Founder Thesis

Delve into the fascinating world of mobile gaming with Afsar- he talks about their journey from a bootstrapped Indian startup to becoming a global gaming powerhouse. He shares insights into their unique approach to success, highlighting how they managed to build a massive gaming empire without relying on external capital.

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Read more about gameberry labs:-

1.Rolling it right: How Gameberry Labs built a profitable international gaming business

2.India’s mobile ludo games find enthusiasts across the world

3.Ludo Star is down and people are feeling 'lifeless' without it

4.Groww may pip Zerodha in active user count; ETSA 2023 winner Gameberry Labs on its bootstrap journey

If the term climate warrior could be used to describe a startup founder, then Puneet Jaggi would be the perfect candidate for the title. Prescinto is an enterprise SaaS startup building the smart operating system for green energy projects. Puneet shares his phenomenal vision towards climate change and Prescinto’s achievements so far.

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Read more about Prescinto:-

1.PV magazine speaks to Puneet Singh Jaggi, co-founder and director of Prescinto Technologies

2. Radiance Renewables Picks Prescinto To Monitor Its Solar Assets

3.Prescinto enters European market with AI-powered PV efficiency software in Greece

Ayu Health is on a mission to fundamentally disrupt the patient experience at hospitals by using transparency and tech. Himesh shares his journey as a first-time founder, what he learnt from it, and how he changed his approach to shaping Ayu Health.

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Read more about Ayu Health:-

1.Upgrading hospitals: how this healthtech startup is preparing healthcare facilities for the post-pandemic world

2.Making affordable healthcare a reality for the middle-income group

3.Pandemic highlighted gaps in healthcare infra in India: Himesh Joshi, CEO & Co-Founder, Ayu Health Hospitals

4.Private healthcare suffers trust issues in India, we want to change that: Himesh Joshi, CEO, Ayu Health

5.After selling their previous startup to Quikr, Zefo founders are building an OYO for hospitals

Aneesh Reddy is a rare founder who dedicated 15 years to building his startup, Capillary. With determination and some naivety, they bootstrapped Capillary and even secured funding a few years later. But the roller coaster ride was just beginning, filled with lessons from overfunding mistakes and the challenges posed by the pandemic.

For more such interesting founder journeys, subscribe to our newsletter www.founderthesis.com

Read more about Capillary Tech:-

1.What Aneesh Reddy is getting right about Capillary Technologies' push in the US

2.How customer engagement company capillary rejigged business to prepare for IPO

3.The amazing success story of an Indian garage start-up

Aneesh Reddy is a rare founder who dedicated 15 years to building his startup, Capillary. With determination and some naivety, they bootstrapped Capillary and even secured funding a few years later. But the roller coaster ride was just beginning, filled with lessons from overfunding mistakes and the challenges posed by the pandemic.

For more such interesting founder journeys, subscribe to our newsletter www.founderthesis.com

Read more about Capillary Tech:-

1.What Aneesh Reddy is getting right about Capillary Technologies' push in the US

2.How customer engagement company capillary rejigged business to prepare for IPO

3.The amazing success story of an Indian garage start-up

River is pioneering a scooter for entrepreneurs, giving them utility and lifestyle benefits in a single machine. Aravind shares his approach towards building a startup frugally and decodes their path to becoming a 100-million-dollar business.

For more such interesting founder journeys, subscribe to our newsletter www.founderthesis.com

Read more about River:-

1.River Indie first ride review — A ‘Surprising’ UV of scooters

2.Meet River Indie: The SUV of scooters with a price tag of Rs 1.25 lakh

3.Two-wheeler EV Manufacturer River Bags $15 Mn Funding From Al Futtaim Group, Others

How did Manish Maryada turn Fello into India’s go-to gamified savings app for Gen-Z—blending digital gold and P2P lending with prize-linked rewards? In this episode, we unpack the product, growth loops, and the future of fintech in India.

Fello is reimagining how young Indians save and invest—turning habit formation into a game. In this candid conversation with Akshay Datt, Manish Maryada (YC W22) breaks down Fello’s mission, how prize-linked savings drive frequency, why digital gold (Augmont) and P2P lending (Lendbox) anchor early portfolios, and how the team scaled to hundreds of thousands of users without cashback gimmicks. We discuss cohort wins and misses, retaining first-time savers, the funding-winter playbook, and how Fello navigates policy gray zones around gaming, GST, and digital gold. Expect contrarian takes on growth vs. trust, rails vs. UX, and what’s next for Gen-Z finance. If you’re a founder, operator, or investor tracking fintech disruption and distribution in India, this one’s a masterclass in product-led growth and regulatory literacy.

• How Manish built Fello’s prize-linked savings engine for Gen-Z
• Lessons from scaling fintech in India’s funding winter
• Fello’s growth levers: digital gold, P2P, and habit loops
• Macro shifts: GST, gaming policy, and the future of digital gold
• Founder insights on competition, unit economics, and trust

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00:00 - Manish Maryada’s Journey & Fello Origin
04:12 - Gamified Savings: Prize-Linked Model
10:40 - Digital Gold via Augmont: Trust & Safety
18:05 - P2P Lending with Lendbox: Returns & Risk
26:18 - Growth Without Cashbacks: 750K Users
36:42 - Funding Winter: Fintech Survival Playbook
48:10 - Regulatory Landscape: GST, Gaming, Gold
57:55 - What’s Next for Fello & Gen-Z Finance

Manish Maryada, Fello, Fello app, Fello India, gamified savings, prize-linked savings India, digital gold India, Augmont, P2P lending India, Lendbox, YC W22, Gen-Z investors India, savings app India, fintech startups India, funding winter India, fintech regulation India, GST online gaming, digital gold regulation India, product-led growth, Akshay Datt, Founder Thesis Podcast

Immerse yourself in the decade-long journey of building a large D2C fashion business, starting from an era when fundraising was next to impossible and founders literally had to survive each day with nothing but their grit and hustle. Learn about what makes a D2C fashion business scale up from Shivani.

Read the text version of the episode here.

Read more about FabAlley:-

1.From western wear to wedding luxe, how Shivani Poddar built a large D2C brand

2.VC-Backed FabAlley’s Co-Founder Shivani Poddar On Growth Plan, Offline Biz And More

3.FabAlley: Life In The Fab Lane

4.Tanvi Malik & Shivani Poddar: Fashionably Forward

5.How FabAlley’s expansion plans and strategies are making a mark in the apparel sector

Do you think digital payments are risky? This episode will change your perspective! IppoPay is a Chennai-based fintech serving the vast underbanked and unbanked sector in India, helping it adopt digital banking swiftly. Mohan talks about his learnings over his long and varied path as an entrepreneur and shares how he created luck for himself multiple times.

Read the text version of the episode here.

Read more about IppoPay:-

1.Interview with Mohan K, Entrepreneur, Co-Founder and CEO of IppoPay

2.Long struggle behind IppoPay’s quick success

3.This Niche Payment Solutions Startup Is Empowering Lakhs Of Businesses In Smaller Towns

4.This fisherman’s son launched a fintech startup amidst the pandemic and clocked transactions worth rs 1 cr

5.How IppoPay is disrupting the Digital Payments space with its technology for the merchants in Tamil Nadu

6.Light Microfinance, IppoPay to offer digital loans to MSMEs