The Innovators and Disruptors Podcast

Ep3: He Built BigFM & Zee5. Now Healing India! ft. Tarun Katial


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What happens when the creator of BigFM and Zee5 decides to build a 24x7 emotional wellness platform for India and the world? 🇮🇳

In Season 2 – Episode 3 of The Innovators and Disruptors Podcast, Abhay Tandon sits down with Tarun Katial, CEO & Founder of coto – “a global 24x7 emotional wellness platform, connecting users with verified experts across 10+ modalities—from Tarot, Astrology, Relationship coaching and spiritual services.”

Tarun’s journey spans:-

  • Founder CEO, BigFM – one of India’s biggest radio platforms
  • Founding CEO, Zee5 – a leading vernacular OTT platform
  • Head of Marketing & Programming for all Star channels in India
  • Business Head & Executive Vice President, Sony Pictures Entertainment


In this episode, we unpack:

⏱ What we cover:

02:00 – Why emotional wellness platforms matter in today’s always-on world

07:00 – Stress across Age groups

09:00 – Social Media impact12:00 – How coto works?

17:00 – The metrics that truly matter when you build for emotional wellbeing (beyond downloads & MAUs)

27:00 – What is depression?

32:00 – Pyramid of Care and Trust in the process?

38:00 – India's Edge in the world as the Land of Spirituality

42:00 – Tarun's Journey from Star and Sony and the advertising world51:00 – BigFM - Behind the scenes of building India’s biggest radio platform

55:00 – Scaling Zee5 into a vernacular OTT powerhouse

1:01:00 – Rapid Fire


If you’re a:

âś… Founder in consumer tech, OTT, media or wellness

âś… Creator or product leader obsessed with user behaviour

✅ Believer that mental & emotional health need more innovation…

this conversation is packed with insights you can actually use.


đź”” Subscribe to The Innovators and Disruptors Podcast for more deep dives with leaders shaping the future of India and beyond.

👍 Like, 💬 comment & 📤 share this episode with someone who needs to watch it.


Question for you:👉 If you were building an emotional wellness platform for India, what’s the ONE metric you would track obsessively?Drop your answer in the comments ⬇️

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The Innovators and Disruptors PodcastBy Abhay Tandon