S2 E11 Jag Chima of iPlix: Hitting Business Hatrick
Maharajas of Scale
Jag Chima is a second-generation businessman of a different kind. He has built multiple businesses, from mobile retailing to real estate to celebrity fitness companies. The interesting thing about each of these companies is that he has timed them well and made a success out of them Jag has scaled them to meaningful heights within the confines of the market that he was working in. A chance discussion led him to launch and scale a celebrity fitness company that has literally trained all Bollywood A-Listers His latest venture is again timed well, focusing on the creator economy. Jag is bringing...
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Sharmin Ali Season 2 Episode 10 : Bringing Emotion and Empathy into content
Maharajas of Scale
Emotion is at the heart of everything that we do as humans. As the adage goes and what we are witnessing with modern day Twitter wars, the pen is mightier than the sword. However, using the right words to evoke the right emotions seems more like an art than science. Can technology help us write as well as Kalidasa or the Bard? This is the place where Sharmin Ali is focusing her energies. Sharmin traces her origins to Shantiniketan, the hallowed place of Rabindranath Tagore. Being a Bengali, Sharmin spent the first few years of her professional in high growth environments such as Mu Sigma and...
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S2 E9: Sabeer Bhatia of Hotmail fame is back with a bang!
Maharajas of Scale
Mention the name Sabeer Bhatia and it evokes memories of startups, the excitement and frenzy of the dot-com era and more. Sabeer Bhatia is a well known name for pre-millenial Indians who all grew up on the dreams of having a startup and exit like Sabeer did with Hotmail. Sabeer and his co-founder arguably kicked off the dot-com boom. The $400+ Million acquisition of Hotmail by the then pre-eminent company Microsoft opened the eyes of entrepreneurs, investors and industry watchers to the possibility of what the internet could bring. Sabeer was the first in a long line of entrepreneurs that...
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S2 E8: Gaurav Mathur of SafeGold : Channeling India's Gold Addiction
Maharajas of Scale
Gaurav Mathur had a life similar to Hrithik Roshan's life in the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. He was on the trading floor of the London Stock Exchange and thought his life was set. He could not believe that someone like him who roamed around in chappals (Indian for flip flops) was doing that kind of work, rubbing shoulders with amazing people and getting paid such insane amount of money. However, something kept nagging at him. That he was a misfit in a large organization and that he had to do something different bigger and run his own organization. After trying his hand at running a PE...
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Winning with a D2C Brand : Pilgrim Cosmetics' Anurag Kedia: Season 2 Episode 7
Maharajas of Scale
What does it take to build a D2C brand? How can we become successful at it? We live in the age of individual and local brands. Not a day passes without us discovering a brand in cosmetics or food or another consumer product introduced to us. The advances made by industries make it possible for anyone to launch brands and products with a bit of work. In this in-depth episode, Co-Founder of the successful spa chain Four Fountains De-Stress Spa and Co-Founder of Pilgrim Cosmetics Anurag Kedia takes us thru his journey, how he spotted the opportunity for a D2C brand, how they succeeded in...
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S2E6 - Bringing health insurance access to millions at scale affordably- Plum's Abhishek Poddar
Maharajas of Scale
People in MSMEs or in the unorganized sector don't have access to health insurance, let alone the right pricing. The result is a large number of uninsured and underinsured with no health insurance benefits. This problem begged for an intervention and that's a problem Abhishek Poddar of PlumHQ is solving.
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LoanTap's Satyam Kumar
Maharajas of Scale
LoanTap's Satyam Kumar enjoyed a cushy life as a senior banking executive. By the mid-2010s, he experienced a glass ceiling and felt that he had plateaued. In addition, the growing Indian vocal and connected millennials, the black swan event of demonetization, and the startup wave pushed the market in a new direction. Users who wanted better products and the Indian Government's Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM Trinity) greatly aided LoanTap's Satyam Kumar's push towards better digital products.
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Magic Pin's Anshoo Sharma : S2 E4
Maharajas of Scale
Anshoo Sharma joined Bain Consulting in Boston and cut his teeth in the world of management consulting. Anshoo moved to India when Bain opened an office and soon moved to the emerging world of Venture Capital. After watching startups rise and fall, he was itching to start one himself. He teamed up with one of his buddies and soon they launched Magic Pin in the world of Hyper-Local in the year 2015.
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S2 E3 : Jumbotail's Karthik Venkateswaran
Maharajas of Scale
Jumbotail's Karthik Venkateswaran is an interesting man. He came from a middle-class background and rose to the rank of a major in the Indian Army. After a decade of serving in the army, his heart bled making an impact.
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S2 E2: Viraj Bahl of Veeba Foods and Sauces
Maharajas of Scale
What's the Unsung Hero of the Kitchen? Sauce. The next time you try your favorite Bhel Puri or Chicken Tikka Masala - imagine the dish without the sauce, and you'll understand. Today, Veeba has grown into one of India's largest foods companies, especially in sauces. They have recreated every imaginable amazing flavor on the planet and brought it closer to us.
info_outlineLoanTap's Satyam Kumar enjoyed a cushy life as a senior banking executive. By the mid-2010s, he experienced a glass ceiling and felt that he had plateaued. In addition, the growing Indian vocal and connected millennials, the black swan event of demonetization, and the startup wave pushed the market in a new direction. Users who wanted better products and the Indian Government's Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, and Mobile (JAM Trinity) greatly aided LoanTap's Satyam Kumar's push towards better digital products.
Driven by the ability to authenticate users electronically and the millions of young users online, LoanTap made a mega push. Backing this mega push was Satyam's ability to raise funding on the back of his experience and the market opportunity. This episode is full of insights into how LoanTap has grown at such a fast pace.