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In this interview we talk to Deepthi Muthuraman who is a senior brand manager at Ascendion, a company that transforms businesses in the digital age. She paints a wonderful story of how Ascendion was able to scale up fast and win clients. She talks about the impact of Generative AI and why a services businesses that is AI led can transform several businesses.

00:00 - Introduction.
01:10 - The story of Ascendion and its AI play.
16:45 - The journey of clients and the transformative aspects of Gen AI
18:20 - The services of Ascendion.
26:42 - Deepthi's leadership journey.

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In this episode with Pavan Sharma, partner at BCL India, a compliance and tax advisory firm, we compare why the #Budget2024 has to be looked at along with the Economic Survey of India. The economic survey showcases the challenges of India with AI, the end of globalisation and menace of climate change. The first thirty minutes we analyse the survey and then we look at the budget and the fiscal position of India.

Part 1: Economic Survey and why its important to understand the budget

00:00 - Introduction to Budget2024 and the Economic Survey.
04:10 - The economic survey is the key for the Budget2024
05:55 - Why the economists are pessimistic for business while growth has been great.
07:20 - End of globalisation and a new world order
10:18 - AI, climate change, inflation, food and the impact on bottom of the pyramid.
14:53 - Why retail investments have grown and why food inflation can slow new investments. 
18:30 - Laws in India still don't support make-in-India.
19:54 - Unemployment is rising and the finance minister addresses this.
21:56 - The tripartite compact: job creation is for the private sector.
24:30 - Taxation and revenue shares with Private, Government and Public sectors.
26:10 - Why AI is not important for the economic survey - energy and job losses
27:45 - Can the farm sector save the county - stay back in villages and become farm-preneurs.
30:25 - Getting back with China.
31:38 - The impact of "toxic" smartphones

Part 2 - Budget 2024

33:19 - The fiscal position of the nation.
34:50 - Individual tax contribution is high and 800 million Indians live on subsidy.
40:10 - The four new castes in India and the nine sub-themes that defines the new India.
41:48 - Direct benefit transfers to first time formal workers.
43:35 -Benefits to SMEs, individual entrepreneurs and larger companies.
46:20 - Taxes, capital gains 
48:57 - The impact on real estate.
51:42 - Buyback taxation and its impact on startups.

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In this episode we talk to Mitesh Shah, co-founder of Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), about how investing is shaping up in the Indian startup ecosystem in 2024, and in the context of the next 18-months.

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In this episode I talk with India's brain-enhancer Kumaar Bagrodia who is also the founder of Neuroleap and Arkni PhotoBioLife. Many of you listening to or watching this podcast would have pondered over the question "how does one punch above your weight mentally?" 

As science proves it, you need to understand the subconscious mind before you want to further enhance your potential. Making this a lifelong endeavour is Kumaar who believes in enhancing human potential with the help of applied neuroscience. 

Neuroscience studies the brain, the nervous system and its impact on behavior and cognitive functions. It strives for a deeper understanding of how the brain’s 100 billion nerve cells are born, grow, and connect. 

When you take the services of Neuroleap, to enhance the brain, the user will not be subject to medication, it is non-invasive and there is no use of AI. In this fascinating conversation Kumaar paints the story of how his startups NeuroLeap (https://www.neuroleap.science) and Arkni PhotoBioLife (https://www.arkniphotobio.life) are helping people lead better lives by enabling them to unlock the potential of their brain.

00:00 - Introduction.
03:05 - Understanding the subconscious mind, the emotional abilities
10:00 - Recognising the patterns of the brain, measuring them.
17:48 - Human intelligence, resolving problems related to stress and pressure, how Neuroleap works and how it helps individuals.
30:00 - Nobody asks you to take charge of your consciousness, how do you fix things at the subconscious level.
35:05 - The outcomes with Neuroleap.
41:52 - Working with clients who have addictions.
44:17 - COVID-19 has impacted the brain and the hungry ghosts in the mind.
53:49 - The role of Arkni PhotoBioLife.
01:09:10 - Helping the individual understand themselves.
01:19:00 - Scaling the business.

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In this episode of theUpStreamLife.com we will talk with Sandeep Hodkasia the founder of AppSecure.Security tells us about how modern brands can secure themselves at very low cost and how Corporations can use white-hats to build new age security.

00:00 - Introduction.
01:30 - Sandeep's love for security.
06:00 - AppSecure's view of security in modern corporations.
10:24 - Working with large customers.
16:39 - Winning businesses as a startup in security.
23:40 - Even the person writing code is responsible for security.
29:30 - The blackhats versus whitehats: where do the whitehats stand
35:48 - The research and AI in security.
41:32 - Corporations should support whitehats.

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In this episode of theUpStreamLife we speak with veteran startup enabler and co-founder of Monet, Abhay Tandon. He talks about why blockchain works for interoperability of loyalty points and the opportunities to get brands to work together in order to win loyal customers in the long run.

00:00 - Introduction.
01:26 - Abhay making the transition back to a startup.
04:28 - Monetising loyalty points and the difficulty in interoperability.
16:35 - Convincing brands to consent to share data.
22:48 - Saving the CFO of the brands costs and convincing them to work on interoperability.
25:30 - Blockchain and decentralisation - the need for decentralisation.
38:34 - The stakeholder management in Monet
45:33 - Convincing brands about tokens.

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In this episode we talk with Ragu Rajaram, EY’s Global Cloud Consulting Leader. Ragu talks about how EY GDS is helping organisations transform in the era of data and AI.

00:00 - Introduction to EY GDS
01:18 - What does EY GDS do?
02:56 - Board room to server conversations.
04:56 - Compliances and technology: blending the two
10:16 - Transformative nature of cloud 
15:06 - Conversations with the C-Suite.
21:08 - Building a strategy for hiring.
26:00 - Managing multiple markets.
31:07 - Being fit as a leader.
35:00 - Working with AI.
40:00 - Working in EY and training talented tech grads.
42:00 - Raj’s inspirations.

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In this episode we talk with Naganand Doraswamy the founder of Ideaspring Capital. He has been a champion of product innovation and deep tech in India for over eight years now. He talks about his journey and learning. He also believes that the deep tech India story has just begun and tells every founder to focus on the sales for success.

00:00 - Introduction to Ideaspring
02:00 - Differentiating between SaaS, deep tech and product innovation
05:20 - Raising capital today and the journey of Ideaspring
11:28 - Convincing LPs and the learning
17:04 - Helping founders to succeed with their product innovation
23:42 - Sales in India and the climb involved.
29:35 - Building companies generative AI
35:00 - The semi-conductor story in India
43:40 - Space and drones as an industry from India
47:40 - Setting the stage for good exits.

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In this episode we speak with Akash Sinha, the CEO and co-founder of Cashfree Payments. We discover how India is changing with digital payments and how the smart phone generation loves easy checkout experiences. 

00:00 - Introduction of Cashfree Payments.
01:05 - The early journey as a developer.
04:42 - Scaling up a company and a product.
05:50 - Transitions in the payment economy in India.
13:27 - Building industry first products.
19:30 - Innovating constantly as a fintech.
26:22 - How traditional businesses are going online in India?
32:00 - Going global as an Indian company.
37:00 - Becoming a leader and managing a large organisation.
41:16 - Payments and the evolution of tech, especially security.
44:30 - New technologies that Akash advices folks to learn.

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In this episode of the India Deep Tech Series, we host the MD of TDK Ventures, Anil Achyuta. Born and raised in Bengaluru, Anil went from being a sportsman to falling in love with deep tech - firstly as an academic and then as an investor. In this podcast he talks about an ever changing world with deep technology, what are the risks and rewards for startups in this community. The interview is a must watch for those who aspire to build businesses with deep tech ideas.

00:00 - Introduction to the podcast 
00:38 - Anil's love for science
01:47 - The TDK Ventures investment thesis
04:32 - Not every scientist should become an entrepreneur
07:07 - Transitioning from science to an investor
09:30 - The need for 'Dream Syndicates' to support deep tech
14:51 - Why we need to come together to solve bigger problems
17:24 - The Tesla example of beating all numbers and expectations
19:13 - Why TDK Ventures takes big bets?
22:47 - The 'Fit' principles of investing
24:59 - Business is about data: upstream, the supply chain, downstream
29:31 - Role of the government in deep tech
30:30 - Impact of Ascend Elements and AM Batteries in the EV industry
34:20 - Building a thesis around 'heat' applications.
36:33 - Quick responses on industries transforming themselves - automotive, energy, healthcare and many more.
44:49 - Impact of AI.
48:29 - The TDK Goodness and what it means for startups 
52:11 - Using sports and its competitive nature as a lesson in investing
55:34 - Learning a lot from people, inspirations and sport. 

In this podcast the startups I talk about are Ascend Elements (https://ascendelements.com), AM Batteries (https://am-batteries.com), Verdagy (https://verdagy.com), Autoflight (https://www.autoflight.com/en/), Ineratec (https://www.ineratec.de/en) & Fasal (https://fasal.co).

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