For decades, networking was about being seen: showing up in the right rooms, handing out the right cards, and saying the right things.

Today, a new generation of founders and VCs is rewriting that script with sweat, sneakers, and a shared goal to win the next point.

In this debut episode of 90,000 Hours, host Rahel Philipose heads to a pickleball court in Bengaluru to explore how the startup world is quietly staging a revolt against traditional networking.

You’ll hear from:

🎾 Arjun Vaidya – Founder of Dr Vaidya’s and now an investor at V3 Ventures. He’s launched Pickle & Pitch, a new way for founders to raise capital on the court, not in a conference room.
🎾 Vaniya Dangwal – Former professional tennis player and founder of Courtside Club. She’s bringing startup folks together through curated sports mixers, where the serve matters more than the sales pitch.
🎾 Piyush Jain and Pravruth BH – Founders of Sprentzo, a platform building grassroots sports communities across India. Their fastest-growing sport? Pickleball.

Why are people trading name tags for paddles?

What happens when connection becomes the goal and not the card you walk away with?

And what does it say about the future of work?

This episode is about something deeper than just a game. It’s about belonging, access, and how we build relationships that actually matter over our 90,000 hours.

Tune in.

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You’ll spend 90,000 hours at work in your lifetime. How do you make that time count?

90,000 Hours is a weekly podcast from the newsroom of The Ken that helps you navigate today’s changing world of work, where the traditional 40-year career is gone, entry-level jobs are being replaced by artificial intelligence, and staying relevant means constantly reinventing yourself.

Hosted by Rahel Philipose, the show features conversations with the people creating, breaking, and rewriting the way we work.