The Desi VC with Akash Bhat

For years, a single drug sat behind a patent wall – expensive, scarce and out of reach for most of the world.And then, almost overnight, that wall collapsed.A patent expired. Dozens of Indian pharma companies moved in. Factories spun up. Regulators cleared approvals. And within days, Ozempic, one of the most talked-about drugs in the world, was suddenly available in India at a fraction of its American price.At ₹1,290 a month, finally, a miracle drug for the masses.But beneath the celebration, something didn’t add up.Because in a country with over 250 million people living with obesity, only about 200,000 are actually using it.This is not just a story about Ozempic.It’s a story about pricing, perception, culture, and the strange gap between availability and reality.From patent laws and pharma economics to celebrity denial cycles and black-market injections, from American shortages to India’s emerging demand – this episode unpacks what really happens when a “wonder drug” goes generic.Because abundance isn’t the same as access. And cheap isn’t the same as affordable.Today, we break down the business, culture, and unintended consequences behind India’s Ozempic moment, and what it reveals about how we think about health, wealth, and the bodies we live in.The Desi VC Podcast presents BTS, a research-driven, documentary-style series that pulls back the curtain on the systems, incentives, and stories shaping the world around us.

For decades, a small group of people decided which companies would shape the future.A pitch deck. A 30-minute meeting. A partner nodding across the table. And somewhere behind closed doors, a decision that could turn a scrappy founder into a billionaire, or end the company before it ever began.That system is venture capital.An industry built on outliers, where 1 in 10 bets drives all the returns. Where firms raise billions, deploy capital into companies that may not exist in 10 years, and yet somehow outperform every other asset class in the world.From Sand Hill Road to Sequoia, Accel, and a16z – venture capital has funded everything from Google and Amazon to Stripe, SpaceX, and OpenAI. But behind the headlines, the mechanics are far less understood.So how does venture capital actually work? Where does the money come from? How do VCs decide what to invest in? Why do most startups fail, and why do VCs still make money anyway?Today, we break down the business model, incentives, power dynamics, and hidden math behind venture capital – the engine that funds innovation, shapes markets, and quietly decides the future of technology.The Desi VC Podcast presents BTS, a new research-driven, documentary-style audio series that pulls back the curtain on the businesses, personalities, newsmakers, trends, and ideas that shape the world we live in.

For 56 years, one car defined power in India.A white car. A red beacon. A uniformed driver. And somewhere in the back seat, a politician, a bureaucrat, a minister - someone who mattered. That car was the Hindustan Ambassador, the legendary "laal batti wali gaadi".Built on the bones of the British Morris Oxford Series III, the Ambassador barely changed for decades - yet it became the most recognizable car in India, carrying everyone from district collectors to prime ministers.So how did a 1950s design dominate the roads of the world’s largest democracy for half a century?And why did it disappear almost overnight after the arrival of the Maruti 800?Today, we dive into the business, politics, and culture behind the car that became the symbol of the Indian state - and the monopoly economy that both created and destroyed it.The Desi VC Podcast presents BTS, a new research-driven, documentary-style audio series that pulls back the curtain on the businesses, personalities, newsmakers, trends, and ideas that shape the world we live in.

A fast dive into how cricket teams became multi-billion dollar assets. The episode unpacks the media rights deals and guaranteed central cashflows that drive franchise value. It explores sponsorship, merchandising, and cultural access as hidden revenue engines. It also covers valuation methods, scarcity premiums, recent ownership sales, and the risks that come with buying a team.

In 2016, Russian hackers broke into John Podesta’s Gmail during the US election. That single breach exposed how vulnerable email really is – and it directly inspired a billion-dollar cybersecurity startup.At the time, even the most powerful people in the world couldn’t fully secure their inboxes. Once hackers got access, there was nothing stopping them from reading everything: drafts, attachments and sensitive documents. Instead of trying to prevent email hacks, three ex-Dropbox engineers — Abhishek Agrawal, Ryan Noon, and Chris Park — asked a better question: What if you assumed the breach would happen, and protected the inbox anyway?Material Security built a powerful layer on top of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, locking down sensitive emails, verifying identity before access, and giving security teams real visibility — all without requiring a migration.In this episode, I sit down with Abhishek Agrawal, Co-founder & CEO of Material Security. We dive into their journey from pre-idea validation to scaling to a billion dollar valuation in about 5 years, lessons in management and leadership, and most importantly understand how Material Security is redefining email security for enterprises. If you're starting out or searching for your billion-dollar idea, this is a masterclass on going from zero to scale.⏳ Timestamps:Trailer (00:00) Intro (01:39)How Material Security began? (03:30)Why and how did the team visualize exit scenarios? (09:45)What did their pivot feel like? (11:58)How they used feedback to create their product (24:51)How did they deal with rejections? (26:15)How did the early version of their product look like? (33:44)Did they consider changing ICPs? (38:17)Was it easy to convince investors? (40:46)How did the internal mindset shift feel like? (50:51)What specific shifts did Abhishek have to bring in? (57:15)What are the things Abhishek would do differently, if starting now? (01:07:17)What’s Abhishek’s advice to his younger self? (01:24:01)🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kevin Carter is the Founder & Chief Investment Officer of EMQQ Global, a San Francisco based investment management and research firm focused on providing investors access to the fast growing Emerging and Frontier Markets technology sector.EMQQ Global invests in publicly traded internet and ecommerce companies operating in 50+ countries, including India, China, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Egypt, Mexico, Vietnam, and Turkey. Through ETFs listed across US, Europe, and Asia, the fund helps investors access the digital consumer revolution reshaping global markets.US investors can tap into this opportunity via three investment strategies:EMQQ: Emerging Markets Internet & EcommerceFMQQ: Ex-China Emerging Markets Internet & EcommerceINQQ: India Internet & EcommercePrior to EMQQ, Kevin was the Founder & CEO of AlphaShares, an investment firm offering five Emerging Markets ETFs in partnership with Guggenheim Investments. Previously, Kevin was the Founder & CEO of Active Index Advisors acquired by Natixis in 2005 and the Founder & CEO of eInvesting acquired by ETRADE in 2000.In this episode, Kevin outlines how India’s massive, young population, business-friendly reforms in recent years, and world-class education system are fueling rapid growth. He breaks down why India is uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of digital consumption—and why now is the time for investors to pay attention. From mobile payments to food delivery and online education, India’s tech ecosystem is scaling faster than ever, creating unprecedented investment opportunities.TimestampsOpening trailer (00:00)Meet Kevin: intro to the episode (01:46)How do you break into public market investing? (02:28)How do people actually invest in public markets? (04:58)Is investing in emerging markets too risky? (11:04)What drives investors toward emerging markets? (17:05)What exactly is an emerging market? (19:35)When did India become an attractive market? (24:00)What happens after you invest in an emerging market? (31:15)How India stands out from other emerging markets (38:36)The future of India’s public markets (51:30)How investors can help shape India’s industries (58:38)Advice Kevin would give his younger self (1:07:00)Kevin’s biggest learnings from investing in India (1:10:43)Final thoughts (1:13:51)🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Arun Penmetsa is a Partner at Storm Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on Enterprise software companies. He invests primarily in SaaS, Security, and Digital Health startups. Before joining Storm, Arun held product and engineering roles at Oracle and Google, where he built enterprise software solutions at scale.Arun is deeply passionate about the intersection of healthcare and technology. In addition to investing in US-based startups, he actively advises several healthcare groups in India on technology and population health. His portfolio includes successful exits such as Airgap (acquired by Zscaler), Dasera (acquired by Netskope), Limbix (acquired by Big Health), MyAlly (acquired by Phenom), Rallyteam (acquired by Workday), Trustar (acquired by Splunk), and 4me (acquired by PSG).In today’s episode, we talk about his journey from building software at tech giants to backing category-defining startups across security and healthcare. Arun shares what he looks for in founders, lessons from his most successful exits, and why he believes healthcare is one of the most impactful sectors to invest in.Timestamps:* Trailer (00:00)* Introduction (01:26)* Arun's motivation behind getting into VC (03:41)* What goes into picking the right fund for pursuing VC as a career (08:58)* What it takes to become an investor (15:21)* Arun's personal style of being an investor (18:03)* How to find if you are a good fit for a company (21:36)* How does operator advisor advise portfolio companies at Storm Ventures (27:17)* How the best investors who have been operators mould their persona (32:38)* How Arun's personality has evolved as an investor (37:52)* Why communication is important in VC (41:01)* What the best performing portfolio companies at Storm Ventures did well (43:48)* Why founders should not hire for CV (47:57)How the education system has impacted the working culture (50:45)* Why public companies switch CEOs before going public (53:36)* What founders need to do before entering the US market (55:07)* Arun's advice for the younger generation (1:04:16)* Conclusion (1:05:18)🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Rohan Nayak, co‑founder and CEO of Pocket FM, builds global audio storytelling with AI-powered tools. He discusses choosing audio, finding the 10-minute serial format, survival through near-bankruptcy, global localization and US go-to-market lessons, A/B testing for audio, and using AI to scale creators and voices.

Brij Bhasin is a longtime investor turned founder and the co-founder & CEO of Snow Mountain AI, a company focused on automating business processes in finance, compliance, and legal through AI.Before founding Snow Mountain, Brij was a General Partner at Rebright Partners, and earlier helped launch GSF Accelerator, one of India’s first and largest startup accelerators. He was also part of the early team at Little Eye Labs, which was acquired by Facebook in 2014, and has over a decade of experience building tech products across startups in India and the US.In this episode, Brij shares why he left a successful venture career to become a founder, the challenges of building an AI startup from India for global markets and how he’s navigating entrepreneurship after a long break. This conversation is a must-listen for VCs considering a shift to operating roles, and for founders building deep-tech or AI startups out of India.⌛ Timestamps Trailer (00:00)Brij's journey from 10 years of VC to a startup founder (01:48)What has Brij learnt being an investor for 10 years (04:24)How to build a startup in 2025 (Investor's POV) (05:53)Investor's definition of "velocity" and its importance (08:54)Medibuddy's case study (10:48)Importance of long-term view for a founder (13:43)PhonePe's case study (17:40)Monetary success, purpose, drive and teamwork (21:05)Difference between velocity and momentum (23:15)How do companies manage culture (29:41)Is quitting or pivoting bad? (35:25)What does it really mean to go from an investor to a founder? (48:58)Akash's strategic plan towards trademarking his company's logo (52:06)Thinking outside of the box (55:55)How easy it is to move from being an investor to a founder? (1:03:09)How difficult it is to raise capital as a founder who is a former investor? (1:07:40)What has Brij learnt about himself that surprised him yet transformed him? (1:11:41)Outro (1:15:56)🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠

Pramod is a Senior Principal at Blumberg Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in leading Seed and Series A rounds. The firm is based in Tel Aviv (Israel) and San Francisco.Before joining Blumberg Capital, Pramod was a Principal at 11.2 Capital, where he focused on investing in early-stage cybersecurity, data, dev-tools, and AI. He led seed rounds in Coalesce, Permiso, StrikeReady, Surf Security, MightyMeld, Leen, and Collinear AI.Previously, Pramod was Director of Corporate Strategy/Venture Capital at VMware, advising senior leadership on product, growth, and M&A while investing in startups such as JFrog (IPO), CloudEndure (acq. by AWS), Armis (acq. by Insight), GuardiCore (acq. by Akamai), Wavefront, VeloCloud (acq. by VMware), and Affirmed Networks (acq. by Microsoft).In today's episode, we discuss his journey from an operator to corporate venture capital and then to traditional venture capital, as well as investing in AI. This is a unique episode—you'll find very few VCs with a career trajectory like Pramod’s.⌛ Timestamps:Trailer + Intro (0:00)CVC vs. traditional VC: key similarities (3:45)How CVCs are structured & incentivized (6:39)The mandates & investment thesis of CVCs (12:45)Investing for today vs. the future (14:45)How CVCs make investment decisions (18:25)The role of a ‘sponsor’ in CVC investments (22:44)Why should early-stage startups take CVC money? (25:00)How CVCs add value to later-stage companies (30:25)Maximizing value from CVC investors (34:10)Transitioning from CVC to traditional VC (37:50)How Pramod has helped his portfolio startups (42:00)What investors look for in AI startups (49:00)Can founders be taught to sell better? (56:15)GTM strategies for selling to enterprises (59:45)Understanding enterprise customers as a founder (1:04:27)How investors can build a personal brand (like Pramod) (1:09:15)The “so what” philosophy for founders & investors (1:13:50)Advice to younger self (1:16:03)Why being 10x is attractive to investors (1:20:35)🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠