Shows
hippoBrainE49: Everyone can act with Shaun Williams, Founder, The Cellar DoorDo you remember the famous Flipkart ad where children acted like adults? Do you remember the Seagrams 'Men will be men' ad?
Listen to the man instrumental in both ads, Shaun Williams, in this week's episode of hippoBrain. He talks to Jaimit Doshi and Rajesh Jain about what it takes to teach and train kids to act (especially act like adults), and the nuances around it.
2021-05-281h 06
hippoBrainE48: Mere pass idea hona chahiye - Understanding a creative mind with D Ramakrishna, Founder, Cartwheel Creative"What makes you a 'creative' (guy)? A creative is not about having an idea. It's about 'having to have' an idea... Only the creative people in the room have the responsibility of having to have an idea. The others don't have that pressure," says Ramki or Ramakrishna Desiraju, the Founder of one of the largest Ad agencies in the country, Cartwheel Creative.
Listen to the Creative guru talk about what makes a 'creative', the challenges they face, how they inherently understand 'strategy' as the Ad planners know it, the pressure to come up with grand ideas that...
2021-05-2153 min
hippoBrainE47: Untangling the knot - Why we need a coach at workThis week, we speak to Ruchira Chaudhary, Leadership Coach, Academic and Author of the book, Coaching the Secret Code to Uncommon Leadership. She speaks to Rajesh Jain and Jaimit Doshi about the coaching managers into becoming the good leaders at work; how organisations can nourish and encourage good managers and leaders, and more.
2021-05-141h 02
hippoBrainE46: The Broken Toaster: Making a loyalty program that works; Ajay Row, Founder, The Row PartnershipThis week, we have the Guru of Loyalty & Direct Marketing, Ajay Row, talk to us about an important topic: "Do loyalty programs really work?"
Listen to the guru narrate epic anecdotes from his experience on good loyalty programs and tips on how to build a program that works.
2021-05-071h 03
hippoBrainE45: Ek bura saal nahi nikala toh kya Dhandha kiya? With Sowmya Iyer, Founder & CEO of DViO Digital"Not an agency. We are an independent, integrated marketing services company that is digital first." That's how Sowmya Iyer, founder & CEO of DViO Digital would describe her company. In this episode of hippoBrain listen to her as she spills the beans on building DViO from scratch; how tough is it to be independent and survive in a cut-throat environment; how she bought DViO from the investors, and most importantly, the 'Zone to win' Framework.
Interesting insights for business owners and executives!
2021-04-301h 00
hippoBrainE44: When Sherlock looked at the Indian Economic data with Mahesh Vyas, MD & CEO of CMIEOnce you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.
Listen to Mahesh Vyas, MD & CEO of CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) talk about how to interpret the data in an effort to find meaning behind the numbers.
Did you know that employment figures went up during demonetisation and went down during the pandemic? How would these reconcile without throwing up aspersions on the data sets? Why did this happen, how did this happen, which other data filled in the missing piece? Where are the missing 15...
2021-04-231h 04
hippoBrainE43: When Fairies Give You a Chance to Read with Shruti Sharma, Founder, Books on the Delhi Metro“Take it. Read it. Return it”
Imagine you were travelling on the Delhi Metro, and found a beautiful fresh new copy of a book you've been eyeing lying around. You take the book and find a cute note inside. And it says: “Take it. Read it. Return it”. Such joyous serendipity, right?
That's what our hippoBrain guest does with her mobile library. With over 5,000 books in circulation, Shruti Sharma, founder of Books on the Delhi Metro and her 'book fairies' have spread the joy of reading over the last 4 years.&n...
2021-04-1659 min
hippoBrainE42: The Compass and the Radar with Nigel Morris, ex-CEO of Dentsu Aegis, Americas and EMEAIn this episode of hippoBrain, listen to Nigel Morris, a doyen from the field of marketing and business strategy talk about the challenges that companies face in keeping up with times, especially in a digital era.
2021-04-091h 00
hippoBrainE41: Full-stack Ramu Kaka - A product to service the Bharat market by Sachin Jaiswal & Shishir ModiWe all know that there is an 'India' market and a 'Bharat' market, where the Ramu Kakas reside.
One key differentiator between the two is that the Bharat market is dominated by a culture of service. Yet, internet as we know it is predominantly DIY - Do It Yourself. So how do you use digital and internet to service the Bharat market?
We have answers in this latest episode of hippoBrain. Listen to Sachin Jaiswal & Shishir Modi, the CEO and CBO of Niki respectively as they talk to Rajesh Jain and Jaimit...
2021-04-021h 00
hippoBrainE:40: Pink Invoice - How to Grow a Marketing Business with Gulrez Alam, Chief Investment and Strategy Officer of ArabyAdsTypically, you find an expert in the art of running a business. And another expert in the art of marketing for a business.
What if we tell you, we found you one individual with both expertises?
Listen to Gulrez Alam, Chief Investment and Strategy Officer of ArabyAds, speak to Jaimit Doshi and Rajesh Jain about all things business, entrepreneurship, technology and marketing.
Don’t miss out on the little nuggets of wisdom and tips he shares throughout the conversation!
2021-03-261h 04
hippoBrainE39: From Stories to Strategy with Prem Narayan, Chief Strategy Officer, Oglivy, India“Most people meet consumers to find solutions. It’s better to meet consumers to understand the problems,” says Prem Narayan, the Chief Strategy Officer at Ogilvy, India. And who would know better than him. After all, he was one of the first few 'planners' at the large agency, who's worked a lot of large projects for the likes of Hindustan Unilever and Tata Motors.
Lots of stories. Lots of annecdotes. And most importantly, lots of gyaan. Definitely worth a listen for those interested in marketing, storytelling and market research. As we always say, these are #conversationsthatmatter with hippoB...
2021-03-191h 00
hippoBrainE38: Dancing your way to success with Lekhinee Desai and Hetal Desai, Founders, The Indian Ethnic CoIn 2016, Instagram launched something called as 'Reels', where you create short 30-second videos. At around that time, one Brand decided to share a video of four friends dancing while wearing their products. It got 1 million views. And the products got sold within 24 hours--even before the Brand could promote their collection.
Today, they have nearly 3.5 lakh followers on Instagram. And they are known for their dance videos where the dancers are dancing in beautiful sarees. Yes, that's too many 'dance' words in one sentence, but that's the key to their whole business model. They are the...
2021-03-121h 02
hippoBrainE37: An Internet for Women with Sairee Chahal, Founder of SHEROESIs Internet no place for women? What do women want--on the Internet, that is? And how do you build a safe eco-system for women online? And importantly, how do you build a cohesive community and brand around the same that caters to real people and solves real problems? Well, there's one woman who has the answers in this episode of hippoBrain. Listen to Sairee Chahal, founder of SHEROES, talk to Jaimit Doshi and Rajesh Jain about unlocking the power of half of India's population--the ones with the X chromosome. It's a classic example of how to convert your ideas...
2021-03-051h 03hippoBrainE36: The Cricketing Brain with Jatin Paranjpe, Ex National Selector and CEO & Founder, KheloMoreWhat does it feel like to be a Cricketer representing India? What does it feel like to be a Cricket selector & administrator? And what does it feel like to be a sports marketeer—working for a large brand like Nike amongst some of the top names in Sports across the world?
Get your answers from the man who discovered Virat Kohli as Jatin Paranjpe, Ex National Selector and CEO & Founder, KheloMore talks to Jaimit Doshi & Rajesh Jain in this episode of hippoBrain.
Here’s the map...
2021-02-2659 minhippoBrainE35: Your Brands Needs a Story with Rajesh Sahadevan, CEO and Founder of Gravity Consulting“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you,” Maya Angelou quoted.
Here’s another quote to build on this: “Listen deeply to the stories of humans and their lives, their stories hold within it every single vector of brand and consumer strategy.”
But don’t forget to first listen to “the caretaker of stories" speak about Brand Strategy and Story-telling in an almost poetic conversation with Jaimit Doshi and Rajesh Jain.
From stories about the colour of emotions and truck drivers to houses with gaudy paints in Kerala, he weaves a co...
2021-02-191h 06hippoBrainE34: Journalism as a Product with Praveen Gopal Krishnan, COO, The Ken“Media does not stand a chance when it comes to the old Ad-supported model,” Samir Patil said in one of our hippoBrains conversations. Our guest in this episode may agree. In fact, he wants to ‘make subscriptions great’.
How does he do that? By looking at journalism through the lens of a Product Manager and optimise it for business. Sounds interesting right? You bet it is.
In this week’s episode of hippoBrain, listen to Praveen Gopal Krishnan, the Chief Operating Officer at The Ken, one of the new breed media companies that uses email as its del...
2021-02-121h 05hippoBrainE33: Zerodha's Content Monk with Karthik Rangappa, VP of Educational Services85,000-90,000 views — PER DAY
Over 1 million downloads
1,00,000 queries answered
Amazing numbers, right? All of it belongs to one single portal. For financial content.
It’s none other than Zerodha’s Varsity—one of the key pillars of the discount broker’s success.
Listen to Karthik Rangappa, the brain behind Zerodha Varsity, as he speaks to Jaimit Doshi and Rajesh Jain about the success of Zerodha’s content, what sets it apart, their strategy behind Varsity and learnings over the years.
Listen if you want to find out how one man...
2021-02-051h 00hippoBrainE32: India's Crises of Change with Political Analyst and Author, Shankkar AiyarIn July 1991, the Indian economy was on the brink of collapse. It barely had money to pay for a few days' with of imports.
To raise funds, the RBI pledged 46.91 tonnes of gold with the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan to raise $400 million.
But it was supposed to be done without public attention. One journalist, however, noticed trunks of gold being taken away. He eventually put together the pieces and broke the story.
He is Shankkar Aiyar, a political analyst, an author and our guest for this...
2021-01-291h 03hippoBrainE31: Israel's Gateway to India, Saket Agarwal, Founder and Managing Partner of OnnivationAsk any entrepreneur and they will tell you—ideas can be found anywhere. Typically, where and how you least expect it.
Our latest hippoBrain guest will agree. He found his idea in the unlikeliest of places. In a sector that he knew nothing about (Tech). And in a country far far away.
Hear #yourisraelguy, Saket Agarwal, talk to Jaimit Doshi and Rajesh Jain about his journey from CA in Kolkata to becoming the liaison between tech startups in Israel and Indian companies requiring their services.
2021-01-221h 04hippoBrainE30: Once an Entrepreneur, Always an..., Rajiv Dhingra, Founder and CEO of RD&X NetworkListen to Rajesh and Jaimit speak to Rajiv Dhingra!
2021-01-151h 04hippoBrainE29: Impossibly Amul with Jayen Mehta, Senior General Manager, Planning and Marketing, GCMMF (Amul)You may know the inspiring story of Amul and the white revolution. You may enjoy their timely, witty ads with the Amul girl. You may enjoy the Amul products too (maybe even stacked it in your kitchens!?)
But do you really know the story? Did you know, for example, that Amul is one of the rare businesses that buys at a higher price from its suppliers and sells at a lower price to its consumers? Did you know that it launched 57 new products during the pandemic—many of which are beyond the realm of dairy? Did yo...
2021-01-081h 07hippoBrainE28: The Business of Loyalty in Hospitality with Sudhir GuptaLoyalty is a big buzzword in the world of Marketing. Of course, some would say, brands have run such programmes for decades. But the power of Martech has breathed fresh life into this fundamental concept of deeply respecting your customer.
This week, we speak to the founder of TLC Group, which specialises in loyalty programmes for the hospitality industry. Hear Sudhir Gupta as he speaks to Rajesh Jain and Jaimit Doshi about his experience in the hospitality sector, the economics of a loyalty programme and the 1% rule in entrepreneurship.
2020-12-2558 minhippoBrainE27: How to sell 500crs of flowers a year! with Pawan GadiaYour phone buzzes. Your calendar notifies you about an upcoming birthday. It’s a close friend in another city. What do you? You open your browser and search for Ferns N Petals. You book a cake and bouquet of flow and get it delivered at 12am midnight. It’s a close friend, after all!
Now, let’s pause for a moment and consider this:—
A business worth around Rs 500 crore. Of selling flowers. Online.
A business that depends thoroughly on the freshness of flowe...
2020-12-181h 01hippoBrainThe story of 4.8 stars on Amazon for a juicer! featuring Nehal Shah4.8 stars and 1,200 reviews on Amazon.in—what is it about Hestia cold press juicer that it gets raving fans?
Drop all that you are doing and meet The Legend of Nehal Shah, the Chief Customer Growth officer of Hestia appliances. See how David beat the Goliaths in the cold press market by focusing obsessively on customer delight.
In a beautifully candid conversation, Nehal describes his journey of the education of India towards using a cold press juice. You understand his passion as he sent his service executives to the ma...
2020-12-111h 03hippoBrainE25: The Coming Internet Revolution with Samir Patil, CEO and Co-Founder of Scroll.inAn ad-supported business model for a media company is dead thanks to internet advertising, says our hippoBrain of this week—Samir Patil, the Founder & CEO of Scroll.in says.
But there’s something new on the rise—a new internet that will shape the way we consume digital media, much like how eCommerce has changed the retail business. All of this powered by a basic payments infrastructure.
Hear the whole conversation as Samir Patil, ex-CEO of Amar Chitra Katha talks to Jaimit Doshi and Rajesh Jain about inheri...
2020-12-0400 minhippoBrainE24: India's Original Captain Cool: Anup KumarIf Kabaddi is India’s original game, then Arjuna awardee Anup Kumar is India’s original Captain Cool. Listen to one of the finest proponents of Kabaddi and India’s first Kabaddi Superstar talk about all things Kabaddi, including analytics! A hippoBrain conversation like no other.
2020-11-2700 minhippoBrainE23: Civiconomics with Shruti Rajagopalan, Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus CenterConversations can be very powerful. Sometimes, all it takes is one phrase or word to change your perspectives completely. That’s what this week’s conversation did to us—changed our perspectives towards economics, markets, pricing, and most importantly—India’s Constitution.
This week, we have lawyer-turned-economist, Dr Shruti Rajagopalan, who researched about the Indian Constitution and its economic impact for her PhD. How she got there? That is an interesting conversation in itself. It all boils down to the controversy of giving farmer’s land in Singur to produce Tata Nano.
2020-11-2000 min
hippoBrainEp22: All Aboard the Digital Express with Anant GoenkaHow do you transform a firm from inside out? Especially when the odds are stacked against you.
When you transform legacies, being a third generation of the founder just makes the job tougher.
Watch our hippoBrain, Anant Goenka, talk about how he started building a digital presence for the Indian Express group.
There are lessons here for everyone trying to keep up with the digital times—be it executives trying transform their companies, marketeers trying to build relationships with consumers, or even product managers looking to build the ri...
2020-11-1300 minhippoBrainE21: Count Every Second - Olympian swimmer, Rehan Poncha on life and sportWhat’s an Olympian swimmer and Arjuna Awardee doing on hippoBrain?
Meet Rehan Poncha, one of the best swimmers India has produced. He talks about what it takes to achieve the highest level and then restart your life and do it again.
His inspirational story had humble beginnings; he took up swimming as he was too shy to dance with a girl. Then wait till he explains his path to qualification for the Olympics. Shaving one precious second at a time to the point when he had only one fourth of second left to shave of...
2020-11-0600 minhippoBrainE20 - Gautam Surath on the Science in the Art of Media PlanningWhat can bees teach you about media planning & buying? Quite a lot, it turns out, as per Gautam Surath, Senior Vice President at Starcom.
When bees fly out of their hives, majority of the bees go out to the regular locations—that’s where the chances of success will be higher. A small portion of bees, however, will go to new places, effectively in search of newer opportunities.
This, Gautam Surath says, can easily be applied to Media planning & buying.
While a media planner’s job is to ensure...
2020-10-3000 minhippoBrainEpisode 19 featuring Ajay Shah, Economist and AuthorWhy is India poor? Who is the reason for the lack of prosperity in India? What is the single activity that can help change the story?
You’ll have to listen to this week’s hippoBrain conversation with Ajay Shah, Economist and Author of the book ‘In Service of the Republic’, to find out the reasons for India's rampant poverty and lack of prosperity. Ajay also explains how things changed through the eras—across the post-independence era under Jawaharlal Nehru’s rule, in and around the Emergency in the 80s, pre and post the 1991 LPG reforms, and after 2011.
2020-10-2300 minhippoBrainEpisode 18 featuring Redickaa SubrammanianChoosing to go from creating CD-ROM content to digital media Choosing to go from a service agency to a product company Choosing not to sell your company Choosing to be self-funded instead of getting a seed investor Choosing to create a product and then figure out how to adapt it to the market Choosing to launch a product company from San Francisco while targeting the Asian market Choosing to create a single integrated system instead of modularised, siloed products Choosing to change the market rather than do what the market needs If there were to...
2020-10-1600 minhippoBrainEpisode 17: Rachmat Kaimuddin, CEO of BukalapakSerendipity (n): Finding something good without looking for it. That’s how Rachmat Kaimuddin, the CEO of Bukalapak, Indonesia’s largest e-commerce company, describes his journey from engineering and technology to banking and corporate finance, and back to a tech-based sector like e-commerce—all this when the world witnessed crises like the 9/11 attack, the Asian crisis in 1998, the dot com bubble in the 2000s, and Indonesia’s own transition from the old economy to the new economy. But is it really that simple? Nothing more than fate and chance? Watch the episode and find out the...
2020-10-0900 minhippoBrainEpisode 16 featuring Ramesh Mangaleswaran, Senior Partner, McKinsey & CoIn a wide-ranging conversation with Rajesh and Jaimit, Ramesh discusses about how India can become a manufacturing power, why strategy is about making choices, how to get the best from consulting firms and his philosophy on giving back.
2020-10-0200 minhippoBrainEpisode 15 featuring Akhilesh Tilotia, Author - The Making of IndiaPublic service vs private sector. Economic thinking vs political thinking. Every changing politicians vs (almost) never-changing bureaucrats. Watch opposites reconcile in this week’s episode as Rajesh Jain and Jaimit Doshi speak to Akhilesh Tilotia, the author of the book ‘The Making of India’. He talks about how he experimented with his career and journeyed from the world of private sector to get an inside view of public service, when he took the post of ‘Officer on Special Duty’ to the then Minister of State for Civil Aviation for the Government of India. He also speaks about his experi...
2020-09-251h 01hippoBrainEpisode 14 featuring Ashwini Asokan, Co-founder and CEO of Mad Street DenIn this episode, Rajesh and Jaimit speak to Ashwini Asokan! Ashwini talks to us about her journey from Chennai to Carnegie Melon to California and back to Chennai to start up Mad Street Den, and takes us deep into the world of AI.
2020-09-1859 minhippoBrainE13: Navroz Udwadia, Co-Founder of Falcon Edge talks about his journey while running a $4BN fundWhat do romantic English poetry, law, business school, tennis and investments have in common? You wouldn’t know but when you mix them together, you can see the magic happen. If you want to know how to invest $4Bn, watch Navroz, the co-founder and Partner at Falcon Edge, talk about his mentality and discipline as he unravels a keen understanding of the fundamentals of investing and picking markets along with which entrepreneurs to back. Lamenting on the valuations in search of business, he instead tries to chart a path of investing by focussing on US, China and India markets. It...
2020-09-1155 minhippoBrainEpisode 12 featuring Neha Barjatya, CEO of Rajshri EntertainmentIn this episode, Rajesh and Jaimit speak to Neha Barjatya, CEO of Rajshri Entertainment. Neha tells us about her inspirational journey as she transformed from being a home-maker to becoming the CEO of one of India's largest multi-format entertainment platforms.
2020-09-041h 01hippoBrainEpisode 11 featuring Jayesh Ghatge, Global Demand Strategy Execution at ThoughtWorksJayesh Ghatge talks about his journey over two decades – which mirrors the evolution of Indian IT, and also outlines how to do digital transformation right.
2020-08-281h 19hippoBrainEpisode 10 featuring R Ramaraj, Serial Entrepreneur and MentorAs India celebrates 25 years of the Internet, Ramaraj takes us down memory lane -- how he led Sify to an IPO on Nasdaq at the height of the dotcom boom in 1999 and how Sify built a world-class Internet Internet company with its entrepreneurial energy.
2020-08-281h 05hippoBrainEpisode 9 featuring Arvind Sivdas, CEO and Co-founder, KabbadiAddaIn this episode, Arvind Sivdas explains MS Dhoni's captaincy, Kabaddi auction theory and Sania's Badminton, all through Analytics and Data!
2020-08-191h 20hippoBrainEpisode 8 featuring Ambarish Gupta, Founder & CEO, Basis VectorsAmbarish talks about his journey from Knowlarity in India to starting on his dream of building Basis Vectors in the US, a private equity fund focused on B2B SaaS.
2020-08-131h 23
hippoBrainEpisode 7 featuring Rahul Chandra, Managing Director - Arkam VenturesRahul Chandra tells us about his journey from being a successful venture capitalist, then reaching a tough crossroads in his career, and the struggle of starting afresh as an entrepreneur-and-VC. Rahul gives us the unique perspective of being on both sides – as an entrepreneur and investor. He also shares his learnings of what he looks for in entrepreneurs and how this has changed through the years.
2020-08-071h 12hippoBrainEpisode 6 featuring Nilesh Patel, CEO of LeadSquaredIn episode 6, Rajesh and Jaimit speak to the CEO of LeadSquared, Nilesh Patel. He speaks about his journey from Proteans to Leadsquared to create a global B2B SaaS company focused on sales efficiency -- the importance of product simplicity, creating distribution as a moat, the synergies in a founding team and how to "outlearn the other guy."
2020-07-311h 07hippoBrainEpisode 5 featuring Geetansh Bamania, CEO and Co-founder, RentomojoWelcome to hippoBrain! In Episode 5, Rajesh and Jaimit speak to Rentomojo's founder and CEO Geetansh Bamania. Geetansh tells us about his journey starting from a small town in Chattisgarh to the ideation and inception of Rentomojo, the behaviour and characteristics of the core Rentomojo customer, the challenges of raising capital, and how his triad of knowledge of finance, engineering, and product expertise helps him run his company!
2020-07-241h 04
hippoBrainEpisode 4 featuring Sandeep Mittal, Managing Director, Cartesian ConsultingWelcome to hippoBrain! Hippo-sized conversations with hippo-sized brains! In Episode 4, we speak to Sandeep Mittal, the Managing Director of Cartesian Consulting! He gives us his perspective on the evolution of direct marketing, data analytics, and their relationship. Sandeep also talks to us about the need for benchmarks in data modelling in the marketing industry, the challenges of segmentation and personalised targeting, and the benefits of confluence between data modelling and data systems!
2020-07-171h 17
hippoBrainEpisode 3 featuring Kartik Jain, Executive Director, Digital Bank- DBS BankWelcome to hippoBrain! Hippo-sized conversations with hippo-sized brains! In episode 3, Rajesh Jain and Jaimit Doshi speak to Kartik Jain! He explains the interplay between the three pillars of data, tech and customers, calculating the profitability of a customer, the challenges of understanding the needs of the individual customer and more! To know more about Kartik Jain, here is his linkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jainkartik/?originalSubdomain=in
2020-07-091h 05
hippoBrainEpisode 2 featuring Anindya Ghose, Heinz Riehl Chair Professor of Business at NYU Stern School of BusinessWelcome to hippoBrain! Hippo-sized conversations with hippo-sized brains! In episode 2, Rajesh Jain and Jaimit Doshi speak to NYU Stern Professor Anindya Ghose! Professor Ghose talks to us about his perspective as a professor and consultant on the evolving trends of the martech and adtech worlds, the four verticals of AI along with its role in the marketing world, and the importance of storytellers in the marketing industry! To know more about Professor Ghose and his work:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aghose LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anindya-ghose/
2020-07-0955 min
hippoBrainEpisode 1 featuring Vivek Bhargava, CEO Dan Performance Group at Dentsu Aegis NetworkWelcome to hippoBrain! Hippo-sized conversations with hippo-sized brains! In episode 1, Rajesh Jain and Jaimit Doshi speak to Vivek Bhargava about his entrepreneurial journey, evolution of ad tech and martech, the consumer perspective of the marketing world, and building brands in the digital age. To know more about Mr. Bhargava here is his twitter: https://twitter.com/vivekbhargava and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekbhargava/
2020-07-021h 42