10X Growth Strategies

🎙️ E115: Where the Smart Money Is Going — VC Investment Trends & the 2026 Outlook

In this episode of 10X Growth Strategies, host Saradha Sriram sits down with John Boccuzzi — author of The Art of Seducing Your Customers and President of Research at ISG — to unpack why the best businesses don’t sell harder, they build emotional connection, trust, and clarity. Drawing from decades of research and real-world experience, John reframes sales and customer experience through an unconventional but powerful lens: seduction over manipulation. From the origins of his TEDx talk to stories spanning Uber, Kodak, UPS, and Zappos, he explains how storytelling, friction reduction, and employee empowerment quietly separate companies that retain customers for decades from those that lose them overnight. A sharp, experience-backed conversation on why sales is a job of rejection, why cost-cutting often destroys customer experience, and how leaders can immediately diagnose friction inside their own organizations.

In this special 10X Growth Strategies panel, host Preethy Padmanabhan brings together three top voices from venture capital and private equity to decode how investors really evaluate startups today — beyond hype, beyond flashy demos, and beyond the AI noise.

Kayvan Baroumand (Founder, SignalRank), Patti Pan (General Partner, Solaris Venture Partners), and Aditya Naganath (Partner, Kleiner Perkins) share how the power-law plays out in real portfolios, what deep engagement metrics actually look like, why later-stage PE is shifting toward infrastructure and robotics, and how world-class funds pressure-test founders.

A fast, sharp conversation on what separates companies that scale — from those that stall.

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⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – 00:24 • Host Welcome – Preethy sets the stage

In this episode, Arthi Vijayaraghavan, IBM Product Leader, speaks with Radhika Dutt, author of Radical Product Thinking and a globally respected product strategist and advisor. Radhika dives into her groundbreaking new framework on why traditional goals and OKRs fail, and how organizations can shift toward puzzle thinking — a mindset built on experimentation, learning, and continuous adaptation. She breaks down how objectives, hypotheses, and honest reflection can help teams solve the right problems, collaborate better, and build products that create meaningful, long-term change. Through real stories of companies reframing their strategy and unlocking growth, Radhika reveals how leaders can replace rigid targets with curiosity, clarity, and shared purpose. This conversation is a powerful reminder that in a world shaped by AI, uncertainty, and rapid shifts, true progress comes not from chasing numbers — but from solving the puzzles that matter.

🎙️ E111: A practical guide to Living Fearlessly with Susan Nefzger In this episode, Saradha Sriram, Business Technology Strategist, speaks with Susan Nefzger, international PR mentor, author, and marketing consultant. Susan reflects on her journey of writing A Practical Guide to Living Fearlessly and A Practical Guide to Awareness, exploring how mindfulness and conscious living help us overcome fear, find purpose, and live authentically. Through her story of transformation and self-discovery, she reveals how awareness can turn challenges into growth, and how true fearlessness begins the moment we choose presence over control. This conversation is a gentle reminder to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what truly matters — within and beyond work.

In this episode, Wen Sang (Co-Founder & COO, GenSpark.ai), Christian Jester (Partner & TMT Markets Leader, PwC), and Jason Hirsch (Partner & Head of AI, Digital Platforms & Emerging Technologies Practice, Nixon Peabody) join the 10X Strategies Podcast to decode the evolving landscape of Agentic AI — what’s hot, what’s not. The panel explores how AI is reshaping work and productivity, how enterprises are navigating adoption at scale, and the legal and ethical implications of this rapid evolution. They discuss real-world use cases, sustainable business models, the no-moat reality of AI, and why open-source innovation might define the next phase of the AI revolution. ⸻

In this episode, Madhavi Ravanan, Engineering Leader at Nokia, interviews Ashish Agrawal, Managing Director at Nagarro. Ashish reflects on Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha — exploring themes of wisdom, balance, and letting go. He shares how the book has influenced his personal and professional life, discussing the power of experience over knowledge, the meaning of parenthood, and the idea that true peace comes when we stop searching and start living.

In this episode of 10x Growth Strategies, host Preethy Padmanabhan speaks with Vicki Johnson — founder of ProFellow and author of Pitch Your Potential. Vicki shares her proven Match Me formula, a powerful framework for winning competitive jobs, fellowships, awards, and elite opportunities. She opens up about her personal journey, from breaking into top schools to securing globally competitive fellowships, and reveals how anyone can leverage storytelling, clarity of mission, and future-focused narratives to stand out. The conversation covers overcoming mindset challenges, avoiding common mistakes, mastering memorable pitches, and using networks effectively. Vicki also provides insights into her upcoming book, exclusive preorder bonuses, and why pitching your future potential is more powerful than your past accomplishments. This episode is packed with actionable advice for students, professionals, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to win in highly competitive environments. ⸻

Chapters

00:00 Introduction & Guest Welcome

00:46 Meet Vicki Johnson & ProFellow

01:32 Hidden Opportunities & Human-Centered Strategies

03:13 Early Life & Breaking into Top Schools

04:20 Storytelling to Win Cornell & Fellowships

05:44 Why Future Potential Matters More Than the Past

06:01 The Match Me Formula Explained (7 Elements)

08:35 Matching Mission & Defining Your Goals

09:14 Mindset Challenges: Fear, Comparison & Gatekeepers

13:28 Overcoming Negativity & Finding Supportive Voices

14:20 Defining Goals & Personal Mission for Social Impact

16:07 Midlife Crisis & Reinventing Career Paths

18:03 Common Mistakes in Applications & Researching Missions

20:11 Importance of Future-Focused Applications

21:18 Crafting Memorable Pitches & Elevator Stories

22:30 Networking, Referrals & The Power of LinkedIn

24:22 Storytelling with Anecdotes & Emotional Connection

26:21 Structuring Your Application Story (Past, Future & Selectors)

29:42 Building Confidence Through Future Vision

31:12 Success Story: From Shark Tank to Y Combinator

33:28 Book Release, Preorder Bonuses & ProFellow Platform

35:23 Final Advice: Be a Storyteller of the Future

36:06 Closing Remarks

🚀 What does it take to build a truly AI-native startup? In this episode of the 10X Growth Strategies Podcast, host Preethy Padmanabhan speaks with three visionary founders who are redefining the future of enterprise AI:

• Kapil Chhabra – Co-Founder & CPO, WisdomAI

• Wen Sang – Co-Founder & COO, Genspark.ai

• Leila R. Golchehreh – Co-Founder & CSO, Relaynce AI

From hyper-growth journeys to ransomware recovery stories, they share insider lessons on scaling AI-native companies, navigating enterprise adoption, embedding governance and compliance, and why solving your own pain point often leads to the best products. If you’re an entrepreneur, investor, or AI enthusiast, this episode is packed with insights you can’t afford to miss.

00:27 – Kapil Chhabra introduces WisdomAI

00:49 – Wen Sang introduces Genspark.ai

01:00 – Leila Golchehreh introduces Relaynce AI

01:52 – Why Leila started Relaynce AI

03:23 – Wen: AI promotes knowledge workers, not replaces them

04:47 – Kapil: The genesis of WisdomAI and BI tool gaps

06:38 – Enterprise adoption challenges & early demand (Kapil)

07:59 – Leila: From prototype to enterprise-ready product

09:20 – What does “AI-native” really mean? (Kapil)

11:53 – Wen: How AI changed his workflow (“throw it at AI first”)

14:40 – Leila: Balancing innovation with compliance and governance

16:53 – Kapil: Governance must be designed from the start

19:12 – Wen: Real estate client story & compliance lessons

20:46 – Leila: Ransomware recovery customer story

22:14 – Kapil: Cisco case study – saving 2800+ hours

25:02 – Founders’ advice to entrepreneurs

28:06 – Leila: Due diligence on VCs and co-founders

30:39 – Kapil: Pricing experiments – outcome vs usage vs seats

33:15 – Competing with Oracle & big tech in AI

35:34 – Build vs Buy: When to integrate vs build in-house

37:01 – Final takeaways from each founder

In this episode of the 10X Growth Strategies podcast, host Saradha interviews Dr. Edie Goldberg, a renowned talent management expert and co-author of 'The Inside Gig.' With over 20 years of experience in industrial organizational psychology, Dr. Goldberg discusses how companies can unlock untapped talent within their existing workforce. The conversation explores how the concept of 'inside gigs' can transform traditional job postings into dynamic, project-based opportunities. The episode underscores the evolving landscape of work, especially in light of remote work and technological advancements, advocating for a flexible and skills-based approach to talent management.

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