Network Capital

In this podcast, we cover -

1. Taking an idea from a side hustle to a thriving business
2. Understanding the nuances of content moderation
3. How humour and kindness scale

Noel is the founder of CurryTraits, a leading private group boasting over 1 million members. With a background in Product Management, Social Media Management, and Community Management, Noel brings a wealth of experience to the table. Additionally, Noel has founded a Social Media Consultancy and has worked for one of Australia’s Largest Financial Institutions, further enriching their expertise in the field.

TN Hari is an advisor and sounding board to numerous young entrepreneurs and startups. He is also a Strategic Advisor at ‘Fundamentum’, which is a homegrown growth phase VC fund set up by Nandan Nilekani and Sanjeev Aggarwal. Hari was the former HR at BigBasket. ​He has studied at IIT & IIM and worked at an executive level with multiple start- ups/scale-ups and has been through four successful exits in different industries (Daksh, Virtusa, Amba Research, TaxiForSure). ​His passion is in scaling organizations through clear thinking and relentless execution. He writes regularly on LinkedIn. LinkedIn identified him as the one of the Top Voices in India for three years in a row (2016, 2017, and 2018). ​He has Co-authored three books. The last two books were “Cut the Crap and Jargon – Lessons from the Startup Trenches” was published by Penguin; and “Cutting the Gordian Knot – India’s Quest for Prosperity” was published by Bloomsbury.

In this podcast, we cover -

1. Frameworks for combining impact with profitability to build a mission driven business

2. The early days of building ReNew: the journey of finding early believers and operating in a ‘blue ocean’

3. Nuances of nurturing talent and championing gender and diversity

Vaishali Nigam Sinha is the Chair for ReNew Foundation and Chief Sustainability Officer for ReNew Power, which is India’s largest renewable energy IPP (Independent Power Producer). A strong advocate of equal participation of women in economic activities, Vaishali is also passionate about Climate Change, Women’s Entrepreneurship and Leadership. She has been a speaker at international forums like the California Governor’s Global Climate Action Summit, Clinton Global Initiative and United Nations Global Compact Network.  
Vaishali is deeply engaged with industry bodies, think tanks and educational institutions. She is a member of the Governing Council of the UN Global Compact Network, India (GCNI) and Chairperson of their Gender Committee; Chairperson – South Asian Women In Energy (SAWIE); Co – Chair of CII Indian Women Network and Woman Empowerment Committee. Vaishali is on the Advisory Board for Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai and is a member of the Governing Council of the Vedica Scholars Programme for Women. She also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Centre of Excellence for Research on Clean Air (CERCA) at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Vaishali was felicitated for her outstanding contribution towards woman empowerment by CSR Journal in July 2019, and also recognized as being amongst India’s Top 25 Impactful CSR Leaders by the India CSR Network in April 2019. CEO Today magazine has conferred the Business Woman of the Year Award 2019 on her for her achievements and leadership of women in business. Vaishali has completed the Owners and Presidents Management Program from Harvard Business School and has a Masters in Public Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she was an American Association of University Women (AAUW) scholar. 

In this podcast, we cover -

1. Frameworks for effective leadership in an uncertain and volatile world

2. Personal insights on the idea of ‘success’ and ‘feeling successful'

3. The art of identifying and navigating important points of ‘inflection'

Sharath is the Globally Recognised Authority on Leadership at Inflection Moments. He is an acclaimed Advisor, Facilitator & Author supporting Leaders and Organisations to Futureproof Success.  He supports a wide range of organisations to safely navigate their Inflection Moments & futureproof success, through an innovative Guided Journey process. These include pre-eminent global corporations (e.g. L'Oreal, Shopify, Adecco), public sector organisations (e.g. the UK's NHS & Parliament), non-profits (e.g. Teach for All, Ashoka), growth businesses (e.g. JKS Restaurants) and venture funds (e.g. within the Omidyar Group).  Sharath teaches Leadership at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities.  Sharath's groundbreaking first book "Intrinsic" received widespread acclaim from fellow authors Dan Heath and Nir Eyal, to former Prime Ministers.

In this podcast, we cover -

1. The art and science of forming multi-dimensional careers: nuances of achievement

2. Frameworks for understanding change as a philosopher

3. Frameworks for analysing achievement in the automated workspace

Sven Nyholm is a Professor of the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence at LMU Munich and the Principal Investigator for AI Ethics at the Munich Center for Machine Learning. Much of his recent work has been about the impact of emerging technologies on our opportunities to live meaningful lives, have meaningful relationships, and do meaningful work. He is particularly interested in how life in the contemporary world – with technologies like robots and artificial intelligence – affects traditional ideas about ethics and our human self-understanding. Nyholm’s publications include Revisiting Kant’s Universal Law and Humanity Formulas (De Gruyter, 2015), Humans and Robots: Ethics, Agency, and Anthropomorphism (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2020) and This is Technology Ethics: An Introduction (Wiley-Blackwell, 2023).

In this podcast we cover -

1. The increasing importance of liberal arts in a world with rising automation

2. The role of mentors and building an ‘entrepreneurial mindset'

3. The ‘Personal Journey Map’ and the importance of the ‘startup of you'

Priyank Narayan

Founding Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Ashoka University, a leading liberal arts university. He started his career with IBM. He has been an entrepreneur for many years before joining Ashoka University. Priyank teaches courses on Design Thinking, Innovation Management, and Developing an Entrepreneurial Mindset. He is a guest faculty member at IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad, HEC Paris, and Naropa Fellowship, Leh. An MBA from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Priyank has also studied at IIM Ahmedabad. He has completed executive education programmes at Harvard Business School and Singularity University, California. He holds a PhD from the Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi.

Mukesh Sud

An engineer from IIT Delhi, he founded several small-scale industries involved in abrasive blasting and thermal sprayed coatings. Mukesh began his academic career in the US at Augustana College (2006-09), after which he was a tenured faculty member at the Dolan School of Business, Fairfield University (2009-15). Mukesh is a visiting faculty at Ashoka University, Delhi NCR, and the Naropa Fellowship at Leh. At IIM Ahmedabad he conducts executive education programmes on 'Design Thinking' and 'Creating Entrepreneurial Organizations'. He is on FICCI's Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Committee.

In this podcast, we discuss -

1. Frameworks for overcoming the cold start problem in early stage startups

2. Content and product strategies to empower small and medium sized businesses

3. Insights on startup acquisitions

Amita holds the position of Co-founder and CEO at Playback, a pioneering interactive video platform designed to assist businesses in fostering customer engagement and enriching their brand storytelling. She spent over a decade on Wall Street and in management consulting. She also has a notable presence in the tech sector, with a focus on strategy, operations, and IPO.​

Amita's compelling global narrative unfolds across five countries. She was born in India, raised in Jersey City, pursued studies abroad in London, earned her MBA in France and Singapore, and contributed to digital innovation in the Middle East - Saudi Arabia/UAE. Her exploration has taken her to 65 countries and counting.​

Passionate about making a significant impact, Amita is dedicated to building and scaling businesses that touch millions of lives. She channels her energy into transforming impact-focused ideas into tangible and actionable business initiatives. Additionally, she is committed to mentoring women and underrepresented founders.​Amita has developed a set of strengths, including being a creative problem solver, a strategic visionary, possessing insatiable curiosity, being a thoughtful communicator, and maintaining a growth mindset.​

Outside the professional realm, Amita finds joy in various activities. She embraces an active lifestyle through strength training, hiking, yoga, and meditation. Her reading interests span business books, biographies, and historical fiction. Furthermore, she immerses herself in the vibrant art scene of New York City.

In this podcast we cover -

1. Key geo-political trends in 2024 to look out for

2. The repercussions of diminishing US leadership and rising new non-state actors

3. Frameworks for thinking about optimism, technology and a new social contract.

Dr Maha Hosain Aziz is a professor and author in global risk and future trends based at NYU’s MA International Relations Program, leading the annual global risk prediction project with Wikistrat, the world’s first geopolitical crowdsourced consultancy; she is a risk expert on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Complex Risk and speaks to audiences globally on her research. She has written a trilogy of books including seven-time award-winning bestseller Future World Order (2020) plus sequels Global Spring (2024) and 10 Shock Events By 2030 (2024). She also created ten-time award-winning VR/AR political comic book The Global Kid (2021) with edtech partner Musemio, drew the seven-time award-winning original (2016) and is working on Evolution (2024) – a comic book about global extremism partly created by generative AI. Dr Aziz has donated a % of all of her book and comic profits to important causes, including vaccine equality via the WHO, Pakistani flood relief via The Citizens Foundation and the Abid Aziz Fund for Syrian refugee youth via charity Peace & Sport. She is a global citizen with strong Pakistani Muslim roots who grew up in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and the US, studying at Brown (BA), Columbia (MA) and the London School of Economics (MSc, PhD).

You can connect with her on her LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/in/drmahahosainazizThe Time Article - https://time.com/6550584/5-shock-events-world-future-essay/Our Future World Order - http://www.futureworldorder.org/

Mark-Anthony Falzon is a social anthropologist. He is a professor at the University of Malta and a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. His books include Cosmopolitan Connections (Oxford, 2005), Multi-Sited Ethnography (Ashgate, 2009), The Examined Life (2019), The University of Malta (2020) and Birds of Passage (Berghahn, 2020).

His book examines the social and cultural infrastructure that sustains Sindhi business and its trade networks. It provides a rich historical context to the narrative by tracing the origin of Sindhi trade to the annexation of Sindh in 1843, when it was incorporated into an expanding global economy. The book also locates Sindhi business within the dynamics of the contemporary Indian diaspora and features several success stories both from India and outside. Furthermore, it emphasizes the commercial inventiveness, spatial mobility, and adaptability of Sindhis—-the qualities crucial to building successful cosmopolitan businesses. The book features an arresting introduction by best-selling author and commentator, Gurcharan Das.

Anirudh Suri is a venture capitalist, technology entrepreneur and policy advisor. He is the managing partner of India Internet Fund, a US and India-based technology venture capital fund, and author of The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destinies of Nations (HarperCollins, 2022). Previously, he worked with the Government of India in Delhi, McKinsey and Co. in New York, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC, and Goldman Sachs in London.

​Anirudh completed his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. He studied Economics and International Relations at the London School of Economics and Haverford College. He has served on the global board of the Harvard Alumni Association and was the president of the Harvard Club of India from 2017–19.

In this pathbreaking work, Shrayana Bhattacharya maps the economic and personal trajectories--the jobs, desires, prayers, love affairs and rivalries--of a diverse group of women. Divided by class but united in fandom, they remain steadfast in their search for intimacy, independence and fun. Embracing Hindi film idol Shah Rukh Khan allows them a small respite from an oppressive culture, a fillip to their fantasies of a friendlier masculinity in Indian men. Most struggle to find the freedom-or income-to follow their favourite actor.

Bobbing along in this stream of multiple lives for more than a decade-from Manju's boredom in 'rurban' Rampur and Gold's anger at having to compete with Western women for male attention in Delhi's nightclubs, to Zahira's break from domestic abuse in Ahmedabad-Bhattacharya gleans the details on what Indian women think about men, money, movies, beauty, helplessness, agency and love. A most unusual and compelling book on the female gaze, this is the story of how women have experienced post-liberalization India.

In this podcast, we cover -

1. How giving advice to others helps us more than it helps them

2. The importance of setting ‘flexible’ goals.

3. Forgetfulness and the art of avoiding everyday errors.

Katy Milkman is the James G. Dinan Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, host of Charles Schwab’s popular behavioral economics podcast Choiceology, and the former president of the international Society for Judgment and Decision Making. She is the co-founder and co-director of the Behavior Change for Good Initiative, a research center with the mission of advancing the science of lasting behavior change whose work is being chronicled by Freakonomics Radio. Over the course of her career, she has worked with or advised dozens of organizations on how to spur positive change, including Google, the U.S. Department of Defense, the American Red Cross, 24 Hour Fitness, Walmart and Morningstar. An award-winning scholar and teacher, Katy writes frequently about behavioral science for major media outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, and Scientific American. Her bestselling book How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You are to Where You Want to Be is now available. She earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University (summa cum laude), where she studied Operations Research and American Studies and her PhD from Harvard University where, she studied Computer Science and Business.

In this podcast, we cover - 1. The art and science of curating interesting conversations 2. Nuances of productising serendipity 3. Anyone’s technology and philosophy suite

Introducing Alfred Malmros Currently building Anyone, an app that makes it easier to get and give advice through 5-minute phone calls. Get in touch for early access. Previously worked at Google's Jigsaw, that builds technology to make people in the world safer. Launched and built the Jigsaw brand and brought Perspective, Intra, Project Shield, Montage and Protect Your Election to market. Created Blackout to help people understand technology and its role in the world, a VICE News documentary about technology and the global struggle for free expression. Built Sideways Dictionary which explains technology using analogies everyone can understand. Featured on Ad Age's 40 under 40 list, exhibited at the Smithsonian in New York and the Design Museum and Science Museum in London. Awarded D&AD Pencils, One Show Pencils, Webbys and Cannes Lions; and named one of Sweden's 101 most talented people by Veckans Affärer. Associate lecturer at London College of Communication and a RSA Fellow. Introducing Vjera Orbanic Building a start-up, designing conversations. Background in contemporary art and performance. Specialised in leadership development, course design and coaching. Launched ventures that combine arts, learning and training and development.

Dr. Anamika is a prominent contemporary Indian poet, social worker and novelist writing in Hindi, and a critic writing in English. She has eight collections of poetry, five novels and four works of criticism in her credit. Currently, she is Reader at the Department of English, Satyawati College, University of Delhi.

Anamika was born on 17 August 1961 in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Her father Shyamnandan Kishore was a Hindi poet and her "first teacher in poetry". Anamika describes herself as a very lonely child who led a very isolated life in a huge household. Her only companions were the books from her father's library. She says reading these books, living a life of imagination and listening to her "aunts, classmates, other women, women in distress," their stories and their pain shaped her understanding of women, whose socially-constructed femininity she learnt to deconstruct and question after studying the work of poets like Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Marge Piercy, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker.

​

Anamika studied at the Universities of Bihar, Muzaffarpur, Lucknow and Delhi. Her PhD thesis was on "Donne Criticism through the Ages" and her post-doctoral research on "The Treatment of Love and Death in Post-war American Women Poets". Her current topic of research as a fellow at Teen Murti Bhawan, Delhi is "A Comparative Study of Women in Contemporary British and Hindi poetry".

A.S. Panneerselvan is fellow at Roja Muthiah Research Library, Chennai and head of its Centre for Study in Public Sphere. Earlier, he was the Readers' Editor (an independent internal news ombudsman) of The Hindu, for nearly a decade. Apart from being a regular columnist, he is also an adjunct faculty member of the prestigious Asian College of Journalism,Chennai. Panneerselvan is the author of Karunanidhi: A Life, published in 2021 by Penguin Random House. He was conferred the G.U. Pope award by the Government of Tamil Nadu for his literary and journalistic contributions. He was the head of the jury for the 2022 JCB Prize for Literature. In this masterclass we discuss - 1. The art and science of translations. 2. M.K. Stalin’s ideas on egalitarian. 3. Who is Karunanidhi? Why does DMK matter?

Shashi Tharoor is a member of the Indian Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala. He previously served as the United Nations Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information and as the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs. He is also a prolific author, columnist, journalist and a human rights advocate. He has served on the Board of Overseers of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is also an adviser to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva and a Fellow of the New York Institute of the Humanities at New York University. He has also served as a trustee of the Aspen Institute, and the Advisory of the Indo-American Arts Council, the American India Foundation, the World Policy Journal, the Virtue Foundation and the human rights organization Breakthrough He is also a Patron of the Dubai Modern High School and the managing trustee of the Chandran Tharoor Foundation which he founded with his family and friends in the name of his late father, Chandran Tharoor. Tharoor has written numerous books in English. Most of his literary creations are centred on Indian themes and they are markedly “Indo-nostalgic.” Perhaps his most famous work is The Great Indian Novel, published in 1989, in which he uses the narrative and theme of the famous Indian epic Mahabharata to weave a satirical story of Indian life in a non-linear mode with the characters drawn from the Indian Independence Movement. His novel Show Business (1992) was made into the film 'Bollywood'(1994). The late Ismail Merchant had announced his wish to make a film of Tharoor’s novel Riot shortly before Merchant’s death in 2005. Tharoor has been a highly-regarded columnist in each of India's three best-known English-language newspapers, most recently for The Hindu newspaper (2001–2008) and in a weekly column, “Shashi on Sunday,” in the Times of India (January 2007 – December 2008). Following his resignation as Minister of State for External Affairs, he began a fortnightly column on foreign policy issues in the "Deccan Chronicle". Previously he was a columnist for the Gentleman magazine and the Indian Express newspaper, as well as a frequent contributor to Newsweek International and the International Herald Tribune. His Op-Eds and book reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, amongst other papers. Tharoor began writing at the age of 6 and his first published story appeared in the “Bharat Jyoti”, the Sunday edition of the "Free press Journal", in Mumbai at age 10. His World War II adventure novel Operation Bellows, inspired by the Biggles books, was serialized in the Junior Statesman starting a week before his 11th birthday. Each of his books has been a best-seller in India. The Great Indian Novel is currently in its 28th edition in India and his newest volume. The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone has undergone seven hardback re-printings there. Tharoor has lectured widely on India, and is often quoted for his observations, including, "India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay.". He has also coined a memorable comparison of India's "thali" to the American "melting pot": "If America is a melting pot, then to me India is a thali--a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each tastes different, and does not necessarily mix with the next, but they belong together on the same plate, and they complement each other in making the meal a satisfying repast.” In this masterclass we cover - 1. The art of sharing timeless wisdom through aphorisms 2. Frameworks on resilience, grit and navigating difficult times 3. Mental models on success, leadership and happiness

Abhay Kumar or Abhay K. (born 1980) is an Indian poet-diplomat and India's 21st Ambassador to Madagascar and Ambassador to Comoros. He has served in different diplomatic capacities earlier in Russia, Nepal and Brazil. His published collections of poetry include The Seduction of Delhi, The Eight-Eyed Lord of Kathmandu, The Prophecy of Brasilia, The Alphabets of Latin America among others, while his edited books are CAPITALS, 100 Great Indian Poems, 100 More Great Indian Poems, New Brazilian Poems, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Great Indian Poems,The Bloomsbury Book of Great Indian Love Poems among others. He recorded his poems at the Library of Congress. His writings cover poetry, art, memoir, global democracy and digital diplomacy. His Earth Anthem has been translated into over 50 languages and was played at the United Nations to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Earth Day. He also wrote an anthem for SAARC spurring search for an official SAARC Anthem. He wrote a 'Moon Anthem' to celebrate the success of India's Moon Mission Chandrayaan-2. He has penned a 'Mars Anthem' to inspire the younger generation to explore our neighbouring red planet. He has also penned a Venus Anthem.

In this podcast we cover - 1. The art of navigating success and failure 2. Lessons from Indian mythology for modern careers 3. The story of Dhruva and insights on leadership

Gauranga Darshan Das, a disciple of His Holiness Radhanath Swami, is an educator, TEDx speaker and a spiritual author of over 33 books. He holds a master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He is a resident of the ISKCON Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) and serves as the dean of the Bhaktivedanta Vidyapitha. He is also a member of the ISKCON Board of Examinations and GEV Administrative Council. He regularly delivers online and residential discourses for children and adults in various forums, including temples, ashrams, schools, colleges, corporate events and platforms such as TEDx, Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Rotary Club, Hindustan Times, etc. He is a regular speaker on Hare Krsna TV. He has conducted over 45 online courses (www.vidyapitha.in) and over 7500 hours of lectures. He travels to various places in India, Australia, United States, etc. to teach and inspire spiritual seekers. Some of his literary contributions include the Subodhini series of study guides, the Pravaha series of storybooks, self-enrichment books like Disapproved but Not Disowned, children’s book series like Bhagavatam Tales and Gita Wisdom Tales, and shloka compilations like the Ratnamala series. He runs a monthly ezine called Bhagavata Pradipika whilst penning thought-inspiring articles for international and Indian Back to Godhead magazines.

In this podcast, we cover - 1. The importance of liberal arts in an AI-powered world

2. The art of asking better questions

3. How AI is changing corporate strategy

4. Building differentiable competitive advantage when machines are universally available

5. How to make diversity and inclusion work

Tiger Tyagarajan is President and Chief executive officer of Genpact.Genpact has more than 115,000 employees and annual revenues of $4.37 billion USD as of December 31, 2022. Tiger was appointed as Genpact’s President and CEO in 2011 after serving as the COO of the company. Tiger is also on the Board of Kantar, a leading data, insights, and consulting company where he brings his expertise in contributing to their business innovation and transformation agenda. Tiger is especially passionate about diversity and serves on the board of directors of Catalyst, a global non-profit organization working with some of the world’s most powerful CEOs to help build workplaces that work for women. Prior to Genpact Tiger spent many years at the Unilever Group, Citibank, and GE Capital in a variety of roles spanning sales, global operations, risk management, and business leadership.

Tiger has a degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and a master’s degree in business administration from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.

In this podcast we cover - 1. A new framework for India, beyond the rough and tumble of partisan politics 2. History of Indian polity 3. The future of India and its people

Harsh Gupta ‘Madhusudan’ is an India-based public markets investor. He has written extensively on economics, finance and politics for Mint, Swarajya, The Wall Street Journal, The Indian Express and other publications.Harsh enrolled to study at IIT Delhi, before dropping out. He graduated from Dartmouth College with an AB degree in economics. He also holds an MBA from INSEAD. He is on Twitter @HarshMadhusudan. Rajeev Mantri is an India-based entrepreneur and investor, investing in public companies and early-stage technology ventures. He has contributed articles on political economy, technology, investing and entrepreneurship to Mint, Swarajya, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Indian Express and other publications. Rajeev graduated with a BS in materials science and engineering from Northwestern University, and an MBA from Columbia University, specialising in private equity and value investing. He is on Twitter @RMantri.

In this podcast, we cover -

1. Nuances of understanding Indian cities and how we have reached this point of exasperation

2. The pivotal role of India achieving India's promised destiny 

3. The art of meaningfully addressing the blizzard of policy issues that come with the phenomenon

Devashish Dhar is a former Public Policy Specialist at NITI Aayog. He is a Mason Fellow from the Harvard Kennedy School and Li Ka Shing Scholar from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore. He is also a Raisina Fellow, an IVLP Fellow, and has authored several articles for national publications.

In this podcast, we cover -

1. Nuances of biochemical interventions into love and relationships 

2. Ethics of deciding which medications should be a part of our society

3. The art of calibration within yourself to negotiate with your ideals of self worth

Brian is a Senior Research Fellow in the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, Associate Director of the Yale-Hastings Program in Ethics and Health Policy at Yale University and The Hastings Center, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics. Brian’s work is cross-disciplinary, following training in philosophy, cognitive science, psychology, history and sociology of science and medicine, and ethics. A co-recipient of the 2018 Daniel M. Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Brian was also one of four named finalists for the 2020 John Maddox Prize for “standing up for science” (awarded by Sense about Science and Nature). Brian is also recipient of both the Robert G. Crowder Prize in Psychology and the Ledyard Cogswell Award for Citizenship from Yale University, where, as an undergraduate, Brian was elected President of the Yale Philosophy Society and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Philosophy Review. Brian then conducted graduate research in psychological methods as a Henry Fellow of New College at the University of Oxford, followed by a degree in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science, technology, and medicine as a Cambridge Trust Scholar and Rausing Award recipient at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. After spending a year in residence as the inaugural Presidential Scholar in Bioethics at The Hastings Center in Garrison, New York, Brian was appointed Benjamin Franklin Resident Graduate Fellow while completing a dual Ph.D. in philosophy and psychology at Yale University. Brian’s essays have been translated into Polish, German, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, and Hebrew.

In this podcast, we cover -

1. Mental models for planning different ‘chapters’ of your life & taking different ‘tours of duty’.

2. Lessons on networking and augmenting your leadership skills.

3. The art and science of navigating career transitions

Anoop Prakash is currently President of the Ambulance Division at the REV Group Inc, a publicly-traded specialty vehicles manufacturer based in Brookfield, Wisconsin.  At REV, Anoop runs a manufacturing and distribution organization of 1500 people and four facilities, building a broad range of ambulances to precise customer specifications, serving federal government,  municipalities, and private ambulance service providers, both in the US and abroad.  Prior to REV Anoop spent 10 years with the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, where he first led the company’s market entry into India, the acquisition of the company’s largest independent distributor in Canada, and, finally in the US market, leading US Marketing and US Dealer Development.  

Prior to Harley-Davidson, Anoop had the opportunity to serve as a senior political appointee in the Administration of President George W. Bush, holding senior roles at both the US Small Business Administration and US Department of Housing & Urban Development.  Prior to his government service, he held strategy, business development and sales roles at two technology companies, and worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company, advising consumer and retail clients.  Immediately after graduating from Stanford, Anoop served for four years active-duty as an Intelligence Officer in the US Marine Corps.  Anoop also has an MBA from Harvard Business School.  

In his free time, Anoop enjoys motorcycling, books on politics and policy, and travels with his wife Gita (also class of '95) and two daughters.  Anoop is Vice President of the Board for the Hunger Task Force in Milwaukee, and leads the Wisconsin chapter of Leadership Now, a non-partisan organization of business leaders supporting democracy.  

From his time as an Intelligence Officer, through to his current role as a Division President, Anoop has had to work either with or inside government organizations at every level and in multiple countries.  Anoop credits his broad exposure through Public Policy and concentration in International Policy as critical to his understanding and ability to bridge the two worlds of business and government.

In this podcast, we cover -

1. Why higher pay for workers doesn’t mean higher prices for customers, and the Costco case-study

2. Employee turnover: what drives it & how it costs companies more than most executives think

3. Differences in mindsets between good jobs and bad jobs systems

Zeynep Ton is a Practice in the Operations Management group at MIT Sloan School of Management. She is also president of the nonprofit Good Jobs Institute, where she works with companies to improve their operations in a way that satisfies employees, customers, and investors alike. Before joining MIT Sloan, Ton spent seven years on the faculty at Harvard Business School. She is the author of The Good Jobs Strategy: How the Smartest Companies Invest in Employees to Lower Costs and Boost Profits and The Case for Good Jobs: How Great Companies Bring Dignity, Pay and Meaning to Everyone’s Work.

In this masterclass we cover -

1. Rebecca’s meandering career in academia and insights from her professional lowlights

2. The difference between malignant and benign sulking

3. The linguistic and gendered nuances of sulking

Rebecca Roache is a senior lecturer in philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London. She works on various issues in applied philosophy, and hosts The Academic Imperfectionist podcast. She lives in Oxfordshire.

In podcast we cover -

1. The art of persuasive writing; telling the universal story of having a dream, taking risks & leading a meaningful life.

2. Insights on having difficult conversations & making difficult choices

3. Lessons from geopolitics and the implications of our colonial histories on a new world order.

Anjan Sundaram is an award-winning author, journalist, academic, and television presenter. He is the author of Stringer, Bad News, and Breakup. His books have been featured by Christiane Amanpour and Fareed Zakaria on CNN, Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and NPR’s All Things Considered. 

Anjan presented the critically-acclaimed TV series, “Coded World”, about how Artificial Intelligence and algorithms are changing humanity. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Granta, the New York Review of Books, and The Guardian. 

He has received Reuters and Frontline Club prizes for his reporting and has served as an artist-in-residence at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center. He is also a Skoll World Fellow and a TED Fellow, and was invited to give a TED Talk about his war correspondence. Stringer was a Royal African Society Book of the Year in 2014, and Bad News was an Amazon Book of the Year in 2016. 

Anjan graduated from Yale University with a Master of Science in mathematics and he holds a Ph.D. in journalism.

In this podcast we discuss -

1. Importance of cultivating multiple interests

2. How to navigate a world centered around work

3. Negotiating with envy to find your ikigai

Simone Stolzoff is an author, designer, and workplace expert from San Francisco. A former design lead at the global innovation firm IDEO, his work has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and many other publications. He is a graduate of Stanford and The University of Pennsylvania.

In this podcast we cover -

1. The art of writing an Indian book for a global audience

2. Translating social observation into gripping fiction.

3. The journey of writing a deeply researched fiction book 

Deepti Kapoor is an Indian author and journalist currently based in Portugal. Her first novel, A Bad Character, was published in 2015. In 2023, Kapoor published her second novel, Age of Vice, whose rights were sold to FX Studio for a major TV series.

In this masterclass, we cover - 1. Understanding BAAS and it’s market landscape 2. Solving high stake problem statements using first principles 3. Art of pivoting and finding product market fit
Priyanka is on a mission to build accessible, secure, and modern finance solutions for the new digital economy. She is the co-founder of Falcon, a BaaS startup based in Delhi and Bangalore in India. She’s been immersed in fintech for almost a decade and has closely observed and participated in the ups and downs the industry has gone through in India. She has an economics degree from Yale University.

In this podcast we cover -

1. Nuances of trust in the Indian society

2. Frameworks for understanding institutions and actively engaging in public discourse

3. The journey of writing a deeply researched non-fiction book

Subhashish Bhadra is an economist by training. He received an MPhil in economics from the University of Oxford on the Rhodes Scholarship and a BA in economics from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi. His career has straddled both the policy and corporate worlds. He spent over half a decade working in public policy, especially on issues of technology policy, regulatory governance and digital rights. As part of his job, he has funded many of India's leading think tanks and helped shape the policy discourse in these areas. He has worked at a leading global management consulting firm, a venture capital firm and a tech start-up, working closely with CEOs, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, politicians and academics throughout his career. He has also published several articles in leading dailies like the Times of India, Hindustan Times and Indian Express.

In this podcast, we cover -

1. Art and science of self-discovery

2. Becoming a deep-generalist

3. Meaningful career transitions with a growth mindset

Pramath Raj Sinha has earned the tag of an institution builder, a profession that neither existed, nor could he ever have imagined for himself, when growing up in Patna, Bihar. What is perhaps less widely known is that as a Partner at McKinsey & Company, then as one of the Founders of the Indian School of Business (ISB), the Young India Fellowship (YIF), Ashoka University, the Vedica Scholars Programme for Women and the Naropa Fellowship, he has guided hundreds of students on their academic and career choices. As someone who studied metallurgical engineering, did robotics research, failed as an academic, then became a management consultant, a CEO, a media and now edtech entrepreneur, he believes you can surprise yourself with what you can do, yet shape your career purposefully and deliberately.
This philosophy is the foundation for Pramath's latest venture, Harappa Education and its School of Leadership (HSoL), an online learning institution to teach Thrive Skills to working professionals across the world. For over twenty years now, he is a pioneering force in higher education, setting up more than a dozen innovative institutions and programs in India and abroad. His first book, An Idea Whose Time Has Come, about the ISB story, is now required reading for anyone building a new university or institution. In 2015, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) named him 'Personality of the Year' for his contributions to education. Earlier, he was listed by Thinkers50 as one of India's Top 50 Management Thinkers.
Pramath received a BTech from IIT Kanpur (where he was conferred with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2018) and an MSE and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics.

In this masterclass, you will learn -

1. The art of following your curiosity to build a portfolio of careers

2. Insights on geopolitics, the end of history and public deliberation

3. Mental models on personal productivity

Brian is a geopolitical strategist and advisor publishing extensively on Sino-American relations, statecraft in Asia, and the intersection of nascent technologies, political philosophy, and public policy. Currently pursuing a DPhil in Politics at Balliol College, Oxford, Brian graduated with a Distinction in the MPhil in Politics (Theory) at Wolfson College, and First Class Honours from Pembroke with a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, having attended Oxford on a full scholarship on a Kwok Scholarship. Brian has taught modules in politics to undergraduate students at Oxford and Stanford Universities (latter on exchange). Brian has presented on Sino-American relations and Chinese foreign policy at Tsinghua, Carnegie-Tsinghua Center, Stanford, the Young China Watcher and Tufts Conferences, and advised leading MNCs on macro risks in Asia. As the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Political Review, a publication aspiring to bridge the theory and practice gap, Brian serves as a columnist for the Hong Kong Economic Journal and the Editor-at-Large for ThriveGlobal, they write regularly for publications such as TIME, Foreign Policy, Aeon, Financial Times, the Diplomat, Fortune, SCMP, Nikkei, Japan Times, SupChina, US-China Perception Monitor, Neican, The Hindu, having also presented and written on issues of public philosophy for the Journal of Practical Ethics, the American Philosophical Association, and the Royal Institute of Philosophy. Brian is also the Founding Fellow of Governance Partners Yangon, a capacity-building oriented policy group and NGO based in Myanmar and Hong Kong, and the former Founding Secretary of Citizen Action Design Ltd., a youth-centric think-tank based in Hong Kong, alongside co-founding Project Change, an initiative designed to support youth with mental health issues in the city.

In this podcast we cover - 

1. Mukesh’s early career and adventures as an entrepreneur

2. The journey of tracing the story of our relationship with our body

3. Actionable advice on building a meaningful career keeping health and curiosity at the core

Mukesh Bansal is a computer science engineer from IIT Kanpur and a technology entrepreneur. He founded India's largest fashion retailer Myntra and headed the ecommerce division for Flipkart after a highly successful acquisition. He is the co-founder of Cure Fit Healthcare Pvt Ltd. where he is involved in building a next-generation health platform that makes holistic health easy and accessible for everyone. He has over twenty years of experience in multiple early-stage start-ups in Silicon Valley (NexTag, eWanted, Centrata, newScale) where he held various senior management positions in Product Management and Marketing. Hacking Health: The Only Book You’ll Ever Need to Live Your Healthiest Life is his second book.

This podcast covers - 

1. Philosophical underpinnings of meritocracy in China and India

2. Contemporary debates about how to overcome obstacles to meritocracy and prognoses for the future

3. Actionable insights on building more equitable and meritocratic organisations and institutions

Tarun Khanna is the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School. For almost three decades, he has studied entrepreneurship as a means to social and economic development in emerging markets. At HBS since 1993, after obtaining degrees from Princeton and Harvard, he has taught courses on strategy, international business and economic development to undergraduate and graduate students and senior executives.

In this podcast we cover - 

This is the story of a young man who steps out of the precincts of IIT Kanpur in 1974 with a dream in his heart – to become an entrepreneur and contribute to nation-building. Undaunted by the dearth of experience and means to capital in pre-Liberalization India, B.V.R Mohan Reddy’s enterprising spirit takes the long and winding road, never losing sight of his ambition. He gains overseas education on scholarship and dons multiple hats for eighteen long years before embarking on his life’s mission at forty. A mission that propels the company he incorporated, Cyient, to pioneer and excel in outsourced engineering services and introduce the brand ‘Engineered in India’.

Engineered in India takes readers on an entrepreneurial rollercoaster ride, allowing them to see human truths with tools that let them breathe life into their business aspirations and experiments.

In this podcast, we cover -

1. Interpreting Ambedkar for India today and in 2050

2. Understanding Ambedkar on gender, caste and his relationship with Gandhi

3. The intellectual history and multitudes of Ambedkar’s work and writings

Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, MA, MSc, PhD, DSc, DLitt, Bar-at-Law, is today among the most revered of Indians, his statues across the country second only in number to those of Mahatma Gandhi. In this new biography, Tharoor tells Ambedkar’s story with great lucidity, insight, and admiration. He traces the arc of the great man’s life from his birth into a family of Mahars in the Bombay Presidency on 14 April 1891 to his death in Delhi on 6 December 1956. He describes the many humiliations and hurdles Ambedkar had to overcome in a society that stigmatized the community he was born into, and the single-minded determination with which he overcame every obstacle he encountered. We are given insights into the various battles Ambedkar fought to make untouchability illegal, his disputes with the other political and intellectual giants of his era, including Gandhi and Nehru, and his determination to invest India with a visionary Constitution that enshrined within it the inalienable rights of the individual and modern conceptions of social justice. ‘In so doing,’ writes Tharoor, ‘he transformed the lives of millions yet unborn, heaving an ancient civilization into the modern era through the force of his intellect and the power of his pen.’

Deeply researched, searching, and insightful, Ambedkar: A Life offers readers a fresh and profound understanding of one of the greatest Indians who ever lived.

Mark-Anthony Falzon is a social anthropologist. He is a professor at the University of Malta and a life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. His books include Cosmopolitan Connections (Oxford, 2005), Multi-Sited Ethnography (Ashgate, 2009), The Examined Life (2019), The University of Malta (2020) and Birds of Passage (Berghahn, 2020).

His book examines the social and cultural infrastructure that sustains Sindhi business and its trade networks. It provides a rich historical context to the narrative by tracing the origin of Sindhi trade to the annexation of Sindh in 1843, when it was incorporated into an expanding global economy. The book also locates Sindhi business within the dynamics of the contemporary Indian diaspora and features several success stories both from India and outside. Furthermore, it emphasizes the commercial inventiveness, spatial mobility, and adaptability of Sindhis—-the qualities crucial to building successful cosmopolitan businesses. The book features an arresting introduction by best-selling author and commentator, Gurcharan Das.

In this podcast we cover -

1. Mental models for career pivots

2. The art of thinking like a contrarian 

Sahil Bloom in his own words - 

"Every week, I create content that reaches over 1 million people around the world across Twitter (@SahilBloom), a newsletter (The Curiosity Chronicle), a podcast (Where It Happens), and more.

I am Managing Partner of SRB Ventures, an investment firm committed to investing in and accelerating the most compelling startups in the world. Fund I is a $10 million stage and sector-agnostic vehicle writing $100-250K checks into high-growth technology companies globally. Prior to launching the firm in January 2022, I was an early stage investor in 40+ startups across the technology landscape, including multiple unicorns.

I am also an Advisor at Altamont Capital Partners, a generalist investment fund with over $3.5 billion in capital under management, focused on control investments in middle market companies. I previously served as a Vice President at Altamont on the investment team and am an active board member at several Altamont portfolio companies, including Fox Racing, Intermix, and Brixton.

I graduated from Stanford University with an M.A. in Public Policy (2014) and a B.A. in Economics & Sociology (2013). While at Stanford, I was a four-year member on the Stanford Baseball Team (2009-2013), twice helping to guide the team to NCAA Super Regional appearances (top-16 finishes). Additionally, I earned two PAC-12 All-Academic Team awards, and twice received the Bruce R. Cameron Memorial Award, given annually to a student-athlete exhibiting excellence in athletics, academics, and leadership. Academically, I was advised in my pursuits by former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice."

Prateek Jain, is our friendly Network Capital Rocket Scientist. He designed Business jets for years before, two tech startups and an MBA at Columbia Business School led him to Product Management. He now lives in San Francisco, and does Product Management at the Hypergrowth company - Twilio. Prateek is passionate about building technology, writing, and simplifying complex ideas to make an impact.

Lately, he's trying to meditate more and perfect his Hakka Noodles recipe.