Prashant Sharma grew Emergent from $0 to $100M ARR* in 8 months. Seriously insane.

This is a 2-hour masterclass on running large-scale influencer programs, the economics behind X creators, orchestrating cultural moments, and what goes on BTS of startup hypergrowth.

Probably the most tactical episode we've recorded yet. Episode 3 of the distribution. Enjoy.

Connect with us:Prashant Sharma

X: https://x.com/nitprashant

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nitprashant/

Subah Wadhwani

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/subah-wadhwani/

X: https://x.com/subahwadhwani

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:51 The Tweet That Got Him Into Emergent

06:46 Why He Left Emergent

11:18 The Truth Behind the $100M ARR Number

16:32 How Growth Changes from $0 to $1B in Valuation

26:48 What's Stopping India From Growing in AI?

32:54 Ranking Emergent's Channels by Effectiveness

37:54 How to Start an Influencer Program from Scratch

50:20 Moment Marketing vs Evergreen Marketing

55:03 Inside the Instagram Mafia

01:21:57 How He Built the Network

01:34:38 Building the Team & the Engine

Rox scaled from $0 to 8-figures in revenue in just 2.5 quarters, raised $80M+ from Sequoia, GV, and General Catalyst, and is taking on Salesforce to build the next-generation CRM.

In this episode of Distribution, we sit down with Ishan, CEO and co-founder of Rox (who previously scaled New Relic's self-serve motion to $200M ARR).

He breaks down the exact enterprise sales playbook Rox used to land non-tech Fortune 2000 giants from day one, and how to filter out "AI hype" buyers to find the real change agents in massive organizations.

Traditional CRMs, it turns out, fundamentally lost the data battle to the warehouse 5 years ago, and agents are taking over the rest.

Timestamps:

00:00: Intro

06:05: Don't lock your product behind a "contact sales" form. If it's good enough, let people try it before they ever talk to a salesperson.

20:53: Your first customers shouldn't be picked for revenue. Pick people who'll actually sit with you and help you build the product.

28:55: Massive companies only have 5-10 people who actually run it. Find them and pitch them, rest is not important.

39:05: Pick 1-2 marketing channels that actually work for your market and dominate them. Don't spread thin across ten channels trying to do everything.

57:22: Run your book of business like you're the CEO of it. Understand the revenue, the roadmap, the margins, that's what turns an account exec into a future CRO.

Connect with us:

Ishan Mukherjee

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ishanm/

X: https://x.com/ishanmkh?lang=en

Rox

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rox-data-corp/

X: https://x.com/rox_ai

Subah Wadhwani

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/subah-wadhwani/

X: https://x.com/subahwadhwani

Arthur Zargaryan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthurzargaryan/

X: https://x.com/ZargaryanArthur

Gamma scaled to 100M users and $100M ARR profitably, and AEO was one of their fastest-growing customer acquisition channels.

In the debut episode of Distribution, we sit down with Ravish Agrawal, who runs growth at Gamma.

He breaks down the exact playbooks Gamma used to dominate search and recommendations across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. Reddit, it turns out, is by far the most influential platform for winning ChatGPT citations.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

01:08 - What Is Gamma's GTM North Star?

04:23 - How Gamma Caught on to AEO & Reddit Before Everyone Else

08:50 - The 80/20 rule: writing Content for Crawlers vs Humans

10:53 - Do LLMs Look at Authority the Way Google Does?

16:23 - Ranking the Platforms: Reddit, Website, YouTube, LinkedIn & Claude

25:42 - The Reddit Playbook: Subreddits, Comparisons & Negative Sentiment

36:53 - The Half-Life of a Citation

52:08 - Retrieval vs Memorization: Two Different AEO Games

Connect with us:

Ravish Agrawal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravishagrawal/

X: https://x.com/ravishagrwal?lang=en

Gamma:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamma-app/

X: https://x.com/GammaApp

Subah Wadhwani

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/subah-wadhwani/

X: https://x.com/subahwadhwani?lang=en

Arthur Zargaryan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthurzargaryan/

X: https://x.com/ZargaryanArthur

In this episode of Chain Reactions, we welcome Paroma Chatterjee, CEO of Revolut India. 

With a career spanning marquee names like Flipkart, Airtel, Kotak, and ICICI, Paroma is now leading Revolut’s ambitious entry into one of the most complex and promising fintech markets in the world: India 

Our conversation spans: 

• The real moat in Indian fintech (it’s not user growth) 

• The pitfalls of global fintechs entering India without localization 

• How India’s next fintech opportunity goes far beyond UPI 

• What Revolut’s dream team hiring philosophy looks like (and why most don’t make the cut) 

• Why Paroma hates being called a “woman CEO”—and what needs to change in boardrooms 

• Advice for India’s next-gen founders 

Paroma also shares her vision for personalized payment solutions, UPI innovation, and Revolut's ambitious plans involving IoT, AI, and a potential banking license. She also reflects on her leadership philosophy, the art of building exceptional teams.

This episode was proudly sponsored by Atomik Growth: https://atomikgrowth.com/ 

Connect with Paroma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paroma-chatterjee-503193/

Connect with Subah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/subah-wadhwani/

Connect with Vihaan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vihaan-khanna/

What’s it like running a $1.3B venture fund in India? After 8 unicorns, 4 IPOs, 140+ investments, and nearly $1B returned to LPs, Sudhir Sethi sat down with Vihaan Khanna to break down his journey building Chiratae Ventures and the bets that defined it.

They discuss:

• why the next wave of generational companies will be built in India
• how VCs can operate with founder DNA
• his early investments in Flipkart, Myntra, Lenskart, and more

Connect with Sudhir: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudhir-sethi-a5303510b/

Connect with Vihaan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vihaan-khanna/

Email: [email protected]

Start your podcast: https://atomikgrowth.com

00:00 Trailer

01:01 Exits

05:48 Shot clock on IRR

07:05 Memorable first phone meeting

11:40 Common denominator

12:46 Actual investment process

14:55 Exceptional founders

16:23 Everything new, the youngsters

17:25 The Chiratae ideology

19:38 Change is the only constant

20:10 The founder mindset

21:56 Misaligned incentives

23:57 Red flags

25:45 Toughest discussion

27:26 Global and domestic funds

35:18 Indian entrepreneurs are world class

37:09 Risk and ecosystem pivot

38:59 Shark Tank

39:49 Leadership framework

43:10 The markets are changing

45:04 Deploy, dry poweder, delta

48:12 Reputation and performance

51:15 Firms run their way

52:23 Incubators

54:08 What's next for Chiratae?

55:51 Legacy

57:34 Who's next?

Srivatsan Sridhar, co-founder of Skydo, is building a cross-border operating system that's transforming how Indian businesses receive international payments.

In this conversation, we dive into how Skydo enables 0% FX fees for freelancers and businesses, making them the cheapest option in the market.

Srivatsan shares how traditional payment methods like PayPal and wire transfers cost Indian exporters up to 8% in hidden fees – a problem Skydo directly solves with local collection accounts and transparent pricing.

The discussion covers Srivatsan's journey from running his family business to co-founding a fintech startup, the importance of finding the right co-founder with complementary skills, and how persistence helped secure crucial banking partnerships.

We also explore Skydo's approach to building an MVP, their fundraising strategy, and how they've processed over $300 million in annual payments.

Connect with Srivatsan:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/srivats80/

Connect with Subah:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subah-wadhwani/

Email: [email protected]

Start your podcast: https://atomikgrowth.com

00:00 Trailer

01:07 What is Skydo and how it works

03:08 Cost comparison: PayPal vs wire transfers vs Skydo

06:10 The cognitive overload problem for international clients

07:26 Building a cross-border operating system

09:37 Growing up in an entrepreneurial family

13:02 Finding self-motivation and academic excellence

14:45 Why he returned from the US to India

19:30 Getting a scholarship and the decision to study abroad

20:10 Starting with entrepreneurship first, then finding the idea

22:40 Meeting his co-founder at Ola

25:14 Complementary skillsets in co-founding partnerships

26:51 Why venture capital vs bootstrapping

30:08 The credibility factor of VC backing

31:42 Hiring philosophy: mindset over pedigree

34:47 Building an MVP with spreadsheets

36:42 Getting first customers through Twitter

38:10 Multiple layers of product-market fit

41:06 The process of getting PACB entity approval

43:54 Building international banking partnerships

47:11 How money moves through Skydo's infrastructure

51:10 Regulations as enabler, not blocker

55:09 Customer onboarding and KYC process

57:54 Revenue model and transparency in pricing

01:01:41 Fraud detection and AI implementation

01:05:30 Competition with Revolut's India launch

01:08:08 Could you build this without college?

01:09:43 Fintech opportunities in crypto and IoT

01:11:48 Advice to younger self: be bolder

Bert Mueller landed in Bengaluru at 22 and turned a single burrito joint into California Burrito’s 100-plus-store Mexican fast-casual empire across India.

Expect candid takes on staffing, frugality-over-VC cash, mall vs. airport launches, and why a 2030 IPO dream keeps him obsessing over beans, bowls, and burrito-worthy value.

Chapters

• 0:00 – Trailer & Chain Reactions
• 2:50 – Indian Consumer Fit
• 4:00 – Operations & Freshness
• 6:30 – Organization & Leadership
• 8:30 – Tech, Delivery & App Strategy
• 10:30 – Long-Term Vision
• 12:00 – Early Fundraising Journey
• 14:30 – Focus Over Distraction
• 16:30 – Personal Ties to Mexico
• 18:30 – Delivery & Platform Commissions
• 20:30 – ONDC & Market Disruption
• 22:30 – Indian Consumers & Value Expectations
• 24:30 – Growth Strategy: Pune, Not Mumbai
• 27:00 – Going Global? Not Yet
• 28:30 – Lessons From Doing Business in India
• 30:00 – Straight Talk & Core Values
• 32:00 – Co-Founders & Early Struggles
• 34:30 – Staying Scrappy, Not VC-Backed
• 36:00 – Choosing Cities & Formats
• 38:30 – International Expansion & Franchising
• 40:30 – Adapting to Indian Business Culture
• 43:00 – First Betrayal & Lessons on Trust
• 44:30 – Resilience & Delusional Optimism
• 46:00 – Marketing Learnings Post-COVID
• 47:30 – Indian Holidays & Food Occasions
• 49:00 – Racism, Etiquette & Cultural Fit
• 51:00 – Corruption, Compliance & “Let India Be India”
• 53:00 – Advice to His 22-Year-Old Self

Connect

• Bert Mueller
• Vihaan Khanna
• Subah Wadhwani

Email: [email protected]

Start your podcast: https://atomikgrowth.com

Start a podcast:

https://atomikgrowth.com

Vihaan Khanna:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vihaan-khanna/

Subah Wadhwani:

https://youtube.com/@UCD8B5kw3kZymsvHHStXJNfw

https://instagram.com/subaaaah

Chain Reactions explores the moments that triggered remarkable outcomes.An ad-hoc podcast.

Proudly sponsored by Atomik Growth.