Episode 8: Matching Memes ft. Vidya Madhavan

For the eleventh episode of our podcast, we are joined by Ms Prerna Goel, the founder of Picadali Consultancy Ltd., a fintech and banking advisory company, co-founder of Clinica Fai, a specialist eye and face plastic surgery clinic, and co-founder of Vriksh Impact Partners, an impact advisory and investment firm. Having graduated from BITS Pilani in 2002 and Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in 2006, she is also an active angel investor in the tech and impact spaces. For her contributions, she has been recognised as ETA’s Forty under 40 and Woman Leader in Paytech.

For the tenth episode of our podcast, we have with us Mr. Jashid Hameed, the co-founder of Nuvedo, who also made an appearance on Shark Tank India Season 3 with his mushroom-growing startup. Mr. Hameed graduated from BITS Pilani in 2015 and IIM Indore in 2017.  Tune in to hear about his experience and vision of bringing mushrooms to the Indian household meal plans.

For the ninth episode of our podcast BITS and Beyond, we have with us Mr. Amit Marathe, the Director of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Google. Mr. Marathe graduated from BITS Pilani in 1999 and University of Michigan in 2002. He has also worked at other big companies such as Inseego and HP.

For the eighth episode, we have with us Ms. Vidya Madhavan, founder and CEO of Schmooze. Schmooze is a successful dating app, which matches people based on meme preferences. Ms. Vidya graduated from BITS Pilani in 2015 and from Stanford in 2021. She has a diverse array of interests and talents, which is covered in this episode.

For the seventh episode of BITS and Beyond, we have with us Mr. Arjun Singh, a Graduate Simulation And Modelling Engineer at the Mercedes AMG F1 team. He has a strong analytical background and specializes in applying computational methods to real-life problems.. Tune in to hear us speak with him about the vast career options and opportunities available in todays competitive industry. It is a candid conversation with advice for aspiring and ambitious individuals inspired from his very own journey and struggles.

For the sixth episode of BITS and Beyond, we have with us Mr Rijul Arora, senior consultant at EY. His vision is to inspire the youth to find balance between their tech and real lives, and empower them to assist their peers and communities. Mr. Rijul graduated from BITS Pilani, Goa campus in 2019 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics engineering and an MSc in Economics. Tune in to hear us speak with him about the numerous mental health scares associated with undesirable addiction to technology and what us students can do to ensure digital health and wellness.

For the fifth episode of BITS and Beyond, we have with us Mr Rohan Arora, the Co-founder of Evolve. Evolve has been Google Play best of 2021 in the domain of personal growth and healthcare.  Mr Arora, graduated from BITS Pilani in 2010 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration from IIM Ahemdabad.   Tune in to hear us speak with him about his motivation behind building Evolve, tackling numerous difficulties along the way and his vision behind bringing the conversation surrounding mental health into mainstream.

For the fourth episode of BITS and beyond, SARC brings you Mr Soumitra Saxena, the Lead Technical Director at DreamWorks Animation, widely recognised as one of the most admired family entertainment brands across the globe. DreamWorks has delivered high quality animation films like Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and many more. Tune in to hear us speak with him about how he discovered his calling for animation in college, challenges faced by the industry in entering this genre, scope of animation with the advent of the Metaverse, and how a day in the life of the Technical Director of DreamWorks looks like!

For the third episode of BITS and Beyond, we have Mr Mayur Patnala, the Founder and CEO of Nirmaan, an organization with a vision to promote social leadership and volunteering spirit among the youth. Mr Mayur graduated from BITS Pilani in 2007 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering. He has previously worked at IBM India software labs as a system software engineer. He has also founded and is the president of Yuva Varadhi organization. Tune in to hear us speak with him about his motivation behind building Nirmaan and tackling numerous difficulties along the way, his vision for developed India, changing ideologies of the youth, inculcating selflessness and hands-on leadership among them.

For the second episode of the podcast, we have Mr. Prithvi Sankar, the Co-Founder of humit, a social media platform for bite-sized audio sharing and discovery. Prithvi graduated from BITS Pilani in 2018 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Instrumentation. He has previously worked at OlaMoney and Atlan. He has also co-founded Hyperloop India and UrbanStack in his college days. Tune in to hear us speak with him about building humit, Design, the Creator’s Economy, the Future of FinTech, Hyperloop India, and his journey to Space X, California, to meet the man himself - Elon Musk.