Don't Follow The Leader

Raj Kunkolienkar and Aditya Kulkarni are the co-founders of Stoa School, an internet based business education university.  

In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the process of creating a startup, both from a practical and a philosophical point of view, we discuss the psychology behind India's engineering and MBA craze, and we discuss Raj and Aditya's journey so far building Stoa School.  

Check out Stoa School: https://www.stoaschool.com  

Follow me on IG and Twitter! 

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https://twitter.com/noahfromgoa  

A Noah Martins Production  

Intro Music by Skeletron  https://www.instagram.com/skeletron_music   

Cover Art by Anslem https://www.instagram.com/98artofficial  

DFTL https://twitter.com/theDFTLpodcast 

https://www.instagram.com/thedftlpodcast 

Don't Follow the Leader (DFTL) is a college podcast run by Noah, Rayan, Rohan and Gada in an attempt to understand society's exceptions. We interview entrepreneurs, business people, celebrities and academics, and try to understand what makes these people special, and try to decode how they think.

Nilesh Kothari is the Co Founder and Managing Partner at Trifecta Capital. 

Trifecta Capital is India's first venture debt fund. It is a platform focused on providing alternative financing to new age businesses in India, founded by Nilesh and Rahul Khanna in 2014. Before starting Trifecta, Nilesh worked on building Zenta, a data analytics start up, until it's acquisition in 2011 by Accenture. It was Accenture's largest acquisition at that time. Besides this, Nilesh is also a music and movie buff, and a big Pink Floyd fan. 

In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the difference between venture debt and venture capital, Nilesh's journey as an entrepreneur, and how he goes about building great businesses, the state of the start up ecosystem in India, and more.  

Subscribe to our newsletter now!

https://medium.com/dont-follow-the-leader-blog/newsletters/the-dftl-newsletter

Follow me on IG and Twitter!

https://www.instagram.com/noahfromgoa

https://twitter.com/noahfromgoa

Editing by Fayne Antonio Pereira Carvalho

https://www.instagram.com/fayne_antonio

Intro Music by Skeletron  https://www.instagram.com/skeletron_music 

Cover Art by Anslem https://www.instagram.com/98artofficial

DFTL https://twitter.com/theDFTLpodcast

https://www.instagram.com/thedftlpodcast

Don't Follow the Leader (DFTL) is a college podcast run by Noah, Rayan, Rohan and Gada in an attempt to understand society's exceptions. We interview entrepreneurs, business people, celebrities and academics, and try to understand what makes these people special, and try to decode how they think.

Awais Ahmed is the Co Founder and CEO of Pixxel, an Indian space technology start up.

Pixxel is building the world's most advanced constellation of earth imaging microsatellites, and revolutionizing the Indian private space sector. They recently also raised a $5 million round of funding. Besides running Pixxel at the age of 22, Awais was also one of the founding members of India's Hyperloop team for Elon Musk's competition.

If you are even mildly interested in space, entrepreneurship, engineering, or even just interesting challenges in general, this is the episode for you. Awais is genuinely one of the most inspiring people I've ever spoken to.

Subscribe to our newsletter now!

https://medium.com/dont-follow-the-leader-blog/newsletters/the-dftl-newsletter

Follow me on IG and Twitter!

https://www.instagram.com/noahfromgoa 

https://twitter.com/noahfromgoa 

Intro Music by Skeletron  https://www.instagram.com/skeletron_music   Cover Art by Anslem https://www.instagram.com/98artofficial  Primary Editing by Somrat Dutta https://www.instagram.com/somrat_dutta  DFTL https://www.instagram.com/dftl.podcast  

Don't Follow the Leader (DFTL) is a college podcast run by Noah, Rayan, Rohan and Gada in an attempt to understand society's exceptions. We interview entrepreneurs, business people, celebrities and academics, and try to understand what makes these people special, and try to decode how they think.

Pete Michels is an animation director and has worked on The Simpsons, Rick & Morty and Family Guy!  He has also directed shows like Rugrats and Rocko's Modern Life for Nickelodeon. Throughout his career, he has worked with platforms and channels like Netflix, Fox TV, Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2000. Currently, he is working with Netflix for an upcoming Animated series.  In this episode we discuss his journey as an animator, the history of animation, careers in art, some philosophy, and his advice for young artists. 

Subscribe to our newsletter now!

https://medium.com/dont-follow-the-leader-blog/newsletters/the-dftl-newsletter

A Noah Martins Production

https://www.instagram.com/noahfromgoa 

Intro Music by Skeletron

https://www.instagram.com/skeletron_music 

Cover Art by Anslem https://www.instagram.com/98artofficial

DFTL https://www.instagram.com/dftl.podcast

Don't Follow the Leader (DFTL) is a college podcast run by Noah, Rayan, Rohan and Gada in an attempt to understand society's exceptions. They interview entrepreneurs, business people, celebrities and academics, and try to understand what makes these people special, and try to decode how they think.

In this short episode, I talk about the purpose of running this podcast and what I hope to achieve with it. 

Shashank Murali is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tapchief.  Shashank Murali is a young entrepreneur, and BITS Pilani alumnus. He sold his first start up, Edvice, while still in college. He then went on to create Tapchief(https://www.tapchief.com) , a freelancing platform, that is building a network that connects businesses to domain-specific professionals. Tapchief  is currently 3rd on the LinkedIn list of top Indian start ups. I had the opportunity to chat with this truly inspiring Indian entrepreneur, and get his take on all sorts of matters ranging from his opinion on how the world will change post the COVID-19 pandemic, to the hardest decisions he's had to make as CEO, how to get funded, and even advice that he has for young founders.  Books that Shashank reccommends: Delivering Happiness (https://amzn.to/3esaVNw) Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike (https://amzn.to/3cfMOQH) Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell (https://amzn.to/2yMZLnx) Measure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth (https://amzn.to/2Mcq5KH)  Find out about all our guests and future events on our new website now!   https://www.bitsandpiecespodcast.com  A Noah Martins Production  https://www.instagram.com/noahfromgoa  Intro Music by Skeletron  https://www.instagram.com/skeletron_music  BITS & Pieces is a college podcast run by Noah Martins and his friends, who are engineering students at BITS-Pilani Goa. They interview entrepreneurs, business people, celebrities and academics, and try to understand what makes these people society’s exceptions. Why are they different?  Subscribe to the channel and check out our content to find out!

Aravind SA is an internationally touring stand up comedian. You can find his stand up special Madrasi Da on Amazon Prime.  I had the chance to chat with him a while ago, and we had a genuinely interesting conversation about starting stand up, the challenges he faces and the lessons he's learned, and about life in general.  Find out about all our guests and future events on our new website now!   https://www.bitsandpiecespodcast.com  A Noah Martins Production  https://www.instagram.com/noahfromgoa  Intro Music by Skeletron  https://www.instagram.com/skeletron_music  BITS & Pieces is a college podcast run by Noah Martins and his friends, who are engineering students at BITS-Pilani Goa. They interview entrepreneurs, business people, celebrities and academics, and try to understand what makes these people society’s exceptions. Why are they different?  Subscribe to the channel and check out our content to find out!  Phanindra Sama, Founder of RedBus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rigS...  Ramanan Laxminarayan, Princeton Professor/Entrepreneur https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOsZN...  Urooj Ashfaq, Stand Up Comedian  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toXRe...

Sanjay is a Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Blume Ventures, one of India's leading early stage VC firms.  We had the opportunity to interact with him when he came down to BITS Goa for an alumni gathering, where he was a panellist. This was the first episode of the series that we shot, but probably the most insightful one of them all. In this episode, we spoke to him about his journey, what he looks for in the start ups that he invests in, the WHY of starting a company, and more.  Find out about all our guests and future events on our new website now!   www.bitsandpiecespodcast.com  A Noah Martins Production  www.instagram.com/noahfromgoa  Intro Music by Skeletron  www.instagram.com/skeletron_music  BITS & Pieces is a college podcast run by Noah Martins and his friends, who are engineering students at BITS-Pilani Goa. They interview entrepreneurs, business people, celebrities and academics, and try to understand what makes these people society’s exceptions. Why are they different?  Subscribe to the channel and check out our content to find out!  Phanindra Sama, Founder of RedBus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rigSrRMHxU&t=1282s  Ramanan Laxminarayan, Princeton Professor/Entrepreneur https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOsZNeAo95s  Urooj Ashfaq, Stand Up Comedian  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toXReuKV5qE&t=1s

Sujit Panigrahi is a sports entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Sequoia Fitness and Sports. He also holds many other illustrious credentials from the sports industry, including being the Additional Director General of Technology during the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.  Through his work, Sujit is attempting to revolutionise the sporting industry, and change how sports are interacted with and percieved starting from a schooling level. He has many interesting ideas and insights, and is actively pursuing them as we speak. He talks about all the possible careers that one can have in sports, other than being a professional player, and how he sees the industry shifting in the short and long term.  Find out about all our guests and future events on our new website now! www.bitsandpiecespodcast.com  A Noah Martins Production (www.instagram.com/noahfromgoa)  Intro Music by Skeletron (www.instagram.com/skeletron_music)  BITS & Pieces is a college podcast run by Noah Martins and his friends, who are engineering students at BITS-Pilani Goa. They interview entrepreneurs, business people, celebrities and academics, and try to answer the pressing question of what makes these outliers special. Why are these people exceptions? Subscribe to the channel and check out our content to find out!

Ramanan Laxminarayan is a BITS Pilani alumnus who is an economist and an epidemiologist. He is director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy in Washington and a senior research scholar at Princeton.  The BITS & Pieces crew had the rare opportunity to sit down with Mr. Laxminarayan at an event at BITS-Pilani Goa, and he graciously agreed to be a guest on the podcast.  In this episode, we discuss his work, new technologies in the diagnostics and genetics fields, his startup, HealthCube, and the difference between the American and Indian higher education systems.  Find out about all our guests and future events on our new website now! www.bitsandpiecespodcast.com  A Noah Martins Production (www.instagram.com/noahfromgoa)  Intro Music by Skeletron (www.instagram.com/skeletron_music)  BITS & Pieces is a college podcast run by Noah Martins and his friends, who are engineering students at BITS-Pilani Goa. They interview entrepreneurs, business people, celebrities and academics, and try to answer the pressing question of what makes these outliers special. Why are these people exceptions? Subscribe to the channel and check out our content to find out!  Phanindra Sama, Founder of RedBus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfysO445vQM&t=3s  Harish Bhat, Tata Sons Brand Custodian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj3fCQjT0Fg  Urooj Ashfaq, Stand up comedian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toXReuKV5qE

Urooj Ashfaq is comedian, writer and actor, and one of the biggest stand up comics in India today. She was a regular in many AIB sketches, including the hit show Better Life Foundation. She got her big break in comedy with TLC's Queens of Comedy, a stand up competition, where she was one of the finalists. As a new comedian myself, I am a huge fan, and was pumped that I got the opportunity to interview her. Hope you enjoy it.  A Noah Martins Production (www.instagram/noahfromgoa)  Music by Skeletron (www.instagram/skeletron_music)  Urooj Ashfaq (www.instagram/uroojashfaq)  Link to other BITS & Pieces Podcast episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo6_MNmQf1zrA9V9M96ZdTg  Like, share & subscribe :)

Harish Bhat is the brand custodian of the Tata Sons group. He is also the Chairman of Tata Coffee, a brilliant marketer, author and columnist. Noah and Rohan sit down and quiz him on everything from defining a brand custodian to finding you true passion, and have an interesting discussion about his college life, the lessons he's learnt along the way, and an insight into how the Tata Group functions. He also talks about his books, and his love for writing.  Buy An Extreme Love of Coffee now! Use our link! https://amzn.to/32nhdJG  Buy The Curious Marketer: Expeditions in Branding and Consumer Behaviour now! Use our link! https://amzn.to/2vQ7BuP  An NM8 Production (www.instagram/noahfromgoa)  Intro Track by Skeletron (www.instagram/skeletron_music)

Noah and Rayan sit down with the founder of RedBus, Phanindra Sama and discuss everything from creating and eventually selling RedBus to college life, angel investing to his current job as Chief Innovation Officer of the state of Telangana. This episode was shot at the BITSAA Global Meet 2020 in BITS Goa.

This is the beginning of a journey that we began when we created a podcast concept as an excuse to be able to have a conversation with a venture capitalist. A week later, with no videos released, we managed to record 6 more episodes of this podcast, with company execs, business magnates, tech tycoons, celebrities and more. Now we invite you to join us on this journey, as we discuss BITS Goa, and our lives as college students, interview amazingly successful people, and more. So this is it. This is the BEginning. Welcome to the BITS&Pieces Podcast with Noah Martins, Rohan Arondekar, Yash Gada and Rayan Doshi.