The Neon Show

The global strategy consulting market stands at $39.5 billion, with Asia commanding $9.1 billion. India contributes just $1.09 billion. This is despite having the talent; Indians run global back-offices for McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, and other consultancies. Yet, India continues to outsource strategy to the Big 4.

Sanjeev Sanyal, PM Modi’s Economic Advisor joins us to break this down.

We discuss the factors helping and hindering ...

This episode is not just about Kerala; it is about how a state with limited land, strict environmental regulations, and a long history of outmigration is approaching investment and growth.

Kerala is a small, densely populated state with limited land to spare, not the typical site for industrial expansion. Yet it’s taking a distinct approach to building a knowledge based economy.
P. Rajeev (Minister for Industries, Law ...

AI is changing how companies build and scale. But most pitch decks haven’t caught up.

Karthik Chakkarapani, CIO of Zuora, has heard plenty of startup pitches but only a few stand out. He shares why most pitches fall flat, how to fix them, and how to present both the founder and the company in a way that drives real interest.

We unpack what should go into your 30-second elevator pitch, why “Time to Value” needs its own slide, and how ...

Three failed startups. One of India’s biggest B2B exits. Then returning 75% of investor money in the next venture. An entrepreneur who’s lived that arc is bound to have insights for anyone building or thinking of building.

Paras Chopra, founder of Wingify (sold for $200 million), Nintee, and now Lossfunk, joins us this week.

We discuss the small decisions that quietly define your startup: what product to build, how to structure your ...

50% of products and features built are never used.

To build the right product, every founder must answer two questions:

Are you solving a real problem? And are you solving it the right way?

Technology has rarely been democratic, it’s often elitist. So at times, it ends up solving made-up problems that don’t really exist. Yet, some companies have built truly great products.

What sets them apart? Do they share any similarities?...

Geopolitics is now measured in Nanometers. Anything with a battery or a plug has a semiconductor inside. But these chips aren’t just tech anymore, they’re shaping who becomes the next Superpower.

In the 1980s, India was just two years behind the world in semiconductors. Today, we’re 12 generations behind. What went wrong?

India’s top semiconductor expert, Raja Manickam, returns to The Neon Show to break it all down.

We discuss how the...

There are No Checklists or Frameworks on HOW TO BE A VC?
So how do you even know if it’s the right path for you?

Unlike most jobs, venture capital comes with an extremely long feedback loop. It can take years before you know whether the bets you made actually worked out. 

That’s why most seasoned VCs say: only choose this path if you're in it for the long haul.

This conversation will help you think through that choice. Whethe...

Vertical SaaS customers don’t buy software for 10 months, they buy it for 10 years. That’s the opportunity and the challenge. Switching costs are high, which makes it hard to get in but once you’re in, you’re in.

But regular SaaS playbooks don't work here. Forget PLG. Forget design partners. These industries have been burned too many times by bad software. Here, Trust defines GTM. Think warm introductions and on-site meetings, ...

Recko's acquisition by Stripe is one of India's biggest B2B exits. 

It's a great headline. But headlines don't tell the full story. They capture one final outcome not the numerous obstacles faced.

In this episode, Saurya Prakash Sinha, co-founder of Recko, tells us what really happened behind the scenes. 

From the early days when no one was buying, no VC was funding, and they had just $500 left in the bank to build...

The dollar will lose its status as the world’s reserve currency & the greatest wealth transfer in history is already underway - warns the founder of one of India’s fastest-growing unicorns!

In this episode, Deepak Garg, founder of Rivigo and AnywhereJobs shares why Rivigo's iconic Relay model succeeded, and what ultimately limited it. 

He predicts Zomato's dominance, questions funding choices of startups and shares why ...

Venture capital is much fancied today.

Is this job which looks like cutting cheques for products and founders you like, for everyone?

As for any work, there are traits you should have and some which won’t help you on the job.

We have with us Kushal Bhagia (All In Capital), Karthik Prabhakar (Peer Capital), and Rajan (Upekkha).

Three people who interestingly all began as engineers and took different career paths to today become Fund man...

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

In this episode of The Neon Show, Vishwa (Co-founder of ZenDuty) is joined by Rahul Sasi (Co-founder of CloudSEK) and Ananda Krishna (Co-founder of Astra Security). 

They share how AI feels magical now. And how as founders they are trying to sprinkle this magic everywhere from how building products to building teams and everything that matters.

This epis...

In this episode, we sit down with two exceptional founders. One who is going after the biggest category, and one who created a new category and became its leading player.

Vijay Rayapati (Co-founder, Atomicwork) and Khadim Batti (Co-founder, Whatfix) share their hard-earned insights on what it truly takes to build a great company.

From closing million-dollar deals remotely to building AI-native organisations and cultivating long-term ...

CRM is a category often equated with its market leader, Salesforce.

Hence, companies and investors question the viability of building a business in this space.

Nilesh Patel, founder of Leadsquared, who built a Unicorn in CRM, joins us today.

We discuss the category, the business, and its competitors.

With Byju’s as their first large deal, Edtech brought over 40% of their customers.

Then the industry went through a downfall, but Leadsqua...

Meet Sharad Sanghi who built India’s first data center, he spent 25 years building Netmagic, India’s largest data center company. He came to India in 1995, worked at VSNL as the country was discovering the internet, and built a company focused on internet for businesses.

Now he is building Neysa, an AI cloud startup, which recently raised $50M to help businesses adopt AI, all from India. 

With Neysa businesses can use AI without writ...

In this episode of The Neon Show, we bring you into the room with someone who’s spent over a decade backing India’s most ambitious companies.

We're joined by Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel. With over 14 years in venture capital, Prayank walks us through his journey of discovering and building expertise in specific sectors—from cybersecurity and developer tools to SaaS and marketplaces—and how VCs identify the categories they...

Is it time for investors to move beyond the valley when analyzing India?

Dev Khare, Partner at Lightspeed agrees. 

He shares with us an interesting view on two funding models:

The Silicon valley model begins with raising millions of dollars & going through huge negative cashflow for years. Hopefully building a great product or maybe even creating a new market. And a few years later, comes out with super fast growth & revenue p...

In this episode, Avnish Bajaj, Founding Partner at Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners India), shares what it takes to build one of India's most competitive VC firms and land the best startup deals.

With over 20 years of experience, Avnish has been at the forefront of India’s venture capital industry. He co-founded Matrix Partners India in 2006 after a successful entrepreneurial journey with Baazee.com, which he later sold to eBay, s...

In this episode of The Neon Show, we have Sharad Sharma, founder of iSPIRT, the technology think tank behind India Stack, Health Stack, and other digital public goods. 

If you want to understand where India’s digital space is headed, how AI can shape its future, and why strategic autonomy is critical, this episode is a must-watch!

0:00 – Introduction
03:12 – India’s aim to prevent digital colonization
05:00 – Democr...