Founder Thesis

How did Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah turn LEAD School into one of India’s most impactful edtech unicorns transforming affordable private schools? In this episode, they reveal how their mission-driven journey is reshaping the future of K12 education in India.

Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah, co-founders of LEAD School, share their journey from corporate careers at Procter & Gamble to building India’s largest school-first edtech platform. LEAD School began as a single school experiment and scaled into a nationwide network serving millions of students through its school-in-a-box model. In this candid conversation with Akshay Datt, they discuss their motivations, early failures, the pivot from running schools to partnering with them, and why they believe equity in education is India’s biggest opportunity. This episode is timely as India’s K12 market undergoes massive change with NEP 2020, funding winter pressures, and edtech consolidation. Listeners will gain unique insights into sustainable scaling, contrarian business models, and the future of affordable education in emerging markets.

• How LEAD School grew from 1 school to an edtech unicorn
• Lessons from building during India’s edtech funding winter
• Why a school-first model beats B2C in K12 education
• Macro trends like NEP 2020 reshaping India’s education sector
• Founder insights on teacher training, student outcomes and sustainable growth

Subscribe to the Founder Thesis Podcast
Follow us on LinkedIn (podm.in/ad) for exclusive content
Visit founderthesis.com for more founder stories

00:00 - Sumeet Mehta and Smita Deorah’s early influences
04:30 - From P&G careers to finding purpose in education
13:10 - Sabbatical experiments that led to LEAD School
22:00 - Running Zee Learn and lessons in K12 education
31:50 - Founding LEAD School and the first village school
44:15 - Cracking English learning with the ELGA program
57:20 - Scaling from own schools to school-in-a-box model
1:10:00 - Surviving funding winter and finding mission-aligned VCs
1:18:30 - Competing in India’s fragmented K12 edtech market
1:26:50 - Vision to reach 10 million students

#SumeetMehta #SmitaDeorah #LEADSchool #LEADGroup #EdtechUnicorn #K12EducationIndia #AffordablePrivateSchools #NEP2020 #SchoolInABox #EdtechFundingIndia #FutureOfEducationIndia #EducationTechnologyStartups #FoundersInFocus #FounderThesis #AkshayDatt #FundingWinter #IndianStartups #EducationEquity #TeacherTrainingIndia #StudentOutcomes

This week on Founder Thesis podcast host Akshay Datt is in conversation with Hemant Kanoria - Chairman at SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited.

A pioneer in the field of infrastructure finance, Hemant started SREI in 1989 and in the last two and half decades has scaled it to be India's largest integrated infrastructure institutions with an asset base of around USD 5.5 billion. 

But that’s not all, Hemant Kanoria, is also known for his role in creating a wave of rural entrepreneurs through the IT-enabled Sahaj service centre initiative that has created over 50000 village-level entrepreneurs. 

Tune in as this pioneer & thought leader shares his growth story, enjoying the roller coaster journey of managing businesses and about having a solution-oriented mindset. 

Our key takeaways from this episode are: 

* How to build an institution with an engaged & loyal workforce. 

* Decision-making framework for investing & disinvesting. 

* How to deal with large scale external set-backs, such as, the Covid-19 pandemic. 

For more such inspiring & intriguing leadership stories visit our website at www.thepodium.in 

We are also on Instagram at @thepodium.in and have a WhatsApp community of fellow entrepreneurs & start-up enthusiasts at www.podm.in/growwithpodium 

Join us there to stay updated on the latest from The Podium.in 

We all have that one habit which we’ve developed as kids & that’s still stuck with us even as adults. 

Aprameya Radhakrishna, our guest today, recalls that his childhood habit that stayed with him is observing things around him. A habit which helps him a lot today as an entrepreneur to understand things like consumer behaviour and much more. 

A habit we think made him take notice of the nationwide ban on all Chinese apps & a trend towards building desi apps that truly embrace the made in India motto. 

Having worked for over 5 years in the corporate scene before moving on to being a serial entrepreneur & investor Aprameya is now the Co-founder and CEO of Koo - a microblogging platform for vernacular speakers of India. 

He is making sure that everyone in India is able to make their voice heard. 

Talk about going Vocal for Local! 

Tune in as we take you through Aprameya’s exciting journey & listen to him as he shares pearls of wisdom on starting and scaling businesses. 

For more such inspiring & intriguing leadership stories visit our website at www.thepodium.in 

We are also on Instagram at @thepodium.in and have a Whats app community of fellow entrepreneurs & startup enthusiasts at www.podm.in/growwithpodium 

Join us there to stay updated on the latest from The Podium.in 

It may sound weird for a sports enthusiast to be in IIT. Right? 

Well, Saumil Majmudar, our guest today, says that it's possible, and that it's an excuse kids make, there are a lot of people who balance academics and sports. They can coexist!

Sports have always been a part of his life and it's something he assumes should be in life always. 

Saumil Majmudar is the Co-founder, CEO and Managing Director of Sportz Village, which aims to get 100 million children to play. Prior to starting Sportz Village, Saumil was the Founder-CEO of QSupport (one of India's first remote tech support businesses) and worked with Wipro (Global R&D) in the International marketing team.

Saumil holds a B-Tech degree & is a Distinguished Service Alumnus from IIT-Bombay, a PGDM from IIM-Bangalore, a Basic Mountaineering Degree from Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (Uttarkashi) & a Black belt in Karate.

Doesn't it sound incredible? Well that has not been the case from the beginning. 

Tune in to find out how this sports lover had an academic bent to have a science background and finally become an entrepreneur. 

Key takeaways from the show:

*How can Sports & academics co-exist.

*Tips to prepare a business model.

*How to do customer acquisition. 

*What mistakes one must avoid. 

For more such inspiring & intriguing leadership stories visit our website at www.thepodium.in 

We are also on Instagram at @thepodium.in and have a Whats app community of fellow entrepreneurs & startup enthusiasts at www.podm.in/growwithpodium 

Join us there to stay updated on the latest from The Podium.in 

   "Successful businesses are built on deep customer insights about unsolved problems of the customer." This powerful insight from Sanjeev Bikhchandani underscores his entire entrepreneurial philosophy. It's not just about having an idea, but about deeply understanding a genuine customer pain point and offering a real solution – a principle that led to the creation of Naukri.com and the Info Edge empire.

Sanjeev Bikhchandani is the pioneering founder of Info Edge, the parent company of iconic Indian internet brands like Naukri.com, Jeevansathi.com, 99acres.com, and Shiksha.com. Starting with just ₹2,000 from his father's servant quarter in 1990, he launched Naukri.com in 1997 when India had a mere ~14,000 internet users. Info Edge went on to become the first Indian internet company to IPO in 2006. A visionary investor, his early bets in companies like Zomato and PolicyBazaar have yielded multi-billion dollar valuations from initial investments of crores. For his immense contribution to trade and industry, he was awarded the Padma Shri in 2020. Info Edge reported consolidated revenue of ₹2,950.07 crore for FY 2023-24.

Key Insights from the Conversation:

• The Power of Observation: The idea for Naukri.com stemmed from a simple observation of colleagues being more interested in job ads than editorial content, leading to the realization that "jobs are a high-interest category of information".
• The "Drifting Years" Value: The initial years (1990-1997) of exploring various small ventures with little income were crucial for learning, perseverance, and understanding market needs.
• Customer Money Over Investor Money: Focusing on getting customers to pay for your product/service validates the business far more effectively than just raising venture capital.
• Strategic Investing: Info Edge's venture investments were a way to deploy capital when suitable acquisitions weren't available, focusing on startups with "natural traction" and strong founding teams.

Chapters:

(01:53) - From Childhood Dreams of Independence to Early Career Choices

(11:32) - Learnings from Lintas: The Grind, People Skills & Hard Work

(19:06) - IIM Ahmedabad, a Brief Corporate Stint & The Entrepreneurial Plunge

(26:35) - The Birth of Info Edge: The IIM Placement Insight & First Product (Salary Surveys)

(35:08) - Early Ventures: The Trademark Database & Bootstrapping with ₹2000

(44:06) - Launching Naukri.com (1997) & Early Revenue from a Single Call

(49:00) - Navigating the Dot-Com Bubble, Raising VC Funding & The "Repeatable Profitable Unit"

(58:05) - Investment Thesis: Identifying Zomato, PolicyBazaar & What Info Edge Looks For

(01:01:05) - Core Advice for Founders: Customer Focus, Raising Capital Wisely & Perseverance

Hashtags for YouTube:

#SanjeevBikhchandani #InfoEdge #Naukri #StartupIndia #IndianEntrepreneur #Bootstrapping #IPOJourney #VentureCapital #BuildingUnicorns #StartupLessons #Entrepreneurship #MakeInIndia #DigitalIndia #FounderThesis #StartupPodcast

As an IIT Bombay graduate in metallurgical engineering and materials science, trying to figure out his way through life, he was not really sure what he wanted to choose as his field of work per se. A problem-solver, Harsh Shah is always thriving and striving to make an impact. In this episode, he shares with us personal and professional experiences he encountered during his quest. 

Starting Fynd and building it through thick and thin, he takes us back to the process of it, sharing profound insights on how he garnered his way to a successful e-commerce business.  

He is committed to building a seamless consumer experience and revolutionising retail-tech. 

Let’s hear him speak about anything and everything from taking the business live to building strong collaborations, a hyper local presence, building a quality catalog, scaling up, and much more on how the e-commerce model works. 

Key Insights: 

1. Creating customer engagement 
2. Analysing consumer  behaviour 
3. Creating seamless shopping experience
4. Raising funds for a retail-tech business 

"Raising investment should not be celebrated. It's like you are proving that you are unable to generate a profit from your company so that you need to sell your own equity." This contrarian take from Tanutejas Saraswat offers a refreshing perspective on startup funding, emphasizing sustainable business building over the glamour of fundraising. He believes the focus should always be on creating a fundamentally strong business.

Tanutejas Saraswat is the Co-founder and CEO of ShopKirana, a B2B e-commerce platform transforming India's vast unorganized retail sector. An entrepreneur since 2002, Tanutejas has scaled ShopKirana to operate in 15 cities, connecting with 50,000 Kirana stores and achieving a gross revenue of ₹639.16 crore in FY24. The company has raised over $50 million in funding and its private label, Kisan Kirana, became a ₹100 crore profitable brand.

Key Insights from the Conversation:

• The Scalability Lesson: Early ventures like Napster Era and PaintLyfe taught Tanutejas the critical importance of building "scalable ideas," a core principle he applied to ShopKirana.
• Solving Real-World Problems: The B2B concept for ShopKirana was born from co-founder Deepak Dhanotiya's direct observations of his father's Kirana store struggles and his own experiences with FMCG supply chains at P&G.
• The Tier-II Advantage: ShopKirana was strategically headquartered in Indore, allowing deep immersion into Tier-II city dynamics, which became a significant competitive advantage.
• Building Trust in B2B: Tanutejas emphasizes that in the B2B Kirana space, trust and strong relationships with retailers are paramount, often outweighing just price or technology.
• Complementary Co-founder Strengths: The founding team's success is supported by a clear division of responsibilities: Tanutejas on execution and people, Deepak on operations and sustainability, and Sumit on fundraising and finance.

Chapters:

• [0:00:00] - From Selling Wallpapers to Unscalable Ventures: Early Entrepreneurial Lessons
• [0:05:48] - The First "ShopKirana": An Early B2C E-Grocery Experiment
• [0:17:55] - The Pivot: Discovering the Massive B2B Kirana Opportunity
• [0:27:35] - Founding ShopKirana B2B with a Shared Vision
• [0:30:52] - Winning Over Kiranas: Building Trust & a Simple Tech Solution
• [0:45:55] - The Funding Journey: From Angels to InfoEdge's Quick "Yes"
• [0:59:04] - The "Replicate Model": ShopKirana's Playbook for Rapid Tier-II Expansion
• [1:11:04] - ShopKirana Direct & Building an Ecosystem Beyond Supply
• [1:23:00] - Building "Kisan Kirana": From Private Label to a ₹100cr Brand
• [1:32:04] - Explosive Growth: Scaling People, Cities, and Revenue
• [1:37:27] - Co-Founder Dynamics: How Three Different Personalities Drive ShopKirana

Hashtags: #ShopKirana #TanutejasSaraswat #B2BeCommerce #IndianStartups #FounderThesis #KiranaTech #SupplyChainIndia #Tier2India #Entrepreneurship #StartupIndia #MakeInIndia #RetailTech #FMCGIndia #Logistics #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #Bootstrapping #ScalingBusiness #Indore

"Success isn't about greatness. It's about consistency. And those who are consistent are bound for greatness!"

This profound insight from Jitendra Chouksey, founder of Fittr, encapsulates his journey and philosophy. It highlights that sustained effort and adherence to fundamental principles are more crucial for achieving long-term success, both in personal fitness and in building a disruptive business, than sporadic moments of brilliance.

Jitendra Chouksey (JC) is the founder of Fittr, a global online fitness and nutrition community that began as a WhatsApp group in 2014. An "accidental entrepreneur", JC bootstrapped Fittr with just ₹90,000 (approx. $1200), impressively amassing $13 million in cumulative revenue before its first significant funding round. Today, Fittr boasts a community of over 5 million users globally and has raised approximately $17 million in funding. JC's mission is to make 50 million people fit and create numerous careers in the fitness industry.

Key Insights from the Conversation:

• The Accidental Entrepreneur: JC's entrepreneurial journey was born out of a personal fitness transformation and a desire to help friends and family, evolving organically from a WhatsApp group to a Facebook community, and then into a company.
• Bootstrapping to Profitability: Fittr was profitable from its inception while being entirely bootstrapped, demonstrating strong financial discipline and product-market fit before seeking external capital.
• Fundamentals Over Fads: JC champions a "no-BS," science-backed approach to fitness, emphasizing consistency, simplicity, and fundamentals like quantified nutrition, countering prevalent industry myths and quick fixes.
• INFS as a Strategic Moat: The establishment of the Institute of Nutrition and Fitness Sciences (INFS) provides Fittr with a pipeline of certified coaches, ensures quality control, and reinforces its authority in fitness education.
• Navigating Adversity: The conversation touches upon Fittr's journey through financial challenges, including periods of loss, and the strategic pivots and tough decisions made to steer the company back towards sustainable growth.

Chapters:

• 0:00:43 The Accidental Entrepreneur: JC's Unlikely Start
• 0:02:55 From Being Bullied to Fitness Obsession: The Transformation
• 0:06:28 Corporate Life & The Seeds of Fittr: An Unintentional Beginning
• 0:19:43 WhatsApp Group to Facebook Community: Organic Growth
• 0:26:23 Launching SQUATS (Fittr): Bootstrapping with ₹90,000
• 0:31:18 First Year Success: ₹9 Crores Revenue & Building the Coaching Model
• 0:37:17 Founder Fitness & Dispelling Common Indian Fitness Myths
• 0:46:38 The Fundraising Journey: Y Combinator, Sequoia Surge, and Investor Philosophy
• 0:53:01 Building the Founding Team & Navigating Co-founder Challenges
• 1:01:32 Why JC Quit Y Combinator & The Importance of Investor Alignment
• 1:09:30 Fixing the Fitness Problem: Fittr's Community-First Approach
• 1:15:56 The Business Model: Ethics, Non-Marketing, and Long-Term Vision

Hashtags for YouTube Description:

#FounderThesis #JitendraChouksey #Fittr #StartupIndia #Entrepreneurship #FitnessMotivation #HealthTech #Bootstrapping #CommunityBuilding #IndianStartups #OnlineFitness #Nutrition #EntrepreneurJourney #Podcast #StartupStory #MakingIndiaFit #DigitalHealth #Investments #Leadership

Coming from a small village to building one of the fastest-growing viral content websites, WittyFeed, Vinay Singhal has had an intriguing journey. He was the first person in his family to get educated, and hence he was completely clueless about the outside world. This did not dent his determination to arrive at the grand goal that he had set for himself. 

What goal?

To become the richest person in the world! 

Vinay saw someone use a computer once and to him, it was like magic. He says it was love at first sight! He decided that he wanted to be an engineer. 

Oh, by the way, when he discovered the world of the Internet, guess what was the first thing he searched on Google? 

Name of the richest person in the world! 

This led him to start keeping a notepad where he would jot down ideas about how to make a better operating system than what Bill Gates’ company had made!

He started his entrepreneurial journey with Badlega Bharat. In April 2012 he started a FB page that reached a 1 million follower mark in 6 months. He moved onto stupidstation.com and started raking in a fortune via Google Adsense. Till one day the business was taken down in a moment! 

What followed next? Well, tune in to discover how he restarted his journey and eventually created WittyFeed! 

Key takeaways from the show: 

•How to formulate business strategies 

•Mistakes to avoid 

•Insights into starting up a business

Being a modern person in a hidebound culture isn’t easy. Especially when you are a woman because then, your resume is crafted for getting a placement in a ‘good family’. Your qualifications, work experience, education and description all count! 

But, the less the better! 

Just like many other women, this is a part of Anuradha Agarwal’s story as well. However Anuradha chose to author the latter half of her story herself and after a lot of hotchpotch, she finally built Multibhashi, a language learning platform that makes the process of learning fun & engaging. It is one of the best ways to learn English speaking courses through 10 different local languages or vice versa! 

Born out of Anuradha’s sincere determination of helping people learn English, Multibhashi had over 1,00,000 installs by July 2017! Today it has over 1.5 Million learners & over a million downloads on Playstore. 

In today’s episode host, Akshay is in conversation with Anuradha, about her journey of building Multibhashi, about having hopes, being strong and growing through adversities. Tune in listen to the inspiring story of this “she-boss” & for some great insights & ideas on starting up.