ASYMMETRIC

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Revant: Founder, Mosaic Wellness

Shantanu: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Chirag: Founder, GoKwik

0:00 Coming Up

0:49 Intro

1:44 Two Motives: Wealth vs Status

11:30 Key Drivers for Different Roles

19:17 Personal Branding for Founders

28:26 Can Founders Solve for Emotional Needs?

30:46 Managing Employee Expectations about Wealth

40:01 Who Should Get ESOPs?

44:13 Zomato: Playing the Wealth Game

50:30 Delinking Your Different Roles

59:10 Founders Must Help Employees Play Wealth Games

65:30 Off-Screen Banter: Pickleball & Status

67:47 Off-Screen Banter: Cult.Fit

Naval's tweet:

https://x.com/naval/status/1002103360646823936

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Revant Bhate: Founder, Mosaic Wellness

Shantanu Deshpande: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Deepak Garg: Founder at AnywhereJobs

00:00 Coming up

01:24 Intro and Welcome Deepak!

03:55 Understanding Bitcoin Treasury Companies

06:01 Bitcoin vs Gold: What’s Actually Scarcer Now

09:04 The Future of Currency: Gold, Bitcoin, and the Dollar

12:07 Can India Really Build Wealth in This Global System?

15:10 Why stablecoins matter in the US

34:04 Currency wars and global monetary power

37:31 Liquidity & Market Dynamics

41:02 Macro trends and founder decision-making

45:48 The Evolution of Consumer Tech and Market Competition

51:54 Understanding Market Cycles Through Historical Context

56:56 Zomato vs. Swiggy: The Battle for Market Share

01:10:16 The Importance of Narrative in Business

01:13:01 Market Dynamics and Competition in Quick Commerce

01:16:38 Using consumer data to drive innovation

01:21:39 The Future of E-commerce & Quick Commerce

01:25:55 The Economics of Quick Commerce

01:29:12 Investor Sentiment in the current market

01:32:13 Founder Longevity, Team Building & Scaling Vision

Swiggy Q4 FY25 Results:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xv5gK0ZrD6A-M3HR0AOVhRwj4EMUTEIzdmkdekYMvCc/edit?gid=0#gid=0

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Revant Bhate: Founder, Mosaic Wellness

Shantanu Deshpande: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Chirag Taneja: Founder, GoKwik

Tushar Behl: Principal at Glade Brook Capital

0:00 Coming Up

1:02 India-Pakistan Escalation

1:48 Intro and Welcome to Tushar!

2:39 Equity Supply Demand

9:11 On US vs Indian IPOs

15:03 Impact of Tariffs on India

21:47 Can Tariffs Drive Innovation in India?

27:48 Venture Capital for Traditional Sectors

34:53 Indian Consumer Brands on the Global Stage

44:18 On Urban Company

49:42 Urban Company’s NTV Retention for Services

53:17 Urban Company’s Native Lock & Water Purifier

58:29 On Urban Company’s Founders & Future

1:10:37 Dark Patterns with UPI

Notes from the episode:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E1fY4ZOfiuhYZ9P1Ij2TNCwlT-zesyuf/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108238023930083113573&rtpof=true&sd=true

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1owIajfNCMPqLwjbR6SrV1-GqnBhD-Z3d/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108238023930083113573&rtpof=true&sd=true

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Revant: Founder, Mosaic Wellness

Shantanu: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Chirag: Founder, GoKwik

Tarun Davda: Managing Director at Z47

00:00 Coming Up

00:55 Intro and Welcome to Tarun!

2:22 Context for the Topic

4:52 USA vs India Board Cultures

10:36 The Debate on Taking Board Seats

16:46 Thoughts on Governance

23:49 The Slippery Slope to Malpractice

27:39 Thoughts on Founder Salary

41:25 Ex-Operators as Board Members

43:27 Do VCs and Investors Add Value?

50:54 How Founders Can Derive Value from VCs

1:00:44 Good vs Bad Board Meetings

1:08:46 When Founders Can’t Choose their VCs

1:14:47 How to Leverage Board Meetings

1:21:59 Thoughts on Involving Key Members in Board Meetings

1:25:40 Building the Founder VC Relationship

1:33:19 How Prescriptive Should Investors Be?

1:42:25 Thoughts on Investing in the Competition

1:49:57 Rethinking the Investor Role

Notes from the episode:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qYpDvsmMzAOX1svq-j67FYyI0x3rr48_/view?usp=sharing

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Revant: Founder, Mosaic Wellness

Shantanu: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Chirag: Founder, GoKwik

0:00 Coming Up

1:32 Intro

2:38 BSC and IPL

4:49 Context on IPL

6:36 IPL’s Business Model

11:36 The Player vs The Team

13:54 Can International Players Get Big in IPL?

16:25 Passion or Money?

24:50 Global Cricket Revenue Trends

26:40 Extensions of IPL Franchisees

28:30 What Is the Future of Cricket?

33:18 Indianisation of International Players

35:35 Does It Matter If You Win or Lose?

38:55 Evolution in Sports

42:21 IPL vs EPL

49:11 Supporting a Team vs a Player

53:34 The Startups Opportunity

59:20 The Guru Culture in Academies

62:57 Concluding Thoughts

66:00 Off Screen Banter

Charts referred to in the episode:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qjn7UGy7RXuwklp3rrn03ie9n-PrVFdE/view?usp=drive_link

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Revant: Founder, Mosaic Wellness

Shantanu: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Chirag: Founder, GoKwik

0:00 Coming Up

1:32 Intro

2:38 BSC and IPL

4:49 Context on IPL

6:36 IPL’s Business Model

11:36 The Player vs The Team

13:54 Can International Players Get Big in IPL?

16:25 Passion or Money?

24:50 Global Cricket Revenue Trends

26:40 Extensions of IPL Franchisees

28:30 What Is the Future of Cricket?

33:18 Indianisation of International Players

35:35 Does It Matter If You Win or Lose?

38:55 Evolution in Sports

42:21 IPL vs EPL

49:11 Supporting a Team vs a Player

53:34 The Startups Opportunity

59:20 The Guru Culture in Academies

62:57 Concluding Thoughts

66:00 Off Screen Banter

Charts referred to in the episode:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qjn7UGy7RXuwklp3rrn03ie9n-PrVFdE/view?usp=drive_link

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Revant: Founder, Mosaic Wellness

Shantanu: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Chirag: Founder, GoKwik

Kashyap Chanchani: Managing Partner, TRMG

0:00 Coming Up

1:15 Intro

3:10 Context for the report

7:30 Double Clicking on EBITDA

12:48 The Familiarity Factor

18:33 2021’s Cash Liquidity vs 2025’s Cash Crunch

25:53 Underwriting Past vs Future Performance

33:11 Family Owned vs VC Companies

41:51 IPOs and CapTables

49:50 Understanding VC Exits during IPOs

54:07 Size of Listing - Does it Matter?

01:09:51 The Importance of Being First in Market

01:10:11 Q-Comm and Ed-Tech

01:23:23 The Future of M&A in India

TRMG reports:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AwbdwYY_HvbxfPW0n5xwvRypgwtnd6Qo/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xx5NGzoa8IKIJTBABWLm5BDTSIhNOc5U/view?usp=drive_link

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Shantanu: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Chirag: Founder, GoKwik

Harish Krishnan: Co-CIO and Head(Equity), Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (ABSLMF)

1:43 Intro

3:49 Trump’s Tariffs - A Synopsis

7:44 Understanding Donald Trump

11:49 The Endgame for Trump

16:25 More Tariffs → More Investments?

22:28 Challenges Ahead for Trump

26:41 Opportunities for India

32:42 Thoughts on 2021’s Cash Influx and New-Age IPOs

38:26 How Private vs Public Capital Works

49:09 Growth - The Good & Bad

54:15 Index Devisers

57:54 The Problem of Plenty

1:02:58 Public Investors and Risk Taking

1:08:40 Closing Thoughts

Links referred to in the episode:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E4glaVlyx24ipSYhieurOdu-KO1SkNAD/view?usp=drive_link

https://hktg13.substack.com/p/mind-the-gap

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Revant: Founder, Mosaic Wellness

Shantanu: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Chirag: Founder, GoKwik

0:00 Coming Up

1:09 Intro

2:27 Reflections on Quarter End

5:22 Creating Markets vs Capturing Market Share

10:38 Challenges with Market Creation

15:01 Meesho’s Standout Execution in Bharat

19:57 Meesho’s Logistics Strategy

25:25 Meesho’s Cultural Strategy

27:10 How Meesho Cut Its Burn

37:53 Meesho’s AI Adoption

43:31 Rethinking with AI

48:36 AI Use Case: MIS Data Dumps

54:10 Individual Agency & AI Adoption

58:11 AI Use Case - SEO & Email Marketing

1:00:43 AI Impact Across Functions

1:03:45 AI Use Case: HR Performance Reviews

1:05:50 AI for Work-Life Balance & Health

1:11:58 Off-Screen Cricket Banter

The ASYMMETRIC Crew today:

Shantanu: Founder, Bombay Shaving Company

Chirag: Founder, GoKwik

Nikhil Vora: Founder & CEO at Sixth Sense Ventures

0:00 Coming Up

1:21 Intro & Welcome to Nikhil Vora

3:03 The Thrasio Story

7:50 India’s Thrasio Clones

11:37 Why Didn’t Thrasio Models Work?

15:05 Is There Merit to The “House of Brands” Brands

18:37 The Opportunity for Consumer Companies

24:30 How to Think About Consolidating Businesses

30:34 Acquisition By Legacy Companies

33:23 Dealing with Capital Influx Waves

37:21 Why Don’t “Good” MnAs Not Happen in India?

41:40 The Need for Patient Capital

44:39 What Drives Founder-Market Fit?

48:51 The JusPay Curveball

54:39 Views on The Indian Ecosystem

The Thrasio Effect ppt:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z8t7nNO3FRlc_L_vkr5rV1gVvqgI0VZ5/view?usp=sharing