We Should Pray for Crisis

Employee #1—> Co-founder/CEO: Avnish's first job after his Indian Ivey League MBA was selling washing machines in a region with almost no water. He joined CaratLane as employee number one almost by accident. Avnish never had the credentials for the job. He wasn't a marketer, product manager, or founder. Avnish later became CaratLane’s co-founder & CEO. In 2023, Titan paid about ₹4,600 crore for CaratLane. That valued the whole company at roughly ₹17,000 crore (about $2 billion), making it a “billion-dollar brand,”.His story matters because he learned to turn those missing credentials into a method. He trusted common sense over best practice and borrowed ideas from sports, statistics, and other industries. Where most managers settle for paying people on results, he paid them to do the right things, and when he needed to, he changed the rules of his industry instead of only working within them. Under it all is one way of thinking: identify which variables you can actually control, measure them, and design for repeatability rather than luck. He is also frank about how much luck shaped his path, and how often CaratLane's good decisions only made sense afterward.-----------------------------------------Key Lessons: https://www.onepercent.live/episodes/episode-94-avnishanand-----------------------------------------00:00 Intro03:05 Introvert to Ambivert04:42 Math Discovered or Invented09:13 Soldiers and Scientists15:56 CaratLane Category Creation18:10 Solitaire Bet and Pivot21:48 Times Group Detour24:07 Culture and Hiring Calls30:45 Becoming a Generalist34:27 Lessons From Mithun37:59 Stepping Into CEO48:57 Gopal’s Mentorship50:13 Ikigai And Career Filters52:33 Backing Winning Founders56:39 Are MVPs Dead58:37 AI And Personalization Future

Saurav Chawla walked away from a Vice President's seat at Barclays in New York — the kind of job people spend a decade climbing toward, closing multi-billion-dollar M&A deals — and came home to India to open a bakery. Not as a fallback. As a deliberate pause. And it was inside that bakery, trying to staff his own kitchen through a busy evening, that he stumbled onto the problem that became OkayGo — India's largest task-fulfillment platform. It returned 10x to its investors, was acquired by BetterPlace, and then did the harder thing: it scaled 20x. Today, Saurav is a co-founder of BetterPlace, Asia's largest frontline workforce ecosystem, where he's betting on the gig economy and AI.Saurav is refreshingly honest — he'll tell you he probably sold OkayGo too early, that failure still feels personal, and that the best salespeople don't actually sell. We get into gut versus data, why he sees AI as a tailwind for frontline workers rather than a threat, and the small, almost secret habit he's picked up to stay calm and curious — humming a song to himself.-----------------------------------------Key Lessons: https://www.onepercent.live/episodes/episode93-sauravchawla-----------------------------------------00:00 Intro02:12 Ambivert Mindset02:58 Delhi Roots and Drive04:26 Specs and Sprint Wins05:42 Returning Home Plan07:46 Milestones and Safety Net09:20 OkGo Idea Sparks10:50 COVID Pivot to Ecom12:10 Owning Tasks and Quality14:50 Gut Versus Data16:09 Banking Skills Applied17:41 Why Few Players Scale19:01 Betterplace Acquisition Logic20:14 Post Merger Growth21:53 Bridging Culture Gaps23:45 Sold Too Early25:16 Founder Gratitude25:36 Advisory Selling Mindset27:12 Fail Forward in Sales29:17 Taking Failure Personally30:25 AI Impact Outlook31:46 Scaling Without Losing Speed33:37 Smart Innovation Risk35:45 B2B vs B2C Founders37:20 Building a Business Moat38:20 Travel Lessons for Entrepreneurs40:23 Time Buckets That Work41:39 Curiosity and New Skills43:34 Learning Without Fear46:06 Three Inspirations47:16 Three Must Read Books48:51 Defining Success and Validation50:38 Closing and Wrap Up

In a world where most people optimise for stability, Vasuta Gupta has built her career by doing the opposite. From starting her journey in chip design to advising CEOs at McKinsey, helping scale InMobi through multiple phases of growth, and now leading revenue at an AI-first company, she has consistently made decisions before the future became obvious.In this conversation, Vasuta shares the frameworks behind her biggest career moves, why she believes the best time to leave a role is when you become too comfortable, what she learned from spending 13 years inside one of India's most successful technology companies, and how AI is reshaping careers, leadership, and the future of work.00:00 Intro02:45 Introvert Energy Explained05:41 Theater Lessons for Life07:41 GPUs and AI Chips Future10:01 Choosing Careers in AI Era11:54 Builders vs Big Tech13:43 Enterprise AI Adoption Curve15:08 Voice AI Product Vision16:47 Agentic AI and AGI18:35 Workforce Shifts and Upskilling20:19 Keep Learning First Principle21:47 McKinsey to InMobi Leap23:47 Knowing When to Move On25:22 Zero to One to Scale27:58 Introvert to Revenue Leader30:09 Influence Built on Trust31:38 Boardroom Mindset Switch33:05 Handling Strong Opinions35:34 Nerves Preparation and Poise36:50 Processing Failure Over Time38:04 Mentorship Through Phyllis40:25 Anchors People and Books42:37 Defining Success Today44:12 Closing Thanks and Wrap-----------------------------------------About Vasuta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vasutaagarwal/-----------------------------------------Check out TOP & Pritish Sanyal:The One Percent Project: https://www.onepercent.live/subscribeAbout Pritish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pritishsanyal/

Shruthi is an author and the Director of Analytics, Innovation, and AI at Adobe. At 14, Shruthi made a decision that went against the conventional path many ambitious students follow. That choice reflected a mindset that would later take her from an early-stage startup to Adobe. In this conversation, we discuss curiosity, startup failures, sports, meditation, and how to balance ambition with contentment in a world obsessed with achievement. She also shares about her book “The Store of Life- How to fill your life with Contentment, Not with Accomplishments”. -----------------------------------------00:00 Intro01:58 Ideavert Energy03:08 Curious Upbringing04:59 Skipping IIT Prep07:44 Sports Leadership Lessons09:12 Team vs Solo Sports10:46 Idols and Languages13:18 Startup Wins and Failure15:03 Simplifying with Data17:37 Gut Feel vs Data19:04 Vipassana Mind Training22:42 Store of Life Book25:06 Reclaim Your Time Basket26:30 Influences and Book Picks27:58 Defining Success29:01 Closing Thoughts-----------------------------------------Check out Shruthi HarikrishnaShruthi's Book: https://www.amazon.in/Store-Life-Fill-Basket-Contentment/dp/9363957713About Shruthi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shruthiharikrishna/-----------------------------------------Check out TOP & Pritish Sanyal:The One Percent Project: https://www.onepercent.live/subscribeAbout Pritish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pritishsanyal/

Yosha is a serial entrepreneur on her 2nd startup, MeMeraki, India's largest culture-tech platform. Growing up in Aligarh, a small town in India, she was influenced by her mother’s amateur artistry and her father’s entrepreneurial grit, and she witnessed him persevere through setbacks to launch a new business at age 60. This foundational resilience carried over into her early career, where she spent over 15 years working on financial inclusion and innovation for global institutions such as the World Bank Group and the Gates Foundation. Before venturing into the cultural sector, Yosha founded LafaLafa, a cashback and coupon app that attracted over 1 million users and received backing from prestigious accelerators such as Silicon Valley's 500 Startups and Facebook's FBStart. Despite LafaLafa's rapid growth, the venture was ultimately disrupted by demonetization in India, a "stress test" that eventually led her back to her lifelong passion for the heritage arts. In 2019, she launched MeMeraki as a passion project to ensure India’s 3,000+ heritage crafts remained relevant and discoverable in the digital age. The brand's "inception" moment came from a hand-painted Gucci bag that drew more attention in Hong Kong for its traditional folk art than for its luxury label, revealing global demand for authentic cultural storytelling.-----------------------------------------00:00 Small Town Trust01:10 Meet Yoshka Gupta02:31 Ambivert Leadership04:10 Father And Risk06:30 Aligarh Lessons08:23 Mother And Creativity10:22 LSR Finding Voice12:02 GE To Startups15:12 Startup Vs Corporate17:49 Fulfillment Over Happiness18:55 LafaLafa Rise And Fall23:34 First Art Obsession25:15 Gucci Bag Origin27:36 Pandemic Workshops Scale33:05 Managing 1000 Artists37:28 Meet Them Where They Are38:04 Co-Design Cross Pollination39:19 Data Insights Without Copying42:26 Hidden Art Forms Discovered45:21 Spotlighting Women Artists47:04 White Glove Digital Service48:45 Custom Orders At Scale52:05 Art In Airports And Public54:17 Why Shark Tank Mattered56:57 Sharks And Their Superpowers59:54 Builder Mindset Not Investor01:00:48 Hard Things About People01:02:53 Family As Emotional Runway01:04:29 Inspiration From Artists Family01:06:35 Books That Shaped Thinking01:09:54 Defining Success Long Term01:11:02 Closing -----------------------------------------Check out Yosha GuptaMeMeraki: https://www.memeraki.com/------Check out TOP & Pritish Sanyal:The One Percent Project: https://www.onepercent.live/subscribeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pritishsanyal/

Shane is the founder of Farnam Street (FS) and host of The Knowledge Project (TKP) podcast, dedicated to helping people master mental models, decision-making, and lifelong learning. A former Canadian intelligence official, he transformed a side project into a top business resource and authored the bestseller Clear Thinking and The Great Metal Models series.I have been following the Farnam Street and The Knowledge Project Podcast for over a decade.I have witnessed his evolution while he built the Farnam Street community to 1M+ strong and brought some of the top thinkers, builders, and operators to TKP. He is the reason I kicked off The One Percent Project. 00:00 Introduction02:35 Misfit to University04:27 Hacking and Purpose06:53 9/11 and Early Lessons07:36 Decisions Under Uncertainty13:25 Trust and Standards17:00 Questioning Beliefs21:15 Building Farnam Street25:10 Audience and Responsibility29:05 Munger and Berkshire35:08 Thinking Well Daily37:31 Write It Down38:32 AI as Thinking Partner42:01 Incentives and Fluency43:40 Spotting Real Expertise45:47 Timely vs Timeless Advice47:55 Cutting Out Non-Rooters49:22 Ordinary Moments Compound51:42 Outcome Over Ego54:02 Regrets Without Anchors56:34 Host vs Guest Driven59:44 Finding Signal in Noise01:03:04 Personal Board of Advisors01:06:17 Decisions Luck and Patterns01:09:10 Community Q&A Reframes01:15:26 Learning Without Homework01:18:15 Active vs Passive Investing01:22:59 Books People and Success01:27:55 Closing Thanks and Wrap------Check out Farnam Street & Shane Parrish:Farnam Street: https://fs.blog/newsletter/Shane Parrish: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-parrish-050a2183/------Check out TOP & Pritish Sanyal:The One Percent Project: https://www.onepercent.live/subscribeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pritishsanyal/

Monsoon Pabrai is the founder of Drew Investment, a value fund she launched at age 25. Representing a new generation of investors, she adapts classic value principles to the modern landscape, shifting focus from tangible balance sheets to intangible assets like network effects and goodwill. Although raised at the dinner table of a legendary value investor—meeting Warren Buffett at 12—Pabrai emphasises that her foundation was built on traditional operational discipline and EQ. This conversation explores the independence and discipline required to build a career in investing, not just abstract formulas.In this conversation, we talk about: 00:00 Introduction02:54 Introvert Or Extrovert04:30 Childhood Business Lessons06:14 Meeting Buffett Young07:24 Quitting To Start Fund11:17 Tiger Mom Discipline14:52 Raising First Capital18:54 College Major Pivot22:31 Owning Nepo Baby Label24:09 Freedom Through Investing25:09 Handling Smart Rooms27:07 Value Investing Evolves28:51 Learning From Legends32:39 AI And The Future35:37 Berkshire Performance Lens36:36 Why Amex Wins38:43 China Risk And BYD39:57 India Investing Nuggets43:53 Hardest Skill Doing Nothing44:17 Books And Success46:46 Closing Takeaways------Check out:Monsoon Pabrai:https://www.monsoonpabrai.com/Li Lu Value Investing Session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajMy9LkQQlw------Newsletter: The Think newsletter delivers actionable insights on long-term thinking & insights. Learn more and sign-up at onepercent.live/subscribe------Follow PritishInsta: https://www.instagram.com/sanyalpritish/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pritishsanyal/

How Estée Lauder transformed the cosmetic industry and built an empire:Estée Lauder built a cosmetics empire not by inventing perfume, but by reimagining how it was sold—transforming fragrance from a luxury gift women waited to receive into an everyday self-care product they bought for themselves.Follow & Subscribe:Newsletter: https://www.onepercent.live/subscribe WhatsApp: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/TOP_WA2 ⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/TOP_YouTubeVideosPritish Sanyal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pritishsanyal/

About Utsav Somani:⁠Utsav is the founder of Offline — India’s most exclusive community of scaled-up tech founders. Early members include co-founders of Zomato, Country Delight, Ultrahuman, Noise, CoinDCX, and many more. He is responsible for bringing AngelList to India. AngelList India became the most active seed investor in the country with 500 investments since it’s launch in 2018. He runs 2 separate funds called iSeed and Galaxy that have around $100M in AUM. Utsav has personally invested in companies like BharatPe, CoinDCX, Pristyn Care, Jupiter, Park+ along with top-tier VC firms.In this conversation, we talk about: 00:00 Intro 02:13 Navigating Introversion 05:40 The Art of Cold Outreach 07:23 Reflecting on a Decade of Investing 10:51 Challenges and Learnings in Angel Investing 12:38 Building the Community 15:21 The Vision for Offline 18:05 Executive Coaching and Community Building 21:14 Building a Strong Cap Table 21:46 The Importance of Monopoly and Control 24:13 Private Paid Communities 30:32 Decision-Making Framework 34:07 Balancing Work and Personal Life 35:57 Defining Success 36:33 Key Takeaways from the Conversation

Why Starbucks Must Choose: Connection or Convenience? The future of brand trust lies in one powerful decision. In an ever-evolving world dominated by technological advancements, companies face a pivotal challenge. It isn't just about adopting the latest technology; it's about striking a balance with the irreplaceable human touch. Today, we delve into the journey of Starbucks and explore how a brand known for creating a communal coffeehouse vibe navigates redefining its identity amid technological progress. Follow & Subscribe:Newsletter: https://www.onepercent.live/subscribe WhatsApp: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/TOP_WA2 ⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/TOP_YouTubeVideosPritish Sanyal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pritishsanyal/