Akshayakalpa is a weird business (weird in a good way) - it is one of the largest soil management companies in India - but ended up selling milk to create a sustainable business for its stakeholders (primarily farmers).

And in the process, created a 400 cr+ (~$50mn) revenue business - accidentally!

My next guest in #UnPluggdWithSinha podcast is Shashi Kumar, Cofounder and CEO of Akshayakalpa - India’s first certified organic dairy enterprise bringing together a balance of practices based in science and the traditional heritage of dairy farming.

Topics we discussed:

How Akshayakalpa’s business model is a gamechanger (It is among the top soil management company in India, ended up selling milk as it offers a compelling value prop to farmers - faster revenue cycle being the most important one).

Shashi’s startup journey - he worked with Wipro, was in US. So why come back to India and go back to farming - something his parents wanted him to never take up (can you believe that his father did not speak to him for 8 years after he decided to take up farming as a career).- Why India being one of the largest producers of milk doesn’t stand a chance in global diaspora?- Why most agritech startups trying to disrupt middle-men fail.-

What’s the future of food? Answer: We are in a serious trouble

As a consumer - what is it that you need to understand about food ecosystem? Is your food producer making enough money?

The UnPluggd with sinha conversations bring you the very best of India’s startup ecosystem (minus the hype) in an informal setup.Wanna suggest guests for the show? Use this form: https://forms.gle/J1GfdGifcVgB7gA87—

He is one of the OGs of new age retail businesses.

• Raised funding - as expected great expansion plans et al.

• The money didn't hit the bank account (some % did)

• Almost lost his startup to investors - somehow got it back (had to take a loan)

• Activated the 'sane' mode - survived, scaled up.

Meet my next guest in #UnPluggdWithSinha show - Manish Sharma, cofounder and CEO of Printo, a leading printing business in India.

UnPluggd with Sinha podcast brings you unfiltered, candid conversations with India's leading entrepreneurs, authors and business leaders.

In this episode, we discuss

• Manish’s lessons building Printo

• Raising money, the (evil) power of liquidation preference clause most founders often ignore

• Building one of the early D2C businesses in India

• His advice to founders out there

• Why founders should have a life beyond their startups - Manish is into cycling, was intensely involved with AAP political party (Bangalore chapter), does theatres.

(episode language: Hinglish)

Balkrishna Birla has started 2 of India's hottest startups - ZopNow and Asklaila. In this conversation with Ashish Sinha, he shares lessons learned building these companies - his 'Steve Jobs' moment, where he was fired from his startup to his candid take on startups - I.e startups are not sexy, there are many ways to make good money (and handling #personalfinance is the first step). Apart from being CTO of an AI startup, he also conducts workshops on #personalfinance for young working professionals. UnPluggd with Sinha podcast is aimed at bringing the very best of India's business and tech leaders - for candid, unfiltered conversations. use this form to suggest show guests / share feedback : https://forms.gle/nhfYREbrZ5d7TM5L6

Deepak Shenoy is founder and CEO of Capital Mind, a pioneering financial analytics and investment research firm. Deepak and I talk about his first startup, the early days of building CapitalMind, being rejected by VCs (heck ! this is just a blog!!!!) to building a solid business…and lessons learned scaling CapitalMind.

• building capitalmind from a blog to leading financial research company
• Deepak’s early days of running tech startups and lessons learned
• Deepak Shenoy’s relationship with money
• His take on the power of compounding
• His advice to new investors

------------- Contact us for feedback / speaker suggestions / exploring partnerships using this form: https://forms.gle/Q6hZdXaYfeiQqR2x8 This show is brought in partnership with VidRow team.

Introducing : UnPluggd with Sinha - a new show, and a refreshingly new format (none of those standard studio setups)! UnPluggd with sinha is the show where real, raw, and refreshingly candid conversations happen on the move - no made-up studios! Because the best ideas don’t need a stage – just a car, a drive, and a great guest. We are breaking away from the studio format and creating a unique experience that - is out there in the real world (no *made-up studios*) - fosters great candid conversation with guests *(can’t get real than this)* - Makes guests open up and discuss a variety of topics The first episode goes live this Wednesday (Jan 29th).

In this conversation, Ashish Sinha interviews Arvind Narayanan, professor of computer science at Princeton University and co-author of the book AI Snake Oil (https://amzn.to/402Ayiw), discussing the impact of AI on various sectors, the differences between generative and predictive AI, the challenges of AI agents, and the future of AI technology. We explore the importance of human-AI collaboration, the role of reasoning in AI, and the need for better evaluation criteria to build trust in AI systems. Narayanan emphasizes the necessity for technical breadth over mastery in the evolving job market and shares practical applications of AI in education and research. Unique Quotes from the Conversation On Predicting Creative Success "The success of cultural products relies on chance elements that cannot be predicted in advance." This highlights the inherent unpredictability of creative ventures, whether driven by AI or humans. -- On Generative AI in Programming "It’s not that AI writes better code, but it takes so much of the drudgery and boring parts out of it." A reminder that AI is a tool to enhance, not replace, human creativity in programming. -- On Predictive AI’s Ethical Concerns "These tools are only slightly better than random at making really consequential decisions about people." A critique of the overreliance on AI in life-altering decisions like hiring or criminal justice. -- On the Capability-Reliability Gap "The capability-reliability gap means these systems are not reliable right now." An acknowledgment of AI’s limitations, emphasizing the need for better testing and accountability. -- On Preparing for the Future of Work "Technical mastery is less valuable than having technical skills combined with a breadth of skills." Advice for future professionals to combine technical expertise with adaptability and interdisciplinary thinking. -- Takeaways

• The unpredictability of success in creative products is a key theme.
• Generative AI is widely recognized, but predictive AI poses ethical challenges.
• AI agents must be more than just wrappers around models.
• Benchmarking AI in complex environments is a significant challenge.
• The capability reliability gap highlights the unreliability of current AI systems.
• Human-AI collaboration is crucial for effective AI deployment.
• Inference scaling is a promising area for improving AI performance.
• Trust in AI is at risk due to rapid deployment without proper evaluation.
• Future engineers should focus on technical breadth and adaptability.

Manasij is the founder of o-founder and CEO of ZapScale, a B2B SaaS platform aimed at enhancing customer success for small businesses.

Before this he started ThreadSol, a very boring B2B company building fabric management solutions for the apparel industry which was acquired by Coats.

Manasij has written a wonderful book : The Economy Class founder and in this conversation, we talk about the evolving nature of GTM for SAAS businesses, the rise of AI snake oil selling (esp in B2B) and well..samosas.

Enjoy the conversation.