First Principles
First Principles is a weekly interview podcast comprising authentic, candid, and insightful conversations between some of India’s most accomplished founders and business leaders, and Rohin Dharmakumar, The Ken’s CEO & co-founder. From personal philosophies, mental models and decision making frameworks, to reading habits, parenting styles or personal interests, each episode will delve into what makes each of these leaders unique.
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Part 2: Ixigo's Aloke Bajpai on using empathy, customer experience, and resilience to both survive and thrive
<p>Hello and welcome back to First Principles. This is the part 2 of the 49th episode since we started, or the 8th episode of season 3.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO of Ixigo, one of India's fastest-growing and most downloaded travel platforms. While most Indian OTAs followed the Western template of flights-first followed by hotels, Aloke and his co-founder Rajnish took a radically different path. The one that would take nearly 14 years before Ixigo became a full-blown OTA.</p><p>Aloke takes us through Ixigo's unconventional journey, starting as a meta-search engine in 2007...
Part 1: Ixigo's Aloke Bajpai on using empathy, customer experience, and resilience to both survive and thrive
<p>Hello and welcome back to First Principles. This is the part 1 of the 49th episode since we started, or the 8th episode of season 3.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO of Ixigo, one of India's fastest-growing and most downloaded travel platforms. While most Indian OTAs followed the Western template of flights-first followed by hotels, Aloke and his co-founder Rajnish took a radically different path. The one that would take nearly 14 years before Ixigo became a full-blown OTA.</p><p>Aloke takes us through Ixigo's unconventional journey, starting as a meta-search engine in 2007...
Part 2: Indiagold's Deepak Abbot on turning a nation's 'dead asset' into credit scores and working capital
<p><br>Hello, listeners, and welcome back to First Principles, Episode 48, or the 7th episode of season 3. This is part 2 of the conversation.</p><p><br>The host, Rohin Dharmakumar, first crossed paths with Deepak Abbot back in April 2015, even before The Ken had been founded. Rohin was chasing down an insightful breakdown of the tech ecosystem's huge user numbers during the Free Basics debate, and Deepak, a veteran operator and former product head at Paytm, was the go-to source for his data-filled, analytical posts.</p><p><br>That same data-driven curiosity is what led Deepak to walk away from...
Part 1: Indiagold's Deepak Abbot on turning a nation's 'dead asset' into credit scores and working capital
<p><br>Hello, listeners, and welcome back to First Principles, Episode 48, or the 7th episode of season 3. This is part 1 of the conversation.</p><p><br>The host, Rohin Dharmakumar, first crossed paths with Deepak Abbot back in April 2015, even before The Ken had been founded. Rohin was chasing down an insightful breakdown of the tech ecosystem's huge user numbers during the Free Basics debate, and Deepak, a veteran operator and former product head at Paytm, was the go-to source for his data-filled, analytical posts.</p><p><br>That same data-driven curiosity is what led Deepak to walk away from...
Part 2: Trilegal's Rahul Matthan on the firm, the partnership, and the principles
<p>Hello and welcome back to First Principles. This is the 47th episode since we started, or the 6th episode of season 3.</p><p>In this episode, I sit down with Rahul Matthan, a co-founder of Trilegal, one of India’s largest and most successful full-service law firms. While Rahul starts by questioning if a lawyer can be an entrepreneur, the conversation unfolds into a masterclass on the patient, principled art of building a lasting institution.</p><p>Rahul provides a rare, inside look into the unique challenges of building a professional services firm—a business where the people are the...
Part 1: Trilegal's Rahul Matthan on the firm, the partnership, and the principles
<p>In this episode, Rohin Dharmakumar sits down with Rahul Matthan, a co-founder of Trilegal, one of India’s largest and most successful full-service law firms. While Rahul starts by questioning if a lawyer can be an entrepreneur, the conversation unfolds into a masterclass on the patient, principled art of building a lasting institution.</p><p>Rahul provides a rare, inside look into the unique challenges of building a professional services firm—a business where the people are the product. He breaks down the counterintuitive models Trilegal adopted to foster a culture of collaboration over individual stardom. We explore their radi...
Part 2: Anand Jain of Clevertap on starting with nothing and learning, building and leading as you go along
<p>Hello and welcome back to First Principles. I’m thrilled to bring you episode 46, my conversation with Anand Jain, the co-founder of Mumbai-headquartered customer engagement platform CleverTap.</p><p><br></p><p>Anand and I were once colleagues at the media conglomerate Network 18. He got out before I did.</p><p><br></p><p>In 2013 he and two of his colleagues, Sunil Thomas and Kondamudi, left Network 18 and decided to fire up their respective laptops and code a new customer engagement platform. In just a few months, WizRocket, as it was then called, found its first – albeit non-paying customer. Then...
Part 1: Anand Jain of Clevertap on starting with nothing and learning, building and leading as you go along
<p>Hello and welcome back to First Principles. I’m thrilled to bring you episode 46, my conversation with Anand Jain, the co-founder of Mumbai-headquartered customer engagement platform CleverTap.</p><p><br></p><p>Anand and I were once colleagues at the media conglomerate Network 18. He got out before I did.</p><p><br></p><p>In 2013 he and two of his colleagues, Sunil Thomas and Kondamudi, left Network 18 and decided to fire up their respective laptops and code a new customer engagement platform. In just a few months, WizRocket, as it was then called, found its first – albeit non-paying customer. Then...
Part 2: Ultraviolette Automotive's Narayan Subramaniam on tinkering, designing and learning by discarding
<p>Premium subscribers of The Ken have full access to ALL our premium audio. They are available exclusively via The Ken’s subscriber apps. If you don’t have them, just download one and log in to unlock everything. Get your premium subscription using this link.</p><p><br>Not a Premium subscriber? You can subscribe to The Ken Premium on Apple Podcasts for an easy monthly price (Rs 299 in India). The channel includes ALL our premium podcasts.</p><p><br>-</p><p><br>My first introduction, and indeed my ongoing and recurring one, to Ultraviolette has been personal. For...
Part 1: Ultraviolette Automotive's Narayan Subramaniam on tinkering, designing and learning by discarding
<p>Premium subscribers of The Ken have full access to ALL our premium audio. They are available exclusively via The Ken’s subscriber apps. If you don’t have them, just download one and log in to unlock everything. Get your premium subscription using this link.</p><p><br>Not a Premium subscriber? You can subscribe to The Ken Premium on Apple Podcasts for an easy monthly price (Rs 299 in India). The channel includes ALL our premium podcasts.</p><p><br>-</p><p><br>My first introduction, and indeed my ongoing and recurring one, to Ultraviolette has been personal. For...
