Shows / The Neon Show
The Neon Show
Hi, I am your host Siddhartha! I have been an entrepreneur from 2012-2017 building two products AddoDoc and Babygogo. After selling my company to SHEROES, I and my partner Nansi decided to start up again. But we felt unequipped in our skillset in 2018 to build a large company. We had known 0-1 journey from our startups but lacked the experience of building 1-10 journeys.
Hence was born the Neon Show (Earlier 100x Entrepreneur) to learn from founders and investors, the mindset to scale yourself…
Episodes
The Neon ShowThe Founder Who Mastered Timing Ft Sachin Aggarwal | Stackgen
You rarely meet someone who has built and sold five companies. Sachin Aggarwal is now building his sixth, Stackgen. The depth of lessons from someone who has…
The Neon ShowLearn from Silicon Valley’s Best Companies (Hubspot, Google & Salesforce) w/Avanish Sahai
India is the 2nd largest startup ecosystem now. But, can it be at par with Silicon Valley? With 37 years of experience in the valley, Avanish sahai believes it…
The Neon ShowThe Game VCs Play and Win | How VCs Spot and Back Exceptional Founders with Pratik Poddar & Brij Bhushan
What makes a great venture capitalist — luck, timing, or the ability to see what others miss? Brij Bhushan (Prime Venture Partners) and Pratik Poddar (Nexus…
The Neon ShowHow One Indian Company Powers the World’s Hotels & Airlines | Bhanu Chopra, RateGain
When RateGain went public, it made history as India’s first SaaS listing Founder Bhanu Chopra talks about what went into that call, how investors saw it, and…
The Neon ShowHow a 20-Year CEO Thinks, Prepares & Leaves a Legacy | Shiv Shivakumar, Ex-CEO Nokia & PepsiCo
How do the best CEOs think, prepare, and leave a lasting legacy? Shiv Shivakumar, former CEO of PepsiCo and Nokia reflects on decades of leading some of the…
The Neon ShowHow Viral Bajaria Turned a Last-Minute YC Application Into a $5B B2B AI Giant | 6sense
From a last-minute YC application to a $5 billion Company built on deep technical insight. In this episode, Viral Bajaria, Co-Founder and CTO of 6sense, takes…
The Neon Show$350M by Building Apps for iphones when IOS was like AI | Ashish Toshniwal, Calcutta -> Silicon Valley
How do you know whether an iOS app you have built has potential to be big? Getting an email from Steve Jobs is probably a strong indicator. Ashish Toshniwal…
The Neon ShowTesla’s Former CIO’s $4 Billion Startup That Car Giants Can’t Stop Investing In | Jay Vijayan, Tekion
Jay Vijayan, founder of Tekion, and Tesla’s former CIO, has one of the most remarkable careers in technology and automotive. Jay joined as CIO when Tesla had…
The Neon ShowWhat India Can Learn from Swiss Startups ft. Founder of 9 & Investor in 40 Co’s |Thomas Dübendorfer
Switzerland has quietly built one of the world’s most stable and trusted startup ecosystems. Thomas Dübendorfer, founder and president of SICTIC, Switzerland’s…
The Neon ShowOla, Flipkart & Swiggy use This $800 Million Software to Send Notifications | Raviteja, MoEngage
Ever received a push notification on your phone? There’s a good chance it came through MoEngage. Raviteja Dodda, founder of MoEngage, shares the story of…
The Neon ShowIs India Making Most of It’s GDP Growth? with Prof. Arun Kumar
This episode with Prof. Arun Kumar is a look at the Indian economy beyond headlines and GDP numbers. We discuss the paradox behind India’s growth story: when…
The Neon ShowThe Story of Silicon Valley Legend & Google Founding Stakeholder with Asha Jadeja Motwani
“When I saw Google change the destiny of the planet, I could not imagine doing anything else but working with brilliant entrepreneurs.” -Asha Jadeja Motwani…
The Neon ShowHow to Build a Startup in 2025? With 1/5th Cost, 1/5th Team | Shikhil Sharma, Astra Security
Cybercrime is predicted to drain the world of $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, making it one of the greatest threats to modern business. Shikhil Sharma…
The Neon ShowStories from India’s heartland that tell a different story than GDP headlines | Subroto Bagchi, Mindtree
“Push something a millimetre in the private sector, you make an inch of progress. In the public sector, it’s a mile of progress.” Subroto Bagchi started his…
The Neon ShowHow Startups Can Survive GPT7 & Win Against Model Providers | Ashu Garg,Foundation Capital | Investor Databricks,Turing,Cohesity
Ashu Garg has backed companies like Databricks, Turing, Cohesity, Jasper, and Eightfold.ai as General Partner at Foundation Capital. Over the years, he’s seen…
The Neon ShowIf Big AI Goes Everywhere, What’s Left for B2B SaaS? | 25 Years, 4 Startups, 3 Eras of SaaS w/ Sreedhar Peddineni & Kiran Darisi
A full founder’s arc: starting small, building global SaaS companies from Hyderabad, taking one to IPO, another to a billion-dollar exit, and then choosing to…
The Neon Show8 Years Without Funding to $100M Raise & Now A Category Leader | Shivku Ganesan ,Exotel
A 14-year journey from bootstrap to scale. Exotel’s story is one of India’s most remarkable SaaS journeys. Shivakumar Ganesan, started Exotel in 2011…
The Neon Show7 Myths About Selling B2B SaaS In India Explained By Public Listed Company Unicommerce | ft. Kapil Makhija
The software that powers 25% of India’s e-commerce transactions, processes a billion orders each year, and in 2025 alone fulfilled 20 million quick-commerce…
The Neon ShowThis is How GEOPOLITICS Really Works | Rajiv Sikri, Ex-IFS Officer on Power, Trade & War
The 21st century has shattered old assumptions about diplomacy. Relationships between nations are no longer guided by ideology or morality, but driven by…
The Neon ShowFrom 70% Imports to 65% Made in India, India Now Sells Defense Tech to 85+ Countries | Ashok Atluri, Zen Technologies
Ashok Atluri founded Zen Technologies in 1993, bootstrapping from Hyderabad at a time when India was importing 70% of its defence equipment and private players…
The Neon ShowFrom $4.5M for 49% to $700M In The Bank at IPO: Sanjeev & Yashish On 17 Years Of Policybazaar
From idea to IPO and beyond. What does it take to back a company for nearly two decades? There are no written rules to navigate one of the most important…
The Neon ShowSanjeev Sanyal on Why India has No Big 4, Regulating AI & Ending Population Control
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 Neon ShowGrowth, Migration and FDI: The Real Kerala Story with Minister P. Rajeev
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…
The Neon ShowWhat Startups Can Learn from a $1.7B Co. Chief Information Officer | Karthik Chakkarapani, Zuora
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…
The Neon ShowHow To Build A Successful Startup In India ft Paras Chopra (Sold Wingify For $200 Million)
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…
The Neon ShowHow NVIDIA, Meta & Dropbox Taught Me to Build Great Products | Vasanth, Founder-Featurely
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…
The Neon ShowWHAT will Decide the Next Superpower? | Raja Manickam | iVP Semiconductor
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…
The Neon Show15 Years Of Investing Lessons In 75 Minutes With Prime Ventures and Stellaris Partners | Neon Show
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…
The Neon ShowWhy Traditional Playbooks Are Failing & What Really Works In SAAS? | WizCommerce, Pienomial & Merlin
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…
The Neon ShowWhy Stripe Paid $150M For a Young Indian Startup | Saurya Prakash Sinha | Recko
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…
The Neon ShowZomato: $500B Consumer Tech Bet, Tesla's $30T Future & Why India must lead Nuclear Energy|Deepak Garg
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…
The Neon ShowWhat's Happening to VC in India w/ All In Capital, Peer Capital & Upekkha
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…
The Neon Show3 Tech Founders on Whether AI Will Replace Your Job ft Rahul, Ananda and Vishwa
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” In this episode of The Neon Show, Vishwa (Co-founder of ZenDuty) is joined by Rahul…
The Neon ShowHow to Hire, Train & Retain Talent to Build a Great Company | Vijay Rayapati | Khadim Batti
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…
The Neon Show$1Billion CRM from India competing with Salesforce | Nilesh Patel, LeadSquared
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…
The Neon ShowCan Neysa be India's AI Cloud alternative to AWS, Azure & Google Cloud? | Sharad Sanghi
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…
The Neon ShowHow Accel Deploys $650M in India & Manages $5B in Growth + Late Stage | Prayank Swaroop
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…
The Neon ShowLightspeed’s $500M bet on India with 1/3rd in AI Companies | Dev Khare
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…
The Neon Show10 Unicorns, 5 IPOs, 26 Acquisitions – India’s OG VC, Avnish Bajaj On Why Only Founders Matter
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…
The Neon ShowSharad Sharma On India’s Digital Playbook, UPI’s Rise & AI’s Future
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…
The Neon ShowZerodha’s Move Into A ₹68 Lakh Cr Industry | Vishal Jain On Expanding India’s 8% Investor Base
In this episode, we have Vishal Jain, CEO of Zerodha Fund House, who brings over two decades of experience in building ETFs and passive investment products…
The Neon ShowInvestor And Policymaker Jayant Sinha On Indian Economy And India’s Net Zero Goals
A seasoned investor who ran India's Finance Ministry. This week on The Neon Show, we welcome Jayant Sinha—Investor, Policy Maker, and former Minister of…
The Neon Show2X SaaS Founder: How To Sell Global Tech Products From India | Sharath Narayana
In this episode, Sharath shares his journey of building two successful AI-driven enterprise solutions. Sharath Keshava Narayana, founder of Sanas and Observe…
The Neon ShowHow We Closed Our Biggest Fund ($300M) | Alok & Ritesh | Stellaris Venture Partners
Venture Capitalists on Venture Capital In this episode we have Alok Goyal and Ritesh Banglani, Partners at Stellaris Venture Partners, one of India’s top VC…
- The Neon Show
75 Minutes Of Pure Business Insights From The Man Behind BigBasket, BlueStone & HomeLane
Ganesh Krishnan is the man behind some of India’s most iconic startups, including BigBasket, Bluestone, Homelane, and TutorVista—India’s first ed-tech startup…
The Neon ShowNvidia’s Success, Chip Race, India’s Semiconductor Mission, & Hardware Vs Software with Raja Manickam
In this episode, we take a deep dive into the fascinating history of semiconductors, their evolution over the years, the rise of old giants and new disruptors…
The Neon ShowHow India’s Leadership is Shaping the Future with R. Balasubramaniam, Capacity Building Commission
India’s leadership story is a fascinating journey full of lessons for anyone looking to make an impact. In just two years, opening up the space economy has led…
The Neon ShowCelebrating Ratan Tata’s Contribution To India’s Success Story with Harish Bhat Ex-Brand Custodian, Tata Group
Harish Bhat, ex-Brand Custodian of the Tata Group, joins us to share unique moments from the extraordinary life of Ratan Tata. From creating India’s first…
The Neon ShowFacebook India's First Employee: "How I Built A $1B Business" | Kirthiga Reddy
In 2010, Facebook opened its first office in India, four years after it went online. They needed someone bold to lead their journey in India which had a major…
The Neon ShowHow Erik Allebest Built $150 Million+ Chess Empire
How a 1,500-Year-Old Game Became an Online Sensation It started as a simple idea in 2005—a hub for chess enthusiasts to connect, chat, and share their love for…
The Neon ShowHow Trade Wars Reshape Countries and The Future of India-US Relations with Matein Khalid
These farmers lost around $1.72B in a single morning. It was all because of tit-for-tat import taxes. But what really happened and who were these farmers? It…
The Neon ShowLessons From 25 Years of Investing with Boris Wertz, Founder and GP, Version One Ventures
In this episode of the NEON Show, Boris Wertz, a renowned venture capitalist and entrepreneur, shares his extensive journey through the tech and investment…
The Neon ShowIndia's Silent Economic Revolution with Ashok Lahiri, Former Chief Economic Advisor
In this episode of the NEON Show, Ashok K. Lahiri, a leading economist and former Chief Economic Advisor, talks about India’s economic journey and the changes…
The Neon ShowAlok Sama, Former SOFTBANK CFO on Working With the Visionary Masayoshi Son
The world’s largest tech-focused venture capital fund. And the man behind it is Masayoshi Son, often referred to as Masa. At 16, Masa moved to California…
The Neon ShowIndia's Road to $10 Trillion Economy with Subhash Garg Former Secretary of Economic Affairs
Why does 50% of India’s workforce remain in agriculture while the U.S. has just 2%? Despite all those hands in the soil, the sector contributes just 15-18% to…
The Neon ShowHow Policybazaar Became No. 1: Yashish Dahiya on Execution, Aspiration and Risk Taking
In India, financial security often seemed just out of reach, especially when it came to insurance. For many, insurance was complex, filled with hidden terms…
The Neon ShowThe Story Behind India’s High Growth Years with Montek Singh Ahluwalia former Deputy Chairman Planning Commission
Ever heard of the M Document? Montek Singh Ahluwalia, an economist in govt of India, saw that India needed to make some big changes to keep up. So, he started…
The Neon ShowSANJEEV SANYAL On India's East-West Divide, Best States & How India Works
After India’s big economic shift in 1991, each state grew at different rates—but they didn’t all get there at the same speed. Western and southern states saw…
The Neon ShowGEOPOLITICS SPECIAL: Former MEA Secretary On India-US Relations, Pakistan's Decline & Bangladesh
The breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a game-changer for India, shaking up its economy, defence strategy, and foreign relations. For years, the USSR had…
The Neon ShowHow Investing Legend Mark Mobius Built a Fortune in Emerging Markets
From Baker's Son to Global Investment Legend. Mark Mobius is known as a foundational figure in emerging markets investing. He is the chairman of Mobius…