MindGravity.

Have you ever been in a life-threatening or life-ending situation or condition or diagnosis? Do you remember what it feels like? People tend to promise themselves and everyone around them that they will live differently. They promise to live differently because they understand, or rather forced into understanding the fragility of life, and the unfulfilled promises. That is the greatest fear that drives us. Everything comes racing down to your mind -- the people you loved, your family, your friends, the dreams that may remain a dream. When life’s fragility is primed, people’s goals and motives in their everyday lives shift completely. It’s perspective, not age, that matters the most.

Artem Gassan is the General Partner (GP) at SaaS Growth Ventures and has +4 years of early-stage investing and was a founder of 4 startups with 2 exits. Former Partner and EIR at Upshift Partners and 500 Startups where he invested and helped to scale sales, and revenue for over 50+ portfolio companies. He has and reviewed over 1,000 investments for Fund IV at 500 Startups and accelerator.

On today's episode we talk about:

You can reach Artem via Linkedin or email him directly on [email protected]

You can follow or reach out to me, your host Rohan Handa on Twitter, Linkedin, or email me at [email protected].

Ever wonder why we sometimes get so engrossed in certain activities that we lose track of time? Listen on to learn more. 

Dr. Mihaela Ulieru is currently the Chief Alchemist at SingularityNET and President of the IMPACT Institute for the Digital Economy. The broadness of her background and expertise enable Dr. Ulieru to tackle problems from original perspectives which require a high level of interdisciplinarity - such as her large scale international collaborative projects aiming to make ICTs an integral component of policymaking for social innovation generation for a healthier, safer, more sustainable, and innovation-driven world Future of Medicine, Living Technologies - book chapter here and Emulating the Mind, recently coined in a book. 

On this episode we talk about:

Reach out to Dr. Mihaela Ulieru via Linkedin.

You can follow or reach out to me, your host Rohan Handa on Twitter, Linkedin, or email me at [email protected].

We are living in a world where no one wants to listen, and everyone wants to be heard. In that world, truth, facts seeking, and credible information doesn't matter as long as you are the loudest voice in the room. There is no intellectual humility, and the race is always on to make a point. This episode discusses the importance of intellectual humility and how we can have better conversations only when we try to be open-minded no matter how polar opposite the thoughts may be. Enjoy!

You can follow me on Twitter, Linkedin, or email me at [email protected]. 

Sankaet Pathak is the Co-founder and CEO of Synapse. Synapse is a San Francisco-based startup that operates a platform enabling banks and fintech companies to easily develop financial services products. It closed a $33 million Series B in 2019 bringing the total funds raised to $50 million, aiming to democratize and become the AWS of financial services. The backers of this startup include Andreessen Horowitz, Core Innovation Capital, and Trinity Ventures.

On this episode you will hear:

Reach out to Sankaet and Synapse to learn more on Linkedin and Twitter.

You can follow or reach out to me, your host Rohan Handa on Twitter, Linkedin, or email me at [email protected].

Darshan Vaidya a derivatives trader from the UK turned founder of the startup called X-margin. X-Margin is looking to transform the way derivatives are margined and settled, using zero-knowledge technology to disintermediate traditional clearinghouses. X-Margin recently closed its seed round raising capital from renowned venture funds like Polychain Capital, XBTO, and several other angel investors.

I have personally been fascinated by zero-knowledge technology so we go deep into the weeds of it. On this episode, you will hear about:

1. Darshan's backstory and what got him excited about the cryptocurrency space

2. What problems did he see in the traditional financial trading space? How he aims to solve that using zero-knowledge proof and analytics?

3. What are zero-knowledge proofs, and more importantly X-Margin?

4. What is so hard about building a startup? What role does a team play in getting things done?

5. Looking back, what are somethings he would like to change?

Reach out to Darshan and X-Margin to learn more

Twitter: @xmargintrading, @darshanvaidya

You can follow me, your host Rohan Handa on Twitter, Linkedin, or email me at [email protected].

Loneliness can be emotionally and physically draining. Don't let your loved ones, friends, and family suffer through it alone. Reach out, and be there. 

You can follow me on Twitter, Linkedin, or email me at [email protected].

Kartik Tiwari has a background in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and was the CTO and co-founder of Starsky Robotics, a driverless truck startup that aimed to make roads safer and allow truck drivers to work closer to home.

Starsky began moving freight on the highway in early 2017, and one year later became the first company to take the safety driver out of a truck when it drove fully unmanned for seven miles on a closed road in Florida. In June 2019, Starsky did the first-ever fully-unmanned test on a public highway with live traffic. But was shut down in early 2020 after raising over $20 million in venture capital from the likes of Shasta Ventures and Unshackled Ventures.

In today's episode you will learn:

1. What was Kartik's journey from India to the US, and his leap of faith into the startup world

2. What is the entrepreneur's dilemma and how to go about it?

3. What are the challenges of starting a startup in the unmanned vehicle sector?

4. How does the team impact the development of products and technology in a space where things have not been built before? What kind of dynamic should exist?

Contact: Linkedin, Kartik Tiwari

You can follow me on Twitter, Linkedin, or email me at [email protected].

My personal interest in meditation and yoga is the inspiration behind this episode and how Eastern practices teach us how to attain sync with mind and body. In this episode you will get to learn the 8 stages of Yoga, and what those stages mean. Enjoy!

You can follow me on Twitter, Linkedin, or email me at [email protected]