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Feb 2025

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About the show

Every fortnight, Forbes India’s Divya Shekhar brings you conversations about business, economy, life and society, as seen through the written word. The episodes chronicle what’s cool, contextual and worth talking about in the world of books and publishing. With personal stories, reportage, research or investigation, our guests throw the spotlight on some of the most relatable and relevant ideas of our time and help us make sense of the people and trends that shape the world.

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February 18, 202529 min

K Ganesh has a master key to what makes new-age business models successful

Disruption is often outside in, says serial entrepreneur K Ganesh. It takes an outsider to change the status quo, like how Elon Musk and Tesla challenged ICE cars. Ganesh, the founder of venture-building platform GrowStory, who has incubated and scaled successful startups like BigBasket, Portea Medical and Bluestone, talks about how new-age business models in India have localised, innovated and made money. He discusses value creation amid path to profitability concerns, how investors navigate the high-risk, high-reward potential of these companies, and how AI is changing the business landscape in India

December 5, 202425 min

Vivek Gambhir and Sunder Ramachandran on building careers in the complex world of work

How does AI change our approach to work? Are Gen Zs impatient? What does it mean to build our own ‘personal board of directors’? Vivek Gambhir and Sunder Ramachandran answer all these questions and more in today’s episode. In conversation with Divya Shekhar, they discuss their book HeadStart, which contains their collective wisdom from spending decades in various business leadership roles. They also reflect on career strategies they wished they knew when they were starting out, and how their advice is differentiated among a deluge of career tips on social media.

November 21, 202431 min

Cricketing legend Mohinder Amarnath on his life, career and being fearless on the field

Through his nearly two-decade career, Mohinder Amarnath fought against the fiercest of bowlers. In his recent autobiography Fearless, written along with his younger brother Rajender, a former cricketer, commentator and author, Amarnath sheds light on his formative years under the watchful eyes of his father, his time on the international stage, and why, in 1988, he refused to back down from calling the selectors a 'bunch of jokers’. The authors are in conversation with Forbes India’s Kathakali Chanda.

November 7, 202434 min

Former Softbank CFO Alok Sama on the AI bubble, ‘founder mode’, and Masayoshi Son

Alok Sama was chief dealmaker at possibly the most influential technology investor in the world: Softbank. The company, founded by maverick investor Masayoshi Son, has backed some of the most disruptive companies in the world, like Nvidia, Uber and Tiktok and Alibaba. In this episode, Sama speaks with Divya Shekhar about his book The Money Trap, in which he gives an insider’s account of the people, deals and businesses that have steered and shaped the course of the world.

October 17, 202432 min

Ravi Wazir on restaurants in the age of social media and food delivery platforms

What does it take to run a successful restaurant? Why do so many F&B ventures fail? What qualities do successful restauranteurs have? Ravi Wazir, a seasoned strategist in the food and beverage industry, who has worked with popular restaurants like Olive, Izumi and Swati Snacks, answers these questions in his new book Beyond the Menu: A Restaurant Start-Up Guide. In conversation with Divya Shekhar and Pankti Mehta Kadakia, this episode features interesting anecdotes and insights about the business of food

September 19, 202429 min

Verity Harding on how AI can mimic the best and worst of humankind

Artificial Intelligence is already part of our day-to-day life. It is in our homes, our offices, and increasingly in our public spaces too. Technology, including AI, “will only serve society in the best way if we have checks and balances”, Verity Harding, director of the AI & Geopolitics Project at Cambridge University, tells Divya Shekhar in April. It is important, she adds, that regulators and the people building AI listen to people already vulnerable to this technology, and take into account diverse viewpoints. Her new book, AI Needs You, takes a historical and intersectional perspective to help us navigate and understand artificial intelligence.

September 5, 202431 min

Titan MD CK Venkataraman on why the biggest business lessons come from the trenches

What does it take to build an iconic jewellery brand for the ages? CK Venkataraman, the managing director of Titan Company, attempts to answer this question in his new book The Tanishq Story. It is an insider’s account into the people, ideas, situations and challenges that went into building one of India’s biggest jewellery brands. Venkataraman, a Titan lifer, is candid about missteps in building the company, why his self-identity does not come from his job, and why philanthropy is on his mind as he retires in 15 months.

May 23, 202425 min

Madhumita Murgia on the good, bad and ugly of artificial intelligence in our daily lives

In her new book 'Code Dependent', Madhumita Murgia brings voices and stories of people from across the world to describe how AI is impacting our work, our health, our body, and our freedom in various ways. Murgia, who is the artificial intelligence editor of the Financial Times in the UK, tells Divya Shekhar that while AI is still considered as a futuristic technology, it has started impacting our lives in ways we cannot imagine.

May 2, 202429 min

For businesses, sustainability should be a leadership challenge, not a cost problem: Rajeev Peshawaria

In a world where ESG (environment, social, governance) is often reduced to box-ticking and greenwashing by businesses, Rajeev Peshawaria believes that sustainability is a leadership challenge, and entrepreneurs and CEOs should instill the culture of accountability top-down. In his new book Sustainable Sustainability: Why ESG is Not Enough, Peshawaria, the CEO of the Temasek-backed non-profit Stewardship Asia Centre in Singapore, talks to Divya Shekhar about the shifts he sees in global business behavior with respect to addressing climate and sustainability concerns, and what more needs to be done.

April 18, 202426 min

How two-time world champion Shane Watson overcame fear and retrained his mind to play the short ball

The two-time World Cup-winning Australian all-rounder talks to Divya Shekhar and Kathakali Chanda about his new book The Winner’s Mindset. He talks about a tragedy that triggered a fear of the short ball, how he overcame his anxiety, why it’s important to train the mind, and what he wants to do next after a successful career as a cricketer and now commentator. He also discusses what young players have in stake ahead of the T20 World Cup, and how they can cope with the pressure