In this episode of the Ready Set Do podcast w/ Naman Pandey, featured not-expert is Anshuman Kumar. Anshuman is the head of hardware at Matic Robots - whose $1100 smart home robot has been rated by Wired magazine as the best robot vacuum they've ever tested.

All my links: readysetdopodcast.com

What does it really take to build the best robot vacuum in the world—the one that Wired Magazine called “the most impressive cleaner we’ve ever tested”? In this episode I sit down with Anshuman Kumar, Head of Hardware at Matic Robots, to pull back the curtain on seven years of engineering decisions, failures, and counter-intuitive bets that turned a side-project into a category-redefining $1,100 smart-home robot.

Around the ten-minute mark you’ll hear Anshuman roast the entire robot-vacuum industry: he argues current machines “suck” not because suction is weak, but because their perception is worse than a toddler’s. That discussion tees up Matic’s first “aha” moment: teaching the robot to understand rooms the way people do. Leveraging semantic segmentation and a hefty NVIDIA Orin on board, Matic can remember that the “kitchen” is a grease-prone area, or that the dog’s food bowl is an immovable obstacle, and then generate the right cleaning plan without constant app babysitting.

Of course, a smarter robot raises thorny privacy questions. Mid-episode Anshuman outlines the team’s decision to keep all vision processing on the robot, never in the cloud—no images leave your home, period. That choice forced some brutal trade-offs in PCB layout, battery mass, and thermal engineering, but it paid dividends in user trust and latency-free autonomy. He also details how on-device compute enables features like “clean my bedroom before 7 am but skip the nursery,” entirely offline.

Then we get into the juicy stuff: the four most counter-intuitive hardware decisions Matic made and why each one broke conventional wisdom but unlocked breakthrough performance:

1. Sacrificing sheer suction for airflow geometry—because debris intake angle matters more than raw Pascals.

2. Discarding low-profile design; the robot stands noticeably taller to house a larger optical assembly and lift its camera above clutter, boosting coverage accuracy by 30 %.

3. Choosing a louder motor profile at specific frequencies that human ears quickly ignore, trading “whisper-quiet but high-pitch” for a hum that blends into background HVAC noise.

In this episode, our featured not-expert is Varun Negandhi — founder of Beyond Grad, where he has coached 1,000+ experienced professionals into top-tier roles worldwide.

Varun shares exclusive interview-coaching insights from his 21-Day Interview Mastery cohorts. We cover practical frameworks for every interview-question type and the psychology of endearing yourself to any interviewer, no matter the industry, role, or career stage.

All my links
readysetdopodcast.com

Resources
Varun on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vnegandhi/
Beyond Grad: https://beyondgrad.com

Timestamps

00:00 Intro + Background
02:11 The ONLY interview question you can prepare for and nail every time
04:24 Naman answers “Tell Me About Yourself”
06:26 Varun critiques (roasts) Naman’s response
09:53 The Three-Act Structure for “Tell Me About Yourself”
13:31 How to communicate the “fit” even when it isn’t obvious
16:06 Beginner frameworks for answering behavioral questions
20:28 Can you just “wing” behavioral questions?
23:15 The simply GENIUS framework for answering behavioral questions
27:26 Common interview pitfalls: navigating experience and anxiety
32:46 Why conclusions for ALL your responses are so underrated
35:10 Is my Indian accent holding me back in interviews?
39:19 Leveraging AI for interview preparation
43:25 Psychological tricks to endear yourself to interviewers
48:55 Battling anxiety before and during interviews
52:20 Overcoming overwhelm: the journey to interview mastery

In this episode, our featured not-expert is Farah Fallah Toosi.
This is a special crossover between the podcast and my YouTube series Build Your Own App, where we spotlight cutting-edge AI tools for everyday creators. Farah and I walk through multiple ways to build a fully customizable personal portfolio site that helps you stand out to recruiters. You’ll see a complete start-to-end demo using Lovable (host your site for free!), a quick tour of Webflow, back-end options, and a side-by-side comparison of today’s most prominent AI site-building tools (mid-May 2025).

All my socials
readysetdopodcast.com

Farah on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/farahenley/

Timestamps

00:00 Intro + Background
02:54 Why a portfolio site is a must-have to get hired
05:42 Overview of AI tools
14:48 Intro to Lovable
20:25 Generating the first version of the portfolio site
30:31 Making updates and deploying
33:57 Webflow overview
37:05 Comparative analysis of AI tools (May 2025)
43:12 Outro + subscribe for more vibe-coding demos!

In this episode featured not-expert is ... it's me. In this episode, my nephew, Akshansh who has been a featured not-expert on this show in the past asks me questions about how he can walk a path similar to the one I walked when I started my Masters from the US about 5 years ago from Purdue University before moving to Chicago for work, where I've been living for the past 3 years now.All my links/socials: campsite.bio/readysetdoTimestamps:00:00 Introduction + Background03:44 Key Components of a Strong Student Profile05:47 GRE is optional but take it anyway?06:45 Understanding GPA and Its Importance09:28 What is a safe tier 2 college GPA?11:06 Why Study Abroad? Benefits and ROI14:45 Differences in Educational Approaches17:27 Why Naman went for MS in US and not MBA/GATE20:56 Play games you're good at25:22 How eng students can figure out which course is best for them32:06 You can never run away from tech if you pick MS in USA37:11 Passion is overrated, optimize for practicality39:43 Is America still the premier study abroad destination?44:06 Crafting a Standout Application49:45 Final Thoughts and Reflections

In this episode featured not-expert is Beni Wilson. Our discussion today centers around Beni's first visit to India, and we explore his experiences thru the perspective of an American traveling to India for the first time. We start with the similarities between America and India, which might surprise you actually, and then move on to covering the differences, starting with the smaller ones all the way to the largest. Some of the topics we cover, esp around religion can be slightly uncomfortable for certain people, so viewer discretion is advised.Support the Ready Set Do podcast across various social media:campsite.bio/readysetdoTimestamps:00:00:00 Background + Introduction00:03:16 Similarity 1 - Airports00:05:09 similarity 2 - withheld lol00:06:59 similarity 3 - church00:10:39 differences overview00:13:09 languages of india00:15:54 street and home-cooked foods of india00:21:31 people of india are friendlier than americans?00:23:52 shoutout to raghav, girl on a plane and wedding parade00:25:49 being asked for selfies and aggressive sales-y Kolkata people00:29:00 on safety and being alone in a deserted Howrah back alley00:32:19 on touristy sites and tourism experience in Kolkata and Udaipur00:38:19 heidi00:39:26 pollution00:43:17 why is there littering?00:45:34 gratefulness for what america has00:49:10 cheap manual labor & life in general00:51:14 religiosity, spirituality & hinduism aesthetics00:59:03 the ideal trip length to india01:00:51 critical things every american visiting india must know01:05:02 special mention - food

In this episode, featured not-expert is Suchit Sikaria. Suchit is the founder of Crucible Institute, a business school that is seeking to completely revamp higher business education in India - by optimizing for practical skills needed for digital first businesses (which the world (including india of course) is currently seeing a boom of) instead of outdated theory taught by industry professionals and with a fee structure that's super unique.

Support/connect with me: campsite.bio/readysetdo

Timestamps:00:00 Intro + Background

02:06 The State of MBA Education in India

03:31 Identifying Core Issues in MBA Programs

07:53 The Disconnect Between Education and Industry Needs

11:10 Curriculum Relevance and Evolution

13:16 The Role of Faculty in MBA Education

16:12 The Admission Process and Its Implications

20:12 Case-Based Learning Is Broken Too

22:07 Teaching Methodologies and Practical Applications

25:29 Industry Collaboration and Student Outcomes

26:41 The Crucible Model: A New Approach to Education

28:59 What Makes Crucible Different

31:36 Optimizing Curriculum for Digital-First Businesses

33:06 Innovative Course Offerings for Job Readiness

34:50 Course Duration

37:26 Solution to “Who Is Going to Teach?”

40:40 Content Is King—even While Designing a B-School

41:29 Learning Design and Course Structure

43:14 Tuition Fee Depends on Your Salary

49:17 Challenges and Pitfalls of the Fee Model

53:35 Core Values and Brand Purpose

n this episode, featured not-expert is Shifra Isaacs. Shifra is a Developer Relations Advocate at Ascend.io and this is part 2 of my 2-part conversation with her. the topic of this discussion is how professionals in any industry can and should be leveraging LinkedIn to grow their careers and networks, pivot to better toles, and build their personal brands. All my socials: campsite.bio/readysetdoSupport the podcast: campsite.bio/readysetdoTimestamps:00:00 Intro + Background01:47 Why must linkedin suck so much03:30 benefits of posting on linkedin?07:16 How and WHAT to post on linkedin10:19 how to battle the cringe12:59 standing out is actually easy15:03 Leveraging AI on linkedin and elsewhere

in this episode, featured not-expert is Shifra Isaacs. Shifra is a Developer Relations Advocate at Ascend.io and this is part 1 of my 2-part conversation with her. the topic of our discussion is how to switch to a career in tech - esp if you come from a non technical background - like Shifra, who had a background in music before becoming a data scientist and finally pivoting to the DevRel role.All my links: campsite.bio/readysetdoSupport the Ready Set Do podcast: campsite.bio/readysetdo

Timestamps:00:00 Intro + background01:45 Teaching about tech despite not coming "from" tech04:02 From Music to Data: A Career Transition06:41 Do what you like... not what you love08:49 "Finding" data science10:23 Dipping toes into the world of tech13:18 Breaking into Tech: Advice for Career Switchers16:31 Understanding the Field: Skills and Tools19:19 Finding Your Niche: Industry Insights22:32 Current Role: Developer Relations Advocate25:20 Technical Documentation and Community Building26:28 The Role of Mentorship in Learning29:16 Crafting Educational Content

In this episode featured not-expert is Matt Williams.

Matt is the Founder of the Approachable app, which helps people find friends to explore their city or go to events with - in a day and age where adults are lonelier than ever in AmericaPlease support the podcast by subscribing on Spotify/Apple Podcasts/any of your favorite podcast apps

All my links: campsite.bio/readysetdo

Timestamps:00:00 Intro + background02:34  Why did Matt build Approachable05:18  On pivoting away from the original AR platform idea08:24  If decent alternatives exist, should founders not build?11:07  Build process for the app14:09  “Do not hire US Engineers to build your apps”18:10  When do you know app is good enough to ship?19:59  What was the near‑term plan POST launch?22:36  Pitch decks and pitching for investment24:21  Revenue & making $18 K on launch party26:53  Individual people posting events is not the focus anymore29:14  Learnings about human psychology from user behavior data31:07  Security concerns arising from people meeting in‑person33:17  Conducting regular user interviews34:30  Differences in how both sexes behave on the app36:39  Leveraging Apple iOS Store data to drive UI/UX decisions41:27  Finding a unique niche amongst other in‑person social apps44:07  Outro + gratitude ​

In this episode featured not-expert is Sam LaFell. Sam is a Solutions Architect at Snowflake and has extensive past experience as a data engineer, which is the subject of our conversation today.

All the links to support me:

campsite.bio/readysetdo

campsite.bio/readysetdo

campsite.bio/readysetdo

Resources:

Sam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samlafell/

Timestamps:00:00 - Background + Introduction01:39 - Sam's hot take on Data Engineering 03:26 - Delineating the three data fields - science, analytics + engineering 06:48 - The Lifecycle of Data Pipelines 08:12 - Why are data pipelines not a one-and-done? 11:36 - Switching into a tech career from comms background 16:21 - Getting A Masters in Analytics 17:15 - Switching to Data Engineering position 19:21 - Teaching oneself Python without any background 21:13 - WHY Data Engineering? 24:26 - Skills, resources and tools required for switching to data engineering 26:03 - Example of a GOOD data engineering project 28:36 - BUILD THIS PROJECT TO GET HIRED! 33:36 - Must-know TOOLS for data engineering and for your resume 35:13 - The Role of a Solutions Architect 38:52 - Story-telling is a key skill for solution architects 40:31 - AI's Impact on Data Engineering 43:21 - Outro + Gratitude