TOS : The Other Side

We're back with our latest episode! It's one that's very close to our hearts for a variety of reasons. Today's guest is Kishore Natarajan, an IITM alumnus and the co-founder of Hyperverge (where Sabya works), a deep-tech startup based out of Bangalore and San Francisco. Interviewing Kishore was something that was always on the back of our minds and we had a great time speaking to him about his time at IITM, the joy of entrpreneurship and the struggles faced by young founders. He shares several fascinating stories, right from how the team came up with the name 'Hyperverge' to how they handled failure and retained talent. We had a lot of fun speaking to him and we hope y'all will enjoy the episode as well!

We're back with Episode 3 of Season 2.1! Today's episode is a crash course on entrepreneurship, creativity and hope. Our guest today is Vinamra Pandiya, a serial entrepreneur who's currently working on his latest venture, GoNuts, a platform that connects celebrities to fans like never before. Vinamra has founded four companies over the last 15 years, and in this episode, he talks about the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur. Much of his life does feel like a movie (he was almost kidnapped!) and his riveting anecdotes certainly make this episode one to keep coming back to. Besides the startup stories, Vinamra also gives a healthy dose of life gyan that's bound to motivate you if you've had a few bad days. In his words - "Always believe that something wonderful is about to happen"

In today's episode, we take a break from regular programming to welcome a very special guest, *drumroll please*, our very own host, Surya. Over the past few months, Surya has received offers from IIM A, B & C. and scored a 770 on the GMAT. In this episode, he takes us through the pattern and difficulty level of both these exams while also sharing some valuable tips from his own preparation journey. We also talk about the infamous IIM interviews, and Surya shares some pointers on how one can go about preparing for them. If you're someone looking to ace these entrance exams and secure an MBA admit (or just have a good laugh), this is the episode for you.

For queries related to CAT and GMAT prep, you can reach out to Surya at surya.sureshiitm@gmail.com

We're finally back after what feels like a very long time! It's been over a year since our first ever episode, and today we're here with Season 2.1, our attempt to salvage a rather short Season 2. Today's guest is the coolest professor you'll ever meet. He's a cyclist, wilderness explorer, TedX speaker, and all-around amazing person. Today, we welcome Prof. Ganesh Nayak from Manipal to the podcast, and in this episode, we start out by talking to him about what prompted him to start cycling. He talks about his struggles with nicotine addiction and about how he built a cycling habit to replace his smoking habit. We then talk about his adventures in the Himalayas, and he shares some truly riveting and inspiring stories. If these stories don't renew your faith in human potential, we don't know what will :p. He also takes us through his stint at the Outdoor Leadership Academy in Alaska and his current role at Manipal. It's a truly amazing story, and hopefully, it'll help each one of us take the first steps towards leading a more fulfilling life.

You can connect with Prof. Ganesh on IG - @ganeshabybike

How much can one person do during a lifetime? After this interview, we had to go back to our drawing boards and rethink our answers to this question. Today’s guest is Dr. Ganesh Natarajan. He has been a CEO for nearly 2 decades; he’s authored several books; he holds both a Ph.D. and a management degree; he's held board positions on several companies; he has been the chairman of NASSCOM, and he is actively involved in social work. Oh, and he’s also an investor and an entrepreneur, currently building The 5F World, an organization dedicated to realizing the dream of a Digital India. At heart, however, Dr. Ganesh is a communicator, and in this episode, we begin by talking about the importance of communication and how anyone can become a better communicator. Dr. Ganesh also talks about his leadership principles and shares some fascinating anecdotes from his time as the CEO of Aptech (Keep an ear out for the Biriyani parties :p). All this makes for an enlightening and fun episode that holds several useful insights for every student and young professional. 

You can find Dr. Ganesh here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ganeshnatarajan/?originalSubdomain=in

https://twitter.com/GaneshNatarajan?s=20

We're back with Episode 3 of Season 2. Last time, we spoke to Kainaz Messman, the founder of Theobroma, about building a traditional brick and mortar business. This time around, we speak to an entrepreneur on the other side of the spectrum, Karthik Sridharan, the founder of Flexiple, a tech-enabled business that helps companies hire freelance developers. Karthik graduated from BITS Pilani, spent a couple of years in IB, and then completed his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, where he realized that what he really wanted to do was to be an entrepreneur. 4 years later, that startup is now raking in $700,000 in revenues. In this episode, we talk to Karthik about the process of entrepreneurship, how does one get the 'idea', how do you build a team, how do you market your service and how do you build a brand. Karthik shares anecdotes and insights from his journey as an entrepreneur, making this an episode no budding business enthusiast can afford to miss.

We're back with Episode 3 of Season 2. Last time, we spoke to Kainaz Messman, the founder of Theobroma, about building a traditional brick and mortar business. This time around, we speak to an entrepreneur on the other side of the spectrum, Karthik Sridharan, the founder of Flexiple, a tech-enabled business that helps companies hire freelance developers. Karthik graduated from BITS Pilani, spent a couple of years in IB, and then completed his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, where he realized that what he really wanted to do was to be an entrepreneur. 4 years later, that startup is now raking in $700,000 in revenues. In this episode, we talk to Karthik about the process of entrepreneurship, how does one get the 'idea', how do you build a team, how do you market your service and how do you build a brand. Karthik shares anecdotes and insights from his journey as an entrepreneur, making this an episode no budding business enthusiast can afford to miss. 

We are not in the food business, but we are in the business of making people happy. Iconic words from a guest that needs no introduction. In this episode, we are honored to welcome the founder of Theobroma, Kainaz Messman, onto the podcast. If you're among those who haven't had the chance to visit one of their stores yet, put it on your bucket list, right at the top. That's where it deserves to be. We are huge fans of Theobroma, as you can see, and in this episode, we talk to Kainaz about how it all began, the obstacles along the way, and about what has kept her going for nearly 17 years. Theobroma was built as a traditional family business and it still is one to a large degree, so in this episode, you'll hear about how a typical brick and mortar business is built without all the glitz and glamour of external funding. Kainaz is also candid about her struggles to emerge as a leader, and she talks about the importance of creating an environment of trust and mutual respect as an entrepreneur. If you're someone looking to start a business, this is a must-watch, and even if you're not, there's a lot to learn from this tale; about failure, passion, and the power of following your dreams. 

We received some amazing feedback about our first episode with Samarth. As promised, here we are with Part 2. In this episode, Samarth talks about his YIF experience at Ashoka University, what made it different from his engineering education, and how an incident near the end of the fellowship cemented his desire to continue pursuing filmmaking.  Samarth also shares his most memorable moments from filmmaking, some of which are certain to stay with you long after this episode. Near the end of the episode, he also promises to share his list of must-watch films and you can find this list on our Insta handle (@theotherside_podcast) by late evening today. 

We're back! Welcome to Season 2 of 'The Other Side'. We hope you missed us as much as we missed you. Our never-ending quest for diversity and inspiring stories continues in Season 2 and we're thrilled to inform you that we have achieved a modicum of success in this regard. Today, we are excited to welcome Samarth Mahajan onto the podcast. Samarth is a National Award-winning filmmaker and an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and Ashoka University. He is currently directing and producing 'Borderlands' - a documentary about how everyday lives intertwine with borders in the Indian sub-continent. In this episode, we talk to him about his life at IIT Kgp, his brief stint in the corporate world, and about what prompted him to take the plunge into film-making. Samarth is painfully candid about the misconceptions he had about life after college and about the struggles he faced as a budding filmmaker. In the first episode of Season 2, we have brought back the best of TOS, inspiring stories, hilarious anecdotes, and a dollop of life lessons. 

PS: Our famously long introductions are back as well. You can choose to skip it and head on to 3:50 to hear from Samarth:P. 

What better way to end our series on networking than by getting an insider to share her take on the topic? This week, we're joined by Astha Srivastava (a former program manager at LinkedIn), who has plenty to share about online hygiene checks, creating an online repository of your professional journey, and returning value to the networking platforms we use. That's not all, she also uncovers the ranking system within  LinkedIn and discusses how to make the best of one's Social Selling  Index (SSI). Join us for all this and more on the last episode of Networking on License to Skill. We hope we didn't bore you with an excess of Networking tips (but if you have a word or two to offer as feedback, don't hesitate to drop a message on our DMs!)

What should you spend your undergraduate life doing? What makes the IIT  experience special? How can you build strong and long-lasting relationships? How can you find your calling? If you're wondering about these questions, this episode is a must-watch. (For the episode with video, visit our YouTube page TOS: The Other Side). In this episode, Girish Ananthanarayanan - COO, Peepul and ex-McKinsey,  IIMA, and Dr. Nithin Sivadas - NASA, Boston University talk about their experiences at IIT Madras and how it shaped their lives. They talk about the importance of building strong relationships, having a sustainable lifestyle, and of fiercely protecting your individuality in college and beyond. Nithin and Girish share some fascinating (and hilarious)  anecdotes from their own lives and talk candidly about their own missteps and the lessons they've learned along the way. Given their unique paths since graduation, they also have some interesting insights about the opportunities available to one after graduation.

25000+ followers, 100+ posts, and over a million views. By all measures, Kamalika Poddar is a bona fide celebrity on LinkedIn. And in today's episode she shares the secret behind her success: content. We talk to Kamalika about her thought process, her approach to content creation, and how one should handle criticism on social media. She also talks about the benefits of content creation on LinkedIn and gives a few pointers on how one can get started with posting on LinkedIn. There's definitely a dearth of good content creators on LinkedIn and this could be your starting point to become LinkedIn's next influencer :P,

500+ connections, 100 followers, and 1000 profile views -- Do numbers mean anything in networking? Well, License to Skill is back with our next segment, in which we dissect the conundrums of networking on  LinkedIn. How strong is your network? Being a student, how can you reach out to a senior executive on LinkedIn? Can LinkedIn help you land that dream internship? Our guest this week is Pratyush, a final year student at IIT-BHU, and an incoming Solutions Architect at AWS who has done all the above. One of Pratyush's most prized accomplishments is a one-on-one virtual interaction with Satya Nadella, an opportunity that arose because of (no prizes for guessing) Linkedin. Pratyush is also a  techno-management professional with cross-functional experience in solving complex strategic, operational, and technological challenges. He has completed internships at AWS, Pfizer, RB, and Lybrate, some of which he landed through LinkedIn.   In this episode, we discuss network-building, expanding one's  connections, co d-emailing, and leaving a mark on LinkedIn. Listen in for a fun and engaging conversation!

It's great to be back! (The video of this episode is out on Youtube - (https://youtu.be/tTRTbVxKuUM). Today's episode is a very special one and brings down the curtains on our series 'From Insti and Beyond', which we ran in collaboration with the Alumni Relations Team of IIT Madras. Our guest today is Prof. Anima Anandkumar, a Bren Professor at Caltech and the  Director of ML Research at NVIDIA. Prof. Anima has acquired near-legendary status in both corporate research and academia and in this episode she talks about her life journey so far. We also talk to her about why she chose research as her path, about the AI revolution today and much more. Prof. Anima is also very vocal about furthering the cause of women in STEM and we talk to her about diversity (or lack thereof) in technical fields, the effect of patriarchy on Indian and American culture, and what we can do to create a better future. An episode peppered with fascinating anecdotes and a lot of sound life advice.

Networking has always been the buzz word in college circles. It's how you get that dream job or prestigious internship. In today's digital  age, LinkedIn has gained prominence as the finest networking tool there is. But just how can college students use Linkedin? Our first episode 'Linking-In' in our brand new series License to Skill drops today! We were fortunate to have Swathi Chandrasekaran (NIT-T, Columbia, a4 Advertising) join us as our first guest. In this episode, she takes our through her networking journey and reflects on how LinkedIn helped her in finding the right breaks. The episode also addresses some important myths surrounding LinkedIn: Is registering on LinkedIn the same as uploading my resume online? What's the one thing I should do and shouldn't do on LinkedIn? Listen on for answers to such questions and more, and don't forget to check out the video of the same on YouTube!

TOS is all set to launch yet another mini-series: License To Skill with a brand new host - Ranjani. In the first leg of the series, she will walk you through actionable pointers that you can apply to improve your existing network or make one, right from scratch. 

But that's not all, the License to Skill series will also cover:

- Content writing and SOP writing 

- Typesetting and Graphic Design

- Fitness and mental health

...and a bunch of other interesting topics seen through the eyes of students and fresh graduates with considerable expertise in these domains. 

Stay tuned and follow us for updates and all kinds of career advice (we're only sharing what we're hunting for ourselves, trust us!)

But before that, do tune into a fun informal episode featuring Sabya, Surya, and Ranjani, where they discuss what the new series promises and look back at their internship experiences (link in bio). Before we sign off, a huge shoutout to Gayathri (@iamascribble on Insta) for sacrificing sleep to meet our ill-advised eleventh-hour deadlines. (check our insta page for her work:D)

It's great to be back! Wish you a very happy Independence Day and we're here with the 5th episode of From Insti & Beyond, which we're running in collaboration with the Alumni Relations Cell of IIT Madras. Our guest today is Sarvesh Agrawal, Founder and CEO of Internshala, one of the most recognizable names among college students today. Before starting up, Sarvesh had spent a few years in the banking sector, and in this episode, he talks about why he made the transition to entrepreneurship, the importance of leaving a legacy, and the differences between entrepreneurship and the traditional ascent up the corporate ladder. We also talk to him about his life at IITM, about how his idea of success has changed over the years and about his advice for all the college students out there. An episode peppered with fascinating anecdotes and a must-listen for all the budding entrepreneurs out there. (Skip to 3:10 to hear from Sarvesh directly)

It's great to be back! We're here with the 4th episode of From Insti & Beyond, which we're running in collaboration with the Alumni Relations Cell of IIT Madras. Our guest today is Mithun Sundar, CEO of Lendingkart, one of India's most accomplished fintech startups. Over the course of his career, Mithun has occupied senior strategy and operational roles at Pepsi, Myntra, and McKinsey, and he also holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. In this episode, Mithun talks about what it takes to be successful (Hint: It's in the title) and about the lessons he has learned from his journey since graduating from IITM. We also talk to him about the Indian startup ecosystem, his appetite for risk, and his passion for Yoga (Mithun is a certified Yoga teacher!). An episode peppered with interesting stories and sound advice for the college grads out there - this is one we're sure you'll enjoy.  (Skip to 2:40 to hear from Mithun directly)

We're back! This time with the 3rd episode of our all-new series, From Insti & Beyond, which we're running in collaboration with the Alumni Relations Cell of IIT Madras. This week, we are thrilled to welcome Manoj Madhusudanan, CEO of India Operations at Dunnhumby - a global leader in customer data science. Over the course of his career, Manoj has primarily worked in consulting and professional services but he also started his own venture a couple of years ago. In this week's episode, he brings all that rich experience to the fore in one of the most candid and insightful conversations our hosts have had on the show. We cover a wide range of topics right from mentorship and leadership, to camping and meditation in an episode that is truly one to remember. 

It's great to be back! We're here with the 2nd episode of our all-new series, From Insti & Beyond, which we're running in collaboration with the Alumni Relations Cell of IIT Madras. Our guest today is Nitin Chandalia, Managing Director and Partner at BCG. Nitin Sir has been in consulting for over 15 years and in this episode, he talks about his journey so far and the lessons he's learned along the way.  We cover a gamut of topics in this episode, right from the 'Rava Dosa' (and chutney:p) at IITM to networking, conflict resolution, and success in the corporate world (Hint: The latter is all about communication). An insightful episode peppered with deeply philosophical takes on life, career, and success - this is one we hope you'll keep coming back to. (Skip to 2:30 to hear from Nitin directly)

We're back! This time, with our all-new series, From Insti & Beyond, which we're running in collaboration with the Alumni Relations Team of IIT Madras. In our first episode today, we are truly honored to welcome Shiv Shivakumar, a leader who needs no introduction. Shiv Sir, a distinguished alumnus of both IITM and IIMC has been a CEO for nearly half his career (Pepsi, Nokia, ABG) and in this episode, he distills all that he's learned and experienced over the course of his illustrious career. He also talks to us about leadership, about how it starts from a young age, and about how one can become a better leader starting today. Besides the career guidance and leadership lessons, we also talk about some lighter things, such as his passion for sports, his undying support for Manchester United, and about how sports shaped his perspective on life and career. A truly inspiring episode and one that the two of us have already heard more than 10 times. You don't want to miss this!. (Skip to 3:10 to hear from Shiv directly)

Episode 12 is here! And there are quite a few exciting announcements at the start. (Don't skip:p) There's a new series coming up and we're really excited about it! But on to the episode. Our guest today, for once, is not an engineer, but a physics graduate, Pranay Patil. Pranay was part of the first physics program at IIT Madras, and he then went on to earn a Ph.D. at Boston University and is currently pursuing his post-doc in France. Physics is the first love of most engineers and in this episode, Pranay talks about his tryst with physics and about what motivated him to pursue it full time as a career. We also talk about the pros and cons of an academic career, what it takes to be a researcher, and about how one must go about laying the foundation for a career in research. 

Episode 12 is here!!!. And there are quite a few exciting announcements at the start. (Don't skip:p) There's a new series coming up and we're really excited about it!!. But on to the episode. Our guest today, for once, is not an engineer, but a physics graduate, Pranay Patil. Pranay was part of the first physics program at IIT Madras, and he then went on to earn a Ph.D. at Boston University and is currently pursuing his post-doc in France. Physics is the first love of most engineers and in this episode, Pranay talks about his tryst with physics and about what motivated him to pursue it full time as a career. We also talk about the pros and cons of an academic career, what it takes to be a researcher and about how one must go about laying the foundation for a career in research. 

'The universe is made of stories, not of atoms', Muriel Rukeyser once wrote. As podcasters, we couldn't agree more. Episode 11 is here and in it we welcome Chaya Maheshwari Gupta, a 2013 graduate from IIT Madras who also turns out to be a wonderful storyteller. In this 40 minute episode, she'll take you through her journey, right from starting out as a bright-eyed student in Narayana to being the only woman in a 600 strong factory, to her MBA at INSEAD and her current role at Amazon. It's inspirational, funny, and enrapturing, all at the same time. And as always, there are some subtle life lessons along the way for the keen listener to pick up on. We're sure you'll enjoy this one.

Episode 10 is here!!. And it features a researcher who works at the cutting edge. About time we got a researcher on the podcast and we're confident that this episode won't disappoint. Our guest today is Sumedha Pareek, a 2014 graduate from the Department of Biotechnology at IIT Madras and a currently a graduate research assistant at the iconic MD Anderson Cancer Center. However, her journey so far has had its fair share of twists and turns from being a 7 pointer at IITM to taking up a consulting assignment right out of campus. In this episode, she talks to us about how she stuck with her passion through all this and about just who is the right fit for a career as a researcher. Research isn't an easy profession by any stretch of the imagination and this episode will help you understand whether it is the path for you and about whether you are ready to 'fail on a daily basis'. 

Episode 9 is here!! And it's one to keep coming back to. Our guest today is Pratik Kejriwal, a mechanical engineering grad from IITBHU and a 10 year FMCG veteran at Unilever. Pratik, an Economic Times Young Leader Awardee, has swiftly risen up the FMCG ladder and has held roles in logistics, supply chain, factory management, and much more during his time at HUL. He also spends a great deal of his time mentoring young graduates and he doles out some great advice in this interview as well. In part 2 of this interview, Pratik talks to us about his brief stint at Rivigo, his views on the Indian startup ecosystem, and about what prompted him to return to HUL. Besides that, he talks to us about university life, what should students focus on, and about just what the corporates out there are looking for. If you're confused about your career and future goals, this is a can't miss!!

Episode 9 is here!! And it's one to keep coming back to. Our guest today is Pratik Kejriwal, a mechanical engineering grad from IITBHU and a 10 year FMCG veteran at Unilever. Pratik, an Economic Times Young Leader Awardee, has swiftly risen up the FMCG ladder and has held roles in logistics, supply chain, factory management, and much more during his time at HUL. He also spends a great deal of his time mentoring young graduates and he doles out some great advice in this interview as well. In Part 1 of the episode with Pratik, we talk to him about his first few years at HUL and the lessons he learned along the way. He tells us riveting stories of his time at different factories, his disputes with blue-collar workers, and about how all this helped me grow as a person. Besides this, Pratik also gives us sound leadership lessons, talks to us about his leadership style, and about what it takes to be a good leader. "You're a leader, not a manager" - Sound advice to remember for all of us.

We're back with this week's episode. As you can see, it's a bonus episode where we're joined by a very special guest, a close friend of the two of us, Jugal Choksi. Jugal is a 4th-year undergrad at IITM and he joins us today to recreate the college experience that we miss the most, a.k.a talking philosophy while sipping tea :p. This time, however, we restrict ourselves to the takeaways from the podcast, and about what we have learned over the past 2 months. We talk about 'focus', 'passion', networking etc.. and in the middle, we find ourselves in a fierce debate about competence and the importance of carving a niche for yourself. It's entertaining, funny, and informal. You'll either dig this or you won't. We hope you do. (Also, a small announcement, we'll be releasing episodes on Friday from now on).

Episode 8 is out!!. And it's a deeply philosophical and a highly insightful one. Imagine staying back at university for 4 years after you've graduated. The typical reaction : confusion, disbelief and disdain. Now imagine staying back at university for 4 years for the sole purpose of continuing a student project. Shocked? That's what our guest  today, Akshay Gulati, did after graduating from IIT Madras in 2012. Akshay stayed back for 4 more years to continue working on the IITM  Satellite project, a student project that is now the tale of legend in IIT Madras. Akshay is currently the CEO of Infinite Orbits, a startup in  the domain of space tech and he was kind enough to join us on the show. In Part 2 of this episode, Akshay talks to us about the transition from R&D to entrepreneurship and about what he had to change along the way. Besides this, Akshay gives a heavy dose of life lessons to those who are currently in university and is very candid about the importance of embracing failure and taking life a tad bit less seriously. 

Episode 8 is out!!. And it's a deeply philosophical and a highly insightful one. Imagine staying back at university for 4 years after you've graduated. The typical reaction : confusion, disbelief and disdain. Now imagine staying back at university for 4 years for the sole purpose of continuing a student project. Shocked? That's what our guest today, Akshay Gulati, did after graduating from IIT Madras in 2012. Akshay stayed back for 4 more years to continue working on the IITM Satellite project, a student project that is now the tale of legend in IIT Madras. Akshay is currently the CEO of Infinite Orbits, a startup in the domain of space tech and he was kind enough to join us on the show. In this episode, Akshay talks to us about the IITMSAT project, how it all began and about what kept him going all those long years. The episode is filled with profound life lessons, quirky life stories and a huge dose of motivation for anyone who's looking at taking up a massive project. After all, can't get much bigger than launching a satellite into space, can it?

Episode 7 is out!!. Our guest today: Saptarshi Prakash, an accomplished product designer who's very well known in the Indian startup ecosystem. Saptarshi graduated from IIT Madras in 2014 and is currently a product design manager in Swiggy. We were thrilled to host him on the podcast and in this episode, he talks to us about his journey as a designer, how it all began, and the transition from engineering to product design. Along the way, he drops some concrete career advice for aspiring designers, especially about the importance of building a design portfolio and earning social media capital. As with other episodes, our guest also drops some important life lessons for all you listeners out there. 

You can reach out to Saptarshi on Linkedin @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/saptarshipr/

Saptarshi has also recently started his YouTube channel where he talks about product design. A must watch for design enthusiasts - https://www.youtube.com/user/saptarshipr

We're back with Episode 6!!!. Given that several of our episodes so far have had consultants, we thought we'd stay away from consulting for a bit. But this particular story was too intriguing to pass up on. Our guest today is Aroon Narayanan, a 2017 graduate from IIT Madras who joined McKinsey from campus. What makes him different however is his decision to leave McKinsey in less than a year and pursue a Masters in economics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. In part 2 of this wonderful interview, Aroon talks about his decision to leave McKinsey, his Masters journey at ISI, and what his life so far has taught him about purpose, happiness, and meaning. The episode ends with some very profound advice from Aroon on how college grads should approach life at university

We're back with Episode 6!!!. Given that several of our episodes so far have had consultants, we thought we'd stay away from consulting for a bit. But this particular story was too intriguing to pass up on. Our guest today is Aroon Narayanan, a 2017 graduate from IIT Madras who joined McKinsey from campus. What makes him different however is his decision to leave McKinsey in less than a year and pursue a Masters in economics from the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. In Part 1 of this episode, Aroon majorly talks about his life at IITM, the mistakes he made along the way, and the lessons he learnt. Aroon is frightfully candid about his life experiences, about the inevitable existential crisis that every college student goes through and his journey of self-discovery. You can't miss out on this one!!!

Episode 5 is out!!!. And it’s one that is very close to our hearts. Our guest, 2016 IITM graduate, Shashanka S Rao. Shashanka, formerly a business analyst at McKinsey & Company, currently works in the development sector at the African Leadership Academy in South Africa. In part 2 of this interview, we talk to Shashanka about his time at the African Leadership Academy, his vision to do something similar in India, and his upcoming MBA at Harvard Business School. Candid and interspersed with several inspiring life stories, this is an episode that will give everyone much food for thought.

Episode 5 is out!!!. And it’s one that is very close to our hearts. Our guest, 2016 IITM graduate, Shashanka S Rao. Shashanka, formerly a business analyst at McKinsey & Company, currently works in the development sector at the African Leadership Academy in South Africa. His passion for education and grassroots impact has taken him to various places and in this episode, we talk about all these places and what he's learnt along the way. In part 1 of this interview, Shashanka also talks about his life at IITM, how he overcame 'FOMO', and gives a great deal of 'fundaes' for any juniors listening to this episode. Candid and interspersed with several inspiring life stories, this is an episode that will give everyone much food for thought. 

Episode 4 is here!!. Our guest is Anuradha Sethuraman, a career investment banker who is currently a director at Natixis (Hong Kong), a leading  French investment bank. She was formerly a VP at Morgan Stanley and holds an MBA from IIM Bangalore.  What sets her apart, however, is her  2nd 'career', a nearly two-decade-long stint as a dancer. In part 2 of this insightful interview, our guest talks about how college students should go about building their careers. She also talks about the importance of networking and drops some tips on how one could network better. Oh, and for those who are looking at an MBA, she talks in great detail about that as well. 

Episode 4 is here!!. Our guest is Anuradha Sethuraman, a career investment banker who is currently a director at Natixis (Hong Kong), a leading French investment bank. She was formerly a VP at Morgan Stanley and holds an MBA from IIM Bangalore.  What sets her apart, however, is her 2nd 'career', a nearly two-decade-long stint as a dancer. In part 1 of this interview, we dig into all the places her life has taken her and just how she manages her time between dance and investment banking. Filled with sound advice and interesting stories, this is an episode you should not miss out on. 

Note: You can skip to 2:50 if you wish to move directly to the interview.

Episode 3 is out!!!. And it’s one to remember. Entertaining and hilarious with a heavy dose of life lessons, this episode is one that you’ll keep coming back to. Our guest, 2018 IITM graduate, Varun  Srinivas Sridharan. Varun is currently a ‘capital allocator’ (read:  associate) at a private equity firm and was previously a consultant. In part 2 of this interview, Varun talks about his day-day work life, what private equity means, and about his life as a consultant. 

Episode 3 is out!!!. And it’s one to remember. Entertaining and hilarious with a heavy dose of life lessons, this episode is one that you’ll keep coming back to. Our guest, 2018 IITM graduate, Varun Srinivas Sridharan. Varun is currently a ‘capital allocator’ (read: associate) at a private equity firm and was previously a consultant. All this after topping his branch at IITM. In his free time, he masquerades as a philosopher and calls it 'mentorship'. In part 1 of this exhaustive interview, Varun talks about discipline, purpose and how he went about finding his. His analogies are top class, and so is his story. We guarantee that it'll keep you wanting more. 

Shubham Nandeshwar is a very close friend of the show. In fact, when the two of us were still ideating about the podcast, we knew that an episode with Shubham was on both our bucket-lists. Shubham graduated from IIT Madras last year and began his new journey at Flipkart as an associate product manager. In this episode, he’s as insightful and inspiring as we remember him, and he speaks about product management, the college-work transition and the importance of finding mentors. And to aspiring product managers, this episode is a sneak peek of what’s in store for you.

Note: You can skip to 3:25 if you wish to move directly to the interview with Shubham

In this bonus episode, we take a few minutes to talk about our inspiration and then delve into our college lives and what we have learnt along the way.

Samyak Jain isn't your typical IIT graduate. For that matter, he isn't your typical Indian college graduate. During his 4 years as an undergraduate at IIT Madras, he co-founded Involve, a social enterprise that works in the domain of education and specializes in peer teaching. Involve has evolved into an international award-winning organization and what was once a college project has now turned into Samyak's full-time job. Join us as we talk to Samyak about his journey, his life philosophy, his advice for young college students, and his plan for the next few years. Insightful, informative, and humble as ever, this episode with Samyak will stay close to both our hearts, and hopefully, yours too. 

A sneak peek of our new podcast. Stay tuned to hear more about life beyond college and the damn interesting stories of those who have already taken the leap.