Shows
The SpotlightCrypto vs Stocks vs Gold: What Should You Really Invest In? | Raghvendra Nath(Ladderup) ExplainsStop thinking about your wealth like a startup. Your biggest strength as a founder - your bias for high-risk, high-growth, and breakneck speed - is your biggest liability when managing your own money. The instinct that built your company can easily destroy your personal wealth. This episode is the antidote. In this episode, host Akshay Datt sits down with Raghvendra Nath, a 30-year veteran of the Indian financial markets. After a stellar 18-year corporate career in senior roles at the Aditya Birla Group, Raghvendra co-founded Ladderup Wealth Management in 2011. He has since grown the firm to...
2025-08-051h 15
The SpotlightBuilding the medical safety net for corporate India | Kulin Shah @ OnsurityInspired by his Gujarati family's business background, Kulin Shah of Onsurity, shares his entrepreneurial journey. His journey began during his college days, where he and a colleague attempted to start a business in exporting wedding cards and an EdTech platform, both unsuccessful.In this episode he shares how he pivoted from the early business ventures and his roles at Aditya Birla group and Reliance, Free Charge and Acko to create Onsurity, a holistic platform for health and wellness, including mental wellness plans, gym memberships, and insurance options.Kulin shares his key learnings that helped him t...
2024-11-071h 27
Marketing with VaniDigital strategies for the new normal | Shiv Shivakumar @ Aditya Birla Group [S02, #5]Digital transformation is the current industry buzzword, but is the industry ready for true digital transformation, or is it merely paying lip service? Tune in as Vani and Shiv discuss digital in detail and what it actually means for the future of marketing.📄 Click here to read the transcriptEnjoyed the episode? Please consider listening to the other episodes and subscribe to “Marketing with Vani” on this platform!🍒CherryPeachPlum is a marketing-focused business consultancy that delivers business results. Get in touch via the website www.cherrypeachplum.in to get marketing solutions that work in the real
2022-09-0814 min
Marketing with VaniDigital Strategies For The New Normal | Shiv Shivakumar @ Aditya Birla Group [S02, #5]Digital transformation is the current industry buzzword, but is the industry ready for true digital transformation, or is it merely paying lip service? Tune in as Vani and Shiv discuss digital in detail and what it actually means for the future of marketing.📄 Click here to read the transcriptEnjoyed the episode? Please consider listening to the other episodes and subscribe to “Marketing with Vani” on this platform!🍒CherryPeachPlum is a marketing-focused business consultancy that delivers business results. Get in touch via the website www.cherrypeachplum.in to get marketing solutions that work in the real
2022-09-0814 min
Marketing with VaniHow traditional companies must reinvent to stay ahead | Shiv Shivakumar @ Aditya Birla Group [S02, #4]Shiv and Vani discuss why, in today's context of digital, FMCG companies or 'Fast Moving Consumer Goods' companies are in fact slow! Listen on for some great pointers on how traditional large companies must reinvent to keep pace with the digital newbies.📄 Click here to read the transcriptEnjoyed the episode? Please consider listening to the other episodes and subscribe to “Marketing with Vani” on this platform!🍒CherryPeachPlum is a marketing-focused business consultancy that delivers business results. Get in touch via the website www.cherrypeachplum.in to get marketing solutions that work in the real wo
2022-09-0211 min
Marketing with VaniHow Traditional Companies Must Reinvent To Stay Ahead | Shiv Shivakumar @ Aditya Birla Group [S02, #4]Shiv and Vani discuss why, in today's context of digital, FMCG companies or 'Fast Moving Consumer Goods' companies are in fact slow! Listen on for some great pointers on how traditional large companies must reinvent to keep pace with the digital newbies.📄 Click here to read the transcriptEnjoyed the episode? Please consider listening to the other episodes and subscribe to “Marketing with Vani” on this platform!🍒CherryPeachPlum is a marketing-focused business consultancy that delivers business results. Get in touch via the website www.cherrypeachplum.in to get marketing solutions that work in the real wo
2022-09-0211 min
Marketing with VaniThe B2B manual for winning digital | Shiv Shivakumar @ Aditya Birla Group [S02, #2]Go digital, get growth- the pandemic has changed rules for the B2B segment. How to better address pain points? Will branding become indispensable?In this episode, industry expert Shiv Shivakumar speaks about what it would take for B2Bs to make the cut!📄 Click here to read the transcriptEnjoyed the episode? Please consider listening to the other episodes and subscribe to “Marketing with Vani” on this platform!This show is sponsored by CherryPeachPlum Growth Consultancy. 🍒 CherryPeachPlum is a marketing-focused business consultancy that delivers business results. Get in touch via www.cherry...
2022-08-1807 min
Marketing with VaniThe B2B Manual For Winning Digital | Shiv Shivakumar @ Aditya Birla Group [S02, #2]Go digital, get growth- the pandemic has changed rules for the B2B segment. How to better address pain points? Will branding become indispensable?In this episode, industry expert Shiv Shivakumar speaks about what it would take for B2Bs to make the cut!📄 Click here to read the transcriptEnjoyed the episode? Please consider listening to the other episodes and subscribe to “Marketing with Vani” on this platform!This show is sponsored by CherryPeachPlum Growth Consultancy. 🍒 CherryPeachPlum is a marketing-focused business consultancy that delivers business results. Get in touch via www.cherry...
2022-08-1807 min
Marketing with VaniDecoding digital | Shiv Shivakumar @ Aditya Birla Group [S02, #1]Out with the old, in with the new- companies must pull their socks up if they want to succeed in a digitized world!In this episode, Vani speaks with Shiv Shivakumar who lays out his new theory on digital and shares golden insights on how companies can pivot to thrive.📄 Click here to read the transcriptEnjoyed the episode? Please consider listening to the other episodes and subscribe to “Marketing with Vani” on this platform!This show is sponsored by CherryPeachPlum Growth Consultancy. 🍒 CherryPeachPlum is a marketing-focused business consultancy that delivers business r...
2022-08-1110 min
Marketing with VaniDecoding Digital | Shiv Shivakumar @ Aditya Birla Group [S02, #1]Out with the old, in with the new- companies must pull their socks up if they want to succeed in a digitized world!In this episode, Vani speaks with Shiv Shivakumar who lays out his new theory on digital and shares golden insights on how companies can pivot to thrive.📄 Click here to read the transcriptEnjoyed the episode? Please consider listening to the other episodes and subscribe to “Marketing with Vani” on this platform!This show is sponsored by CherryPeachPlum Growth Consultancy. 🍒 CherryPeachPlum is a marketing-focused business consultancy that delivers business r...
2022-08-1110 min
SoulBrews with ShebaEp 52 - Sheba and Rita Bibra share a coffeePresenting a soul conversation with Rita Bibra. Rita is an Educationist and an Administrator. Rita is Secretary-General (Retd.) of the Vidya Mandir Society that manages the Educational Institutions of Shri SK Birla.
2021-09-0157 minSoulBrews with ShebaEp 27 - Sheba and VR Shankar share a coffeeSheba Maini shares a coffee with V R Shankar, President & General Counsel, Hindalco at Aditya Birla Group. More about him is on Linkedin.
2021-03-1040 min
Life of the Mind with Akshay Birla27 | Ilya Zaritskiy built a PE firm from credit cardsIlya Zaritskiy arrived in Los Angeles as a refugee from Ukraine. He was a child, in middle school, perhaps. There were tanks on the streets in LA – the 1992 Rodney King riots were happening. Neither he nor his family spoke any English. This podcast is the story of how one immigrant kid used the […]
2018-10-0400 minLife of the Mind with Akshay Birla25 | Rohit Chopra and the history of Indian mediaRohit Chopra is the co-host of the podcast India Explained and Associate Professor at Santa Clara University. We talk about journalism in India and it’s evolution from the days of Doordarshan to the cornucopia of (mostly bad) options available today. Through our conversation I was introduced or reintroduced to a number of people and bodies […]
2018-09-2000 minLife of the Mind with Akshay Birla24 | Jim TannerJim Tanner founded Just Good Advice with the goal of providing sound financial advice to ordinary people. In the story that takes him to Just Good Advice, we talk about his first fin-tech company from when the best way to transmit data was the fax machine; Morningstar, where Jim ran the sales team; and the […]
2018-09-0600 minLife of the Mind with Akshay Birla23 | Adam Greenberg on the Peace Corps, Zambia, and LivingAdam Greenberg shares his journey to become a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia via AmeriCorps and other random travel. For someone so young, he’s certainly lived in a lot of places by his own choosing; this conversation was great. We need to all think more about the impact of student debt on the labor market […]
2018-08-2300 minLife of the Mind with Akshay Birla22 | Jon Peeples on Psychiatry, Public Health, and WritingDr Jon Peeples takes us behind the scenes into the world of psychiatry for a fascinating conversation around mental health, being a smarter consumer of psychiatric care, and public health. We talk about encounters in the ER and serving some of the poorest and most vulnerable populations. As he observes, Prozac is not going to […]
2018-08-0900 minLife of the Mind with Akshay Birla21 | Brian Hart Explains Homelessness in AmericaBrian Hart is the co-founder of Lighthouse DC, a non-profit that helps people transitioning from homelessness in turning empty spaces into homes that are welcoming and functional for their families. We talk about homelessness in the capital of the world’s richest country, how to talk about homelessness to people with a spectrum of views on […]
2018-05-1000 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 20 | Tova Levin on Experimental and Behavioral EconomicsTova Levin has worked closely with two of the most prominent economists of our generation – Steven Levitt and John List – serving as Levitt’s Chief of Staff for several years before joining Humana as a leader in their behavioral economics division. We nerd out about so much in economics – Gary Becker (read the […]
2018-01-1100 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 19 | Katy Dickinson on Technology, Mentoring, and ReligionKaty Dickinson has been around the tech-block. Hired by Eric Schmidt at Sun Microsystems, she literally wrote the book on the software development lifecycle that Sun used for release of almost 10,000 releases. She is a technologist, entrepreneur, mentor, and writer. In our conversation Katy talks about her work as a technologist on creating processes: […]
2017-12-2800 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 18 | Phill Keene on Building Sales TeamsPhill Keene builds insides-sales organizations for companies that are selling to other companies (“B2B”). We jam about what it takes to build a successful inside sales organization, staying relevant in a world that’s changing quickly because of technology, podcasting (he co-hosts a very successful podcast, #RealSalesTalk), and what I’d think of as flourishing or living […]
2017-12-1400 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 17 | Avi Patchava on India’s Future with Artificial IntelligenceI stumbled upon Avi Patchava because of his recent post, “The 5 unexpected reasons why Indians make it as CEOs of global companies,” and I was surprised that it was so sincerely reasoned. Avi graciously agreed to jam with me and we talked about his journey from London/McKinsey to InMobi, the tech scene in India […]
2017-11-3000 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 16 | Jodi Kovitz – One of 100 Most Powerful Women in CanadaJodi Kovitz. I didn’t realize this at the time I invited Jodi to be a guest on this show, and I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have even tried to have her on the show if I did, but Jodi was named as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada this year because of […]
2017-11-2300 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 15 | Kathryn Hume on AI, 17th Century French Philosophy, and Intellectual CuriosityKathryn Hume is a technologist and philosopher. She’s the VP of Product at integrate.ai, Venture Partner at ffVC, and writer at Quam Proxime. If you’re nerdy enough, she’ll talk about her PhD research on the 17th and 18th century version of “fake it till you make it” which she does here (score!). In this episode […]
2017-11-0200 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 14 | Srishti Handa, on being a solopreneur woman in IndiaThis week I jam with Srishti Handa on her journey as a solopreneur woman in India, and talking about her experience in starting, and then closing, The Temperamental Chef, a frozen food business in India. If you’re not familiar with India, you might find this surprising, although it did make me wonder on how frequently […]
2017-10-0500 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 13 | Jim Dickie forecasts a revolution in B2B salesThis week’s guest, Jim Dickie, has had a front-row seat in the changing sales landscape, and after years of skepticism he’s convinced that a world of AI-enabled sales is here. We jammed on sales, technology, the future, and privacy in age of an advertising-driven anti-privacy arms race. The sales process is there for one thing […]
2017-09-2800 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 12 | Kurt Metzger explains sales operationsMy guest this week is Kurt Metzger, the Director of Sales Operations at Walgreens. We talk about what sales operations is, how this function supports the sales team, what sort of business problems sales operations professionals (sales operators?) help solve, and how to recruit and retain for this role. I was also surprised to learn […]
2017-09-2100 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 11 | Azeem Zainulbhai explains the Indian tech sceneMy guest this week is fellow UChicago alumnus Azeem Zainulbhai, who quit being an international financier to be a tech entrepreneur in India. I spoke with him about his journey and stories, from co-founding Restaurant Week India (successful exit) to Housing.com (there’s lots on the internet about that story) to ShopX, his current professional home. […]
2017-08-2400 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 10 | David Akinin is helping urbanize NamibiaThis week’s guest, David Akinin, spoke to me from Namibia, where he has boldly embarked on the mission to help urbanization. Unlike the mindset of foreign intervention, aid, or charity, David’s motive is to satisfy customers (small as the promises might be) and deliver good returns for his investors. (The token reference to Namibia if […]
2017-08-0300 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 9 | Suheil Tandon is using sports to transform IndiaMy guest this week is Suheil Tandon, the Founder and Director of Pro Sport Development, an NGO in India with the lofty mission of using sports to transform India’s youth. This group first showed up on my radar when they were raising money to buy shoes for children/youth in one of their projects so that […]
2017-07-2700 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 8 | Caitlin Tulloch evaluates the effectiveness of policy interventionsCaitlin Tulloch is a policy economist at the International Rescue Committee where she studies the cost effectiveness of policy intervention. It’s the sort of thing that wouldn’t initially seem to be, but actually is, novel in the area of humanitarian interventions. Caitlin’s background and work experience at JPAL also provides very useful context and understanding […]
2017-07-2000 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 7 | Pete Kalenik will fundamentally alter your perspectives on policingAn alumnus of the Chicago Public Schools, Concordia University Chicago, The University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Chicago and Loyala University Chicago, Pete makes for a very unusual police officer. But his range and depth of perspectives from academia, the US Army, and the Chicago Police Department make him uniquely qualified to help […]
2017-07-1300 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 6 | Sarah Costa will make you believe in libraries againIf you aren’t at a college or university, and don’t have children, the chances are that you haven’t been to a public library recently. Most of my neighbors don’t even know that we have a public library right down the street! So I thought I’d talk to a librarian about whether public libraries are still […]
2017-07-0600 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 5 | Greg NanceI spoke with Greg on what was a very early Shanghai morning and late Atlanta evening, and had just so much fun jamming about what Greg has been up to. Greg Nance is an entrepreneur, an ultra-marathoner, and a passionate champion of people-to-people diplomacy (although he doesn’t say as much). Some show notes: Moneythink: is […]
2017-06-2900 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 4 | Ngiste AbebeI had a lot of fun jamming with Ngiste Abebe, fellow UChicago alum, author of Bidding for Development: How the Olympic Bid Process Can Accelerate Transportation Development, Co-Found and COO of Aulenor Co, and a campaign organizer in Virginia and the District of Columbia. Our conversation spanned sports (ok, not really), politics, fantasy and sci-fi, […]
2017-06-2300 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 3 | Life of the Mind with Joe SrokaThere are some conversations that you cannot plan, and this was one of them. I thought that my guest Joe Sroka would be interesting to chat with about finance (he is currently the Chief Investment Officer at NovaPoint Capital) and his career in/through finance. But Joe ended up giving me (a foreigner) a tour of […]
2017-06-1800 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 2 | Life of the Mind with Keenan PontoniI got incredibly lucky and had a chance to jam with Keenan Pontoni, a fellow UChicago alum. We talked a lot about UChicago and if you went elsewhere… well, let’s just say we’re #happyclients and you might spend the first few minutes in envy. But this conversation went deeper than I’d have anticipated on statistics, […]
2017-06-1800 minLife of the Mind with Akshay BirlaEpisode 1 | Life of the Mind with Neal IdnaniIn my first conversation for Life of the Mind, I jam with Neal Idnani, Founder of Naan Stop, a chain of fast-casual Indian restaurants in Atlanta. We talk about the way in which Neal built his business and the struggles of growing a business while balancing the instinct to grow quickly against the risk of […]
2017-06-1800 min