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X-Unicorns by Blume Ventures

X-Unicorns by Blume Ventures

By Blume Ventures

When first introduced into venture parlance, the definition of a Unicorn was strictly limited to a privately-held company valued at over $1 billion within a decade of its existence. In 2013, this definition applied to only a few Indian companies such as InMobi and Flipkart. It is now becoming clear that India is birthing new variants of this mythical creature - the zebras, the hippos, and the rhinos of the venture kingdom and we're calling them ‘X-Unicorns’. In this series, we celebrate founders who play it by their rules, taking unconventional, or even long-drawn-out paths to get there.
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Episode 9. Naveen Tewari on the quest for a purposeful life, the beauty of creating versus competing, and building a culture of compounding trust

X-Unicorns by Blume VenturesDec 13, 2022

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47:41
Episode 9. Naveen Tewari on the quest for a purposeful life, the beauty of creating versus competing, and building a culture of compounding trust

Episode 9. Naveen Tewari on the quest for a purposeful life, the beauty of creating versus competing, and building a culture of compounding trust

In the finale episode, Sanjay Nath chats up Naveen Tewari of InMobi on building two unicorns, creating an "institution" vs an organization, and not getting phased by feedback. Sanjay also shares how Naveen has been a major influence in his journey of co-founding Blume. Tune in for more.

Dec 13, 202247:41
Episode 8: Manish Taneja on Purplle’s frugality principle, short-term pains vs long-term gains, and niceness as a superpower

Episode 8: Manish Taneja on Purplle’s frugality principle, short-term pains vs long-term gains, and niceness as a superpower

In this episode, Manish Taneja of Purplle tells Ashish Fafadia of Blume about the perils of moving away from your vision because "some VC told you to" and the mistakes that entrepreneurs should avoid in their journey.

Dec 06, 202251:00
Episode 7. Prashant Pitti on being curious rather than cautious, finding talent in-house, and taking the hard call of postponing a carefully planned public listing

Episode 7. Prashant Pitti on being curious rather than cautious, finding talent in-house, and taking the hard call of postponing a carefully planned public listing

In this episode, Karthik B. Reddy sat down with Prashant Pitti of EaseMyTrip to talk about his journey from IIT Madras and working in the US to returning to the homeland and starting up with his brothers.

Nov 29, 202255:21
Episode 6: Ashwin Damera on the wisdom of failure, the best form of fundraising, and unlearning through creative destruction

Episode 6: Ashwin Damera on the wisdom of failure, the best form of fundraising, and unlearning through creative destruction

In this episode of X-Unicorns, Karthik B. Reddy of Blume Ventures sat down with Ashwin Damera of Emeritus Education about the wisdom of failure, the wrong reasons to become an entrepreneur, and the "three box approach" to build a successful business.

Nov 22, 202201:03:07
Episode 5: Nitish Mittersain on entering an industry that didn’t exist, aiming for the stars and landing on the moon, and success being an outcome of EQ

Episode 5: Nitish Mittersain on entering an industry that didn’t exist, aiming for the stars and landing on the moon, and success being an outcome of EQ

In this episode, Arpit Agarwal, Director at Blume Ventures, sat down with Nitish Mittersain of Nazara Technologies on running a listed gaming company. From coding at the age of seven to bouncing back from an incorrectly timed IPO listing decades later, Nitish's unconventional path to success makes him a true X-Unicorn founder.

Nov 15, 202250:10
Episode 4: Srikanth Velamakanni on the inventor’s curse, becoming comfortable with criticism, and building a client-centric data analytics company

Episode 4: Srikanth Velamakanni on the inventor’s curse, becoming comfortable with criticism, and building a client-centric data analytics company

In this episode, Sajith Pai, Director at Blume Ventures, chatted with Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-Founder, Group Chief Executive & Executive Vice Chairman at Fractal Analytics. From being wary of becoming an entrepreneur to succeeding as one for 22 (almost 23!) years now, Srikanth shares the incredible story of starting Fractal, trusting bright 20-somethings in their initial rounds of hiring, and building a people-friendly company.

Nov 08, 202251:13
Episode 3: Aniruddha Sharma on hopium, the need for more competitors in the carbon capture industry, and taking long-term passionate risks for the planet

Episode 3: Aniruddha Sharma on hopium, the need for more competitors in the carbon capture industry, and taking long-term passionate risks for the planet

In conversation with Karthik B. Reddy of Blume Ventures, Aniruddha Sharma of Carbon Clean talks about how he bunked IIT exams to walk the lanes of Sand Hill Road, the personal tragedy that influenced his decision to build in the climate tech space, and what made him stay the course even when there was no venture backing.

Oct 31, 202244:11
Episode 2: Niraj Singh on aspirational purchases, solving for trust, and building the most loved used car platform in India

Episode 2: Niraj Singh on aspirational purchases, solving for trust, and building the most loved used car platform in India

In our maiden X-Unicorns episode, Arpit Agarwal sat down with Niraj Singh of Spinny to discuss his journey from a small town called Daltonganj to becoming a unicorn founder of an online used cars marketplace. After two failed ventures, Niraj hit on his (literal) billion-dollar area with Spinny. But how do you know your idea works? How do you keep going without the validation of venture backing? How do you make sure you hire for success? Tune in for the answers.

Oct 21, 202247:09
Episode 1: The Rise of the X-Unicorns

Episode 1: The Rise of the X-Unicorns

When first introduced into venture parlance, the definition of a Unicorn was strictly limited to a privately-held company valued at over $1 billion within a decade of its existence. In 2013, this definition applied to only a few Indian companies such as InMobi and Flipkart. It is now becoming clear that India is birthing new variants of this mythical creature - the zebras, the hippos, and the rhinos of the venture kingdom and we're calling them ‘X-Unicorns’. In this series, we celebrate founders who play it by their rules, taking unconventional, or even long-drawn-out paths to get there.

Oct 18, 202210:26