There are very few podcasts which talk about Indian Startups. The Indian Startup Show by Neil Patel is one of them, and its the best out there. Read on to check out some more bytes about what was discussed in the interview.
Deepak and I, posing for the camera. (This photo is from 2016). Podcast recording was over a call
Last week I was on the Indian Startup Show Podcast, Episode 81. Unlike other podcasts, this stretched well beyond the 30 usual minutes as it turned from an interview to a conversation. The Indian Startup Show is a weekly podcast show about Indian Startups, Entrepreneurs and VCs hosted by Neil Patel who is a Ruby On Rails dev & growth engineer in the UK. This was an opportunity for me to talk about our childhood inspirations and even the first road tripper I knew – my dad. And I took it!
We spoke about a lot of things including my business idols. The one thing that separates a good leader from a great one is their vision. I remember dad giving me the book – The Road Ahead back when it was published but I started reading it only when I was about to enter college in 2002. Some of the things he wrote about were still becoming a reality back then. But I went ahead completing my college (in hindsight it was a very smart decision, not that my dad would’ve allowed me to drop out!)
Deepak on Thea and I on Laetitia
While an article was written about our bikes – Laetitia and Thea on TravHQ in 2017, this was the first interview we were able to speak more about them in detail. A lot of our existence and ethos comes from the bikes we both rode and the people we met along the way. Among all the passion projects that I have taken up over the years and there are quite a few starting the college magazines back at RVCE. CRAP was one such initiative that I had taken. I had called it so as an insurance against any complaints of bad editorial. It worked pretty well because people just loved that we were trolling ourselves.
There are two trips I spoke off which were with my dad. The one where I was 5 years old, I could hardly even fathom what was happening but this article will give you an insight into the young mind of a road tripper. The second one I spoke off was the 2000 km road trip. This is where I learned to drive. And to be honest, the majority of my road trips have been on a bike and it’s only recently that with Road Trippers Club (#RTCMumbai) that I am taking my car out more often on the highway. I learned to drive in my dad’s Ford Ikon. There were instances where we were stuck behind a truck for hours at a stretch all because I couldn’t overtake it and didn’t want to risk it either. But all this was nothing compared to the final stretches of the trip.
The route we had taken was Delhi – Jaipur – Jodhpur – Udaipur – Kota – Guna – Shivpuri – Gwalior – Agra – Delhi. In 2001, all these roads were two lanes mostly. The final stretch home was one of the torrential rains; where dad got off the wheel and gave it to me. I still have no idea why did that because while high beams were piercing our eyes, I still was learning to drive and visibility was not more than 5 meters. But I drove. And did I drive that stretch to get us home by 1 AM!
Check out the route map here for the trip
There are a lot of travel stories like this between the team. I have not even begun including Neeraj’s stories of his road trips in the Himalayas. But we’re always happy to talk about the trips we do. The people we meet and roads we drive on are not boring stories! Promise!
The Indian Startup Show Podcast
Do listen to the complete interview on the Indian Startup Show below or check out this link where it’s hosted!