Founder Thesis

BNPL is a wide-open market with rooted players and start-ups securing the pole position. But a large chunk of retailers is still not covered by any of them.

In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt talks with Vikas Garg, Co-founder, Paytail. He is an alumnus of Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, New Delhi, and had a decade long experience in the BFSI sector before stepping into entrepreneurship.

In a bid to provide a level field for offline buyers and sellers with large online retailers, Vikas started Paytail in December 2020. Paytail focuses on building a network of significant financial institutions to cater to the pre-approved loan offers for consumers. And within two years, it has a network of more than 20,000 merchants and over 100,000 consumers.

Tune in to this episode to hear Vikas speak about how Paytail capitalizes on Tier 2 and Tier 3 retailers to offer BNPL through a tech-driven approach.

What you must not miss!

• The core idea behind Paytail.
• Journey to find the creditors.
• Association with other MNCs.
• Challenges faced by Paytail.

‘Milk is the largest crop on this planet and there is a strong need for technological interventions.’

Convinced by this, a group of ex-Wipro employees perceived digitizing the Agri-Dairy supply chain as an opportunity.

In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Ranjith Mukundan, Co-founder and CEO, Stellapps Technologies Private Limited - an IIT-Madras incubated start-up which provides end-to-end dairy technology solutions.

Ranjith is an alumnus of Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago and has worked with Wipro for more than a decade. In 2011, he along with a group of IIT graduates started Stellapps to address the major problems in the milk production process and help dairy farmers and cooperatives to maximize profits with minimum effort.

Tune in to this episode to hear Ranjith speak about how Stellapps is leveraging AI/ML to revolutionize the dairy supply chain in India.

What you must not miss!

• Ranjith’s interest in M2M space.
• The business model of Stellapps.
• Finding product-market fit.
• Tech ensures supply chain integrity.

-----

If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.

Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis

The country’s transportation sector is on the verge of a phenomenal change. Courtesy of EV-tech!

In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Akash Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Zypp Electric, India’s leading B2B Delivery and shared mobility app.

After an extensive experience in the corporate sector, Akash started his entrepreneurial journey in 2017 with Mobycy, an electric rental mobility company for commuters. But thanks to the rapid growth in last-mile delivery, Mobycy soon transitioned into an EV logistics company. With Zypp Electric, he aims to make last-mile delivery more affordable, time-saving and gentle on the environment.

Tune in to this episode to hear Akash speak about how Zypp Electric is tirelessly working towards creating an EV ecosystem in India.

-----

If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.

Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis

From being embroiled in controversies to becoming one of the leading companies in the real estate sector, this is the story of a remarkable turnaround!

In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Dhruv Agarwala, CEO, REA India Pte. Ltd., a company that has Housing.com, Proptiger.com and Makaan.com under its umbrella.

An alumnus of Harvard University, Dhruv started his entrepreneurial journey way back in 2006 with iTrust Financial Advisors which laid the foundation for his subsequent venture. In 2011, he started PropTiger.com, a one-stop real estate platform for homebuyers to search, shortlist and buy properties.

Since then, PropTiger has gone on to become a behemoth in the real estate sector by acquiring Housing.com, which today is the leading real-estate portal in India.

Tune in to this episode to hear Dhruv speak about his journey of simplifying the home buying experience in India.

What you must not miss!

• Proptiger’s initial marketing plans.
• How REA’s integration worked?
• Confronting REA’s market uncertainties.
• The acquisition story of Housing.com

-----

If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.

Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis

Recruiting talent has always been a tough nut to crack. And the pandemic proved to be one such trigger that has spiked unemployment rates globally.

In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Raj Das, Co-founder and CEO,

Hirect India, the country’s first chat-based hiring app. He is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and has worked as a product manager before starting his entrepreneurial journey.

As the pandemic has started to phase off, the hiring has peaked, especially in the high-growth start-up. In an attempt to create a Tinder-like platform for job search and recruitment, Raj started Hirect in March 2020, which enables candidates to directly connect with founders and HR managers. And within two years, Hirect has over 60k verified recruiters and 5 million app downloads and has expanded its operations to U.S. and Singapore.

Tune in to this episode to hear Raj speak about how Hirect is working towards simplifying both search and hiring processes through its AI-based platform.

What you must not miss!    

• Hirect: A COVID success story!     
• Why focus more on value proposition?  
• Hirect’s revenue model.

-----

If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.

Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis

In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Sandeep Jethwani, Co-founder, Dezerv.in. He is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore and has an extensive experience in the wealth management domain.

Before starting his entrepreneurial journey, Sandeep worked with IIFL Wealth for more than a decade. In a bid to democratize access to investment expertise, he started Dezerv.in in 2021. This wealth tech platform integrates domain expertise and technology and creates high-performing long-term portfolios and provides exclusive investment opportunities for its members.

Tune in to this episode to hear Sandeep speak about how Deserv.in is tirelessly working towards making wealth management a reality for all.

What you must not miss!

• Why is crucial to hire the correct team?
• What is Integrated Portfolio Approach?
• Dezerv’s user onboarding journey
• Why hyper-communication is important?

-----

If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a Shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.

Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis

In this edition of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Rajiv Vij, a person who became the Czar of rented cars in India. Rajiv is currently the Chairman and Managing Director of Carzonrent.

An alumnus of FMS Delhi, Rajiv started his career at Hindustan Motors which gave him exposure to the taxi business at that time and at ITC’s International Travel House allowed him to interact with the best and the biggest car-rental brands in the world.

Building on this experience, he started Carzonrent in 2000, with a seed capital of 29 lakh. And today, through numerous pivots, it is one of the leading personal ground transportation service providers with a network present in more than 75 cities in India and has recently ventured into sustainable mobility solutions with Plug Mobility.

Tune in to this episode to hear Rajiv speak about his inspirational journey and how with Carzonrent he attempts to streamline the largely unorganized personal ground transportation industry in India.

What you must not miss!

• Why asset-light model proved to be the best way to scale up?
• EVs – The Future and the gamechanger
• Launching Plug as mobility-as-a-service

If you want to be a podcaster, then check out Zencastr.com which is also the generous sponsor for this episode. Zencastr is like a shopify for podcasters taking care of all your needs from recording to editing to hosting.

Show your love for this show by using this link to sign up: https://zen.ai/founderthesis

You all must have heard – It is not the destination but the journey that matters. This is the same with entrepreneurship.

In this episode of Founder Thesis, Akshay Datt speaks with Naman Sarawagi, Co-founder, Refrens.com, a Bengaluru-based venture that offers free invoicing, payments and expense management system.

Naman started his journey as a product manager at Freecharge and then went on to work with multiple start-ups. In 2018, he started Refrens.com which is a SaaS product helping freelancers and small and medium businesses in managing leads, invoices and payments from a single dashboard.

Tune in to this episode to hear Naman speak about his journey of self-discovery and his vision behind scaling Refrens.com.

What you must not miss!

• Naman’s Freecharge journey
• Refrens’ monetisation strategy
• Fundraising journey

"We realized that if we’re going to do this, we have to be in it for the long run… we’re here to build a legacy." - Arman Sood

This quote encapsulates the commitment and long-term vision that drove Arman Sood to build Sleepy Owl Coffee from a dorm-room experiment into a leading Indian coffee brand. It highlights that true success isn't about quick wins, but about building something sustainable and impactful.

About the Guest:

Arman Sood is the Co-founder and CEO of Sleepy Owl Coffee, a Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) coffee brand revolutionizing the Indian coffee landscape. From humble beginnings selling cold brew at college events,

He navigated product pivots, fundraising and building a well rounded product portfolio.

Key Insights from the Conversation:

• From Dorm Room to Boardroom: Sleepy Owl's journey began with simple "anda bread" sales and university merchandise, demonstrating an early entrepreneurial spirit.
• B2B to D2C Pivot: Initial struggles in the B2B restaurant market led to a crucial shift to a direct-to-consumer model, unlocking growth.
• Innovation in Packaging & Product: Creative packaging solutions (bag-in-box, Brew Packs) and product diversification (RTD, Hot Brew) expanded reach and customer appeal.
• Digital Marketing Prowess: Leveraging Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads was key to driving online sales and building brand awareness.
• Customer-Centric Approach: Adapting to customer feedback and seasonal demands (e.g., introducing Hot Brew) fueled product development.
• Strategic Offline Expansion: Built offline retail presence step by step.
• Focus on retention: Retention as a key factor to company's growth

Chapters:

• 0:00:00 - Introduction: Arman Sood's Entrepreneurial Journey
• 0:03:15 - Early Life & Influences: Kolkata, Family, and Adaptability
• 0:07:48 - University Ventures: Anda Bread, Merchandise, and Alibaba Lessons
• 0:14:22 - Discovering the Coffee Opportunity: Cold Brew's Potential
• 0:19:55 - Building Sleepy Owl: From Chikmagalur to First Sales
• 0:26:30 - The B2B Struggle and the D2C Pivot
• 0:34:10 - Scaling Up: Digital Marketing, Team Building, and Revenue Growth
• 0:41:03 - Product Innovation: Brew Packs, RTD, and Hot Brew
• 0:47:58 - Fundraising: Bootstrapping, Angel Investors, and Venture Capital
• 0:55:21 - Offline Retail Expansion: Strategy and Challenges
• 1:01:36 - Future Plans: Instant Coffee, Plant-Based Options, and the INR 100 Crore Goal
• 1:08:12 - Learnings on the job: Hiring, Supply Chain
• 1:14:40 - Building a long term D2C brand.

Hashtags:

#SleepyOwlCoffee #ArmanSood #CoffeeIndia #D2CCoffee #IndianStartups #Entrepreneurship #StartupIndia #ColdBrew #HotBrew #CoffeeBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FounderStories #BrandBuilding #DigitalMarketing #Ecommerce #Retail #Fundraising #VentureCapital #IndianEntrepreneur #BusinessGrowth #SmallBusiness #Bootstrapping #ScaleUp #ProductInnovation #CustomerExperience #DirectToConsumer #CoffeeLover #MadeInIndia #TheFounderThesis

Ever heard of the Japanese proverb, “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” That is exactly the premise of the story of our guest on this episode of the Founder Thesis podcast.

In this episode, Akshay Datt speaks with Sumit Suneja, CEO, Merlin Brands, a company that houses Rabitat (a parenting brand) and Headway (stainless steel drinkware brand) under its roof.

Sumit is a serial entrepreneur who embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in 2010 with Reado, which was India’s first audiobook platform. While on one of the trips abroad, he realised that he has always been searching for baby products requested from friends and family. To fill this void, he, along with his brother, started Merlin Brands in 2017, intending to resell renowned international baby product brands in India.

In a bid to provide homegrown, safe, and premium quality products in this category, Sumit launched Rabitat in 2019. And since then, it has been growing from strength to strength and has more than 20 product lines today.

Tune in to this episode to hear the resilient journey of Sumit Suneja and his vision behind building and scaling Merlin Brands.

What you must not miss!

• Survival tip: Keep pivoting!
• The power of 4 AM
• Merlin’s revenue generation model