Kanwal Rekhi first came to the US in the 1960s. He took his company public on Nasdaq in 1987.

As a young Indian in the US, he was laid off from his first three jobs. That experience pushed him towards entrepreneurship. At the time, Indians were known and hired for technical and mathematical skills, not as founders building companies on US soil.

But Kanwal and his co-founders decided to bet on themselves. They faced rejection from nearly 50 investors before one VC agreed to invest $2 million for 50% of the company. In just five years, the company went public.

From being appointed CEO overnight to being removed by the board two months before the IPO for a more “wall street-acceptable” CEO, this is a story of many firsts.

After Excelan, Kanwal co-founded TiE in 1992 and has mentored tens of thousands of entrepreneurs. Beyond a personal story, Kanwal Rekhi is a turning point in how Indian founders came to be seen in Silicon Valley.

0:00 – Trailer
01:11 – How TiE was formed
07:11 – DoT Hatao, Desh Bachao
11:31 – Career opportunities in the 70s
13:41 – When Indians weren’t trusted to build companies
15:44 – Pioneers in computer networking
16:51 – Finding an Investor after 50 rejections
20:31 – Becoming CEO overnight
23:29 – Spare the story, show the numbers
24:17 – The “Wall Street acceptable” CEO for IPO
27:30 – Founders have to be financial thinkers
28:14 – How Excelan could go public in just 5 years
29:27 – Cost is unrelated to pricing in software
31:12 – Do Indian companies need Americans to lead?
34:05 – Benefits of registering in the US
36:53 – $1 trillion to solve India’s problems
40:49 – Policies for India’s startup ecosystem
42:01 – Enabling entrepreneurs in villages
44:41 – India in the 80s v/s today
50:36 – US vs India vs China
01:04:52 – How did IITs start allowing donations?
01:07:25 – AI investments of Silicon Valley Quad
01:18:29 – What Kanwal Rekhi looks for in founders?

-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.

What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.
Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.

-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7
-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

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Where did the journey of iD Fresh start?

It began when a 19-year-old Abdul Nazer decided to run away from home to Bangalore with ₹100 in his pocket. He did any job that came his way: cook, cleaner, conductor and sold anything he could, from clothes and vegetables to spices and peanuts. Along the way, he brought his three brothers to Bangalore.

Even with huge losses in business, they never stopped looking for new opportunities. Their first real glimpse of success came from a tea stall run out of a rented room that cost ₹80 a month. Despite strong demand, the tea business was still running at a loss. The turning point came when they started opening the stall at 2 in the morning: a disruptive business model, says PC. Those ₹2 cups of tea taught them lessons they would carry forward.

Abdul Nazer and PC Mustafa together share these stories for the first time. Their journey reminds us that no success is overnight, especially not for these brothers. It was at their kirana store in Indiranagar that the idea of iD Fresh was born. Five brothers with no background in food technology spent six months experimenting with recipes before finding their hero product.

This is the story of five founders who pushed past their circumstances. Today, iD Fresh is at a scale the founders never dreamed of growing up in Wayanad.

00:00 – Trailer
00:55 – Dropping out of studies
02:32 – 19 Year Old that Runaway to Bangalore
04:35 – First job as a cook
11:25 – When Nazer decided to become an entrepreneur
14:01 – Huge loss in Vegetable business
16:15 – Starting the kirana store that led to iD
18:00 – On the verge of shutting down
20:10 – How Lambu Tea Stall became profitable
24:16 – When PC decided to do business with Nazer
25:14 – All the (failed) businesses that led to iD
27:04 – Why PC decided to come back to India
28:23 – The origin story of the idli batter idea
31:40 – The first $50k investment
32:57 – Cracking the batter without any food tech expertise
34:38 – The first recipe that became iD’s hero product
35:35 – Why iD failed to sell 100 packets in 6 Months
41:15 – The first customer approval
43:06 – Building awareness was the biggest challenge
44:35 – Lack of cold storage in supermarkets
45:22 – The inventory model of iD
46:25 – How the initial team was built
48:35 – Story of team spirit
50:15 – When iD Fresh Chennai & Mumbai Failed
52:27 – How the chemistry worked between the five brothers
56:52 – The buyout offer of ₹20+ crores
57:35 – How founders build the mindset to hire experts
1:00:50 – Did the runaway child achieve his dream?
1:03:09 – How Nazer’s choices directly led to iD
1:04:45 – Building within value systems
1:07:26 – Summary: what really worked for iD Fresh

-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.

What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.
Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.

-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7
-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The

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Best of 3500 Minutes in 45 Minutes

2025 was a great year for The Neon Show. 60 episodes, 72 guests, and thousands of minutes of insightful conversations on everything around building a business.

You’ll hear perspectives from Founders scaling companies across the world, sharing the real challenges behind building high-growth startups; Investors on how they spot opportunities and make bold bets; and Ecosystem leaders who have navigated multiple cycles and understand what truly lasts.

This episode is a carefully curated highlight reel. The sharpest ideas, boldest bets, and timeless lessons that defined this year. Watch it for clear takeaways to carry into 2026 on building companies that last for decades.

0:00 – Trailer
01:26 – Paras Chopra
03:37 – Avanish Bajaj
06:53 – Vijay Rayapati
08:33 – Ashu Garg
11:39 – Kiran Darisi
16:40 – Asha Jadeja
20:33 – Sanjeev Bikhchandani
23:22 – Alok Goyal
26:41 – Shiv Shivumar
29:34 – Saurya Prakash
31:59 – Raviteja
37:21 – Ashish Toshniwal
43:54 – Bhaskar Gosh
47:32 – Somesh Dash
-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.
What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.
Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.
-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7
-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

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Harish Bhat spent 38 years with the Tata Group, working across businesses that reach millions of Indians every day, including Titan, Tanishq, and Tata Tea.

He joins Neon Show for a 3rd time and reflects on what it meant to build inside a 150+ year-old institution. The conversation begins in 1991, the year Ratan Tata took over as Chairman, a role he would hold for 21 years. Harish explains how Ratan Tata prepared Tata Sons at a time when the Indian economy was opening up and competition was changing rapidly.

We discuss landmark moments in the group’s history, including the Tetley acquisition in 2000, the first time an Indian company acquired a major global consumer brand. Harish shares how this decision transformed not only the Tata Group’s mindset but also the way ambitious Indian businesses think about their potential.

Harish speaks about Ratan Tata not as a distant icon, but as a leader he worked closely with. He shares stories of how decisions were made, how conflicts were handled, and why dignity, compassion, and keeping one’s word were always non-negotiable for Ratan Tata.

The conversation also draws from his book Doing the Right Thing, where he transfers these experiences into practical lessons on leadership shaped over decades.

https://www.amazon.in/Doing-Right-Thing-Bestselling-Tatastories/dp/0143479857

00:00 — Trailer
01:07 — Paying tribute to Mr. Ratan Tata
05:53 — The Tata family legacy
06:53 — Early childhood and education of Ratan Tata
07:48 — The decision to return to India
08:44 — How Ratan Tata prepared the Group for a liberalised economy
14:35 — How Tata Sons became a global business
16:45 — The $450 million Tetley acquisition
20:08 — Tata Group’s acquisition of Global Brands
23:33 — A visionary leader who chose to remain deeply private
25:04 — How Ratan Tata dealt with Conflict
28:58 — Dignity above all
31:29 — The only concern on renovation of Bombay House
34:41 — How the Tata Group gives back to Mumbai
39:44 — Four lessons from Ratan Tata’s Life
42:50 — The deeper purpose that drives the Tata Group
44:45 — Emotional gestures that speak to people’s hearts
48:45 — Ratan Tata as a philanthropist
51:26 — A life guided by the principle: “Do the right thing”
53:06 — The story behind the book

-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.

What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.

Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.

-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7

-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

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Founders are often seen as superhumans. In this new series, we look at the humans behind the superhuman journey. The thrill of building, the guilt of missing out, the learnings, the failures, and why they still do it and would do it all over again.

Arpita is a second-time founder, now building Mysa. Her first startup, Mech Mocha, was acquired by Flipkart. Ananda is the Co-Founder and CTO of Astra Security. They are building in two different spaces, finance and cybersecurity, but the journeys are similar, that of a founder.

This is an unfiltered conversation between two founders about what building a company really looks like: the choices they didn’t make, the people who bet on them early, and how their identities, relationships, and sense of self changed along the way.

This episode is for anyone who is building, thinking of building, or simply curious about what being a founder really feels like.

0:00 – Becoming a Founder in 20s
05:10 – The odd realities of being a founder young
07:51 – Placements we got, but never took
10:56 – Learning to ask for help as founders
16:39 – The people who bet on you early
23:05 – Co-founder dynamics as life partners
25:40 – Handling co-founder conflict
27:21 – Making it to Forbes 30 Under 30
31:54 – How the PM award helped during house-hunting
34:10 – Being a Topper is Not Important anymore
35:45 – How close should founders be to their teams?
37:40 – Why advice hasn’t worked much for me
39:27 – Getting addicted to the thrill of being a founder
41:27 – When a founder’s identity becomes tied to their company
43:18 – Setting boundaries as founders
43:40 – Why I don’t share my Instagram with my team
44:07 – Realising that your team may not be forever
49:10 – Startups are marathons, not sprints
50:24 – Why founders need to be humanized
53:43 – Living life in the limelight as a founder
57:55 – Why work friends often don’t exist for founders
59:09 – Would you do it all over again?
01:01:36 – How family react when one decides to be a founder?
01:02:32 – Is it easier the second time as a founder?
01:03:27 – Why not knowing was actually a gift

-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.

What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.

Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.
-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7
-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

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In 1992, Roopa Kudva walked into CRISIL’s CEO Pradeep Shah’s office without an appointment, starting her 23-year career there. She spent over two decades at CRISIL, rising from analyst to CEO.

Roopa has spent over 3 decades in leadership roles in India and has witnessed three key phases in India’s growth: the closed economy in the 80s, the post-liberalisation era, and the rise of tech entrepreneurs.

She shares bold decisions that defined her journey. Like when she proposed to the then CRISIL CEO to create the Chief Ratings Officer role and pitched herself for it. She got the role, which set her on the path to becoming CEO. We also discuss the leaders who shaped her thinking, K.V. Kamath of ICICI, Piyush Gupta of DBS, and Katharine Graham of the Washington Post.

Throughout the conversation, Roopa returns to one idea: there is no single leadership style or fixed playbook. Her journey shows how ambition and initiative to act at the right moment can define a career and the organizations one builds along the way.

0:00 —Trailer
01:21 — IIM to IDBI
03:54 — Work Culture in the 80s
05:58 — Rise of New-Age Companies
06:55 — The Aha Moment of Leadership View
08:52 — Leaving CRISIL After 23 Years
10:49 — Choosing Omidyar & Impact Investing
16:03 — India’s Evolving Risk Appetite
20:40 — Deciding the Next Career Move
26:08 — How She Got the CRISIL Job
31:09 — Asking for the CRO Role
35:48 — Promotions Are Bets on the Future
37:37 — The Leader Who Changed Her Philosophy
43:40 — ICICI as a Women-CEO Factory
45:36 — What Holds Women Back from Rising
51:38 — DBS: The Piyush Gupta Transformation
55:06 — Entrepreneurs for the Next Half Billion
1:02:47 — The New Indian Founder Profile
-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.
What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.
Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.
-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7
-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

Send us a text

Most conversations in startups begin at zero: what’s the idea, who’s the customer, how big is the market. But the stage before that, when you know you’re ready to be a founder yet the direction is still completely undefined. That strange, uncomfortable, high-potential zone Aditya Agarwal calls “minus one.”

In this episode, Aditya and Prateek Mehta breaks down what happens in this “figuring out” stage. The questions people avoid, the habits that matter, and why some of the best companies begin long before their founders have any conviction.

We get into how this stage is evolving in the AI era. Exploration cycles are faster, technical founders can test more directions than ever, and the gap between “I’m experimenting” and “I’m running a real company” has narrowed. India’s builder ecosystem is shifting too: more second-time founders, more people with real outcomes behind them, and far more comfort sitting with ambiguity.

Aditya shares his own minus-one moment after Facebook, his startup acquisition, Dropbox’s IPO, and Flipkart, and why that transitional period changed the way he thinks about early-stage startups. Prateek brings on-the-ground view from Bangalore, where ambition, technical depth, and the appetite to explore hard problems from robotics to voice models to AI infra are rising.

This episode is for anyone who feels they’re between missions. Anyone who wants to understand why the most important part of building a company might actually be the time you spend before you even know what you’re building.

00:00- Trailer
01:06- Aditya’s journey to starting SPC after Facebook & Dropbox
03:48- A “learning club” for people in figuring-out stage
06:23- 3 Northstars of the SPC community
07:02- How SPC evolved from a community to a fund
10:32- Not everyone should be a founder
11:51- 1% selection rate
13:53- Building conviction in 1 of 3 outcomes
16:36- SPC is at PMF stage
18:38- Mismatch of traditional VC’s v/s rapid pace startups
19:04- How AI has impacted investing at SPC
26:32- How AI has changed VC firms
29:02- Axis of curiosity replacing thesis
30:17- Star Companies of SPC US
33:34- Binny Bansal’s role in starting SPC India
37:16- Questions & confusions as founders in early stage
39:50- Number of great entrepreneurs is NOT small
41:49- Talent density in India vs Bay Area
44:04- Founders don't need a culture of permission
45:08- India tier 2 and 3 does invest heavily in AI
46:11- AI is truly democratizing tech
49:09- Math gives India advantage in AI
51:48- A lot of science fiction is coming true

-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.

What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.
Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.

-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7

-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

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If you’re a startup selling to enterprises, understanding how a CIO discovers and evaluates you can change everything.

Most founders believe that cold emails and polished decks drive attention, but Karthik Chakkarapani, CIO of Zuora shares that nearly 80% of the startups he evaluates are found through outbound - while researching solutions, through peers, or even on LinkedIn. For many startups, this alone can reshape how they think about go-to-market.

How does an enterprise decide whether to buy from a startup or not? Karthik walks us through Zuora’s three-step buying process. It starts with understanding the problem the startup solves and how quickly the product can show value. If the early signals are strong, the next step is a deeper look at ROI, integration, security and whether the company is mature enough to be a long-term partner. The final stage is legal and procurement, which is where many early-stage startups slow down.

If you’re building a startup, this episode offers a practical look into how CIOs think, how they make decisions and what it really takes to go from a first conversation to a signed contract.

0:00 – Trailer
0:53 – Buying process of startups
05:19 – How Zuora’s SaaS portfolio looked 2 years ago
09:00 – Inbound vs outbound
10:53 – How initial contact with potential customers works
13:34 – Startups should be thought partners
16:57 – How long it takes to create value for customers
19:59 – Where startups draw the line in growth vs efficiency
23:06 – Top 5 largest spends
24:01 – Why only 1-year contracts for new AI startups?
26:12 – Why legal & procurement struggle to understand startups
29:46 – 20% of portfolio is 0–5 year old companies
30:46 – Are startups not backed by VCs a red flag?
34:29 – 60% in growth + 40% in day-to-day
37:42 – Learnings from peer CIOs
41:38 – Featurely: Case Study
45:14 – Atomicwork: Case Study
46:55 – Trupeer: Case Study
47:51 – How Zuora uses OpenAI & Anthropic
49:39 – How AI is helping personal productivity
51:26 – How agents will be managed
54:02 – Number of SaaS apps will go down, agents will go up
55:45 – Building the right security for AI
56:31 – India vs US: where founders are building from

-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.

What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.
Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.

-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7

-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

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