From a student who had to drop out of his military training due to an injury, to starting his first job as a field recruiter and the journey that he took to becoming the Head of Supply Chain HR at Delhivery (India’s leading fulfilment platform for digital commerce). Here is Pranay Prakash’s success story captured through a candid interview on The Spotlight. 

Here are the key takeaways from this episode: 

• How young graduates & freshers can shape their careers 
• Using technology as an enabler to empower existing workforce & systems
• Insights into logistics operations as a career path
• Two key soft skills required to excel in the logistics industry.
• Bringing equality & breaking stereotypes in recruitment

A 1st generation serial entrepreneur, Piyush Suri is the CEO & Chief Storyteller at 5BY7 a premium corporate gifting & promotional products company. In this episode of The Spotlight, we sit down for a chat with Piyush to explore career paths in the branding & merchandising space. 

Here are the key takeaways from our conversation with him: 

• Exploring opportunities to find the most suitable career path
• How to create brand engagement through merchandising
• How to bootstrap and grow your startup 
• How to ensure that you have a predictable pipeline of customers
• Future of branding & brand extensions

Nakul Kumar is the Co-founder of Cashify, a re-commerce leader in India with a focus on smartphones. Nakul is an MDI Gurgaon graduate and a serial entrepreneur. His first business was in the waste management domain where Nakul successfully started and managed the operations of a waste management plant and made gold from garbage. 

Today Cashify is the official buyback partner for top brands in smartphones such as Apple, Samsung & Xiaomi to name a few. Apart from buyback they also sell refurbished smartphones, smartphone accessories & smartphone repairs. Originated in 2013 Cashify now has over 15 Lakh customers & over 1 Million App Downloads. 

In this episode of The Spotlight, Nakul talks about starting a business as a freshly graduated student without a clear business plan or any funding options. Nakul’s power-packed story is guaranteed to inspire many to set upon their own entrepreneurial journey. 

Key takeaways from the show: 

• How to start a business without a concrete business plan or funding. 
• How to build credibility as a domain expert when you are just a fresh graduate. 
• How to raise VC Funding through networking events. 
• Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on coming up with new business ideas. 

Arjun Vaidya the CEO of Dr. Vaidya’s launched a D2C brand harnessing the knowledge of Ayurveda accumulated over 150 years and passed down through 6 generations of his family. His goal is to leverage the power of Ayurveda using the power of digital to make it available in every nook and corner of India & the World. 

This Brown University Alum is a passionate patriot who aspires to be the flag bearer for taking Indian Ayurvedic science to consumers across the globe. In a conversation this week with the host Akshay Datt, Arjun talks about his childhood, studying abroad, working with  Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy Group & re-branding & scaling his grandfather's legacy through the Dr. Vaidya brand. 

Here are our key takeaways from this episode: 

• Making the transition from college academics to corporate life. 
• Advantages of studying abroad. 
• Launching & scaling a D2C business. 
• What not to do in branding.
• Leveraging customers as a lever for growth. 

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When his fear of failure vanished with one examination, a spark of entrepreneurship was ignited.

This South Delhi boy’s story of an engineering degree, love for finance, days of doing odd jobs to survive and culminating into a successful investment banker is one for the movies. The young man however has been experimenting with business since his early days.

Ankit Mehrotra is a University Of Essex alumni with a degree in Engineering, a CFA charter holder and is a co-founder of Dine Out, one of India’s largest Dining out and Restaurant Tech platform operating across the B2C and B2B domain processing more than 100M diners and $800 worth of transactions across its network of 50,000 partner restaurants in 20 cities. 

In this episode of The Spotlight, Ankit talks about being a young professional during the 2008 recession, conceptualising Dine Out, starting out, acquisitions and creating an ecosystem for the food industry.

Here are our key takeaways from our conversation with Ankit: 

• Taking an idea from concept to business
• Common mistakes that start-ups may make
• Maintaining the vision of your business
• Understanding your niche, and 
• Creating new avenues within your industry

As a rebellious army kid wanting to escape traditional education systems, and yet driven by an incredible yearning to travel the world, Preksha Kaparwan spent her childhood exploring various career paths - from being an astronaut to being an air hostess. 

She finally locked in on a plan to graduate from the prestigious IHM Pusa College of Hotel Management. It is here that Preksha discovered the incredible life of a chef & pursued it with passion and joined the small community of Indian female chefs. 

From getting accepted into a largely male team and a demanding work environment to leading a team of 28 and working 22 hour work shifts, Preksha made her mark in the hotel industry before she quit & became a techie!

Today, Preksha is the Co-Founder & CMO at Alphaa AI, a San Francisco based startup that is on a mission to make analytics accessible to everyone via conversations.

Wondering how a Preksha went from being a chef to a techie? Tune in to this episode of The Spotlight and know more about her incredible journey!

“Entrepreneurs don’t fail, businesses do” Sudeep Singh 

In this episode of The Spotlight, we are in conversation with Sudeep Singh - Founder & CEO of MPowered. An astute entrepreneur who has always been a step ahead of times with his uncanny ability to spot trends. Sudeep is also a master of sales and has proved this by becoming an AVP at Kotak Investment Banking at just 24 years! 

Guided by his passion for all things tech, Sudeep finally took the leap into entrepreneurship with A1 Technology Inc. in New York, successfully scaling the business and then finally exiting it with a successful sell-off deal. 

Now with Mpowered - a new age asset management solution, Sudeep is chasing his vision of real estate liabilities into income-generating assets for their owners & stakeholders. 

Here are some of our key takeaways from this exciting & enriching conversation with Sudeep: 

1. How to sell big ticket items. 
2. Challenges of working in the US Investment Banking sector. 
3. How to unlearn & relearn. 
4. Building a solid core team as an entrepreneur. 

“AR is the most powerful thing people are using during COVID-19” - Meghna Saraogi

An Indore girl with aspirations of becoming the next M.F.Hussain to leading the AR revolution in the jewellery retail industry - we speak to Meghna Saraogi about studying at a design school, becoming a graphic designer, starting a fashion social network & then taking a leap into the world of retail-tech. 

Meghna’s journey from design to tech was a product of her fashion insecurities that she turned into an opportunity. She was a total stranger to all things tech, but had a burning conviction of creating a product that adds value & set out on a journey to create an app that would solve it’s users fashion dilemmas - StyleDotMe. 

But Meghna’s entrepreneurial journey had its fair share of challenges and it was when StyleDotMe was running short of funds, Meghna pivoted & introduced a revolutionary AR tech-powered product Mirrar, that is set to disrupt the way consumers shop. 

Having seen success in the jewellery industry Meghna now has her goals set on other segments such as eyewear & wristwatches. 

Here are our key takeaways from this exciting conversation with Meghna: 

1. The experience of studying in a design school. 
2. How to seek mentorship & co-founders. 
3. Starting a career in AR.