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The Big Picture by Iron Pillar

The Big Picture by Iron Pillar

By Mohanjit Jolly

A series of business conversations led by Mohanjit Jolly, Partner and cofounder, Iron Pillar with global investors, entrepreneurs and C Suite executives on their experience and insights for creating successful global enterprises. Iron Pillar is a growth stage investor in technology enterprises built from India for the world.
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The Big Picture with Shan Kadavil (Co-founder and CEO, FreshtoHome) Part 2

The Big Picture by Iron PillarNov 19, 2021

00:00
13:51
The Big Picture Conversation with Cyrus Wadia, CEO, Activate.org

The Big Picture Conversation with Cyrus Wadia, CEO, Activate.org

Doing good and doing well!In the latest episode of @ironpillar's Big Picture podcast, I had the honor of speaking with @cyrus wadia, a dear friend and one of the most gifted (in the mind and the heart) people I have known for over 25 years! Cyrus is a tech entrepreneur turned sustainability guru. His journey has been nothing short of phenomenal - from multiple degrees from MIT and UC Berkeley, to Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurship, to the White House helping forge sustainability policy, to heading sustainable product at Nike and Amazon, to becoming CEO of @Activate.org, the leading platform for fostering scientist-entrepreneurs.It's the combination of passion, wisdom and action around the topic of sustainability that makes Cyrus so special. The conversation was inspiring and energizing, as Cyrus highlighted critical aspects that are key for large and small companies alike -- leadership, culture, incentives, values and the fact that companies can deliver value for shareholders and the planet! And boy, does the world need that right now:) I hope you enjoy watching this episode as much as I did creating it. We at Iron Pillar are humbled to have Cyrus as part of our prolific Iron Pillar Network. 

Mar 09, 202431:44
The Big Picture Conversation with Kamal Ahluwalia, President, Ikigai

The Big Picture Conversation with Kamal Ahluwalia, President, Ikigai


In this most recent episode of @ironpillar's Big Picture Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with 
@Kamal Ahluwalia, President of @ikigailabs, serial entrepreneur, seasoned technology executive, sports fanatic and esteemed member of the Iron Pillar Network. Kamal has spent over 20 years scaling companies like @apttus and @eightfold.ai, so when he speaks about Product-Market Fit and Go To Market motions, one should pay attention!The conversation was free-flowing and full of incredible "nuggets of wisdom", especially around scaling businesses, focusing on outcomes, and as described eloquently in this snippet, how to think and act like the Navy Seals. It was fun to have another Sikh for the first time on the podcast! Enjoy and, as always, comments and feedback are welcome:)

Feb 12, 202440:59
The Big Picture Conversation with Nitin Jayakrishnan, Cofounder and CEO, Pando

The Big Picture Conversation with Nitin Jayakrishnan, Cofounder and CEO, Pando

Here is a comprehensive conversation with @Nitin Jayakrishnan, co-founder and CEO of @pando, leader in Logistics Cloud SaaS. Nitin is one of the most authentic, humble and visionary entrepreneurs I have met. His journey to founding Pando is absolutely fascinating. One of the lines from the conversation that stood out for me --  "For the brands that we love and live with, for them to keep their promises to us (customers), fulfillment and supply chain technology is the foundation".  We had a wonderful conversation around various topics that should be very helpful to entrepreneurs building world class product companies -- finding product-market fit, refining the go to market motion, going global, scaling the team and constant experimentation. From naming the company to fundraising and scaling the team, @Nitin Jayakrishnan@Abhijeet Manohar and the entire Pando leadership have been thoughtful and analytical in their approach. The @ironpillar team is absolutely thrilled to be associated with this phenomenal company. 

#logistics #cloud #supplychain #saas #venturecapital #vc #growthcapital #thinkbig #goingglobal #visionary #leadership

Jan 03, 202401:15:30
The Big Picture Conversation with Alan Boehme, former CTO H&M, P&G, CocaCola

The Big Picture Conversation with Alan Boehme, former CTO H&M, P&G, CocaCola

Another fun podcast (despite the shaky start, a ton of pearls of wisdom for startup journeys were tossed up during the conversation:))
In the latest edition of @Iron Pillar Big Picture Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with 
@Alan Boehme, the former CTO of @P&G, @Coca-Cola and @H&M, a prolific angel investor and an esteemed member of the Iron Pillar Network (#IPN). We talked about his remarkable journey in tech, his philosophy behind investing, the mistakes he sees entrepreneurs make and the proliferation of global startups. Alan is a wealth of knowledge, as a technologist, operator and investor. From flying cars and agri-tech to selling to large enterprises, this free flowing conversation was fun and enlightening. We at Iron Pillar are fortunate to have Alan as part of the extended family! Thank you Alan!!!

Nov 01, 202347:29
The Big Picture Conversation with Jonathan Flesher - VicePresident, Business Dev and Partnerships-Reddit

The Big Picture Conversation with Jonathan Flesher - VicePresident, Business Dev and Partnerships-Reddit

The art and science of business development!

In the latest version of @ironpillar's Big Picture Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with @Jonathan Flesher, my dear friend, business school classmate, LP, an esteemed member of the Iron Pillar Network and currently the head of business development at @Reddit.Jonathan is a philosophy major turned media and content-centric business development guru, having spent time at legendary companies including @electronic arts, @zynga, and @discord. He discusses the difference between #sales and #businessdevelopment, Jonathan's rules of business development, various BD business models and best practices for #startups. Of course, we had to weave in a bit of #generativeAI for good measure. I hope you enjoy listening to this fun interaction!@Anand Prasanna @Ashok Ananthakrishnan @Ashish Shah @Pavan A. Gupte @Raj Chinai @Sajid Fazalbhoy @Devavrat Jatia @Sanjna Tulsiani @Kyung Baatenburg @Shanthi Pavan @Saleha Osmani @Khalil Al-Awadhi 
#community #IPN #BD #partnership #thoughtleadership #growthcapital #vc #mentorship

May 15, 202340:21
Conversation with Steve Ciesinski, LP, Entrepreneur, Professor

Conversation with Steve Ciesinski, LP, Entrepreneur, Professor

Here is the next episode of @iron pillar Big Picture podcast. In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with @Stephen Ciesinski, an LP, technologist, entrepreneur, professor, former President of @SRI and a distinguished member of the Iron Pillar Network (IPN). In this free flowing conversation, Steve takes us through his prolific professional and academic journey, but most importantly provides his own "nuggets of wisdom" for entrepreneurs:

- The long term vision

- The first product offering (getting out of the blocks)

- Don't confuse 'product' with your 'vision'

- Creating true product-market fit while thinking Big

- Culture trumps Strategy. Choose the early hires very carefully

- Understanding cultures and sales processes for selling into different geographies

There is a reason why Steve has been an admired member of the faculty at @Stanford Graduate School of Business for many years. And we, at Iron Pillar, are truly humbled and honored to have him as part of our family!

@Anand Prasanna @Ashok Ananthakrishnan @Ashish Shah @Pavan A. Gupte @Raj Chinai @Sajid Fazalbhoy

#venture capital #vc #entrepreneurship #startups #growthcapital #community #wisdom #thinkbig #indiarising

Jan 13, 202341:01
The Big Picture conversation with 'Maha'-II

The Big Picture conversation with 'Maha'-II

In this latest episode of @ironpillar's Big Picture conversation, I had the opportunity to speak with @S. V. Mahadevan MD (Dr. Maha), a dear friend, an investor, entrepreneur and distinguished member of the Iron Pillar Network (#IPN). Maha is the former head of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University and practicing physician. In this fun and open conversation, he talks about the life event that triggered his interest in medicine, why he chose emergency medicine in particular and his close relationship with entrepreneurs impacting the world of healthcare.

It was especially fascinating to hear Maha's thoughts around the similarities between entrepreneurs and ER physicians. BTW, he literally wrote the ambulatory protocol used throughout India serving nearly 800 million people.

Dr. Maha is one of the pillars at Iron Pillar especially when it comes to anything related to health-tech. His thought leadership and experience in the US and in India are invaluable for the Iron Pillar team and our portfolio companies. He is a gem and we are honored to have him as part of the Iron Pillar family!

@Anand Prasanna @Ashok Ananthakrishnan @Ashish Shah @Pavan A. Gupte @saleha @Sajid Fazalbhoy @Raj Chinai

#community #digitalhealth #growthcapital #venturecapital #entrepreneurship #VC

Sep 06, 202224:33
The Big Picture conversation with 'Maha' - I

The Big Picture conversation with 'Maha' - I

In this latest episode of @ironpillar's Big Picture conversation, I had the opportunity to speak with @S. V. Mahadevan MD (Dr. Maha), a dear friend, an investor, entrepreneur and distinguished member of the Iron Pillar Network (#IPN). Maha is the former head of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University and practicing physician. In this fun and open conversation, he talks about the life event that triggered his interest in medicine, why he chose emergency medicine in particular and his close relationship with entrepreneurs impacting the world of healthcare.

It was especially fascinating to hear Maha's thoughts around the similarities between entrepreneurs and ER physicians. BTW, he literally wrote the ambulatory protocol used throughout India serving nearly 800 million people.

Dr. Maha is one of the pillars at Iron Pillar especially when it comes to anything related to health-tech. His thought leadership and experience in the US and in India are invaluable for the Iron Pillar team and our portfolio companies. He is a gem and we are honored to have him as part of the Iron Pillar family!

@Anand Prasanna @Ashok Ananthakrishnan @Ashish Shah @Pavan A. Gupte @saleha @Sajid Fazalbhoy @Raj Chinai

#community #digitalhealth #growthcapital #venturecapital #entrepreneurship #VC

Sep 06, 202206:13
The Big Picture conversation with Ankit Nagori - CEO, Cure Foods

The Big Picture conversation with Ankit Nagori - CEO, Cure Foods

7 hours of sleep, 10 minutes of meditation and 45 minutes of workout -- that particular statement really struck a chord with me in another fantastic Big Picture conversation with @Ankit Nagori, early employee and former Chief Business Officer at @flipkart, co-founder of @cultfit and now founder/CEO of @curefoods, a star company in the @ironpillar portfolio.

Besides creating a work-life balance, Ankit talks about the lessons learned through his Flipkart and Cultfit journeys -- his philosophy of "hard work" and simply putting in the long hours; culture of "customer first"; and enjoying the often long journey of a startup through its ups and downs.

Curefoods is off to the races and the Iron Pillar team could not be more proud! Upward and onward!

Jun 02, 202209:02
The Big Picture conversation with Ankit Nagori- CEO, Cure Foods- Part 2

The Big Picture conversation with Ankit Nagori- CEO, Cure Foods- Part 2

7 hours of sleep, 10 minutes of meditation and 45 minutes of workout -- that particular statement really struck a chord with me in another fantastic Big Picture conversation with @Ankit Nagori, early employee and former Chief Business Officer at @flipkart, co-founder of @cultfit and now founder/CEO of @curefoods, a star company in the @ironpillar portfolio.

Besides creating a work-life balance, Ankit talks about the lessons learned through his Flipkart and Cultfit journeys -- his philosophy of "hard work" and simply putting in the long hours; culture of "customer first"; and enjoying the often long journey of a startup through its ups and downs.

Curefoods is off to the races and the Iron Pillar team could not be more proud! Upward and onward!

Jun 02, 202226:02
The Big Picture with Jay Chakrapani (CTO, GLG) Part 2

The Big Picture with Jay Chakrapani (CTO, GLG) Part 2

In  the latest episode of @ironpillar’s Big Picture podcast, I had a  delightful conversation with @jaychakrapani, my dear friend, MIT  fraternity mate, former CTO of @mcgraw-hill, @barnesandnoble and an  early employee of @trilogyeducation (acquired by @2U) and now CTO at  @glg. Jay is a key member of the  Iron Pillar Network and his expertise is extremely helpful as we  evaluate and invest in companies like @skill-lync disrupting the future  of work and education.

I  tapped into Jay’s remarkable career and especially his insights into  the future or work and future of education, domains that are deeply  important to him and to the Iron Pillar team. I loved his quote "I  have always been drawn to situations where I could apply technology  that could make a large and positive impact to a particular industry or  market"

His core messages for entrepreneurs especially in the Ed-tech space were spot-on. Jay hit on several topics including:

- Adaptive learning

- Never burning bridges

- Differences between bringing about innovation at large companies versus starting something new  – Key question to ask: Is there a “discontinuous growth opportunity” within a given structure

- It’s all about “execution”…ideas are cheap

- Distill your ideas into super small wins that you can deliver within a predictable period of time

- I am not a “zero to one” guy. I like professionalizing the operation post product-market fit

- Why  join IPN – besides the relationship that goes back decade, it’s about  the fact that Iron Pillar thinks globally and back the thinking that  ideas, innovation and businesses are not just for Silicon Valley

- Technology is the big equalizer and bridges the opportunity gap

- Covid has accelerated technology adoption in the way we work and the way we learn. There is going to be a “great equalization” of innovation and Iron Pillar is a new genre of VC that is at the heart of that transition

I  hope you enjoy this incredible conversation with Jay. Thank you Jay for  your endorsement, your generosity and helping the Iron Pillar portfolio  companies, especially those disrupting the Future of Work or Future of  Education.

@Anand Prasanna @Ashok Ananthakrishnan @pavan Gupte @Saleha Osmani @raj chinai @ashish shah @Sajid Fazalbhoy

#edtech #education #futureofwork #growthcapital #vc #venturecapital #innovation #thinkbig

Mar 16, 202213:30
The Big Picture with Jay Chakrapani (CTO, GLG) Part 1

The Big Picture with Jay Chakrapani (CTO, GLG) Part 1

In  the latest episode of @ironpillar’s Big Picture podcast, I had a  delightful conversation with @jaychakrapani, my dear friend, MIT  fraternity mate, former CTO of @mcgraw-hill, @barnesandnoble and an  early employee of @trilogyeducation (acquired by @2U) and now CTO at  @glg. Jay is a key member of the  Iron Pillar Network and his expertise is extremely helpful as we  evaluate and invest in companies like @skill-lync disrupting the future  of work and education.

I  tapped into Jay’s remarkable career and especially his insights into  the future or work and future of education, domains that are deeply  important to him and to the Iron Pillar team. I loved his quote "I  have always been drawn to situations where I could apply technology  that could make a large and positive impact to a particular industry or  market"

His core messages for entrepreneurs especially in the Ed-tech space were spot-on. Jay hit on several topics including:

- Adaptive learning

- Never burning bridges

- Differences between bringing about innovation at large companies versus starting something new  – Key question to ask: Is there a “discontinuous growth opportunity” within a given structure

- It’s all about “execution”…ideas are cheap

- Distill your ideas into super small wins that you can deliver within a predictable period of time

- I am not a “zero to one” guy. I like professionalizing the operation post product-market fit

- Why  join IPN – besides the relationship that goes back decade, it’s about  the fact that Iron Pillar thinks globally and back the thinking that  ideas, innovation and businesses are not just for Silicon Valley

- Technology is the big equalizer and bridges the opportunity gap

- Covid has accelerated technology adoption in the way we work and the way we learn. There is going to be a “great equalization” of innovation and Iron Pillar is a new genre of VC that is at the heart of that transition

I  hope you enjoy this incredible conversation with Jay. Thank you Jay for  your endorsement, your generosity and helping the Iron Pillar portfolio  companies, especially those disrupting the Future of Work or Future of  Education.

@Anand Prasanna @Ashok Ananthakrishnan @pavan Gupte @Saleha Osmani @raj chinai @ashish shah @Sajid Fazalbhoy

#edtech #education #futureofwork #growthcapital #vc #venturecapital #innovation #thinkbig

Mar 16, 202213:07
The Big Picture with Babu Sivadasan (co-founder and CEO of Jiffy.ai) Part 2

The Big Picture with Babu Sivadasan (co-founder and CEO of Jiffy.ai) Part 2

In  this version of the Big Picture podcast, Mohanjit engages in a  free-flowing, candid conversation with Babu Sivadasan, co-founder and  CEO of Jiffy.ai, one of Iron Pillar's latest investments. Babu is a serial entrepreneur, having helped build Stamps.com and  Envestnet from seed to large public companies. With Jiffy, he is on a  mission to deliver on the promise of the intelligent autonomous  enterprise through a SaaS platform combining no-code, NLP, ML, IDP and  AI to automate mid and back office processes for large companies.

There  are several incredible components in this conversation highlighted below  (with time stamps):

3:30: Journey to Silicon Valley and building a team in his home town of Trivendarum

8:30: Committing 20 years to Envestnet, his second company

10:30: Upbringing and values leading to his long term vision

12:20: I love the quote "past performance is not at all a guarantee of future success" (even for serial entrepreneurs)

13:45: Genesis of Jiffy

20:05: Inorganic growth - secrets of successfully acquiring and integrating companies

24:00: Ups and downs in the entrepreneurial journey; willingness to take risk; resilience and willing to lose it all:)

26:25: Co-creating; sharing; being an Angel for other startups30:40: Paanini Foundation -- combining for-profit with non-profit.

37:00: Building culture at Jiffy; Commitment to the cause; balancing ruthless innovation with humility and compassion

42:20: Nuggets of wisdom

45:30: Three compelling reasons for entrepreneurial success

47:15: Why the Iron Pillar partnership

There  is a lot to internalize and digest here, but hopefully you enjoy this  amazing dialog and an incredible entrepreneur and human being.

Mar 13, 202249:35
The Big Picture with Babu Sivadasan (co-founder and CEO of Jiffy.ai) Part 1

The Big Picture with Babu Sivadasan (co-founder and CEO of Jiffy.ai) Part 1

In  this version of the Big Picture podcast, Mohanjit engages in a  free-flowing, candid conversation with Babu Sivadasan, co-founder and  CEO of Jiffy.ai, one of Iron Pillar's latest investments. Babu is a serial entrepreneur, having helped build Stamps.com and  Envestnet from seed to large public companies. With Jiffy, he is on a  mission to deliver on the promise of the intelligent autonomous  enterprise through a SaaS platform combining no-code, NLP, ML, IDP and  AI to automate mid and back office processes for large companies. 

There  are several incredible components in this conversation highlighted below  (with time stamps):

3:30: Journey to Silicon Valley and building a team in his home town of Trivendarum

8:30: Committing 20 years to Envestnet, his second company

10:30: Upbringing and values leading to his long term vision

12:20: I love the quote "past performance is not at all a guarantee of future success" (even for serial entrepreneurs)

13:45: Genesis of Jiffy

20:05: Inorganic growth - secrets of successfully acquiring and integrating companies

24:00: Ups and downs in the entrepreneurial journey; willingness to take risk; resilience and willing to lose it all:)

26:25: Co-creating; sharing; being an Angel for other startups30:40: Paanini Foundation -- combining for-profit with non-profit.

37:00: Building culture at Jiffy; Commitment to the cause; balancing ruthless innovation with humility and compassion

42:20: Nuggets of wisdom

45:30: Three compelling reasons for entrepreneurial success

47:15: Why the Iron Pillar partnership

There  is a lot to internalize and digest here, but hopefully you enjoy this  amazing dialog and an incredible entrepreneur and human being.

Mar 13, 202206:58
The Big Picture with Vijay Sundaram (Chief Strategy Officer, Zoho) Part 2

The Big Picture with Vijay Sundaram (Chief Strategy Officer, Zoho) Part 2

In  this issue of @Iron Pillar's Big Picture conversation, I had the  pleasure of an incredible dialog with a dear friend, an incredible  technologist, entrepreneur, member of the Iron Pillar Network and now  the Chief Strategy Officer at @zoho...@vijaysundaram. As always, Vijay  was articulate, charismatic and had nuggets of brilliance to share:

-  Belief and persistence go hand in hand as an entrepreneur. I loved the  quote "rarity of the talent is not in the skill but in the persistence"

-  Unconventionality. In Zoho's case, everything from their location to  hiring to appraisal process, product management and working with  customers is truly unconventional

- Build something that people truly want, especially on the world stage, and keep iterating

And  when asked about why he continues to help others, especially Indian  entrepreneurs, he emotionally responded with a three-pronged answer --  "a sense of purpose", "building something sustainable" and being  involved with "amazing people".

It  was an absolute delight to have this free-flowing conversation with  Vijay. The Iron Pillar team is humbled and honored to have someone of  his caliber as part of the extended Iron Pillar family. Thank you!

Feb 04, 202240:27
The Big Picture with Vijay Sundaram (Chief Strategy Officer, Zoho) Part 1

The Big Picture with Vijay Sundaram (Chief Strategy Officer, Zoho) Part 1

In  this issue of @Iron Pillar's Big Picture conversation, I had the  pleasure of an incredible dialog with a dear friend, an incredible  technologist, entrepreneur, member of the Iron Pillar Network and now  the Chief Strategy Officer at @zoho...@vijaysundaram. As always, Vijay  was articulate, charismatic and had nuggets of brilliance to share:

-  Belief and persistence go hand in hand as an entrepreneur. I loved the  quote "rarity of the talent is not in the skill but in the persistence"

-  Unconventionality. In Zoho's case, everything from their location to  hiring to appraisal process, product management and working with  customers is truly unconventional

- Build something that people truly want, especially on the world stage, and keep iterating

And  when asked about why he continues to help others, especially Indian  entrepreneurs, he emotionally responded with a three-pronged answer --  "a sense of purpose", "building something sustainable" and being  involved with "amazing people".

It  was an absolute delight to have this free-flowing conversation with  Vijay. The Iron Pillar team is humbled and honored to have someone of  his caliber as part of the extended Iron Pillar family. Thank you!

Feb 04, 202209:49
The Big Picture with Aakash Kumar (Angel Investor, SVP of Growth - Disney Hotstar)

The Big Picture with Aakash Kumar (Angel Investor, SVP of Growth - Disney Hotstar)

The Big Picture with Aakash Kumar (Angel Investor, SVP of Growth - Disney Hotstar)

Dec 17, 202154:39
The Big Picture with Dan Decasper (VP Engineering, Google) Part 2

The Big Picture with Dan Decasper (VP Engineering, Google) Part 2

An entrepreneur turned tech exec, Dan has had an interesting journey  from a PhD in Europe to CTO at Pure Storage (when the interview was  conducted). He is now VP Engineering at Google. He has some "spot on"  advice for entrepreneurs: Focus on the right team and a large  addressable market; keep in mind the time to market and think about the  market not as it is today, but as it will be when as and when the  product is robust; and be flexible and ready to pivot if needed. Like  others in the Iron Pillar Network, Dan is experienced both as a serial  entrepreneur as well as a senior executive so he understands the  strengths and weaknesses/ parallels and contrasts between the two.

Dec 06, 202115:10
The Big Picture with Chris Yeh (Managing Partner, Blitzscaling Ventures)

The Big Picture with Chris Yeh (Managing Partner, Blitzscaling Ventures)

Chris is a prolific speaker, author, entrepreneur and investor. He is perhaps best known for his top selling book Blitzscaling that he co-authored with Reid Hoffman. His concept of blitzscaling is all about a focus on hypergrowth in a winner take most or winner take all categories. It's about speed over efficiency; growth over profitability; To make that happen is all about having the best people both internally and as advisors and building incredible networks of people and also network effects where each new member of the network increases the value of the network itself. Keywords: blitzscale, networks, network effects, hyperscale, growth, advisors, mentors, village, tribe

Dec 01, 202134:43
The Big Picture with Sreevathsa Prabhakar (CEO, Servify) Part 2

The Big Picture with Sreevathsa Prabhakar (CEO, Servify) Part 2

Sree is a "force of nature" disrupting the post sales service and  insurance business globally, initially for mobile phones. Servify is the  exclusive partner for Apple and Samsung for their Apple Care and  Samsung Care warranty programs. Sree has an incredible combination of  humility, brilliance and aspiration. He wants to create the largest post  sales, insurance tech company in the world. And he is well on his way.  He talks about his journey as a new hire working for an India consumer  goods company to serial tech entrepreneurship. How he was influenced by  his family and how people are the most important ingredient in any  venture. He talks about "opportunity in adversity", especially having to  overcome headwinds during the pandemic. The other driver for him is the  concept of authentic "partnership" which he has with the mobile OEMs  like Apple and Samsung. While investors often struggled to understand  his business, he eventually let the company performance drive home the  opportunity, and now investors are lining up. Keywords: grit,  persistence, iphone, apple, samsung, warranty, insurance, lifecycle,  humility

Dec 01, 202116:04
The Big Picture with Sreevathsa Prabhakar (CEO, Servify) Part 1

The Big Picture with Sreevathsa Prabhakar (CEO, Servify) Part 1

Sree is a "force of nature" disrupting the post sales service and insurance business globally, initially for mobile phones. Servify is the exclusive partner for Apple and Samsung for their Apple Care and Samsung Care warranty programs. Sree has an incredible combination of humility, brilliance and aspiration. He wants to create the largest post sales, insurance tech company in the world. And he is well on his way. He talks about his journey as a new hire working for an India consumer goods company to serial tech entrepreneurship. How he was influenced by his family and how people are the most important ingredient in any venture. He talks about "opportunity in adversity", especially having to overcome headwinds during the pandemic. The other driver for him is the concept of authentic "partnership" which he has with the mobile OEMs like Apple and Samsung. While investors often struggled to understand his business, he eventually let the company performance drive home the opportunity, and now investors are lining up. Keywords: grit, persistence, iphone, apple, samsung, warranty, insurance, lifecycle, humility

Dec 01, 202107:59
The Big Picture with Dan Decasper (VP Engineering, Google) Part 1

The Big Picture with Dan Decasper (VP Engineering, Google) Part 1

An entrepreneur turned tech exec, Dan has had an interesting journey from a Ph. D. in Europe to CTO at Pure Storage (when the interview was conducted). He is now VP Engineering at Google. He has some "spot on" advice for entrepreneurs: Focus on the right team and a large addressable market; keep in mind the time to market and think about the market not as it is today, but as it will be when as and when the product is robust; and be flexible and ready to pivot if needed. Like others in the Iron Pillar Network, Dan is experienced both as a serial entrepreneur as well as a senior executive so he understands the strengths and weaknesses/ parallels and contrasts between the two.

Dec 01, 202104:05
The Big Picture with Sandeep Johri (Board Member, Tricentis) Part 2

The Big Picture with Sandeep Johri (Board Member, Tricentis) Part 2

Sandeep brings a really unique perspective to the Iron Pillar Network  because he has been a serial entrepreneur, a prolific angel investor, a  tech exec (he ran HP's cloud business) and most recently grew a company  from small fledgling business to a Unicorn (Tricentis). In this  interview he focused on the overall evolution of tech entrepreneurship,  especially in India; what makes silicon valley so special; and his own  tranformational journey at Tricentis. Key words: angel investing, serial  entrepreneurship, emerging markets, unicorn, scaling, silicon valley,  special...

Dec 01, 202104:12
The Big Picture with Sandeep Johri (Board Member, Tricentis) Part 1

The Big Picture with Sandeep Johri (Board Member, Tricentis) Part 1

Sandeep brings a really unique perspective to the Iron Pillar Network because he has been a serial entrepreneur, a prolific angel investor, a tech exec (he ran HP's cloud business) and most recently grew a company from small fledgling business to a Unicorn (Tricentis). In this interview he focused on the overall evolution of tech entrepreneurship, especially in India; what makes silicon valley so special; and his own tranformational journey at Tricentis. Key words: angel investing, serial entrepreneurship, emerging markets, unicorn, scaling, silicon valley, special...

Dec 01, 202102:56
The Big Picture with Simha Sadasiva (Co-founder and CEO, Ushur) Part 2

The Big Picture with Simha Sadasiva (Co-founder and CEO, Ushur) Part 2

Remarkable journey from a techie to an entrepreneur. Simha had never been on an airplane till he was 23 when he moved to the US; cadid advice for entrepreneurs (serendipity matters; solve a problem that is large and worth solving; is it the right time; are we the right people to solve the problem; when to raise money and how to select the right investors. Keywords: customers, engagement, journeys, artificial intelligence, machine learning, insurance, customer delight...

Dec 01, 202115:11
The Big Picture with Simha Sadasiva (Co-founder and CEO, Ushur) Part 1

The Big Picture with Simha Sadasiva (Co-founder and CEO, Ushur) Part 1

Remarkable journey from a techie to an entrepreneur. Simha had never been on an airplane till he was 23 when he moved to the US; cadid advice for entrepreneurs (serendipity matters; solve a problem that is large and worth solving; is it the right time; are we the right people to solve the problem; when to raise money and how to select the right investors. Keywords: customers, engagement, journeys, artificial intelligence, machine learning, insurance, customer delight...

Dec 01, 202112:46
The Big Picture with Sean Atkins (President, Jelly Smack) Part 2

The Big Picture with Sean Atkins (President, Jelly Smack) Part 2

Sean is a media guru, starting out as an entrepreneur himself (trying to automate the process of buying and selling TV ads) to a industry executive. His journey has taken him through HBO, Discovery, MTV and Bertelsmann, trying to bring innovation in terms of technology and content to various media platforms. He talks about the similarities and differences between being an entrepreneur on the outside, versus being an entrepreneur within a large enterprise. And while there may be resources available, finding the product-market fit, and being able to sell management on the overall ROI create some parallels with startups. Keywords: media, entertainment, audio, music, video, creatives, artists, content...

Dec 01, 202126:16
The Big Picture with Sean Atkins (President, Jelly Smack) Part 1

The Big Picture with Sean Atkins (President, Jelly Smack) Part 1

Sean is a media guru, starting out as an entrepreneur himself (trying to automate the process of buying and selling TV ads) to a industry executive. His journey has taken him through HBO, Discovery, MTV and Bertelsmann, trying to bring innovation in terms of technology and content to various media platforms. He talks about the similarities and differences between being an entrepreneur on the outside, versus being an entrepreneur within a large enterprise. And while there may be resources available, finding the product-market fit, and being able to sell management on the overall ROI create some parallels with startups. Keywords: media, entertainment, audio, music, video, creatives, artists, content...
Dec 01, 202105:38
The Big Picture with Suryanarayan Paneeselvam (Co-founder and CEO, Skill Lync) Part 2

The Big Picture with Suryanarayan Paneeselvam (Co-founder and CEO, Skill Lync) Part 2

Conversation about Surya's journey from college, finding a gap in the market, to launching, pivoting and scaling Skill-lync. The goal is to have tangible takeaways for entrepreneurs -- understanding the key learnings along the way, from the "aha moment" to "finding tailwind in the pandemic" to a "vision for creating a $1B revenue company (not a $1B value company) from India for the world". Key words: skilling, training, education, college, engineering, placement, hiring...

Dec 01, 202120:33
The Big Picture with Suryanarayan Paneeselvam (Co-founder and CEO, Skill Lync) Part 1

The Big Picture with Suryanarayan Paneeselvam (Co-founder and CEO, Skill Lync) Part 1

Conversation about Surya's journey from college, finding a gap in the market, to launching, pivoting and scaling Skill-lync. The goal is to have tangible takeaways for entrepreneurs -- understanding the key learnings along the way, from the "aha moment" to "finding tailwind in the pandemic" to a "vision for creating a $1B revenue company (not a $1B value company) from India for the world". Key words: skilling, training, education, college, engineering, placement, hiring...

Dec 01, 202110:23
The Big Picture with Ezhilarasan Natarajan (Co-founder and CEO, Corestack) Part 2

The Big Picture with Ezhilarasan Natarajan (Co-founder and CEO, Corestack) Part 2

Listen to the customers, not necessarily the investors. Journey from consulting to entrepreneurship and especially getting to initial paying customer before raising a dime of external capital. Aha moment -- enterprise customers were looking for a comprehensive solution from the get-go, rather than a focused point solution (and then extending the product portfolio which is the typical advice from venture investors). Key words: cloud, cost optimization, security, compliance, governance, management...

Nov 23, 202128:51
The Big Picture with Ezhilarasan Natarajan (Co-founder and CEO, Corestack) Part 1

The Big Picture with Ezhilarasan Natarajan (Co-founder and CEO, Corestack) Part 1

Listen to the customers, not necessarily the investors. Journey from consulting to entrepreneurship and especially getting to initial paying customer before raising a dime of external capital. Aha moment -- enterprise customers were looking for a comprehensive solution from the get-go, rather than a focused point solution (and then extending the product portfolio which is the typical advice from venture investors). Key words: cloud, cost optimization, security, compliance, governance, management...

Nov 23, 202110:49
The Big Picture with Karthik Hosanagar (Co-founder and CEO, JumpStart)

The Big Picture with Karthik Hosanagar (Co-founder and CEO, JumpStart)

Karthik is an incredible combination of academic brilliance and business acumen. He is a serial entrepreneur, an angel investor, a renowned professor of marketing at Wharton, a one man incubator (several companies have been launched by his students including Yodle, Warby Parker etc.) with his support and guidance. His newest venture, Jumpcut, is all about democratizing TV and video using data to discover and elevate new talent. Karthik has a keen eye for using broad marketing canvas to create a connection with the customer by leveraging online and offline marketing and branding. He was influential as an advisor during Iron Pillar Fund I, and worked closely with our onmi-channel jewelry company, BlueStone. While on sabbatical from Wharton, he also happened to write a screenplay that he wanted to turn into a movie. That is when he discovered the gaps in the movie/video industry that led to the founding of Jumpcut. Keywords: movies, hollywood, bollywood, talent, discovery, video, artists,

Nov 19, 202153:02
The Big Picture with Shan Kadavil (Co-founder and CEO, FreshtoHome) Part 2

The Big Picture with Shan Kadavil (Co-founder and CEO, FreshtoHome) Part 2

Shan is a serial entrepreneur and someone who made the not so natural leap from gaming (Zynga) to fresh fish. This is the story of bringing technology to actually having an impact and making a difference. Shan decided that there was a better way to get fresh fish and produce from sea shore to the doorstep in 24-36 hours at a competitive price point. He also decided to take the business global from India to the middle east. He dives into the how, when and why of expanding the business from one geography to multiple in India, and then eventually overseas...and the technology leverage that gives him the edge in the market. Keywords: fish, seafood, online grocery, fresh, convenient, value,

Nov 19, 202113:51
The Big Picture with Shan Kadavil (Co-founder and CEO, FreshtoHome) Part 1

The Big Picture with Shan Kadavil (Co-founder and CEO, FreshtoHome) Part 1

Shan is a serial entrepreneur and someone who made the not so natural leap from gaming (Zynga) to fresh fish. This is the story of bringing technology to actually having an impact and making a difference. Shan decided that there was a better way to get fresh fish and produce from sea shore to the doorstep in 24-36 hours at a competitive price point. He also decided to take the business global from India to the middle east. He dives into the how, when and why of expanding the business from one geography to multiple in India, and then eventually overseas...and the technology leverage that gives him the edge in the market. Keywords: fish, seafood, online grocery, fresh, convenient, value,

Nov 19, 202107:08
The Big Picture with Talal Shamoon (CEO, InterTrust) Part 2

The Big Picture with Talal Shamoon (CEO, InterTrust) Part 2

Talal is a hard core computer scientist (multiple degrees from Cornell) but with a passion for Intellectual Property. He was part of the team that developed the original water marking technology for digital rights management. And now, at the helm of Intertrust, focuses on utilizing IP as both a defensive and an offensive strategy. And while execution is still key to success for entrepreneurs, IP can play an important role in terms of differentiation and keeping competition at bay. Keywords: IP, intellectual property, patents, offensive, defensive, strategy, competition, differentiation...

Nov 19, 202127:49
The Big Picture with Talal Shamoon (CEO, InterTrust) Part 1

The Big Picture with Talal Shamoon (CEO, InterTrust) Part 1

Talal is a hard core computer scientist (multiple degrees from Cornell) but with a passion for Intellectual Property. He was part of the team that developed the original water marking technology for digital rights management. And now, at the helm of Intertrust, focuses on utilizing IP as both a defensive and an offensive strategy. And while execution is still key to success for entrepreneurs, IP can play an important role in terms of differentiation and keeping competition at bay. Keywords: IP, intellectual property, patents, offensive, defensive, strategy, competition, differentiation...

Nov 19, 202107:07
The Big Picture with Lars Nilsson (Global Head SDR, Snowflake) Part 2

The Big Picture with Lars Nilsson (Global Head SDR, Snowflake) Part 2

Lars has helped multiple companies go from seed stage to IPO. In the role of heading Sales Development. Now he has the same role at Snowflake. His passion is helping enterpreneurs think through the sales strategy, the sales organization and understanding the difference between sales development and prospecting versus the traditional "closing of the deal" that is associated with sales. He wants to help startups think through creating a sales machine or a sales engine (the top of the funnel as well as the bottom of the funnel). Keywords: sales, sales enablement, creating the funnel, prospecting, organization, relationships, process, systems...

Nov 19, 202116:17
The Big Picture with Lars Nilsson (Global Head SDR, Snowflake) Part 1

The Big Picture with Lars Nilsson (Global Head SDR, Snowflake) Part 1

Lars has helped multiple companies go from seed stage to IPO. In the role of heading Sales Development. Now he has the same role at Snowflake. His passion is helping enterpreneurs think through the sales strategy, the sales organization and understanding the difference between sales development and prospecting versus the traditional "closing of the deal" that is associated with sales. He wants to help startups think through creating a sales machine or a sales engine (the top of the funnel as well as the bottom of the funnel). Keywords: sales, sales enablement, creating the funnel, prospecting, organization, relationships, process, systems...

Nov 19, 202112:42
The Big Picture with Catherine Mohr (President, Intuitive Foundation) Part 1

The Big Picture with Catherine Mohr (President, Intuitive Foundation) Part 1

One of the rare people who is a brilliant engineering and Medical Doctor. Catherine and I used to build solar cars at MIT in the late 80's. Her journey is fascinating from aerospace to surgical robotics at Intuitive. She ran strategy, was instrumental for expanding the business globally and eventually founded the Intuitive Foundation, with the mission of promoting health and advancing health-centric education around the world. Key words: robotics, surgery, remote, health, impact, foundation, education, healing...

Nov 19, 202105:53
The Big Picture with Catherine Mohr (President, Intuitive Foundation) Part 2

The Big Picture with Catherine Mohr (President, Intuitive Foundation) Part 2

One of the rare people who is a brilliant engineering and Medical Doctor. Catherine and I used to build solar cars at MIT in the late 80's. Her journey is fascinating from aerospace to surgical robotics at Intuitive. She ran strategy, was instrumental for expanding the business globally and eventually founded the Intuitive Foundation, with the mission of promoting health and advancing health-centric education around the world. Key words: robotics, surgery, remote, health, impact, foundation, education, healing...

Nov 19, 202125:33