Best in Class with Harish Narayanan

Best in Class with Harish Narayanan

By Harish NarayananEducationSelf-Improvement
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Best in Class with Harish Narayanan episodes

  • Sapna Chadha on building tenacity, dealing with imposter syndrome, authentic storytelling, organisational influence, doing transformational work [#25]

    "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain". 

    Sapna Chadha is a dear friend and the VP of Marketing for India and SEA at Google. She is a force of nature, and there's a lot to learn from her career journey. Her early years of learning from her inspiring mother, her experience dealing with imposter syndrome and building tenacity, her journey in Google creating exceptional campaigns and leading large teams - all of these and more can serve as inspiration for many. This is a no-miss episode for all the young women listeners of this podcast.

    If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

    Timestamps:

    • 1:33 Welcome and Intro.
    • 4:00 Childhood, growing up in the US, immigrant hustle, learning from her parents, seeing men supporting women in their journeys. 
    • 10:54 Working moms of the past generation. Women in the work-force, and the issue of 'unpaid' labour. The power of having the right support network. 
    • 26:19 What could men do to enable women? 
    • 31:18 Tenacity and grit, in the face of imposter syndrome. The importance of having a good coach. Turning 'gremlins' into 'weapons'. 
    • 40:12 The balance between self-compassion and pushing oneself to achieve greatness. "Balance comes from purpose". 
    • 45:53 Storytelling and building a trusted 'real' brand with authentic stories. The story of 'Internet Saathi'. Her favourite Google campaigns. 
    • 54:47 Nuances about marketing to Indians. Differences between marketing to Indians vs folks from South-east Asia. 
    • 59:45 Building the skill of organisational influence. Understanding different perspectives, leveraging org behaviour, influencing without authority.
      • 1:05:31 Personal work habits, organisational processes and habits that help her lead a large org. "Multiplying herself" to increase leverage, by writing regularly to her team. 
      • 1:12:00 Raising confident children, with a growth mindset. 
      • 1:15:07 Meaning of success - "Doing transformational work". 
      • 1:20:20 Dance and Pranic healing. Bringing positive energy into one's life. 
      • 1:24:54 Favourite quotes. "You can't make everyone happy, you are not pizza". "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain". 

        • Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.

        1 hr 28 min
      • Manan Khurma on mathematical thinking, aristocratic tutoring, seeking mastery, creating a 'math learning' company [#24]

        Manan Khurma is the founder of Cuemath (www.cuemath.com), a leading math learning platform. He is a passionate educator, entrepreneur and a deep believer in making 'mathematical thinking' accessible and enjoyable to every child. My inner geek enjoyed this conversation and we explored many questions about math tutoring and enabling children to aim for 'mastery'. Don't miss the end section where we discuss Manan's favourite math equation, math constant etc. 

        If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started. 

        Timestamps:

        • 1:54 Welcome and Intro.
        • 3:32 Why should everyone love math? The universal need for 'mathematical thinking'.
        • 10:41 The history of how math has been taught (and the underlying problem with the approach). 
        • 16:58 Different models of math education and scaling the impact. 'Aristocratic tutoring'. 
        • 24:00 Scaling the quality of the teacher network. "A great teacher is someone who can engineer outcomes in their student".
        • 28:30 Incentivising children to seek 'mastery'. Creating a 'gradual-ramp' to mastery. 
        • 34:23 Entrepreneurship journey. Creating a 'math learning' company. 
        • 44:46 Keeping the passion alive over the longer term. Building and aligning a team.
        • 49:52 Dealing with competition. 
        • 55:25 Favourite math equation, math constant, simple math explanation of a complex concept. 
        • 59:42 Favourite books. 
        • 1.02:51 Message to teachers and parents. 

          • Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.

          1 hr 8 min
        • Rajesh Jain on entreprenurship, bootstrapping, solving for India, learning from failure [#23]

          Rajesh Jain (www.rajeshjain.com) is a legend in the Indian startup ecosystem. He is one of the earliest tech entrepreneurs of the country, one of the original success stories of the dotcom era and beyond (he is the founder of IndiaWorld & Netcore). He is a deep thinker and has wonderful insights on entrepreneurship, bootstrapping, bringing prosperity to the country, dealing with failure et al. Hope you enjoy!

          If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

          Timestamps:

          • 1:08 Welcome and Intro.
          • 3:39 His entrepreneurship journey, starting India's early dotcom company. 
          • 10:44 Getting into technology & martech.
          • 20:19 (Not) Raising external capital, building 'proficorns'.
          • 28:56 Design choices to create bootstrapped companies.
          • 36:13 Solving for India. Creating economic prosperity.
          • 48:46 Making India 'irreversibly prosperous' using digital tech. 
          • 51:23 Rapidfire: Writing every day, thoughts on Web3 and DAO, 
          • 57:53 Closing questions. '30 failures and 2 and a half successes'. 

            • Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.

            1 hr
          • Gaurav Dagaonkar on the business of music, learning from the legends, the golden age of independent musicians, keeping the freshness alive in the art [#22]

            Gaurav Dagaonkar (Wiki) is a music director, singer, songwriter, Youtuber and founder. After his engineering degree and MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, he choose to go down the unconventional route of becoming a full time musician, even though he had no formal training or experience in the field. Since then he has composed and performed many albums, scored multiple Bollywood movies and worked with many legends in the Indian music scene. We talk about his journey, his path to success in this notoriously difficult industry, his favorite artists and much more. 

            For all budding young musicians out there, this one is a no-miss episode! Hope you enjoy it.

            If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

            Timestamps:

            • 1:17 Intro.
            • 6:53 Journey into music, working with Ranjit Barot, learning Indian classical music later in life. 
            • 15:05 The business of music, getting the 'foot in the door', getting sponsors for music albums, falling in love with the art form. 
            • 22:05 Mentors, learning from the experts, putting out work consistently.
            • 27:19 Stories of favourite artists - A R Rahman, KK, Shankar Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam, Pritam, Arijit Singh. 
            • 35:00 Music in India, then and now. Indipop, Mp3s and then, YouTube and streaming. The 'golden age' of independent musicians. 
            • 45:40 Creating a music content brand with 'Songfest' and pivoting to an ad agency. 
            • 50:29 Launching a music SAAS product with hoopr.ai. 
            • 54:20 What should you NOT do while pursuing music as a career path. 
            • 1.04:00 Keeping the freshness alive in the art. 
            • 1.07:53 'Ek ajnabee haseena se' and 'College days'. 

              • Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.

              1 hr 10 min
            • Karthik Srinivasan on marketing, being a solopreneur, build a personal brand [#21]

              Karthik Srinivasan is a marketing commentator, solopreneur and personal branding consultant. He is a top Linkedin voice on all things marketing, and has incisive and insightful takes on brand storytelling from across the globe. He is also helping others build their personal brands and make their voices more heard. For all budding young marketers & brand builders out there, this one is a no-miss episode! Hope you enjoy it.

              If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

              Timestamps:

              • 1:13 Intro + How he got into marketing.
              • 6:46 The evolution of marketing and communications.
              • 12:00 What do marketers usually get wrong?
              • 14:47 Writing regularly, creating a writing process.
              • 20:23 Journey as a solopreneur.
              • 32:53 Long format vs short format storytelling. Brand vs performance marketing.
              • 39:00 Favourite books.
              • 45:21 Interesting personalities on social media.
              • 46:34 Closing questions.

                • Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.

                49 min
              • Karan Shroff on brand building, the importance of relatability, working with Sachin & Dhoni, building great teams [#20]

                Karan Shroff is the CMO and Partner at Unacademy. He's a good friend and a fellow marketer, and there's a lot to be learnt from his career journey and his stellar work in brand building and content marketing. He's the driving force between Unacademy's "Let's crack it" campaign and superhit web-shows such as Kota Factory and Aspirants (co-created with TVF). For all budding young marketers & brand builders out there, this one is a no-miss episode! Hope you enjoy it. 

                If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

                Timestamps:

                • 1:22 Intro.
                • 2:35 Career pivots, learning brand marketing.
                • 7:13 Joining Unacademy, building a brand from scratch.
                • 12:37 Creative and storytelling, balancing brand building and revenue orientation.
                • 17:11 Content marketing and the importance of relatability in content (Kota Factory).
                • 23:28 "Let's Crack It" campaign and connecting deeply with the customers.
                • 28:27 Role of TV and Digital Video in building a millennial brand in India.
                • 34:10 Working with Sachin & Dhoni. Learning from the Champions. 
                • 41:22 Building great marketing teams.
                • 46:24 Rapidfire questions: Favourite brand, inspiring people, favourite books, movies. 
                • 50:31 Advice for young marketers.

                  • Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.

                  53 min
                • Gaurav Dublish on conviction and purpose, reinvention during crisis, love for the outdoors [#19]

                  Gaurav Dublish is the Co-founder of the fantastic Indian outdoor brand Wildcraft (known for its superb quality products). His is a story of conviction and purpose-driven company building, and there's a lot to be learnt from how he and his company managed to survive and thrive during Covid, even though his industry was one of the worst hit because of the pandemic. Hope you enjoy this conversation!

                  If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

                  Timestamps:

                  • 0:46 Intro.
                  • 3:51 Purpose, passion, sustaining enthusiasm.
                  • 7:07 Career journey, finding his groove, founding Wildcraft. 
                  • 13:38 Starting up with conviction, taking risks, building a world-class product.
                  • 18:29 Bootstrapping, planning for the long run.  
                  • 22:24 Dealing with competition, childhood and growing up. 
                  • 30:03 Dealing with the Covid crisis, reinventing the company.
                  • 39:27 Hiring, finding great talent.
                  • 40:46 Resilience, empowering teams, leading by example. 
                  • 44:07 Love for the outdoors. 
                  • 47:11 Rapidfire questions (what belief has he changed his mind about?)

                    • Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.


                    50 min
                  • Nipun Mehta on compassion, infinite reciprocity, dissolution of ego [#18]

                    A very different guest this time, from the world of philosophy, spirituality and service. Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace (servicespace.org), a volunteer-driven global organisation that creates lasting change and drives global compassion through small acts of service. Their mission, in their own words, is "to create a shift from consumption to contribution, transaction to trust, scarcity to abundance, and isolation to community".

                    I learnt about compassion, infinite reciprocity, the meaning of impact, dissolution of ego and much more in this lovely conversation. 

                    If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

                    Timestamps:

                    • 0:52 Intro, Discovering Service as his purpose.
                    • 4:13 Early Childhood, experiences that shaped him, connecting context.
                    • 13:41 Relationship with money, choosing flow over accumulation.
                    • 18:18 The meaning of impact, serving without the expectation of an outcome.
                    • 29:38 Understanding Sympathy, Empathy and Compassion. And the difference between them. 
                    • 34:57 Giving like a king, discovering compassion.
                    • 41:21 Learning the law of love, learning from kids. 
                    • 47:47 Happiness in the disillusion of ego.
                    • 49:33 Living in the present. "Read man, he is the living poem."


                      • Full transcript of the conversation can be found here: https://share.descript.com/view/v00w4MD1he2


                      Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.

                      54 min
                    • Rajan Anandan on risk taking, angel investing, pushing 10x thinking [#17]

                      Rajan Anandan is a legend in the Indian startup ecosystem. He was a McKinsey consultant, then he moved to leadership positions in Dell, Microsoft and Google (I had the pleasure of working with him in Google and observing his leadership from close quarters). He's now Managing Director at Sequoia Capital and he spearheads their Surge program (early stage incubation + rapid scale up). He's a prolific angel investor with 100+ investments, a 10x thinker in everything he does, and a go-to advisor for all topics in the startup ecosystem. 

                      In our wide-ranging conversation, Rajan shares his life journey, investment frameworks,  thoughts on the India growth story, achieving big goals and much more. Detailed timestamps can be found below. 

                      If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

                      Timestamps:

                      • 1:03 Intro.
                      • 2:23 Risk taking, “The art of the possible”, life journey.
                      • 9:12 India’s startup ecosystem explosion, becoming the ‘most innovative nation’.
                      • 17:23 Celebrating startups, India’s digital ecosystem, structural and regulatory improvements. 
                      • 26:20 Angel investing, learnings from his angel journey, building a portfolio. 
                      • 38:34 Pushing 10x growth in a large organisation, building a team of believers.
                      • 44:24 Finding star talent (10x thinkers). Setting new best-in-class benchmarks. 
                      • 48:04 Finding passion ("Passion with capability"). Being extraordinary at something. 
                      • 53:19 Quick questions (books, message for the world - "Life is full of challenges, embrace it").

                        • Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.

                        56 min
                      • Rahul Gaitonde on blockchain basics, valuing cryptocurrencies, changing regulations [#16]

                        This one is a different episode, with a different format. We are doing a 'blockchain & crypto 101' session with my friend Rahul Gaitonde. Rahul is the founding COO of Cube Wealth and a retired operator with deep interest in the space. We had fun laying out the foundational building blocks of crypto and blockchain in this episode, hope you find it interesting! 

                        Timestamps coming soon. 

                        If you like this conversation, don't forget to subscribe, and please rate the podcast on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen to it. Thank you and let's get started.

                        Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.


                        Some more resources on these topics below (thanks Rahul!):

                        # Newsletters that focus on the DLT space

                        - bankless  https://newsletter.banklesshq.com

                        - 1confirmation https://www.1confirmation.com

                        - veradiverdict https://www.veradiverdict.com

                        # More general newsletters/personal blogs that nevertheless have solid coverage of the DLT space

                        - Exponential view https://www.exponentialview.co

                        - Ben Evans https://www.ben-evans.com/newsletter ← is this the a16z person you were talking about?

                        - Morning Brew https://www.morningbrew.com

                        - Not Boring https://www.notboring.co

                        - Stratechery https://stratechery.com

                        - Fred Wilson https://avc.com

                        # Podcasts about DLT

                        - Unchained https://unchainedpodcast.com

                        - Modern Finance https://modern.finance

                        - Proof https://proof.xyz

                        - The Pomp Podcast https://www.anthonypompliano.com/podcast

                        # Websites focused on DLT

                        - Bloomberg on DLT: https://www.bloomberg.com/cryptocurrencies

                        - Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/crypto-blockchain/

                        - Financial Times (subscription required): https://www.ft.com/cryptocurrencies

                        - Coindesk https://www.coindesk.com

                        - Blockworks: https://blockworks.co

                        - Decrypt https://decrypt.co

                        1 hr 6 min

                      About Best in Class with Harish Narayanan

                      From the publisher's feed

                      This podcast is an experiment in human flourishing; an excuse to connect with outstanding folks (changemakers, achievers and thinkers) across fields deep dive into what makes them unique and what makes them tick. Guests include Kunal Shah, Sridhar Vembu, Ankur Warikoo, Shradha Sharma, Nithin Kamath.