Brain Box : The Leadership Podcast

In this podcast episode, Shashi Kumar, the Founder and CEO of Akshayakalpa Organic, discusses his journey from a technology professional to revolutionizing organic farming in India. After a 15-year career in the IT sector in India and the U.S., Kumar returned to India, driven by a desire to change how farming is perceived and practiced.

He, along with 27 ex-Wipro colleagues, founded Akshayakalpa - a crowdfunded initiative focused on organic farming and technology solutions like Stellapps to address challenges in agriculture.

Shashi elaborates on the inspiration behind Akshayakalpa, the emphasis on soil management, dairy farming for consistent cash flow to farmers, and the importance of organic practices.

The discussion also covers the economic, technological, and ecological dimensions of farming, the role of consumers in sustainable agriculture, and Akshayakalpa's future vision.

Shashi's story is a testament to leveraging technology and innovative practices to enhance farming sustainability and profitability.

Timestamps:

02:00 Inception

03:28 Driving Force

05:20 Learnings So Far

09:47 Farmer Entrepreneurship

11:59 Future of Farming

13:53 Selection Criteria

15:26 Consumers

18:20 Vision going forward

In this podcast episode, Shashi Kumar, the Founder and CEO of Akshayakalpa Organic, discusses his journey from a technology professional to revolutionizing organic farming in India. After a 15-year career in the IT sector in India and the U.S., Kumar returned to India, driven by a desire to change how farming is perceived and practiced.

He, along with 27 ex-Wipro colleagues, founded Akshayakalpa - a crowdfunded initiative focused on organic farming and technology solutions like Stellapps to address challenges in agriculture.

Shashi elaborates on the inspiration behind Akshayakalpa, the emphasis on soil management, dairy farming for consistent cash flow to farmers, and the importance of organic practices.

The discussion also covers the economic, technological, and ecological dimensions of farming, the role of consumers in sustainable agriculture, and Akshayakalpa's future vision.

Shashi's story is a testament to leveraging technology and innovative practices to enhance farming sustainability and profitability.

Timestamps:

02:00 Inception

03:28 Driving Force

05:20 Learnings So Far

09:47 Farmer Entrepreneurship

11:59 Future of Farming

13:53 Selection Criteria

15:26 Consumers

18:20 Vision going forward

Welcome to Episode 87! In this special face-to-face interview, our guest, Sudarshan Sarma, former CEO of Carz on Rent and a seasoned leader with experience in Flipkart, Google, and GM, shares profound insights into the auto industry's future and essential leadership traits.

Join us as we delve into the intersection of AI and automotive innovation, discussing how AI is reshaping driving experiences, maintenance, and production logistics.

We also explore the electrification landscape, debating the future of EVs and the critical considerations surrounding infrastructure, sustainability, and market dynamics, especially in India.

Additionally, Sudarshan shares invaluable leadership lessons, emphasizing empathy, clarity of vision, and customer focus as essential traits for effective leadership.

He underscores the importance of customer-centricity and cross-functional collaboration in driving business growth and adaptation to evolving market demands.

Discover how marketing strategies have evolved from placement-based buying to audience-based targeting, leveraging AI and data insights to deliver more relevant and impactful brand experiences across diverse platforms.

Tune in for an engaging discussion that traverses the realms of technology, leadership, and industry dynamics, offering actionable insights for leaders and enthusiasts alike.

Don't miss out on this enlightening conversation! Subscribe now and stay tuned for more thought-provoking episodes.

In the Season 18 curtain raiser, our host, Kaushik Bose talks with Pallavi Jha, who is the Chairperson and Managing Director of Dale Carnegie Training India, with over 21 years of experience leading their India operations.

They discuss a lot about leadership (including introverted leaders), AI, and their impact on organizations. Overall, the discussion offers insight into developing strong, ethical leadership amidst technological transformations.

They begin by discussing how perspectives on leadership have changed globally and in India over the past two decades. Pallavi notes impacts from globalization, technology advances, workforce demographic shifts, and India's emergence on the global stage.

She debunks myths that leaders must be extroverted visionaries and says leadership is situational - we can all lead in different contexts.

The discussion then touches on identifying high-potential leaders.

The focus then changes to the effects and opportunities of artificial intelligence. Pallavi sees both risk and opportunity for leaders in AI's disruption of businesses and jobs.

For employees, she advocates addressing fears through education, reskilling and psychological safety in change processes.

For HR leaders facing new tech demands, Pallavi recommends clarity on AI uses and change management support.

Our host, Kaushik, has an insightful discussion with Sudeshna Basu Roy, CEO of Marg Business Transformation, around her journey in leadership development and change management, what drives success or failure in organization, and considerations around diversity, collaboration and flexible leadership styles.

They have an insightful discussion about how they started with change management, but quickly moved to business coaching and leadership training, which helped them expand pan-India.

They partnered with ProSci, an organization that provides a robust, methodical approach to change management focused on both professionalism and science.

Empathy and collaboration are also emphasized as increasingly important traits for leaders to enable change. Command and control styles are less effective.

Diversity, equity, and women in leadership are discussed. The need to better understand different talents and make the workplace more inclusive is noted.

Allowing flexibility, work-life balance, and adapting to different needs is important for retention and effectiveness. Gender norms and stereotypes are still challenges to address.

In Episode 84, I have a very interesting chat with Sean Linehan, who is the Managing Director for the UK operations of Blue Helion, a boutique consulting firm. He has over 25 years of experience in sales, leadership, and mergers and acquisitions.

Some of the key points we discuss are:

- His methodology for taking sales teams from 70-110% achievement

- How he tackles "Underperformance".

- Organic growth vs Acquisitions

- How & why cultural fit is critical post-acquisition

- Micromanagement

- Large / SMB customers with the intent to being acquired

- The right time to hire M&A consultants

In one of my most interesting chats, I have with me Blake Hutchison, the CEO of Flippa, the leading global marketplace for buying and selling websites, online stores, and digital properties.

Some of the topics we discussed:

- Criticality of sales

- How valuations are data-driven based on extensive transaction history across different business types and metrics; Factors like revenue, growth, costs, category are considered.

- Why founders should focus on product-market fit without investor funding initially.

- Traits needed for a startup founder to be successful

- How mindset differs within regions globally

- Managing cross-functional teams to build high-performing teams

- Branding to be a very effective tool for sustainable growth through organic traffic and referrals.

One of the most interesting chats I had, where Dr. S.P. Mishra of India Career Centre, asked me vey insightful questions which actually got me thinking! This is a long one... but it's super insightful! Enjoy

This is the second webinar of the "Brain Box" Gurukul series, this time with the theme of Sustainability.

In this episode, Sravan, the CEO of iGo, discusses their electric three-wheeled scooter called the BeiGo X4, designed to address sustainability beyond just emissions, focusing on safety, family needs, and women riders.Key features include active balancing assistance and a narrow tilting bridge for unprecedented stability.

Sravan envisions providing the comfort of a car in a small footprint vehicle. He discusses how mobility needs to shift from private vehicle ownership to shared utilization given space constraints in cities.

Sravan also talks about iGo's vision to be a technology supplier rather than OEM, enabling hundreds of brands to build vehicles on their platform for both domestic and export markets.

On the Season 16 finale & what was also our first webinar, Raymond Yeh, whose latest venture is with AI, talks about how this technology is set to disrupt life as we know it.

The Evolution of Marketing: AI, SEO & Influencers.

In this episode, our host, Kaushik Bose, deep dives with Dipti Agarwal, a seasoned marketer with a track record in integrating strategy with creative and content.

They delve into areas such as how to increase website visits, the power of branding, and the impact of AI on the marketing industry.

Dipti offers insights on the transformation of SEO with AI and her entrepreneurial journey with Little Food Diary. She also shares her experiences working on numerous campaigns, including the award-winning Project Streedhan.

Finally, the discussion sheds light on the changing dynamics of working with influencers in the social media landscape.

Timestamps:

00:17 Increasing Website Visits: Strategies and Experiences

02:26 Project Streedhan: A Viral Campaign Success Story

04:53 The Reality of Viral Videos and Their Impact on Business

07:50 The Role of AI in Marketing and Job Security

11:24 Is SEO Dead? A Discussion on the Future of SEO

15:25 Entrepreneurial Journey: Founding Little Food Diary

17:56 The Evolution and Future of Influencer Marketing

On today's show, I have Justin Breen, who after 16 years as a sports journalist built his own company, authored an international best-seller & an Amazon Bestseller across 6 countries!

He's currently the CEO of BrEpic Network, an invitation-only premium connecting platform which connects the visionaries on the planet.

In the opening episode of Season 16, I had the pleasure of speaking to Shyam Kesarwani, an industry veteran with two decades of experience in technology and banking.

We discussed how technology has transformed over the years from starting his career in the early 2000s. Key evolutions highlighted included the rise of the internet, AI/ML and cloud computing.

In banking specifically, Shyam noted the shift from solely branch-based services to fully digital and mobile banking. Emerging technologies like blockchain, cryptocurrencies and more recently chatbots like ChatGPT were also explored.

It was fascinating to gain insights from Shyam on his technology journey and views on where industries may head in the coming years. The podcast provided thought-provoking discussion on both the promises and precautions of rapidly advancing technologies.

Niiamah hosts a podcast for high-performing unconventional leaders and entreprenuers (aka Outliers) who use what makes them different to make a difference.

"It takes something different to lead what is coming."

So, what happens when you put together two podcast hosts who want to be the change?

You get one heck of a 75th episode!

Niiamah & Kaushik have a completely unscripted chat where they discuss leadership through hiring, biggest leadership mistakes, criticality of failures etc. Don't miss this one!

Vandana Tolani, one of the top women leaders in wealth management, sat down for an insightful discussion on her 25+ year career in venture capital and startups.

- We had a very inspiring discussion on her journey breaking barriers as a female leader in the VC world.

- We discussed how dramatically the startup landscape has transformed from the 1990s, when it was still uncommon, to today's global innovators across industries.

- Vandana shared her perspective on the differences between startup ecosystems in India vs. Southeast Asia, where she was based (in Indonesia) for 15 years.

- When assessing founders and ideas to invest in, she emphasized the importance of the "horse before the cart" - focusing first on a founder's traits like resilience over just a promising concept.

- She's also launched her new angel investment network Avinya to support underserved founders at the seed stage with small tickets and mentoring.

For the Season 15 curtain-raiser, Kaushik hosts Jon Davids, who is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO of Influicity, a company that builds brand communities through influencer marketing, social media, podcasts etc. His early entrepreneurship was displayed when as a student in 2004, Jon made $300,000 by building a website with blogs on various topics and getting traffic from MSN, AOL and Yahoo portals by promoting the content. He monetized through Google AdSense.

In 2009, Jon discovered the power of influencers/YouTubers after seeing someone get views in the tens of thousands for fashion videos. He worked with influencers to promote products and drive sales. Jon believes the future is in building communities and using influencers/one's own community to promote products and businesses, not just celebrity endorsements.

His latest ventures Influicity and Demand Scope help clients build communities and also use performance marketing like paid ads to drive shorter term revenue. Jon thinks newsletters, podcasts and owned channels are important to build direct connections with audiences into the future.

In the Season 14 finale, Kaushik talks with growth expert Anuj Mittal about how to achieve exponential scale through a thoughtful approach to sales.

Anuj discusses how he helped P&G (FMCG), Healthians.com (B2C), Zovi.com (D2C) grow massively by redesigning their sales process to eliminate friction and focus solely on meeting customer needs.

He talks through the multi-step process they implemented to naturally upsell customers at each touchpoint.

Anuj shares insights on how to structure an inside sales team for scale without needing extensive training, and how focusing on attention and value over transactions is key.

This discussion provides very useful perspectives, you wouldn't have considered on sales strategy, leadership, and building systems for sustainable growth.

Today's guest is a top entrepreneur and investment leader who has been recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year and Business Leader of the Year in investment management.

With over 20 years of experience ranging from the Big Four firms to being CFO of a $200 billion company, he shares valuable insights on startup success.

In this discussion, he addresses the critical factors investors examine, such as the importance of a compelling value proposition over ideas alone.

We also have very interesting chats around "mindset" like embracing failure and the significance of resilient founders over educational backgrounds alone.

All the way from Canada, I have the Founder of "The Curious Coach" with me on today's show. With his B2B SaaS expertise, we discuss about:

- Importance of Product Market Fit (PMF)

- Scaling in the US markets as compared to Indian markets

- Criticality of failure in achieving success

Check out this 17-minute episode!

In one of the very interesting chats, here are some of the key insights from the episode, with his global experience for nearly 3 decades:

• Retail and brick and mortar businesses can be successful, but they are harder to scale exponentially with technology compared to tech startups, thus leading to the conundrum of VCs preferring tech. However, we also delve into why omnichannel is the strategy needed for the brand.

• The actual TAM (Total Addressable Market) and buying behaviour of the "Real Bharat".

• Value-of-money vs affordability, esp. in India (vis-a-vis US).

• How a company he co-founded garnered a 70% market share in just 6 months!

• Leadership traits he looks for in founders while investing / working with them.

• How Leadership differs when scaling from 0 to 1 versus 1 to 10.

• The actual "Scaling" process.

Pioneering Digital Transformations with Passion and Focus

Sourav Das, the Chief Digital Information Officer of Essel Mining (Aditya Birla Group) shares insights on driving digital transformations and building a technology enabled organization.

Few key takeaways:

• Passionate people who can withstand challenges are the most important hire for digital roles. Focus and can-do attitude are key.

• To win people over, have a belief in the ideas and demonstrate results that match your vision. Trust and credibility come with delivering value.

• The CDIO role requires technical knowledge, behavioral skills to socialize ideas, and business acumen to show how technology benefits the organization.

• Emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, AR/VR and robotics will disrupt lives and businesses in the next decade but analytics and cybersecurity will remain vital.

•If advising his younger self, he would say "Do what you love and love what you do. Follow your dreams and believe in yourself."

Early on in my sales career, I used to think (just like most other people) that “Sales” has a very negative connotation & used to personally prefer “Business Development”. It took me a few years before I realised that I’m genuinely proud to be a Sales guy.

So, today’s guest is Melanie Boucarut, from Sweden, who teaches coaches how to sell without feeling dirty! She's the Founder & CEO of Yes Mistress and I can promise you that her sales insights will absolutely blow you away.

Timestamps:

00:03: Conversation on the Mindset of a Salesperson

00:06: "The Benefits of Having the Right Mindset When Selling"

00:08: "The Mindset of a Successful Sales Conversation"

00:09: Understanding the Sales Mindset: Motivation Beyond Money

00:12: Conversation on Financial Targets and Critical Traits of a Good Salesperson

00:13: "Cultivating Vulnerability and Willingness in Sales Calls"

00:15: Exploring the Journey of Starting a Life Coaching Business

00:17: Conversation on B2C Sales Strategies

00:23: Biggest Myth in Marketing and Advice for the 20 Year Old Self

Ravi Nair, an LLP coach and author of Amazon's bestselling book Weekend Miracle, is the first Guinness World Record holder on Brain Box.

Very interesting discussions ensue - like:

"Can leadership be taught or if it is something that is simply innate", or for that matter "Emotional intelligence?" "Importance of personal belief systems when it comes to becoming a great leader." "Importance of self-reflection and personal beliefs in leadership."

Lastly, everyone operates from two zones: looking good and avoiding looking bad; how this can create issues in communication and relationships.

Timestamps:

00:03: Conversation on Leadership Development and Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs

00:04: Exploring Traits and Belief Systems

00:06: Exploring Self-Limiting Beliefs in Leadership

00:09: The Benefits of Being a Good Leader: Setting Realistic Expectations

00:11: Conversation on Achieving Team Synergy and Motivation

00:12: Exploring the Different Types of Personality Traits in the Workplace

00:16: Exploring the Benefits of Teaching Sales Strategies

00:17: Exploring the Benefits of Introversion in Sales and Leadership

00:21: Exploring the Power of Knowledge Transfer & Guinness World Record for Participating in the Toughest Ultra Hill Marathon in India.

00:25: Exploring the Mind's Relationship to Pain and Pleasure

00:26: The Importance of Physical Health for Leadership Success

00:28: Advice for the 20-Year-Old Self

A serial entrepreneur, Saurabh founded his first startup in the Ed-tech space in 2009, while still in IIT Bombay!

The second one in 2015 in the Agri-Tech space (after his corporate stint).

He then instrumented Swiggy's growth from six cities to 500 in a span of just 6 months!

And then in 2020 worked very closely with Sachin Bansal (Flipkart fame) as CEO of Navi Mutual Fund.

He's now the Co-Founder of Stable Money.

We discuss about hiring, building & getting the best out of teams, scaling from 0-1; 1-5 & 5-10.

Don't miss this episode.. the pearls of wisdom are right there!

In a very interesting chat with the CEO of Vosmos (aka Virtual Cosmos), we discuss a plethora of topics:

- Understanding the Metaverse (or meta-commerce, as he likes to call it) better

- Balancing innovation with risk-taking capability;

- Criticality of trust in culture;

- Importance of marketing & branding;

- Customer experience & how it could be the biggest differentiator.

I had my first guest, Ashish Wattal, in Episode 6 on October 11, 2021. He was then MD at Cisco.

Fast forward exactly 18 months: April 10, 2023.

He returns after exactly 50 episodes as Country Director at Google Cloud to kick-off Season 12!

We discuss in detail around the traits that make him a great leader of multiple high-performing teams:

- Empathy & Compassion

- Criticality of Trust in getting results from the team

- Why communication is the key in achieving aspirational goals & how to go about achieving them

- Team-first mentality

- Individualism within the team

- Importance of Diversity in the team (Not just gender, but also in age)

- How failures set you up for success

- WFH or hybrid

- Importance of discipline & how sports inculcates leadership

- Importance of 'Orzuv' (Wellness in the Kashmiri language)

- How IT & tech has transformed in the past 35 years

- Where he expects India to be going in the next 10-15

- What advice he would give the 20-year old him

I couldn't have expected a more from-the-heart leadership mantras in under 26 minutes!

Transcript: https://share.descript.com/view/zD6NIO1vTxU?t=0.05

On the Season 11 finale, I'm delighted to host Darshan Shetty - currently the General Manager at Continental, who has worked with conglomerates like Bosch in the past. He is also my batchmate from RVCE over 2 decades ago.  

Having been in a whole variety of roles - right from R&D to Project Management to Sales - he shares his leadership mantras on how to develop high-performing teams.

Being an avid sportsperson as well, we also have a brief discussion about the importance of physical health in leadership.

Abhishek Gupta has some of the best credentials there are: He's the CEO of Turbotic, ex-Partner of KPMG & a Board Member. 

My conversation with him is around some of the hottest topics today:

- Leveraging AI in Self-Driving cars

- Utilising AI & Blockchain in HR

- Fail fast-fail safe in startups

- His 5th & 6th Ps in Marketing! 

- How to build an innovative startup (He invests regularly in them)

- Importance of Feedback in Leadership

- His love for ‘polo’

If you have read any of the viral posts about “How all the sharks except Aman Gupta are suffering major losses” .. I have the source. 

He's Ankit Uttam - an author, LinkedIn influencer & a solopreneur. 

There’s a reason, though, that Brain Box is an award winning show by Spotify - we will be digging into the other facets of his life, which aren’t too commonly known - yet are very remarkable! 

We delve into "power of series", how he directed rage to something productive .. to how "Minimum Viable Product" can be applied to any product / service, what it takes to be an influencer .. all the way to his reasons for having 11k+ subscribers on his newsletter!

Customer Experience (CX) is defined as the customers' holistic perception of their experience with your business or brand. It's one of the biggest differentiators to stand-out in a crowded market. So in today's episode, our guest is an expert in CX in both B2B and B2C - Kavitha Ashtakala. 

She also talks about her solopreneurship journey, Individual Social Responsibility (ISR) and how career breaks helped shape her - both professionally and personally. 

After 51 episodes, it gets more and more difficult to have FIRSTS. Anyone who knows me though.. knows I somehow make it happen. On today’s podcast, I have the first Lawyer on my show! He’s one of the leading lawyers in Gurgaon - Advocate Pradeep Kumar Khatana!

If you are like me.. and want to know more than just what-you-see on TV about the legal system, you've got to listen to this!

On this landmark of  launching the 50th episode of Brain Box, on this very special episode - I host someone who is a 2-time entrepreneur, a Certified Yoga Instructor, a Certified Nutritionist & an accomplished Interior Designer, who's delivered projects in Dubai & India. 

She's also been in the Corporate jungle in Dubai & India for over a decade, before starting her own startup as a first generation entrepreneur. 

Oh.. she's also my wife .. and these chats don't get more unscripted and from-the-heart than this!

I love psychology - and it was indeed a very interesting conversation that I had with Mark Fernandes. He's  been recognised as a Global Thought Leader by LinkedIn in 2022; he's the Senior Vice President of HR in Kotak Life, has 17 years of consulting experience across the Big 4 & is a behavioural therapist. Some of the very interesting topics we discuss:

- Why some entrepreneurs succeed?

- How to go from a victim mentality to a victor mentality?

- Why leaders don't seek feedback / take it the right way?

- Why even superhero movies are undergoing a sea change?

- Trait vs Type tools to assess people - and which is better?

One of the most inspiring LinkedIn posts that I happened to see on the New Year of 2023 & I decided I had to get Tamojit on the show! He's currently with PwC in Dubai & is ex-Accenture after completing his MBA from IIM Bangalore. 

We discuss: 

-  Investing in humility & self awareness when the going is good.

- Criticality of self-awareness for leaders

- Don't lose hope when the going gets tough. 

- Importance of networking 

- Put well-being first 

Don't miss this episode!

Today's guest is a Serial Entrepreneur, Amit Goel. He is the Founder of Prodigee Finance - one of the fastest growing NBFCs in the country. We cover aspects of work life balance, how he drives wellness initiatives in his own organisations, his focus on physical and mental wellness etc. 

While the first 9 seasons focused on Leadership, Season 10 is the Season where the focus with my guest leaders is on "Wellness". 

My intent this season is to get Leaders to share their honest experiences with Wellness and what we need to improve.

This particular episode is spun off from the Season 9 finale, which I felt deserved it's own episode by itself.. and here it is!

Most people think that if someone’s successful, they’ve had everything going their way... not true.

Successful people fall, but are able to get up to fight another day. 

For the Season 9 finale, I have one of the most purpose-driven leaders I can personally vouch for!

He’s the CEO & Founder of two companies - both into sustainability. He’s an ISB Hyderabad pass-out and is without a doubt one of the sharpest minds I’ve come across & I personally love his leadership style.

In today's show we discuss:

- Criticality of premier colleges in shaping one's career

- The Product Manager role

- His bootstrapped startups

- Leadership

And wishing you all a Very Happy New Year 2023!

On the penultimate episode of Season 9 (& the year 2022), I have the "Entrepreneur of the Year, 2019", Indonesia. He's also been nominated for Forbes Indonesia’s Most Promising Growth-Stage Startup 2019. In today's show, we discuss:

- How he scaled his business from 0 to a $14 mn in sales in just 6 years. 

- His practical experiences in doing zero-budget marketing!

- How critical culture is in a startup

- His leadership & hiring mantras. 

As 2022 draws to a close, I am delighted to host Deepti Karthik, voted among “The Women Disruptors” & "Marketing Head of the Year”. 

She’s the Senior Vice President of Marketing at DaMENSCH, ex-Nokia, HUL, SnapDeal & Wipro CCL. 

Listen to the show to listen to her very interesting and lucid thoughts on #marketing, #leadership & #startups.

As today's host, Govind Kedia, (Managing Director of Arctic Invent) said "The hunter has become the hunted". 

In today's session, the tables are turned - and Kaushik Bose is the one on the hot seat sharing his learnings on "Generating the first Sales as a startup".

On the first episode of Season 9, we have the opportunity to host Kosta Panagoulias on the show. He's a serial entrepreneur & has just recently made a successful exit from Web4Realty. 

He is also a fellow podcaster, and is the host of the show "Founder Views", considered to be one of the top-rated business podcasts. 

Here we discuss his views on:

- How to scale a bootstrapped company vis-a-vis a funded one

- Hiring

- Real Estate