Blume Podcast

What does it take to build a profitable deep tech company in India? Prof. Shashikanth Suryanarayanan (Shashi), founder and MD of SEDEMAC Mechatronics, started as an IIT Bombay professor with a side project and three students. Eighteen years later, SEDEMAC is a listed company whose control electronics power roughly one in three two-wheelers sold in India. In this conversation with Karthik, recorded at IIT Bombay, Shashi walks through the journey:• Growing up in Chennai, IIT Madras, a PhD at Berkeley, and why he came back to India• Why he wanted to be a professor who builds things, not just publishes papers• What “control technology” actually is, explained with a ball-catching analogy• Why SEDEMAC never pivoted, and how the 2008–2015 years of experiments paid off• Smart Ignition, ISG, and the choice of small powertrains• Raising money without hype, and acting like a public company years before the IPO• Why “deep tech” with negative margins isn’t deep tech• Building a company that outlasts its founder• The next decade, India’s engineering talent, and how many profitable deep tech companies India will really have This episode is part of the Blume Day series, themed around the orbit shifts a company makes. ⏱ CHAPTERS0:00 Introduction1:55 Chennai, IIT Madras and Berkeley10:54 GE as a pit stop, and coming back to IIT Bombay14:22 The “B bucket” professor: building, not just publishing19:59 The first students and the decision to start a company27:37 Why the name SEDEMAC?30:24 SINE, Nexus and the first investors35:00 What is control technology? (the ball-catching analogy)37:53 Fuel injection, and why SEDEMAC never pivoted39:56 Why two-wheelers and gensets45:32 2008–2015: experiments, Smart Ignition and the first big LOI50:13 The 20% EBITDA pitch and the public-company mindset59:13 Building the team and hiring from the IITs1:02:48 Building to outlast: why an IPO1:07:26 Competitive advantage and what “deep tech” really means1:11:48 The lowest point (October 2013)1:13:46 The next decade and global ambition1:17:26 Institutionalization: “I’m not the most important person anymore”1:24:01 India’s engineering talent and the future of deep tech

What does it take to build a category-defining real estate company in India—starting from scratch, without hype, and going truly all in? In this episode of the Blume Podcast, Karthik Reddy sits down with Tanuj Shori, Co-founder & CEO of Square Yards, to unpack the long, invisible journey behind one of India’s largest real estate and financial services platforms. This is not a story about overnight success or fundraising theatrics. It’s about: •  How brutal work ethic during the Global Financial Crisis reshaped ambition•  Why exposure to China’s Lianjia helped connect the dots for Square Yards•  The moment obsession turned into a 48-hour decision to quit banking•  What “going all in” really meant—selling homes, including their parents’•  Building only where you have a clear right to win Today, Square Yards moves ~₹18,000 Cr of real estate annually while refusing to chase adjacencies without category leadership. If you’re building for decades, thinking about conviction, or wondering how founders cross the line from comfort to commitment—this episode is a masterclass. 🔔 Don’t miss more founder stories from Season 4: Destiny Avenged. ⏱️ Timestamps (Weekday Episode) 00:00 — “What is equity?”: early career confusion and learning the hard way04:10 — Lehman, GFC, and why hard work changed everything07:30 — China’s Lianjia, angel investing, and connecting the dots11:40 — Going all in: selling homes and building Square Yards with conviction Season Partners This season is brought to you by IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman. Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this content are for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities. References to companies or outcomes are illustrative only and should not be construed as endorsements. Past performance is not indicative of future results. 

What does it take to build a full-stack real estate platform in India, a market defined by broken processes, low trust, and extreme fragmentation, without following the traditional VC playbook?In this Season 4 finale of the Blume Podcast, Karthik Reddy sits down with Tanuj Shori, Founder of Square Yards, to unpack a decade-long journey of building one of India’s most quietly scaled businesses, now moving ~₹18,000 Cr of real estate annually.This is not a story of blitzscaling or overnight success. It’s a story of risk taken early, course-correction done fast, and patience sustained over decades — in a market most founders actively avoid.This episode dives into:- Why Square Yards refused to build “just another” property search platform- The decision to go full-stack in a deeply interdependent real estate ecosystem- Why category leadership mattered more than adjacency or incremental revenue- Hiring co-founders, not employees, and building a 15-person founding bench that’s still intact a decade later- A capital philosophy rooted in the belief that equity is the most expensive thing in the world- How retail distribution — not product or tech — became the hardest problem to solve- Why the team is building with a 20–40 year horizon, not for milestones or exitsFrom selling their own homes and going all-in, to building an IPO-ready platform designed to outlive its founders, this conversation offers rare insight into what it takes to organise a broken market at national scale.Timestamps00:00:00 – From Lehman Brothers to questioning “what is equity”00:04:24 – Risk appetite, early course-correction, and being “all-in”00:08:15 – Banking years, hard work, and why competence creates passion00:14:29 – The accidental entrepreneur and the Square Yards origin story00:20:20 – Selling personal and family assets to go all-in00:31:01 – Why search & discovery failed — and full-stack was necessary00:37:25 – Category leadership as a non-negotiable mandate00:44:20 – Cracking scale: retail distribution, COVID tailwinds, and growth00:54:38 – Destiny avenged, IPO as governance, and building for decadesThis season is brought to you in partnership with IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman.------------------------------------------The views and opinions expressed in this content are for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities. References to companies, transactions, or market events are illustrative only and should not be construed as endorsements or statements of value. Any views expressed by individuals are solely their own and do not represent those of Blume Ventures, its affiliates, partners, or employees. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

What does it take to build a ₹100-crore skincare brand in under a year — in one of the most crowded consumer categories in India?In this episode of the Blume Podcast, Karthik Reddy sits down with Mohit Yadav, Co-founder of Minimalist, to unpack the long, invisible journey behind the brand’s seemingly overnight success.This is not a story about hype, influencers, or clever marketing. It’s about:- Why transparency became Minimalist’s core competitive advantage- How two years of “failed” experimentation at Freewill laid the real foundation- The shift from personalised haircare to problem-led, science-first skincare- Why Minimalist focused only on “need-to-have” products in its first year- How referrals, repeats, and honest customer conversations compounded growth- Why Tier-3 India surprised them the most — and what it says about knowledge parityIf you’re building a consumer brand, thinking about PMF, or wondering how trust scales faster than ads — this episode is a masterclass.🔔 Don’t miss more founder stories from Season 4: Destiny Avenged.⏱️ Timestamps (Full Episode)00:00 — Why Minimalist believed it could stand out in a crowded beauty market01:00 — From Freewill to Minimalist: the pivots, mistakes, and COVID reset08:30 — Radical transparency, clinically proven products, and black-and-white design10:30 — The surprise insight: 50% of customers came from tier-3 IndiaSeason PartnersThis season is brought to you by IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman.DisclaimerThe views and opinions expressed in this content are for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities. References to companies or outcomes are illustrative only and should not be construed as endorsements. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

What does it take to build a ₹3000Cr skincare brand in the middle of a global pandemic — without celebrity endorsements, influencer hype, or big-budget marketing? In this episode of S4 of the Blume Podcast, Karthik sits down with Mohit Yadav, Co-founder of Minimalist, to unpack the years of quiet compounding behind the brand’s breakout — from two brothers experimenting across multiple businesses, to launching a science-first skincare brand during COVID. This is not a story of overnight virality or growth hacks. It’s a story of: •  Winning trust through ingredient transparency and product clarity•  Why India has wealth disparity, but skincare “knowledge parity” is rising fast•  What Minimalist got right (and what actually differentiated them)•  Why they chose to grow without influencers — and the flywheels that worked instead•  The underrated advantage of building from Jaipur•  The prior years of work that made their rapid growth possible In a category built on hype and advertising, Minimalist won by respecting the consumer’s intelligence — and letting the product do the talking.Chapters:00:00:00 – Why Minimalist thought it could stand out (problem-first, “knowledge parity”) 00:04:21 – Jaipur roots, humble background, and why the two brothers chose “dhandha” 00:11:04 – First business: Scopial (design community) and how it started 00:13:31 – Snapdeal’s Kunal invests → pivot to Mango Street kidswear → acquisition exit 00:17:04 – CarDekho years: scaling up + Indonesia chapter + deciding to start again 00:25:07 – Freewill (personalised haircare) → regulatory roadblock → COVID → Minimalist is born 00:32:40 – Minimalist’s brand DNA: clinical proof, radical transparency, black-and-white design language 00:50:53 – Going global (GCC/SEA/US), Target rollout, building from Jaipur, Unilever deal + rapid-fire + advice (till end)This season is brought to you in partnership with IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman.

What does it take to build an EV in a country that had no supply chain, no ecosystem, and no conviction that world-class hardware could be engineered locally from scratch? In this episode of Destiny Avenged, Tarun Mehta takes us back to the true origins of Ather — long before the scooters, the charging grid, or the brand India now knows. It begins inside IIT Madras’ CFI lab, where a new culture of weekend building, late-night experiments, and first-principles engineering quietly took hold. Tarun and Swapnil spent years sleeping on yoga mats in the department, teaching themselves battery design, building swappable packs, and prototyping chargers. But one insight changed everything: India didn’t want batteries. It wanted a world-class electric scooter.That leap — from component to full-stack — is what eventually became Ather Energy. This conversation dives deep into: •  How CFI and IIT Madras accidentally engineered a startup culture•  Why Ather took five years before launching anything•  The battery-first approach and the pivot to full-stack EVs•  Why building hardware requires long gestation and no shortcuts•  The engineering advantages EVs unlock that ICE can never match•  Why Ather chose the hardest possible path — and how it paid offChapters:00:00 – Building Ather’s first batteries02:23 – How IIT Madras accidentally created a startup factory06:03 – Quitting jobs, sleeping on yoga mats, and early swappable battery ideas09:11 – Pitching the full scooter & why deep tech isn’t a capital problemIf you’ve ever wondered how an engineering-first company gets built in India, this is the blueprint. 🎧 Watch the full episode and explore more founder stories in Season 4: Destiny Avenged. Season Partners: IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman (Blume portco)   

What does it take to build an EV scooter from scratch in a country that had no EV supply chain, no ecosystem, and very little faith in hardware built in India?In this episode of the Blume Podcast (Season 4: Destiny Avenged), Karthik sits down with Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO, Ather Energy, to unpack the impossible decade behind Ather — from two college kids sleeping on yoga mats in IIT Madras labs, hand-building battery packs and prototypes, to shipping their first 10 scooters nearly 5 years after the first cheque.This is not a story of hacks and shortcuts. It’s a story of:- Saying no to “copy China” and betting on original engineering- Spending years in the lab building batteries, BMS, chargers and a full-stack scooter before seeing any real revenue- Building an R&D culture that prides itself on engineering excellence, even when it meant slower growth and higher risk.00:00 – If Tesla called, would Tarun collaborate? (cold open)01:23 – Destiny Avenged intro & how a hostel project became Ather Energy03:37 – Growing up in Ahmedabad, Gujarat board & an obsession with gaming08:23 – Choosing IIT Madras, Engineering Design & meeting Swapnil + the Stirling engine21:39 – Quitting auto jobs, camping at IIT, and pivoting from batteries to full-stack scooters34:46 – Deep tech vs internet: capital, gestation and why metrics are the real bottleneck45:14 – EVs as experience machines: Infinite Cruise, smart helmets & software-led moats57:23 – IPO, life as a public company & what Ather should look like in 2035If you’re a founder, operator, or anyone who’s ever wondered whether it’s worth betting a decade on hard problems, this conversation is a masterclass in patience, craft, and long-term thinking.In this candid conversation, Karthik dives deep with Tarun into how Ather was built the hard way — one experiment, one setback, and one breakthrough at a time.Season Partners: IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman (Blume portco)------------------------------------------The views and opinions expressed in this content are for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities. References to companies, transactions, or market events are illustrative only and should not be construed as endorsements or statements of value. Any views expressed by individuals are solely their own and do not represent those of Blume Ventures, its affiliates, partners, or employees. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Imagine betting your entire fortune on Bitcoin back in 2012, when it traded at $20 a coin.That's what George Kikvadze, Executive vice chairman of Bitfury, did in 2012 when most people dismissed Bitcoin as “magic internet money”.On the surface, it sounded like pure madness. Newly fired from his hedge fund job, family thinking he’s lost it, the asset trading below a dollar just two years earlier. Who does that?But as George puts it, “The comfort level of owning Bitcoin is directly proportional to the time you spend studying it.” He studied math, cryptography, monetary history. He watched the Cyprus banking crisis play out, saw accounts frozen, and connected it back to his childhood in the Soviet Union where his parents’ savings evaporated overnight.That’s where his core thesis came from:- Global debt levels keep rising- Governments and central banks will keep printing more fiat money- Bitcoin, with 21 million hard-capped supply and declining issuance, is an asymmetric bet on that lack of discipline.This understanding allowed him to hold his nerve when everyone thought he was crazy — and then use that belief to build, not just trade.Along with his co-founder Val, he built not one but THREE bitcoin unicorns from the BitFury Universe, choosing to focus on enabling mining versus hoarding coins.And George still isn’t done. On CNBC, he doesn’t say Bitcoin might hit a million dollars. He says it will — driven by the same forces he’s been tracking for over a decade.Karthik sits down with George to unpack his journey, his book “And Then You Win”, and his $1M Bitcoin thesis on the latest weekday episode of the Blume Podcast.Chapters:0:00 — Trailer1:05 — The $20 Bet, Reinvention & Early Bitcoin Lessons8:19 — CNBC Moment, Chip Failure & Bitfury’s Toughest Crisis13:32 — Why Bitcoin Still Wins: Scarcity, Debt & DisciplineSeason Partners: IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman (Blume portco)

He bought Bitcoin at $20 when everyone called it "Magic Internet Money"Today, he’s built an empire worth billions, powering Bitcoin’s infrastructure — from mining chips to AI data centers. In this weekend episode of Season 4: Destiny Avenged, George Kikvadze, Vice Chairman of BitFury, joins Karthik to unpack how a Soviet-born financier, laid off the day Satoshi released the Bitcoin whitepaper, reinvented himself — and helped turn belief into billion-dollar reality. This isn’t a crypto hype story — it’s a founder playbook: of betting on people, building infra when speculation was easier, and surviving brutal cycles with integrity intact.In this episode:🔹 From Soviet collapse → Hedge fund layoff → Bitcoin’s “whitepaper day”🔹 The $20 Bitcoin bet that built Bitfury🔹 Backing Ukraine’s chip-design geniuses & mining 600,000 BTC🔹 Surviving a 99% chip-yield crash and rebuilding from scratch🔹 The trade-off: Hold 300,000 BTC or build real companies🔹 Spinning out billion-dollar ventures: Hut 8, Cipher Mining, cooling & AI chips🔹 Why “Gandhi would’ve loved Bitcoin” — truth, self-reliance, decentralization🔹 Why infra outlasts price charts and hype cycles00:00:00 - Gandhi, Truth & Self-Reliance → Bitcoin 00:01:07 - Setup & Stakes: $20 BTC, job loss, Bitfury, the book00:04:41 - Reinvention arc: crisis, travel, Cyprus shock → all-in00:10:23 - Gandhi lens & India hook: 1 BTC = 1 crore sats 00:16:54 - Finding Val & the Ukrainian “textbook” chip team00:26:39 -CNBC ‘this thing mines Bitcoin’ → 16nm yield crisis & fix00:35:32 - The 300k BTC trade-off; spin-outs: Hut 8, Cipher, AI 00:40:09 - Macro playbook, $1M BTC thesis, 21 lessons, rapid-fire, wrap Season Partners: IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman (Blume portco)---------------------------------------The views and opinions expressed in this content are for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities. References to companies, transactions, or market events are illustrative only and should not be construed as endorsements or statements of value. Any views expressed by individuals are solely their own and do not represent those of Blume Ventures, its affiliates, partners, or employees. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Revenue drops 96%—overnight. Rival complaints try to derail your IPO at the 11th hour. SARS, 9/11, and the dotcom bust threaten bankruptcy. Competitors burn cash to steal your market share. Most founders walk away when faced with even one of these. Deep Kalra and Rajesh Magow didn’t flinch. In this weekend episode of the Blume Podcast, host Karthik Reddy sits down with Deep and Rajesh, MakeMyTrip’s co-founders, to dissect the habits and decisions that forged a generational company. Each crisis forced them to reinvent the company. When rivals unleashed aggressive hotel discounts, Rajesh and Deep faced a hard choice: match the losses and jeopardize the P&L, or hold firm and watch market share slip away. Instead, they rewrote the playbook—leveraging their balance sheet to acquire Goibibo and redBus, shifting the battle from pricing gimmicks to market leadership by scale. When COVID wiped out 96% of revenue overnight, the easy path would have been to lay people off. Instead, they kept their team intact and focused—incubating products like Ad Tech and a new Homestay platform to be ready for recovery. They even pitched in to help build Aarogya Setu for the government, keeping employees engaged, and purposeful despite unprecedented disruption. While others pulled back and went on defense, Deep and Rajesh seized the moment—doubling down on investments, driving fresh innovation, and using every crisis as a springboard for transformation instead of retreat. Their journey is a masterclass in resilience—a blueprint for building a Rs 60,000 crore internet powerhouse against all odds.00:00:00 Origin and courage to start MakeMyTrip00:12:58 Early India internet reality and liberalization context00:22:56 Early funding rounds and capital discipline00:27:53 Picking metrics that matter (conversion focus)00:40:20 Deciding to go public and post-IPO reflections00:43:28 IPO comps (Expedia, Ctrip) and sprint to listing00:51:15 Pre-IPO hurdle: competitor complaint to the SEC00:59:56 Strategic shift: Goibibo and redBus acquisitions01:11:16 COVID shock: revenue down 96% and survival playbook01:30:14 Closing insights: repeat rate and retention as north starsPartners: IDFC FIRST Bank and Ultrahuman (Blume portco)------------------------------------------The views and opinions expressed in this content are for informational purposes only and do not constitute investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities. References to companies, transactions, or market events are illustrative only and should not be construed as endorsements or statements of value. Any views expressed by individuals are solely their own and do not represent those of Blume Ventures, its affiliates, partners, or employees. Past performance is not indicative of future results.