This episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast features a doyen of India’s business landscape. Host Manali Shah is in conversation with Harish Mehta, Founder, Onward Technologies and Co-founder & first elected chairman of NASSCOM. Tune in as Harish Mehta discusses what prompted him to write his debut, bestselling book, The Maverick Effect, which chronicles India’s IT revolution and the genesis of NASSCOM. In the episode, he looks back at the various challenges faced by NASSCOM back in the day, recounts interesting anecdotes, shares his views on hot-button topics such as AI, and more. This is not an episode you’d want to miss!

mirrAr, an AR software company, partners with leading jewellery brands such as Tanishq, Kalyan Jewels Forevermark and Hazoori Lal & Sons, to allow shoppers virtually try on their products. Its Founder and CEO, Meghna Saraogi, is the latest guest on the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast. Meghna Saraogi and host Manali Shah discuss the factors, challenges and opportunities that come with launching a startup that essentially sells new technology. They delve into the factors that go into finding the right product-market fit, convincing VCs and clients to invest in the tech, and more. Tune in!

Vinod Kumar, Founder, Naturally Yours, has had a long and eventful entrepreneurial journey since launching the venture in 2010. The brand started off as a brick-and-mortar organic food ingredients store in Mumbai and is today an online-only brand offering healthy noodles and pasta. In this episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast, he talks to host Manali Shah about pivoting and changing business plans, the benefits of building and sustaining a bootstrapped startup, the right time to raise funding, how he built a strong supply chain network of hundreds of organic farmers across India, adopting the latest technology, working with a co-founder (Priya Prakash) who happens to be his spouse, and more. Tune in!

Host Manali Shah is in conversation with Arjun Vaidya, the founder of one of India's largest online Ayurvedic brands, Dr Vaidya’s. After a successful exit, Arjun is now a venture lead at Verlinvest, which invests in brands such as Sula, Epigamia, Veeba and Heads up For Tails. Having been on both sides of the table, Arjun shares what investors really look for in startups, and also elaborates on the factors that are required behind a rapid and successful scale up, aspects that affect a startup acquisition deal. Tune in!

In this episode, host Manali Shah is in conversation with Robin Bhowmik, Chief Business Officer at Manipal Global Skills Academy, about all things skilling. How will AI affect jobs? What are the skills important to thrive in the future of work? What are the changes Industry 4.0 will bring about? Tune in as Robin tackles these crucial questions!

In this episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast, host Manali Shah is in conversation with Siddharth Ramasubramanian, Founder & CEO, Hello Tempayy - a conscious food venture that seeks to address the nutrition gap in the Indian vegetarian diet. Creating a category as a startup and launching an online business, both come with unique challenges. Siddharth shares research and rationale that went into launching a tempeh product, and the logic behind his pricing strategy in a cost-conscious market like India. He also breaks down the marketing strategy that he adopted to create awareness about a new product like Hello Tempayy, and shares some extremely insightful advice for aspiring founders. Tune in!

Mitti Ke Rang is a social venture that works towards generating a livelihood for women entrepreneurs by selling their products through its e-commerce platform.  Tune in as host Manali Shah speaks to Amit Jain, Co-founder, Mitti Ke Rang, about the challenges that come with running a social venture, building a strong partner and distribution network, putting together a business model for a marketplace in today’s competitive environment.

November 19 is commemorated as Women’s Entrepreneurship Day and what better occasion to talk about the incredible role women entrepreneurs play in the economic transformation of India! Wadhwani Foundation brings together 4 super successful women entrepreneurs - Kajal Malik, Co-founder, PickMyWork, Nisary Mahesh, Founder, HerMoneyTalks, Tanya Swetta, Co-Founder and CEO of id8 Media Solutions, and Priya Prakash, Co-Founder and COO, Naturally Yours – to chat with host Manali Shah about the changes needed in the ecosystem, the pitfalls female founders should avoid, and a whole lot more. Tune in and celebrate the power of women entrepreneurship!

Host Manali Shah is in conversation with Shivjeet Ghatge, Co-founder & CEO, StepSetGo, a popular fitness app. StepSetGo has seen 10 million downloads and raised 5 Cr in seed funding. Shivjeet Ghatge delves into various aspects of a successful business model, breaks down the GTM strategy for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, how to raise funding, and what goes into creating a strong partner system. Tune in!

Host Manali Shah is in conversation with Amandeep Srivastava, the Co-founder and Managing director of Black Eye Technologies. Amandeep and team’s mission is to conserve ground water and soil health using AI, Internet of Things and Machine Learning, among other advanced technologies. They recently raised a funding of Rs 68 lakh. Tune in for Amandeep’s insights on pivoting and changing the business model, nailing a pitch session, factors to bear in mind while expanding to international markets, and more!

Encamp Adventures offers fun and sustainable travel experiences in offbeat destinations across North East of India, and is incubated at Atal Incubation Centre – SMUTBI. The startup recently raised a funding of INR 1 Cr. In this episode, Ratan Kumar, Founder & CEO, talks to host Manali Shah about how to approach investors, how to come up with a business strategy and conduct a need-gap analysis before starting up, how to choose the right incubation center and get the maximum value from it, how to build strong partnerships, and the pros and cons of launching a venture in the North East. Tune in!  Ratan mentors women entrepreneurs in Guwahati. Reach him on 9643182259 / encamperratan@gmail.com.

In this episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast, host Manali Shah is in conversation with Gauri Malik, the Founder and Director of Sirohi. Sirohi provides income opportunities to women from marginalised communities in India by recognising their existing craft skills and providing them ‘tech-based’ design support to create home and lifestyle products. Gauri started her professional journey as an investment banker, but was a lot more excited about social entrepreneurship. Here, she talks about coping with failure after her first project, starting up again with the lessons learnt, leveraging partnerships as a tool for growth, marketing strategy, and more. Tune in!

In this episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast, host Manali Shah is in conversation with someone who’s had an incredible journey, since starting up at the age of 16. Today, he’s the Founder of Workverse, a company that trains learners in 21st Century soft skills to prepare them for the future of work and enhance their employability. Samyak talks about his learnings in the startup world, the incredible power of mentoring, the skills required in the future of work. Tune in for the insightful conversation.

In this episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast, host Manali Shah is in conversation with Nisary Mahesh, Founder, HerMoneyTalks – a one-stop financial platform for women. Nisary touches upon the importance of building a community before selling a product, the natural evolution of her startup, the value having the right co-founders hold, financial mistakes women entrepreneurs tend to make, and more. Tune in!

In this episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast, host Manali Shah is in conversation with Kajal Malik, Co-founder, PickMyWork - a gig platform that sources and trains agents to help digital companies acquire clients through a pay-per-task model. Kajal shares the tell-tale signs that helped her realize it was time to pivot, the importance of having co-founders with complementary skill sets and roles, the different ways a startup can acquire its first few customers or clients, the different avenues of funding that are available for startups, and finally, her thoughts on the gig economy in India and its role in supporting job creation and fulfillment. Tune in!

This special edition of ‘Wadhwani Viewpoint’ podcast features Dr Ajay Kela, President and CEO of Wadhwani Foundation. Dr Kela shares his expert knowledge on the trends and outlook for the #startup ecosystem in India, the dire need to support and empower growth objectives of #SME #entrepreneurs for strengthening this growth engine sector of the Indian #economy, the future of #skills required for the future of jobs in a post-pandemic scenario, and the upcoming priorities for the Wadhwani Foundation to support its mission of creating millions of family-sustaining #jobs.

In this episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast, host Manali Shah is in conversation about all things SMEs, with Rajesh Setia, Founder and Director, TESTPAN India. Right from how businesses can prepare for a downturn to the importance of maintaining financial transparency, Rajesh draws from his extensive experience and shares valuable insights.

In this episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast, we celebrate World Youth Skills Day 2022. In a freewheeling chat, Sunil Dahiya, EVP, Wadhwani Opportunity, and host Manali Shah discuss this year’s theme i.e., transforming youth skills for the future. So, which skills should the youth focus on? How important will upskilling and reskilling programs be for an employer? Tune in to find out!

In this episode of the Wadhwani Viewpoint podcast, host Manali Shah is in conversation with Ajay PV, an entrepreneur and an alumnus of National Entrepreneurship Network (the entrepreneurship initiative of Wadhwani Foundation). Ajay was the Co-Founder of Scapic, an award-winning AR startup that was acquired by Flipkart in 2020. Currently, he leads the Flipkart Labs team and is also an advisor, mentor and investor in startups that drive innovation in the AR, VR and blockchain space.  Ajay shares his insights on the must-haves in a pitch deck, how to approach investors, the fundamentals required to raise seed funding, and more. Tune in!

Introducing the Wadhwani Viewpoint, a brand new podcast series featuring insightful conversations with industry experts and Wadhwani Foundation leaders. The inaugural episode coincides with the International MSME Day 2022 (June 27) and features Samir Sathe, EVP, Wadhwani Advantage who shares his thoughts on the changes needed in the SME ecosystem, how the participation of Indian SMEs in the global value chain can be enhanced, the importance of digital transformation and skilling to increase competitiveness, and more. Follow us to tune in for the upcoming episodes!