Measuring the factors that contribute to a VC fund’s brand (31:30)
8. The importance of branding for a VC fund (33:45)
9. PeerCapital’s success in building a brand (40:22)
10. How to genuinely add value as an investor (46:46)
11. Is competition beneficial for a VC fund? (54:30)
12. Why gaming is a focus area for PeerCapital (57:05)
13. Top 3 lessons from Karthik’s investing career (1:03:35)

. . .

Social links

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Karthik on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Karthik on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠

⁠Aditya Nambiar⁠ is the co-founder of ⁠Fennel⁠, a modern feature engineering platform that enables you to author, compute, store, serve, monitor, and govern both real-time and batch ML features, backed by Foundational Capital. Before diving into entrepreneurship, Aditya built products at Google and Facebook, and is an IIT-B alumnus.

. . .

Episode notes:

1. Introduction (1:40)
2. Why choose entrepreneurship? (2:32)
3. The mindset shift: Small teams solving big problems vs. hyper-focused challenges (9:05)
4. When is a product truly ready to ship? (12:10)
5. What does it take for someone transitioning from big tech to thrive in startups? (16:44)
6. Beyond technical skills: What to look for in an early startup hire (21:08)
7. The personal impact of startup life on founders (25:51)
8. Key learnings from building a startup (32:58)
9. Aditya’s life purpose (36:05)
10. How to enjoy the process of pursuing your purpose (38:25)

. . .

Social links

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aditya on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aditya on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠

Mayuresh Raut is the Co-founder & Managing Partner of Seafund, investing in pre-Series A startups in India with investments in companies such as Wigzo, Inc42, Zippee, ClooTrack among others. SEA Fund’s mission is to help the next set of technical founders, with small amounts of early capital in getting to market to build efficient and scalable businesses. He is an Engineer and an MBA and is an alumnus of Virginia Tech and INSEAD, has over 21 years of leadership experience with global clients in Manufacturing, Construction & Analytics in Financial Services & Healthcare and has been investing in startups for over 10 years.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Why pursue a career in venture capital? (2:33)
2. What excites investors about India today compared to when they first started? (4:24)
3. Improving policy-making: How India has evolved (10:24)
4. Areas where India can excel on the global stage (18:55)
5. Adopting a long-term perspective on investing (32:15)
6. Accelerating India's middle-class growth and GDP (36:17)
7. Cultivating the next generation of top entrepreneurs (43:35)
8. India's trajectory over the next decade (52:13)

. . .

Social links

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mayuresh on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mayuresh on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠

Swati Bhargava is the Co-Founder of CashKaro.com, India’s largest Cashback & Coupons site, backed by Kalaari Capital, Korea investment partners and Affle. Swati first started Pouring Pounds with her husband Rohan Bhargava in the UK in 2011. Seeing the huge opportunity in India they launched CashKaro.com in April 2013. Swati is an alumnus of the London School of Economics and has worked at Goldman Sachs in London for 5 years before embarking on the path of entreprneurship. In this episode we’ll cover her decade long journey building a consumer business and all things she’s learned about being a founder and growing as leader.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Swati's journey into entrepreneurship (2:54)
2. Influence of parents on career decisions (7:30)
3. Essential advice for aspiring and first-time entrepreneurs (10:40)
4. Embracing uncertainty in entrepreneurship (15:25)
5. Founder’s evolution as the company grows (18:35)
6. Cultivating company culture (23:55)
7. Pros and cons of having your life partner as a co-founder (31:40)
8. Early days of CashKaro: Customer acquisition, attracting investors, and brand building (34:50)
9. How capital empowers founders (39:04)
10. Taking a step back to move forward (42:42)
11. Investor sentiment in 2024 (45:28)
12. Transformations in the Indian startup ecosystem over the past decade (47:45)
13. CashKaro’s larger vision and future outlook (52:54)
14. Spirituality and mental resilience as a founder (59:36)
15. The importance of vulnerability in leadership (1:02:52)
16. Advice to a younger Swati (1:09:02)

. . .

Social links

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Swati on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Swati on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Anish is the Co-founder and CEO of Open, a neo-banking platform which provides business banking services to SMEs and startups. With over 17 years in the fintech industry, Anish has a rich entrepreneurial background. In 2001, he co-founded his first startup, iFuturz Wireless, focusing on mobile value-added services. In 2007, he founded CashNxt, a plug-and-play mobile payment and financial inclusion platform for semi-urban and rural markets, which was later acquired by a Latin American company. In 2009, he built Neartivity Wireless, an NFC-based payment processing platform. In 2013, he co-founded Zwitch, India’s first developer-focused payment platform, which was acquired by Citrus Payments in 2015. At CitrusPay and later at PayU, Anish interacted with numerous SMEs and realized that banking was broken for small businesses, with owners struggling to track their income and expenses, leading him to found Open.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (1:50)
2. Why entrepreneurship? (2:37)
3. Selling his first company (9:00)
4. Building fintech in India from 2010 to 2024 (13:45)
5. Why Open and what was the vision for the company when it was initially founded? (18:48)
6. Building trust as an early Neo bank in India (23:20)
7. Lessons from building multiple startups (28:20)
8. Building and nurturing culture (33:20)
9. Building during the years of the pandemic (40:55)
10. Growing as a leader (47:55)
11. Challenges of building a company at scale (52:20)
12. Vision for Open in the coming years (56:38)
13. Advice Anish would have given himself early in his career (58:55)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Anish on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Anish on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Edul Patel is the Co-founder & CEO of Mudrex, a crypto exchange platform on a mission to democratize investing, with its primary goal being to make crypto investing easy and accessible to all. The company has raised over $22M from Y Combinator, Nexus Venture Partners, Tribe Captial, QED Investors and Arkam Ventures.

Edul brings with him over 10 years of experience deep-rooted in finance, entrepreneurship, and building tech-driven applications. Previously Co-Founded Niffler, which was acquired by Tapzo where he led the product team to build the core infrastructure and the app.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Intro (1:50)
2. How Edul got into entrepreneurship (2:45)
3. Why so many IITians become founders (6:45)
4. Overcoming insecurities as a founder (13:13)
5. Learnings as a second-time entrepreneur (17:40)
6. The origin of Mudrex (22:02)
7. How Indian VCs viewed crypto in 2017 (29:36)
8. The crypto and web3 movement: why community matters (35:15)
9. Building investor confidence in crypto after recent events (42:17)
10. What Edul has learned about himself as an operator (45:45)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠Edul on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Edul on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Navin Honagudi is the Managing Partner at Elev8 Venture Partners, an India-focused $200M Growth-stage fund. Elev8 focuses on Series B and C rounds of financing in hyper growth companies. He bring 18+ years of experience investing in early and growth stage technology firms and also held the positions of Co-founder and Partner at Kae Capital.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (1:48)
2. How Naveen entered venture capital (2:24)
3. Comparing entrepreneurs: 2000s vs. today (4:45)
4. Indian VC landscape & expected exits/returns in the 2000s (8:38)
5. What Elev8 looks for in founders (11:45)
6. Why India is exciting today (18:01)
7. Opportunities in offline to online transition in India (25:30)
8. Emerging sectors like faith-tech (28:15)
9. Next billion dollar opportunities: alcohol, sex-tech, betting, gaming (32:25)
10. Summarizing investment experiences: CVC, consumer VC, and growth-stage VC (37:25)
11. Investing in early-stage vs. growth-stage (42:15)
12. Advice Naveen would give his younger self (45:28)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Navin on Twitter⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠Navin on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Sanket Shah is the Founder of invideo, an AI-powered video creation platform for creators, boasting over 25 million users worldwide. As a trusted leader in the industry, InVideo serves customers in 190 countries and has raised over $52 million from investors including Tiger Global, Peak 15, RTP Global, Titan Capital, and Hummingbird Ventures. Prior to InVideo, Sanket founded MassBlurb, which was acquired by Mobikon in 2016.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (2:00)
2. How to discover your superpowers? (2:50)
3. Why did Sanket decide to be an entrepreneur? (3:40)
4. How did growing up in an entrepreneurial family influence Sanket's decision to become a founder himself? (7:20)
5. How did the idea for invideo come into being? (13:03)
6. Early days of invideo (18:18)
7. Serving the anti-power user (23:20)
8. How does invideo ensure stickiness with its product (32:37)
9. Fostering a culture of multifaceted thinking within the organization (37:25)
10. Sanket’s view on hiring, culture and leadership within the company (42:55)
11. Internalizing as a founder (58:20)
12. Reflecting back on the journey and advising a younger self (1:02:25)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠⁠Sanket on Twitter⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Sanket on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Ashok is the Co-founder and CEO of IDfy, an online fraud detection and identity platform that provides background verification services to banks and financial institutions. He started his career in semi-conductors, building high-speed network processors. His MBA degree took him away from Engineering and into the world of Business Strategy. He worked with British Telecom in London for 5 years before deciding that his heart lay in creating value grounds-up. 

The company has raised over $54M from IndiaMart, KB Investment, Blume Ventures, Elev8 Venture Partners among many others.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (2:00)
2. Was entrepreneurship part of Ashok’s career plan (3:04)
3. Early influence of entrepreneurship (4:40)
4. Learnings from building (13:50)
5. What does entrepreneurship teach you about failure and setbacks (25:00)
6. Struggling with mental health as founders (30:00)
7. Evolving as a founder: Doer to enabler (39:45)
8. Building a ‘change culture’ (44:01)
9. Impact of entrepreneurship on personal life (51:35)
10. Advice to self and other founders (54:29)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠⁠Ashok on Twitter⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Ashok on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Rajiv Srivatsa is a Partner at Antler India, one of the most active early-stage venture capital firms. Prior to Antler, he co-founded Urban Ladder, an omni-channel furniture and decor retailer started in 2012. The company raised over $100M from SAIF Partners, Kalaari, Steadview, Peak XV Partners, Trifecta Capital and Ratan Tata. In November 2020, the company was acquired by Reliance Retail.

Prior to Urban Ladder, he served as a Senior Product Manager with Yahoo, and before that at Infosys. He is an alumnus of IIT-Madras and IIM-Bangalore.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. How did it all start for Rajiv (2:02)
2. When and why did Rajiv decide to start Urban Ladder (5:50)
3. Where does Rajiv’s love for consumer products come from (12:10)
4. How did idea of selling home decor / furniture originate (14:41)
5. How did Urban Ladder look at culture internally and build a great one at scale (28:45)
6. How has Rajiv’s leadership evolved over the years (34:12)
7. How and why did Rajiv decide to enter venture capital (42:35)
8. What does Rajiv enjoy the most - being an operator, founder or investor (55:10)
9. Rajiv’s advice to anyone on a break looking for a framework on how to develop a career plan (57:35)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠Rajiv on Twitter⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠Rajiv on LinkedIn⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn