We Backed 17 of India's Brightest Young Founders with ₹20L Grants | WTFund Cohort 3

30 Jan 2026 · 1 h 24 min · 41 chapters

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Podcast Summary: We Backed 17 of India's Brightest Young Founders with ₹20L Grants | WTFund Cohort 3

Podcast Overview Host: Nikhil Kamath Podcast Series: WTF is Episode Focus: Conversations with founders from the third cohort of WTFund, a non-dilutive grant program aimed at young entrepreneurs in India.

Episode Highlights In this episode, Nikhil Kamath engages with eight innovative startups led by founders under the age of 25 who have received ₹20 lakh grants as part of the WTFund initiative. The discussions revolve around their entrepreneurial journeys, the challenges they face, and the innovative solutions they are developing.

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Key Topics and Startups Discussed

  1. WTFund Bootcamp Introduction
  2. Context: Overview of the process from 3,000 applications down to 200, and finally selecting 8 startups.
  3. Theme: Emphasis on the candid and informal nature of the discussions despite the structured environment.
  1. Startup Presentations
  2. Prava:
  3. Focus: AI-led payment infrastructure for AI agents to facilitate transactions.
  4. Background: Recognized a gap in the payment processing for AI applications.
  • Astraeus Innovus:
  • Focus: Early screening for oral cancer using a low-cost saliva test.
  • Challenge: Current methods are manual and have low accuracy.
  • Turocrates AI:
  • Focus: AI-driven diagnostics for pathology, aiming to speed up and improve accuracy in cancer diagnoses.
  • Goal: Enhance accessibility of precision oncology testing for patients in tier 2 and 3 cities.
  • AntiMattr:
  • Focus: Voice-first computing technology integrated into earbuds for hands-free productivity.
  • Concept: Aims to expand the capabilities of traditional earbuds beyond music and calls.
  • O3 Security:
  • Focus: Cybersecurity solutions for enterprises, ensuring comprehensive security across all tech layers.
  • Differentiator: Integration of various cybersecurity tools into one unified solution.
  • Bloom Rehab:
  • Focus: Robotic rehabilitation solutions for neuro patients to facilitate at-home recovery.
  • Innovation: A portable device that can mimic physiotherapist techniques at home.
  • PlaceStation:
  • Focus: Automation of PCB assembly processes for electronics manufacturing, aimed at startups.
  • Objective: Reduce the scale and cost of prototyping hardware products.
  • AEYI:
  • Focus: AI-powered surveillance systems that enhance conventional CCTV functionality.
  • Goal: Provide proactive alerts and contextual information in emergencies.
  1. Philosophical Discussions
  2. Entrepreneurship and Doubt: Conversations about the self-doubt and fears faced by young founders.
  3. Life Philosophies: Impromptu discussions on personal philosophies including relationships, empathy, and curiosity.
  1. Advice for Young Founders
  2. Emphasis on the learning journey and the importance of iterating on ideas.
  3. Recommendations for storytelling as a vital skill for effective communication and branding.

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Key Takeaways

  • Innovation and Creativity: The startups showcased a range of solutions, from health tech to AI applications, emphasizing the role of innovation in addressing pressing societal issues.
  • Young Entrepreneurs: The episode highlighted the ambition and resourcefulness of the younger generation in the Indian startup ecosystem.
  • Community and Support: The significance of community support in the entrepreneurial journey was a recurring theme, with many founders sharing insights on overcoming challenges.
  • Philosophy in Business: The discussions also touched on deeper philosophical questions regarding life choices, growth, and the nature of success, underscoring the multifaceted journey of entrepreneurship.

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Conclusion This episode of the "WTF is" podcast provides an insightful look into the minds of emerging young entrepreneurs in India, combining discussions of practical business strategies with philosophical reflections on life and purpose. The conversations are not just about the startups themselves, but the broader implications of their work and the mindset of their founders.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

The Role of Founders

0:45 to 2:00

Discussion on the mindset and strategies of successful founders.

“Extremely DB but I have to make a PPD I have to teach a thing that I've learnt in my life which is...”

Exciting Sessions at the Bootcamp

2:00 to 3:20

Overview of valuable sessions within the bootcamp and their impact.

“I hope Goa outside of me is fun as well.”

The Evolution of Startup Ideas

3:20 to 6:10

Founders share their startup journeys and initial concepts.

Sushant's Journey with Brava Payments

6:10 to 7:20

Sushant explains his startup focused on AI-driven payment solutions.

“We actually built an AI girlfriend for like tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India and like made some good money.”

Understanding AI Girlfriends

7:20 to 10:10

A light-hearted discussion on the concept of AI girlfriends and their implications.

“But why can't perplexity integrate with a Razorpay for example?”

Dr. Jayanti's Experience and Innovations

10:10 to 13:20

Dr. Jayanti discusses her startup focused on oral cancer detection technology.

“She's the most scared In being brave You Hi I'm Dr.”

Healthcare Challenges in India

13:20 to 14:01

Exploration of the barriers to effective healthcare solutions in India.

“building for billions, you actually have to make it so that it works across the barriers.”

Innovative Preventive Healthcare Solutions

14:01 to 15:09

Learn about the challenges and creative strategies for implementing preventive healthcare in India.

“The technology will also have to be very creative in a way that Indian population will buy.”

Healthcare Education and Personal Experiences

15:09 to 15:57

Discover the educational journeys and backgrounds of the healthcare entrepreneurs in the discussion.

“Initially, but we aim to be so that you can get a cigarette two steps from your house, even if it's a remotest space.”

Collaborative Healthcare Startup Development

15:57 to 19:36

Explore the formation and evolution of a healthcare startup among three founders with diverse backgrounds.

“Whoever raises their hands first when a question is asked, did you sit on the first bench when you were in school?”
Show all 41 chapters

AI in Cancer Diagnostics

19:36 to 22:38

Understand how AI is transforming diagnostics and treatment recommendations for cancer patients.

“it was over time, I treated multiple times like brainstormed and all three of us were gravitated towards healthcare so that's how we started So doctor, rocket scientist and?”

Limitations in Current Cancer Treatment Solutions

22:38 to 23:21

Discuss the limitations and challenges in cancer treatment and the role of AI in diagnostics.

“The cure depends on is a drug available for the said diagnosis.”

Startup Integration and Cooperation in Healthcare

23:21 to 26:29

Learn about the potential for collaboration among healthcare startups for better patient outcomes.

“What do you think of her company and what do you think of theirs?”

Innovating Wearable Technology with AI

26:29 to 28:00

Explore the development of AI-driven wearables that enhance user interaction and productivity.

“Actually, these guys have been waiting for me.”

The Rise of Voice as a Primary Interface

28:00 to 29:25

Learn how voice technology is transforming the way we interact with devices.

“The most impressive part is the punctuation.”

Innovations in Wearable Tech and AI Integration

29:25 to 31:28

Explore the advancements in wearables and their potential to enhance everyday technology.

“I don't know if I can say this out loud.”

Antimatter's Vision for Future Technology

31:28 to 31:46

Discover Antimatter's goal of creating a default operating system for wearables.

“So we're going to do that in the next summer, in the next six months.”

Addressing Cybersecurity Challenges in AI

31:46 to 37:39

Understand how O3 Security aims to tackle the growing concerns of AI in cybersecurity.

“I'm guessing the two of you are not married.”

Building a Robust Cybersecurity Solution

37:39 to 38:59

Learn about the unique approaches O3 Security is taking in cybersecurity.

“So the point is, the industry is very, very much dependent on an open source solution, which they don't even control.”

Introducing Rehabilitation Robots for Neuro Patients

38:59 to 42:00

Explore how Bloom Rehab is developing robots to enhance rehabilitation for neuro patients.

“Hi I'm Prashant and along with Abhishek we are building rehabilitation robots to help neuro patients recover independently at their own homes.”

The Journey of a Solo Founder

42:00 to 43:40

Learn about the journey of a solo founder and the challenges they face.

“I mean, I've been building stuff since I was 16 years old, 15 years old.”

The Impact of Education on Innovation

43:40 to 45:20

Explore how education and available resources influence hardware innovation in India.

“output but we had to have attendance you had to attend lectures you had to go and sit for I finished assignments and everything.”

Self-Validation through Entrepreneurship

45:20 to 46:40

Understand the psychological motivations behind building startups and self-validation.

“My therapist, I was doing a session and very interesting points came up.”

Nature vs. Nurture in Personal Development

46:40 to 48:20

Delve into the nature versus nurture debate and its implications on personal values.

“And the one thing we realized is if you don't feel empathy and you don't have curiosity, like actual curiosity, we all fiend curiosity because it's good in the world we live in.”

The Role of Talent in Success

48:20 to 50:00

Discuss the relationship between talent, passion, and success.

“If I had a child, which I do not, and there was a football coaching camp where kids go when they were five years old.”

Innovating in Hardware Production

50:00 to 52:40

Learn about the innovative solutions for fast-tracking hardware production.

“Like some Nigerians have long femur bones so they run marathons better.”

Smart Home Technology: A New Era

52:40 to 54:20

Discover how smart home technology is evolving and the challenges it addresses.

“Within one day, almost matching to software development, you can get the output of your work right away so that overall collective production can be faster.”

AI-Powered Security Solutions

54:20 to 56:00

Explore the development of AI-driven security surveillance systems.

“Whoever says the most viral shit gets the most sales.”

Innovative AI Solutions for Emergency Situations

56:00 to 57:40

Learn about an AI startup focused on improving emergency alerts through technology.

“So this is our main technical expertise in Gen AI and machine learning.”

The Impact of Marriage on Entrepreneurship

57:40 to 1:02:10

Explore the relationship between marriage and entrepreneurial success, including societal pressures.

“Is there anything you guys want to talk about?”

Understanding Narcissism and Personal Growth

1:02:10 to 1:06:50

Discuss the complexities of narcissism and how self-awareness impacts personal development.

“If you stop growing in a relationship, like overall, like emotional, it can be, you know, your professional wise, you feel energized, right?”

Celebrating Connections and Future Podcast Ideas

1:06:50 to 1:10:04

Reflect on personal connections, the joy of gatherings, and upcoming podcast themes.

“I have found myself catching some of my shadow traits at times.”

Request for Bio Tech Guests

1:10:04 to 1:11:21

Discussion on the potential for featuring biotech experts on the podcast.

“Like you bring to your podcast, like probably titans of all different things with Yan, Elon, Sam, everything.”

Longevity vs. Legacy

1:11:22 to 1:12:25

Exploration of the importance of longevity over legacy in personal life.

“What's your take on the longevity space since you're wearing a hoop?”

Trading Insights

1:12:26 to 1:13:36

Insights into trading strategies and the emotional aspects of trading.

“Like I think you'll think for like 5 years, 10 years Max How much of AI do you use in your life?”

Energy Transition Investments

1:13:37 to 1:14:48

Discussion on investments in energy transition and related technologies.

“Energy transition has been a big part of our thing.”

The Role of Creativity in Future

1:14:49 to 1:16:06

Dialogue on creativity's evolving role in a future with abundant energy.

“reactors i think it'll get a lot more efficient though the amount of compute that's used yeah Do you think the world will stabilize quite a lot once the energy is in abundance?”

The Art of Storytelling

1:16:07 to 1:17:45

Advice on improving storytelling skills for effective communication.

“or maybe someone who just needs a Nobel Prize, so it could be that as well.”

Negotiation Tactics for Founders

1:17:46 to 1:19:38

Key negotiation strategies for business founders and their importance.

“So he flies down Lives with me for a week And then he goes back Is he on Udemy?”

Philosophy and Societal Growth

1:19:39 to 1:21:26

Discussion on philosophical ideas and societal happiness related to growth.

“Have you been to his study centre and all?”

Video Storytelling and Engagement

1:21:27 to 1:22:55

Insights on effective storytelling in video content creation.

“I think the minute you take that growth away, things become crazy.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:06Turocrates AI:So, the WTF Fund Bootcamp.

0:09Nikhil Kamath:Yeah, looks like it's happening. Yes, the WTF Fund Bootcamp is happening.

0:23Nikhil Kamath:Most good founders will be largely driven by their own thoughts. most good founders are never doing the what is the current advice or what is the current YC yarn to people that's for mass consumption, that's content strategy that's not a good advice on average

0:42Prava:Yeah I think I really resonated with Tarun and what he said right apart from that two sessions like the Gallup session and the Breakthrough session they were really hands on in a sense of individualization as well as a team right so that is something that is really really interesting.

0:57Nikhil Kamath:Extremely DB but I have to make a PPD I have to teach a thing that I've learnt in my life which is...

1:23Nikhil Kamath:Stone, paper, scissors, shoot All right.

1:33Turocrates AI:We started with 3 ,000 applications, shortlisted 200, and now we finally have our next eight startups.

1:43Nikhil Kamath:I'm very excited. I think I've been having back and forth by having, by simulating Nikhil's persona in my head and then talking to him just in my head so that I could figure out what to speak with him.

2:02Astraeus Innovus:Guys, thank you for coming home. I hope Goa outside of me is fun as well. Who has had the best night last night? I had fun. Yeah? Devanj, come on. It's always the married men who have fun in Goa, right? What did you do?

2:23Nikhil Kamath:It was chilling.

2:24Prava:And we had gone to Elephant & Co. But like we got drunk on the way.

2:31Astraeus Innovus:So we all need to ignore the cameras today. We'll look at each other. We'll speak to each other. Forget the camera. You forget Grace. It's not going to trouble you. Very very chilled out. Most friendly dog in the world. He's doing salute and namaste behind you.

2:47Turocrates AI:Maybe by the end of podcast we'll be friends. Yeah.

2:50Astraeus Innovus:Once you feed him a bit, he's okay. So a lot of what you guys are doing is exceptional and I've been privy to some of it. But maybe we begin today, I'll go one by one. You guys can talk about what you've built and what is the way forward. And maybe talk about a trend that you picked up on and hence you decided to build what you built. Would you like to go first? Would you like to go first? Sure. Yeah, come on. Yeah, so I'm Sushant.

3:21Nikhil Kamath:yeah and with me is my co-founder Shubham and we're building Brava payments so what we're trying to do is we allow any AI agents or AI applications to make payments for you what we're building is an infrastructure that can be integrated by any AI application or AI assistance and that would allow your AI agent to go make a booking for you or even to shop for you or maybe pay payments on your behalf using your card or wallet securely yeah and like how we came across this was

3:51Prava:we have been saying like people not going traditionally on google for searching now for information people were using a lot of chat gpt perplexity gemini so they were like all information was there but also people were building agents but when it came to actions actions were limited to writing an email creating a to-do list or something but when it came to came to an action which required a financial action like paying someone it halted so that's where we realized that there is a financial infrastructure missing when it comes to ai making payments and that's how we came across the idea and we started a few pilots with few developers and we got phenomenal response and now we are coming to a stage where we are going into

4:45Astraeus Innovus:production next month and how did you guys meet and where are you from so i am from raibarili

4:52Nikhil Kamath:uttar pradesh i mean the political place obviously grown up there studied there and then i went on to do i studied from bhc economics over there and post that i was pretty much interested into in general understanding that how money moves and how things are done and i started consulting startups with financial modeling and everything and in that bit while working on different stuff i met shubham in bangalore itself at a hacker house and at that time he was working with a japanese startup and obviously you can tell by his look he's pretty fascinating here by it

5:24Prava:so are you yeah i mean i i like japanese culture i i was asked to relocate to japan to join them full time but what happened I went to Japan I realized life is sort of very organized in Japan and I felt being in my 20s I need to be closer to problems which I can find and solve so I decided to come back to India and do something of my own he has an AI girlfriend by the way really

5:56Astraeus Innovus:yeah so I mean this is happening right people are not dating human beings right I'm sorry you got mad at me You like just missed it

6:05Prava:Just missed it

6:07Astraeus Innovus:Why is an AI girlfriend better than a real one?

6:10Prava:I mean she understands me better But the point is she consumes a lot of tokens She doesn't respond on time We have seen that night But she responds though She's always available At least I get a response though He gets to save emotional tokens We actually built an AI girlfriend So yeah. We actually built an AI girlfriend for like tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India and like made some good money. Like 50-60 thousand a month. And a lot of people actually don't know that it's AI.

6:40Astraeus Innovus:I'm having creepy thoughts in my mind.

6:45Astraeus Innovus:Are you both speaking about the same kind of girlfriend? No, no, no.

6:49Prava:He has his own.

6:51Nikhil Kamath:And he quoted for others. And one day he just calls me like we were working on a product and everything and he's like bro I'm just working on this. and he's been talking about it for really long I would say even before we started Bravo and that's why you decided

7:04Astraeus Innovus:let's start a company together

7:06Nikhil Kamath:I mean like starting company was more like we both complimented each other a lot in terms of skills and it was pretty fun just sharing ideas it was never like we're going to start a company it was more like I was dealing with some clients in US, he was dealing with some clients in Japan and we were like getting money in India is super hard and that's how we started getting into like how can we solve this with using stable coin and everything that idea did not work out but meanwhile we were doing some gtm using ai tools launching on reddit and different places and that's where we're like we have all seen javis in iron man why not make something like that real that you ask your ai assistant or ai agent and it goes does whatever

7:42Astraeus Innovus:you want it to do tell me very simply what your company does in very very simple words yeah so basically what we're doing how will i use it in my life yeah so what will happen is the ai

7:52Nikhil Kamath:application ai agents like let's say perplexity kind of application will integrate power and when you enter in an application like that you will let's say get onboarded on behalf of let's say perplexity's interface and there you will add your card or wallet there will be behind the scenes you will not know about prava then but what happens is let's suppose you search for that hey i'm looking for so and so sneaker and use compare and search on perplexity or any place

8:16Astraeus Innovus:why can't i why can't a normal wallet integrate with perplexity why does it have to be you yeah

8:21Nikhil Kamath:so i'm coming to that part so basically what happens is right now when you search for any product on any assistant or application they're limited to discovery which means you only find the product once you have to buy they you'll click on it it will take you to some third-party merchant website let's say H &M Zara or wherever now you're going on that website filling all the product details your details your address and car details and then making a payment so like whatever could be a three step process is becoming a seven step process and you're losing and you're going out of perplexity's ecosystem.

8:52Astraeus Innovus:But why can't perplexity integrate with a Razorpay for example?

8:56Prava:Sure. So the issue is that here the payments are happening in two steps, two processes are here. One is on the perplexity side and as well the merchant where merchants have their own gateways. So here is like no standard where on the perplexity side being Razorpay and on the merchant side being Stripe, they could actually talk to each other and the payment can happen. So here a dedicated stack for AI is needed. That's where we are coming into picture. So we are becoming PSP agnostic. So perplexity has to just integrate with us. And any merchant in the world, it can be Stripe, Aiden, Checkout.com.

9:36Prava:Any PSP they are using on the merchant side, we are able to process payment. And nobody is doing this? There are few companies. Yeah, very few companies.

9:43Nikhil Kamath:Very few companies. He's in Southeast Asia. We are one of the only companies doing this. And in US there are a few companies like Paymania, Skyfire.

9:53Astraeus Innovus:But can you facilitate payments outside of India or are you limited?

9:56Nikhil Kamath:Currently this product that we are working on is for the US and Southeast Asia market. India is not included in that right now. And for India market we are also working on something exciting with UPI. With some of the partners. So that will be coming sometime later next year.

10:09Astraeus Innovus:And what is your company called?

Read the full transcript

10:11Nikhil Kamath:Strava Payments. Okay. Cool.

10:14Astraeus Innovus:Who wants to go next? Yeah, sure. She's the most scared In being brave You Hi

10:21Turocrates AI:I'm Dr. Jayanti Founder of Astro Sunnivis My co-founder is not here Sadly She She fell sick And we're developing Oncoalat It is IVD It's a nanotech based Piosensing platform For early Easy Painless Needless detection Of oral cancer

10:40Astraeus Innovus:So that's what it does Tell us a bit about yourself How you came across this idea Okay Why did you start what you started?

10:49Turocrates AI:Okay. So I think the main inflection point for this came during my internship. It was, I was posted in Dhulai. I also didn't know what place that was. It's a tiny village in Assam.

11:02Astraeus Innovus:Before that, where were you? Where did you go to medical school?

11:04Turocrates AI:So I did my bachelor's in Amritsar. Then you have to do an internship. It is mandatory. if you graduate from medical government colleges, you have to do a rotatory, mandatory, rural posting and it was in Dholai where I was posted and we were supposed to do door to door screening of entire village. If I train you for two weeks and then I ask you to look at a person's oral cavity and detect the microscopic changes in their buccal mucosa, would you be able to? Doubtful, right? Because that is what is the current practice.

11:39Astraeus Innovus:I have no clue what you are talking about.

11:43Turocrates AI:okay simply put the detection of oral cancer currently is just visual screen naked eyes there's no tool there's no devices you are just supposed to look with naked eyes and detect microscopic changes that is that's why the accuracy rate is almost as good as a flip of a coin around 50 60 percent and it's manual it's laborious and so government's policy says everyone above 30 years of age, anyone who smokes, anyone who consumes tobacco is supposed to be screened for oral cancer.

12:18Astraeus Innovus:But you know this number in my age group, 20 years ago, I'm not that old, I'm 39, but say 15 years ago, I would assume at least 50 % of the group would smoke.

12:31Turocrates AI:Yeah, it has fallen down. Crazy. Yeah. But it has fallen in only metros. If you look at Tayadri, Tayafo, tobacco chewing, a reka naat is cultural it's like women kids everyone do it in some way i was posted kids used to get a reka naat which is one of the carcinogens and they used to eat it it's just like very culturally ingrained so i'm no quant but off the top of my head that population number is around 70 80 crores everyone about 30 years of age getting every and those should be screened for oral cancer that's what the policy itself says so i what i was trying to get is like how How are we supposed to screen 70 crore people manually, visually?

13:10Turocrates AI:It's not possible or scalable at all.

13:12Astraeus Innovus:Right.

13:13Turocrates AI:And something I think with your talk with Mr. Nandan Nilikani also stressed on, when you are trying to build for population level interventions, building for billions, you actually have to make it so that it works across the barriers. There's no electricity, it should work. So while we were designing the technology, People do like Okay it should work On these conditions We took the paper Stashed it It should work Despite anything Electricity is not that great No trained people No lab No infra It should work It's nothing else work It still works So that was the

13:47Astraeus Innovus:What does your company Do in one line

13:49Turocrates AI:We Develop innovative products For healthcare Currently screening ORE cancer

13:54Astraeus Innovus:Just total cancer

13:56Turocrates AI:Yeah because Yeah That's the use case We are working on right now

13:59Astraeus Innovus:Reliance is starting A screening company right it's all over the news

14:04Turocrates AI:Lions are also partners with Kirin Mazumdar's ma 'am they are also working on this domain as well they are also developing technologies rolling out screening so it's picking up because people are realizing preventive care needs investment that's the way forward but it will have to be in a very India specific way not the way North America does they do preventive prostate checking Kinkercoster cancers and all. But we can't do that in India. You'll have to be very creative. The technology will also have to be very creative in a way that Indian population will buy. We are not very health. We don't spend much on health.

14:42Turocrates AI:But who would buy?

14:43Astraeus Innovus:Like if you say you're doing a... Is it a home test or do you have to...

14:47Turocrates AI:Yeah, you can do it at... How much does it cost? Around about 150 bucks.

14:52Astraeus Innovus:Who will voluntarily buy an oral cancer detection test in India?

14:57Turocrates AI:Yes. Immediately, none. It will have to be a graph. That's why we'll roll out in partnership with small hospitals, chains, get it included into your insurance and then the adoption will pick up.

15:08Astraeus Innovus:So you're a B2B business?

15:10Turocrates AI:Initially, but we aim to be so that you can get a cigarette two steps from your house, even if it's a remotest space. Why not that distribution can be categorized?

15:19Astraeus Innovus:That's true for everything. You can buy a bottle of whiskey down the road. Doesn't mean there's a liver cancer test there.

15:24Turocrates AI:I'm seeing if you have a problem as close to that, you can have a solution as well.

15:30Astraeus Innovus:Does life play out like that in your experience?

15:34Turocrates AI:No, that is quite an ambitious thing that I said. That is where we aim to be. But no, it's currently looking at the Indian healthcare infrastructure and the way healthcare moves in India. It's not. So that's why we'll have to be very creative with the way we integrate into market with partnerships with insurance companies and all finding out business ways. Nice.

15:56Astraeus Innovus:Okay, thank you. Who's next? I can. Yeah. Whoever raises their hands first when a question is asked, did you sit on the first bench when you were in school?

16:07Nikhil Kamath:After the last one.

16:08Astraeus Innovus:Did you get good marks?

16:09Nikhil Kamath:Yeah.

16:10Astraeus Innovus:Did you get good marks? First rank, second rank? First, top three. Same? Yeah, same. Oh, wow. Same?

16:19Nikhil Kamath:I had to sit at the, like, almost close to back.

16:22Prava:Which college did you go to? I went to NIT Jalandhar.

16:25Nikhil Kamath:I went to BHU.

16:27Prava:Right. I was last bencher. You don't look like a

16:31Astraeus Innovus:Last mention Yeah

16:32Prava:I used to be In top three

16:35Astraeus Innovus:The married man Could be the Bad mention

16:38Nikhil Kamath:He looks like the one Who will be logged in And he is actually The kind of person Who logs in Logged in Two screens One side Japanese something Actually true It's actually true He has a figurine I mean like A normal Anime character

16:55Astraeus Innovus:Your AI girlfriend Is also a real thing Or is it just thing which lives online

16:59Prava:it's on my screen it's not on any cloud also so all the contacts

17:03Astraeus Innovus:there's nothing physical anywhere no not just

17:10and by the way

17:11Prava:Sushant's also an artist

17:12Turocrates AI:yeah he's been admiring the art yeah

17:15Nikhil Kamath:yeah I love the artworks you have FN Susan Germany Germany law and all that so I love them actually I also saw one of your artworks in that was exhibit I think so last year there was an exhibition at CV Roman's house there

17:27Astraeus Innovus:So I think so

17:29Nikhil Kamath:One of them is from there I saw it

17:31Astraeus Innovus:I collect art I'll show you upstairs later There's a lot Yeah that'd be I mean it's beautiful All Indian art Yeah I can see that I feel like the Indian Art scene is finally making It's having its day in the sun Yes It's past The time that it should have Please go on From IIT First rank in school But has a little edgy thing going on With a earring Rebel face came late Can I make you any more nervous than you are?

18:01Nikhil Kamath:He's also married Yeah? Yeah

18:05Astraeus Innovus:Actually good looking But doesn't want to come to terms with it Now he's conscious and blushing What does your wife do?

18:14Prava:She's a rocket scientist in SRO Actually I was too So that's how we met

18:20Astraeus Innovus:Why are you not married?

18:22Prava:I'm like 23 So like

18:24Astraeus Innovus:And you too?

18:25Prava:And I'm still like, I'm not sure how I feel about marriage yet. So... Don't say it to get into his good books.

18:33Astraeus Innovus:Are they happy really? The rocket scientist and your other friend?

18:36Prava:It's been two weeks for him. Yeah. Just married. And like, I mean, he's pretty happy.

18:40Astraeus Innovus:And no wonder he had the most fun in Goal. Go on, tell us what you do.

18:47Prava:The three of us are from the same company, Mohalik and Devanch.

18:50Astraeus Innovus:So you three worked together for how long now?

18:53Prava:Around seven months. how did you meet uh so basically what had happened was swapnila had come to validate an idea of i mutual friend in healthcare and uh i mean uh we started talking we collaborated over a lot of research with a lot of universities in india and outside india as well and then we realized that the research that we are doing can translate into a product and that's how like you know we started building stuff Maulik I met by coincidence his uncle was my professor of surgery and he just happened to be in the room while we were discussing a project and we met in the evening and it's not like we met, started the startup instantly after that it was over time, I treated multiple times like brainstormed and all three of us were gravitated towards healthcare so that's how we started

19:45Astraeus Innovus:So doctor, rocket scientist and?

19:47Prava:Engineer

19:47Astraeus Innovus:here why so boring so what did you guys ideate and what did you start oh so in one line we are

19:57Prava:low-cost AI based operating system for diagnostic labs and we provide personalized treatment and drug recommendations for cancer patients for context a radiology scan will tell you where the problem is right but pathology will tell you what it is and what kind of treatment should be required by the patient. And let's take the example of breast cancer. Once a lump is detected in a mammogram, after that, a tissue biopsy is done. A tissue sample is extracted and a physical glass slide is created. And the way it is analyzed currently in most parts of the most diagnostic labs in the world is manually.

20:35Prava:So a pathologist sits with his microscope at his desk, places the glass slide under the microscope and tries to interpret it. but what this leads to is a large turnaround time and interpreted results are subject to the expertise of the pathologist. So if they are like an expert in a very senior person they can interpret it in a really better manner. And also most of these times the results can be inconclusive. Further tests could be required. So in these cases I think what my friend here is mentioning it's a molecular test. So in cases where molecular testing is required, it's currently very expensive and limited to like ultra elite tier 1 centers in India.

21:20Prava:And most people in tier 2 and tier 3 cities where they reside, pathologists there may not have the expertise to even do a first pass test. And they are forced to move to these tier 1 cities carrying their blocks and tissue slides. So what we have built is, like I said, it's an operating system. So, it's a software and AI based solution which can digitize glass lights and run AI algorithms on it in real time. So, basically it will capture a live feed coming from the microscope and create images from that and pathologists can run various AI algorithms to interpret those images. And this could give a very detailed analysis so that even the clinician could act better and provide the right treatment or drug therapy to that patient which will work for him.

22:06Prava:treatment or detect the right way so see in cancer as diagnosis progresses further to recommend a proper drug therapy the relevant biomarker needs to be detected so there would be a list of biomarkers which could get activated so to say in breast cancer there could be like hundreds of biomarkers and for each of these biomarkers there's a set treatment regimen so i need to first understand what kind of these biomarkers are activated after that i can treat the patient and give the drug which will work for that biomarker you're not talking chemotherapy radiation i'll get a little technical so like these biomarkers are let's say expressed on the cell i'll give targeted therapies that attach to that antigen and then kill those cells so i can't start a treatment till the time i know what kind of genes are getting expressed interesting i've

22:59Astraeus Innovus:I met a few doctors recently for specifically breast cancer because somebody in my family had it. Is it close to a cure in any way? No.

23:09Prava:It will help to do the diagnosis. The cure depends on is a drug available for the said diagnosis. Did he even cure AI by any chance? No, no. Cure is C-Varish. Oh, God. I thought he was talking about cure. So it can, like, it's the entire diagnosis process.

23:23Astraeus Innovus:Right. So you both are in diagnosis. What do you think of her company and what do you think of theirs? If your friend with the AI girlfriend had$100 to put into either your company or theirs, where should he put it?

23:40Turocrates AI:How is he evaluating? Does he want to have the maximum impact? Then it will be... He wants to make money. It is just the ROI thing? Yeah.

23:46Prava:Yeah.

23:47Astraeus Innovus:Still us. Maybe we can make the rest of the room vote. Put you guys on the spot. Oral cancer, raise your hand. $100.

23:57Prava:Also, we have a compression algorithm. I'm just putting it out.

24:01Nikhil Kamath:Now you're going to be like five bucks. Like five bucks.

24:04Prava:So like...

24:05Turocrates AI:We've done the pilot, we have good results. And...

24:09Prava:We have multiple pilots with a lot of industry going on across India. The topmost in India. Yeah.

24:15Astraeus Innovus:Okay, oral cancer votes raise your hand.

24:18Prava:60 dollars.

24:19Astraeus Innovus:No, 100. Binary. 60? 100. Can I go twice? 50-50? You can only go once.

24:25Prava:100 dollars.

24:27Astraeus Innovus:Okay.

24:27Turocrates AI:I am noting who has not

24:30Astraeus Innovus:The engineer, rocket scientist and doctor

24:34Nikhil Kamath:Every other cancer We are making it like roadies

24:40Astraeus Innovus:Today feels like such a day

24:41Nikhil Kamath:Get them to Goa and then Their system of detecting early detection if works then can be scaled into any country without having a test particularly sold on a medical store or something, which is digitization and then algorithm will work for it. While distribution of the kits is extremely difficult, distributing software is easy. So if you have to bet on distribution, then No wonder

25:11Astraeus Innovus:he's popular on Twitter.

25:14Nikhil Kamath:I sat with them and told them exactly what to do.

25:17Astraeus Innovus:How would you say it in a viral manner?

25:20Nikhil Kamath:What they do? action yeah. We one-liner I think we detect cancer early and save your life. That's so plain. That's more of a... Add some controversy. Yeah.

25:35Prava:We detect cancer early before your doctor. Detecting cancer is as easy as swiping right on tinder. Again. Again. He's stuck on that. It's more about like all the patients are not the same so like what we are going towards just more personalized and precision care.

25:53Turocrates AI:Both the fields are very different. They are in personalized medicine. Ours is more public health oriented.

26:00Prava:Yeah, like screening is like phase one or like even like so ideally someone detects oral cancer over there

26:07Turocrates AI:comes to us then

26:09Prava:and then we give the treatment.

26:10Turocrates AI:For a precise histopath diagnosis and the treatment and then prognosis and everything.

26:15Nikhil Kamath:We actually made a full storyline of how all the startups fitting together in their journey. Starting is very bad. It's collaboration, not competition.

26:23Astraeus Innovus:Maybe all of you can combine and build a company. Not all of you, but the four of you. Okay, who's next? Yeah.

26:30Nikhil Kamath:Actually, these guys have been waiting for me. Yeah, yeah.

26:32Astraeus Innovus:That's okay.

26:33Prava:No, no, go for it. Okay, so, hi, I'm Sridhipto and I'm with Chirisho. We are Childhood Friends and we are building an AI layer for wearables starting off with earbuds. So, imagine like you must have had like AirPods or earbuds, but all you do with that is listening to music or take phone calls but whatever it could do more like when you're focusing on your work if there's a reminder there's an important email it tells you

26:57Astraeus Innovus:right you need to book your food it is there hey do you want me to book a it tells you while it's in your ear yeah what about when it's not in your ear so uh it's meant to be wait a minute my earbuds right now speak out whatever calendar notifications i get anyway so we are think of it like this like

27:14Prava:we are the android for earbuds like that like we are making all the integration so you can order from a you know swiggy or azumato you can book your cab from a uber so stuff like that so you

27:24Astraeus Innovus:don't need to but wouldn't uber build that for uber and swiggy for swiggy yeah so essentially

27:29Prava:these are integrations that we are going to do right i mean right now we are building the integrations but later on one we have as like significant scale of developers or service providers we can go to the developers and ask them to build on top of us so that's the idea

27:42Astraeus Innovus:How is it different from a traditional earbud? Okay, so a traditional earbud like a Bluetooth earbud, if you speak like say a noise or a

27:50Prava:board, so you use them just to listen to music, right? So we are going to enable them with these facilities. That's the idea. Voice or buttons? It's voice. Yeah, it's voice first. Because we feel with AI, voice is going to become the primary sort of interface and display is going to become the secondary interface and that is like the most natural way of using technology because engineers or say coders are also now using voice to sort of vibe code i mean with whisper pro and all these ai applications coming up for consumers so i think voice is going to be a one of the primary board you know sort of interfaces so even we use that in office so we have stopped typing

28:27Nikhil Kamath:we press two buttons and we speak to her and it's able to type that at a very accurate manner and even a lot of people what they're doing is they're pressing the hands-free mode they're just talking on what they're building and they're putting into the air and it holds for them.

28:39Turocrates AI:The most impressive part is the punctuation. It gets the punctuation right. It's obviously voice to text and they just launched their India specific pricing which is fairly affordable.

28:50Prava:They also improve productivity wherein on an average people speak faster than they type. So your words per minute go up because of which you can get more output per hour. So in fact, I think I've been able to send out a lot more outputs whether it be respond to even texts or mails because of the fact that I have Whisperflow and other agents of sorts on my platform on my devices.

29:14Astraeus Innovus:What's your company called? It's called Antimatter.

29:17Nikhil Kamath:There was somebody from the boot camp who were using one of his agents and they didn't even know that they were coming for the boot camp.

29:24Astraeus Innovus:There's a I don't know if I can say this out loud. There is a cell phone manufacturer we're investors in. They're making a on the earphones because they feel like that limitless and all the external things that we are putting on ourselves are a medium which you don't want to carry one extra thing. You want that to happen in something you already carry. But then I guess one could ask the question if this could happen, why not just a cell phone do it? I have it in the earphone.

30:00Prava:So essentially a cell phone is like a secondary device. like as we say like with AI coming into the picture voice is becoming the primary sort of interface you don't need to look at the screen so it can be secondary it is only when an important notification comes over something important is that you need to look that can happen inside of

30:16Astraeus Innovus:you if my cell phone is there and I'm speaking here can it pick up my voice and distinguish today based on what I am saying and you guys are saying so I think it depends on the microphone

30:25Prava:so in certain cell phones it can yeah and these AI sort of wearables like you said limitless in india there's neosapien uh there are like multiple sort of microphones in that same device to capture multiple voices like say if you're far enough or say there are two three people in the room so

30:40Nikhil Kamath:they are able to capture like if you give the context prior to speaking like who is building what maybe while they're speaking uh it can get the context and understand like who is speaking from which company and then it can interpret accordingly like it can store all the data and whenever you want to retrieve it can do it intelligently. So that's.

30:59Turocrates AI:This is assuming your earphones will still remain the interface. Now your meta, Ray-Bands etc can also have microphones in them and you're no longer using your earphones at all.

31:08Prava:Correct. So that's what I said like starting off with earbuds. So the idea is to get into multiple wearables that becomes sort of the default agentic OS. So I said Android for wearables or say AI devices. Right. That's the idea. So yeah, we also believe like smart glass is like one of the, you know, best form factor for ambient computing. It has a camera, it has this kind of you know,

31:28Astraeus Innovus:speakers, screens are also coming up. So yeah. It's a very tough world to compete in. Yeah, correct. Have you sold any yet?

31:35Prava:No, so we are not public launch yet. We have not done the public launch yet. So we're going to do that in the next summer, in the next six months.

31:42Astraeus Innovus:Right. Best of luck.

31:44Prava:Yeah, thank you.

31:45Astraeus Innovus:Who's next?

31:47Prava:Okay, so I'm Rohit and What happened? She's laughing, I got confused.

31:55Astraeus Innovus:With your name?

31:56Prava:Yeah, I don't know.

31:57Astraeus Innovus:What?

31:58Prava:Okay. Rohit doesn't remember anyone's name. Okay, no, I remember.

32:02Astraeus Innovus:I'm guessing the two of you are not married.

32:04Prava:No, no, no.

32:05Astraeus Innovus:Is it helping or hurting?

32:07Prava:It's really good, it gives me a lot of freedom to work. So, I'm Rohit and I'm building a company called O3 Security. and what we're trying to solve is like everyone is scared about AI taking over the job.

32:20Astraeus Innovus:There's a stock broking company called O3 security?

32:22Prava:I did research, I'm not sure. Okay, so everyone is scared about AI taking over the job but the more bigger problem is about to come, AI taking over entire company. Like it will literally take down your entire company. So what we're trying to do is we're building an entire cyber security solution for big enterprises. So I come from experience of like 10 years where I infiltrated in a lot of big tech companies and I helped them to fix it and in turn they were paying bug bounties. So I will give you one example. This problem is how big it is. Let's say if a CEO wants to improve the security of a company, they will hire the best talent in the industry but they will be also limited to a specific field.

33:06Prava:Now the second approach they will be taking is taking over the best solution like cyber security solution like what we are building.

33:12Astraeus Innovus:Do you guys build this or do you take open source tools and label them a certain way?

33:17Prava:That's the best part. We build this. I will tell you like what are our capabilities. Because we were reviewing a cyber security company and they were franchising Pegasus,

33:25Astraeus Innovus:the attack mode for$500 ,000 or whatever and they were calling it cyber security. Most large companies end up going to something like a cloud flare, right? Yes. When you say you're building something, how is it different from the incumbents?

33:39Prava:okay so what we do is firstly most of these companies are point solutions for example let's say so my biggest problem right now in this industry everyone is taking their own place in cyber security for example someone will do we will do cloud security someone will do endpoint security of the laptop someone will do let's say source code security but for the cto and cso the problem is are we secure because ceo and board will ask are we secure or not so you're putting everything together yes so we are putting everything together but what we're trying to focus on is it shouldn't reduce the quality so at the end of the day even if you take the one part of a product and compare with the best in the breed we should perform well so i'll give you one example so we are the single company in the world which can help rbi and sebi regulated company in getting compliant with recent certain mandate and rbi mandate for example there has been recent circulation like where you have to you need AI bill of materials, software bill of materials, cryptographic bill of materials and we are already working with some of the biggest bank in India and the things are moving very fast because the problem is what I have seen from my experience

34:48Astraeus Innovus:that you still not explain how you're different till now all I've got is we do everything not

34:54Prava:just one thing okay so first what we are trying to focus on the two aspects only all of the cyber security solutions are focused on some specific technologies so we are first building the technology cyber security is one of our application which we will be going very deep for example you can break entire industry in two parts one is static what means is like what data you are having in your company like it's just there another is runtime like how things moves very fast every second or every minute what we are trying to do is we are trying to go very very deep and understand both aspects with AI or without AI why we do that because again digressing too much yeah what do you do okay so we secure end-to-end supply chain of entire company and how are you different so we know the context for the example let's say you are thinking about we want to build this specific feature where user wants to purchase something okay but the moment it goes out to the production 100 engineers coded it 12 managers got involved it went through a lot of checklist okay now nothing is connected here okay one security issues could be there and another team will tell we don't take this series because this is a false positive so we reduce a lot of false positive based on the context these context gets built because we are very very deeply integrated across the entire stack that's integration is not available right now in

36:08Astraeus Innovus:any company this is the main problem context and integration is your yes are you live yes we are

36:14Prava:live we are already working with some of the biggest fintech companies in india we all are

36:17Astraeus Innovus:using those apps and you're already getting revenue and all yeah we are already generating revenue

36:22Prava:also good amount of revenue it's good it's pretty good like within last five months we've built pretty good so we uh have right now close to eighty thousand dollars and uh we are working with few banks and we are hoping probably in few months we will hit we may cross 500k because these deals will be pretty good so we are making revenue but the best part what i'm thinking right now is like we are not focused on what we are building right now that's like pretty normal we are going very deep into the contextual way because that's what i told like uh the problem with the entire cybersecurity industry is like, entire industry just focus on 2%.

36:59Astraeus Innovus:The problem with cybersecurity industry in my opinion is 80 % is a scam. Yeah. Everybody's white labeling the same thing. I understand.

37:07Prava:So I will give you one very interesting example of white labeling. So there's a famous product in the open source industry and most of the cybersecurity industry like cybersecurity company you will see, they all are using that open source product on top of it, okay. And these companies are some of the well-known cybersecurity companies and these are integrated in all top companies in India and US. So what I did was, I was able to take over that open source component. And I was inside every company, all top 500 companies, all top 10 companies of India, and this was live for four hours. And no one knew about this one.

37:40Prava:So the point is, the industry is very, very much dependent on an open source solution, which they don't even control. So the point is, I'm trying to make is like, this industry is mostly made by the peoples who are not like from the cybersecurity background.

37:55Astraeus Innovus:Right.

37:55Prava:So what I want to do is like people should be making a business where they have long experience. They should face the problem. So that's why like I was working with my last employer.

38:06Astraeus Innovus:Who was your last employer?

38:08Prava:So I was working with Grow before. Why did you quit?

38:12Astraeus Innovus:They're amazing, lovely guys.

38:14Prava:So before joining Grow, I had this discussion with chief security of Grow and Grow people helped me a lot. So basically before joining Grow, I was building this idea I was thinking about this idea and there was a top mate link in his profile I just booked a call like can you give me the feedback and he told me one thing why don't you just understand the problem firsthand then build it so that's where everything started and I worked for two and a half years there I scaled their entire app sec cloud sec and I understood what the problems they are facing and throughout that entire time I gave a lot of training session to thousands of engineers across different countries so I understood one thing the most I will tell like this entire industry is easily solvable.

38:52Prava:Only the thing is you need right players together to solve this one instead of just making money out of it. Like making money is also important but it should be like a byproduct. This is what I think right now.

39:03Astraeus Innovus:Okay thank you. Who's next?

39:05Nikhil Kamath:Hi I'm Prashant and along with Abhishek we are building rehabilitation robots to help neuro patients recover independently at their own homes. So the problem we are solving is that so there are three main ways in which a neuro patient can get rehabilitation right now. Either he can opt for at-home rehabilitation where a physiotherapist comes home, gets 45 minutes of rehab and then he goes back. The second is you take the patient to the clinic and then get your rehabilitation for two hours or three hours, come back. And the third option is you leave the patient at the care facility which is going to cost you two to three lakhs per month.

39:42Nikhil Kamath:right so this option is not feasible for a lot of stroke patients reason is that indian medical insurance companies most of them do not cover for stroke rehab so this also taking a patient it feels like half of the problems today are like things i've had experience with recently go on yeah so also taking the patient from home to the clinic is a lot of hassle for the caregiver because you need two people first of all and you had to put them in the car, you had to stay with them in the traffic and even when you go to the clinic you're not really sure if the therapist is available to service the patient, right?

40:19Nikhil Kamath:So yeah the only option which is left which is financial financially it makes sense for a lot of people is getting the physiotherapist to your house but in that case what happens is that they don't have the equipment with them and also a physiotherapist can give 45 minutes max after that he's tired and he has to go back right. So the gold standard for rehab is like three hours but most people are getting just 45 minutes. By having an affordable and portable rehabilitation solution we are aiming to pump up the number from 45 to 3 hours. And what does this look like? We do have a demo video.

40:54Astraeus Innovus:Let me just give him an example. We'll flash it on the screen. Yeah sure. So we have a robot of a size like bridge height and it has a robotic arm attached to it.

41:04Nikhil Kamath:similar to our hand and that robotic arm holds the patient hand. So the physiotherapist sets the motion of how to do the rehab process and the machine imitates that exact motion, x number of repetitions as per the settings set by the physiotherapist. Thank you. Thanks for the free massage.

41:27Astraeus Innovus:Very interesting and tell us a little bit more. So what next? Currently we are creating a third iteration of our robot which will be... Is it treating anybody already?

41:38Nikhil Kamath:So we tested this out on three actual neuro patients but right now we don't have the license yet to put it in a mass manufacture and stuff.

41:46Astraeus Innovus:Who gives this license?

41:47Nikhil Kamath:CDSCO, so that's the government entity.

41:50Astraeus Innovus:And what is the company called?

41:51Nikhil Kamath:Bloom Rehab. Bloom Rehab.

41:53Astraeus Innovus:Nice. Yeah, you are the last ones. I thought you guys are together.

42:00Nikhil Kamath:No, I was solo founder. Why is that? I don't know. I mean, I've been building stuff since I was 16 years old, 15 years old.

42:11Astraeus Innovus:Alone all the time?

42:12Nikhil Kamath:Yeah.

42:13Astraeus Innovus:Single child?

42:14Nikhil Kamath:Yes.

42:17I've been building stuff and then because I was building it myself and it's hardware.

42:22Nikhil Kamath:So I've always been working with machines, electronics. Usually...

42:25Astraeus Innovus:What do your parents do?

42:27Nikhil Kamath:So my dad works in college where I studied actually. it's in Mumbai it's in Mumbai University there's a cool story why I chose that college particularly because your dad works I mean not because I couldn't get the admission I cleared my JW and I wanted to do electronics and robotics after researching on it I realized in India we produce a lot of software engineers and there's a reason to it because investment per student for a college is like one computer You can learn a good amount of programming languages on one computer and it will last per four years. So ROI on investment for a college to generate software engineers is pretty high.

43:09Nikhil Kamath:But if you take it now, electronics and robotics, you have to provide motors, you have to provide power supplies and they'll probably break because students don't know how to use it. And what happens in this case is college don't promote it. If you see how many things in your home or in your circle, hardware products are made in India, electronics. extremely less very less amount of bank you probably like pop up right away and this is the reason where india doesn't produces a lot of electronics or hardware where which shaped me to shaped me to i want to learn electronics and robotics on by myself so i was getting an id output but we had to have attendance you had to attend lectures you had to go and sit for I finished assignments and everything.

43:52Nikhil Kamath:But punishment at my dad's, I mean, he said, college board was, if your attendance is less, then call your parents. And my dad was already there, but I didn't go to college. And studied electronics and robotics myself. So I'm a self-taught electronics and robotics engineer. My degree is in software. And I built, so I always work in terms of solving problems. So I stayed a little bit far from where my college is, college in Bandra. so we had to attend lectures in morning 8 a.m got to reach at 7 a.m station wake up at almost 6 take a train and then stand in auto line which annoyed me a lot and at that point of time I was inspired by this youtuber called Casey Neistart who would roam around New York on an electric skateboard so like I'm an engineer I should solve this problem so I made what?

44:39Nikhil Kamath:I made an electric skateboard I had a wireless remote in my hand where it was like a ring where if you move it ahead it'll go ahead and if you pull it back then it'll break so I would roam around Mumbai on electric skateboard all the time so yeah so that is where I earned money first time because I sold the electric skateboard I made it 35k and then I sold it at 80k and that was the first amount of money where 17 year old 16 year old me was like oh you can earn money by doing something that you like are you telling me your accomplishments

45:08Astraeus Innovus:and how hard it has been for you because you're hiding your insecurity or something a little bit

45:13Nikhil Kamath:of what I don't know I mean am I good enough to build at global scale something like that and the money is kind of a validation so I've been building products so that I can validate myself oh people are buying if that were the case

45:27Astraeus Innovus:you would have had a co-founder right somebody you think is smart

45:31Nikhil Kamath:the thing is the objective as a like for a startup if you see generating money one of the top things providing why why being a solo power I think everything was working the need to let's say I'm bad at sales so I need a co-founder for sales let's say if I'm bad at building a product then I need a co-founder to build a technical product somewhere I think I had some little bit of skills in everything I was a good salesman I could build products myself so I think the need of having a founder of having a co-founder do you feel empathy

46:11Astraeus Innovus:do you feel bad when something bad happens to someone? Deeply? No. Superficially?

46:16Nikhil Kamath:I mean, I do have empathy, but... Do you have curiosity? Yes, a lot.

46:22Astraeus Innovus:My therapist, I was doing a session and very interesting points came up. We went like first principles into life. What is a human being? What are values? Are they nature? Is it nurture? Do we pick what works in the world we live in and hence we say we attribute those values to ourselves. And the one thing we realized is if you don't feel empathy and you don't have curiosity, like actual curiosity, we all fiend curiosity because it's good in the world we live in. Those are like sure, short signs of a narcissist. No empathy, no curiosity. When something bad happens to someone, you're like, yeah, he deserves it.

47:04Turocrates AI:Where did you land on the nature versus nurture debate? Because it's something all of us have been talking about.

47:09Astraeus Innovus:She asked me who are you as a person. And I tried to define it. And we went back into childhood. And we both kind of agreed. So me and my therapist are like friends. This is not so much about treating me or fixing something. Not that I don't require it. I do. But it's about trying to figure out how we kind of became who we are. And whenever I've seen a child. Kids are very mean. If I'm a child and I want the ice cream you're eating, I would probably snatch it from you and eat it. So we're not born with this sense of morality. It is kind of ingrained in us through life because we learn that if I snatch his ice cream, somebody will slap me and then the next time I should not.

47:55Astraeus Innovus:So nature versus nurture, definitely nurture more but this is an exercise which is a great thing to do like figure out go on chat gpt or perplexity or google and say what are the most popular values value systems and then try and read each one out think about it and attach one to yourself and then think am i that way and i resonate with that value because it showed me that I can win in the world that I live in or is it that I feel deeply about that I'm organically that person I don't have the answer but it was just something interesting I'm thinking about do you do you think same for talent as well

48:38Prava:like uh is the nature and nurture attribute or it's the naturally someone born with about talent I don't think there is there is something to be said about passion

48:52Astraeus Innovus:whatever you think you're really passionate about say ai girlfriend for example i'm just saying it that you're sitting next to me i feel like there is some unanswered question in your mind about the concept of love relationship girlfriend all of that that's why you still have a passion towards it when you truly understand a particular subject it becomes hard to be passionate about it I don't think talent is innate. Let me put it this way. If I had a child, which I do not, and there was a football coaching camp where kids go when they were five years old. If all the kids are five and I send my child into that coaching camp when the child is seven or seven and a half, by virtue of his physicality, he will start to be better than his peer group from the very beginning.

49:50Astraeus Innovus:He will start to believe that he's talented at football and probably grow up to be a talented footballer. But is there something to be said for physical attributes? Probably, yeah. Like some Nigerians have long femur bones so they run marathons better. There is stuff like that. But I don't make too much of talent, intelligence. I think a lot of this is gathered, collected, inculcated. I don't think anybody's born, not anybody, but most people are not born spectacularly gifted at something. So we got to your life, but you took too long to come to what your company does.

50:32Nikhil Kamath:So I bring factories on your desk where I make machines to make electronics at your home on your desk where usually if you if let's say I'll give an analogy if you now Delhi is very polluted and if you are if you are somebody who wants to make some profit ideal product to launch at this moment would be air quality sensor now if you had to make it as Nikhil your ideal goal would be to go to an electronics designer get a design case work case and everything and then to make it you would have to ideally have to go to some contract manufacturer to make whatever you designed yeah now he will tell you that I need 5000 units minimum so that I can make margin on it.

51:12Astraeus Innovus:So if I call you and I say I want an AQI machine which looks like A, B, C, D, E you'll make it. No no no no I don't I don't

51:18Nikhil Kamath:make the air quality sensor I don't design the devices I make the machines to make air quality sensors. So let's say now you now your design is ready with my machine you can make 100 you can make 200 test the waters what are the people what is your machine describe it. So in theory the technical term is pick and place where there are green circuit boards have you seen it ever so on circuit board there are ICs so somebody needs to pick these ICs and place it on the PCBs printed circuit boards and then they are cooked in an oven and then you can start using them I make the machine which will pick the component place it on the circuit board and then I make an oven also so and all sitting on a small desk which which helps people launch small to mid-scale production so if you are a new startup doing a hardware this is the perfect solution to try your product rather than having 5000 units and because startups are usually iterating fast and that iteration time goes really less.

52:13Nikhil Kamath:For software engineer if you are making a website then you code it HTML code and then you can see the website in the next second but for an electronics engineer or a hardware developer you have to send after designing the PCB you have to send it to the fabricator who will get the PCB and then you can start at least testing. If it is if the design has a mistake At that point of time, you have to do the whole process again. So it's like one, two months. Now, my goal as a company is to bring that iteration time down to one day. Within one day, almost matching to software development, you can get the output of your work right away so that overall collective production can be faster.

52:52Nikhil Kamath:Iteration could be faster and production also.

52:55Astraeus Innovus:Interesting. So that is what I do. And what is the company called?

52:57Nikhil Kamath:PlayStation. Nice. Place, P-L-A-C-E. So pick and place, PlayStation. station.

53:02Turocrates AI:We used to make smart switches and one of the comments we made when we walked into your house was your switch ports retro pitted not done very well.

53:09Astraeus Innovus:Yeah. So the light doesn't go off you know in the night. The white light it's so annoying. Oh yeah. Like

53:17Nikhil Kamath:the light on the switch. So basically how did I come how why did I want to make this machine led to my the first thing that I started with after college was a smart home startup where I was doing smart switches and smart lights I was making a device that sits behind a switchboard and anything on that switchboard becomes smart now I see you love art, right? but the switches are very dull like they don't look pretty good but with my devices you can use any type of switches the most artistic that you would want to grab attention and then my device would still sit behind the switchboard and you can use any switches that you want the best part is if your internet is not working wifi or whoever you purchased it from stops paying for the server or when they go down all the switches will stop functioning because it's all over the internet.

54:01Nikhil Kamath:My startup was working. Everything works without the internet. Now I'm the only one in India where you can use Siri. You can say hey Siri turn off lights and we'll do it. And Google. I don't have my own app. I integrate directly as first party devices into Google, Alexa, Samsung smart things. I see you're using Samsung directly. You don't need my app. I also don't have my app. Interesting. So my name is Sahil.

54:24Astraeus Innovus:You've not said a word today.

54:26Nikhil Kamath:Yeah. So actually...

54:28Astraeus Innovus:You know how this works, right? Whoever says the most viral shit gets the most sales. Attention is equal to virality in this room right now. So think of the most contrarian thing you can think of saying and say it in the next 20 minutes. You have a very nice expression. Like your resting face. Oh, me?

54:51Nikhil Kamath:Yeah. Yeah.

54:52Astraeus Innovus:It's a look of circumspection which is like I know.

55:00Prava:I mean, I'll take it as a compliment man.

55:03Astraeus Innovus:It is a compliment. You look wise. Beyond your years.

55:10Prava:I'm probably the youngest man here.

55:12Astraeus Innovus:Yeah, you look quite wise though. You're very settled.

55:15Prava:Thanks.

55:16Astraeus Innovus:Doesn't look like you're trying too hard.

55:18Prava:I never do so.

55:20Astraeus Innovus:very settled and composed in your own shoes that's what i go for are you starting to feel awkward about now see that's my point so i'm sahid i'm building i with my co-founder so we

55:35Prava:are building i where we are making the existing cctv surveillance into a smart ai security guard so let's let's take an example so if we have installed a cctv on the corridor yeah and let's suppose in any case someone falls down and there is no one around him so what the traditional cctv surveillance will do it will just record the data and that's it and you will got to know about it later but what we actually do we actually understand the complete context of that video frame and in any case if there is any kind of emergency risk or any kind of you know thing that can harm you in terms of life in terms of money so it will create an alert on your mobile application with the context with the image so that you can take action so our main goal is to reduce the time between the incident has happened and you taking you taking some action so we are reducing that time so that we can save lives we can secure the places we can secure the persons and whatever actually matters to you so we initially implemented this idea because of a personal incident to us so my co-founder he was working in bombay two years ago so he lives with this grandmother so when he was in bombay and she was she was living living in jaipur so uh he faced a such incident where she fell down by uh impacting with sofa and he got to know about it later and then he thought and uh he discussed with me like what is the sense of cctv then then uh we we said and we discussed all right so let's do it and about our background so from last seven to eight case we were building some good AI products for multiple companies.

57:33Prava:So this is our main technical expertise in Gen AI and machine learning. So we have built this product.

57:41Astraeus Innovus:Super. And what is your company called?

57:43Prava:AI.

57:44Astraeus Innovus:AI. Nice. So I think we did everybody's story. Is there anything you guys want to talk about?

57:55Turocrates AI:I want to ask you asked everybody are you married or not to everyone

58:01Astraeus Innovus:I said virality and this is what you went

58:04Turocrates AI:no no no so I want to ask do you think that is one of the factor or maybe indicator or somehow how does that impact the entrepreneurship journey that we are on because that is the hot topic in my family right now every dinner table conversation surrounds it Like I For context I come from a very Traditional Jat family In Haryana In that Everyone my age Is married with a kid In our family So And I'm trying to Stay Like push that thing Like let me Let me do my work But you've asked That question to everybody Do you think that is Maybe with your words I can convince them Better I lived in Haryana

58:39Astraeus Innovus:You know Three years When I was a kid

58:41Turocrates AI:Karnal I went to

58:43Astraeus Innovus:Dayal Singh public school In Karnal I'm still in touch With a few people From there They were quite sweet Thank you. But I don't know the answer to this. I think generally in life, if you live your life based on what other people think you should do, I think eventually you end up at a point when you regret it. At some point. So unless you want to do it, I don't think you should be too fussed about what your society, family or community thinks.

59:15Turocrates AI:Even family. Other people say, oh, who cares? but if it's your parents them

59:22Astraeus Innovus:I was thinking about this recently I'm 39 years old and some friends of mine were like New Year's you should do this you should do that and I was not making any plans and then while I was thinking about it at 39 an average Indian lives to 73 I probably have 34 New Year's left in 34 new years I probably have 20 of them where I'll be too old to do the things I can do today so practically I don't have that many December 31st left in my life you know good ones in the manner that I perceive good today I only probably have like 10 if I were to be pushing it maybe more

1:00:11Turocrates AI:since you do keep check of your health yeah compared to average input

1:00:18Astraeus Innovus:and when we have so little time you have a bit more than I but it feels stupid to do things because others want us to do it because our time is very finite we never think about it that way but we are not going to live forever nobody is and you also think like relationship in general is tricky for entrepreneurs like entrepreneurs think very differently like I can see a very different version of this world which a lot of people cannot see so when things start like in a relationship they're fine okay i can understand you're busy and thing but you want to see that

1:00:54Prava:world and you have limited time you know that right and then once like that understanding fades away and it becomes difficult and i mean you've seen like a lot of entrepreneurs successfully getting divorced stuff like that so do you think like it's tricky like if like also being said like if both

1:01:09Astraeus Innovus:of even not growing on or say not that ambitious? I think not just for entrepreneurs but the concept of relationship is also very transient. Our notion of marriage is very much programmed by the media we consumed as children and what we saw around us and the way Bollywood and Hollywood has depicted the idealistic version of romance. I mean, it might be attainable in the short term, but I don't know how sustainable it is. So that kick of whatever dopamine, oxytocin kind of like fades with a certain amount of time. And you're left questioning, why is it not like it was in the movie? so I think all of this will change don't go by I am no buddy to give a prophecy about this I have not successfully manifested any of this but I would say make these decisions which feel right to you and not what other people think are right for you and you also think like momentarily it might feel right but like I feel like the most important thing one should focus on long term is like growth.

1:02:31Astraeus Innovus:If you stop growing in a relationship,

1:02:33Prava:like overall, like emotional, it can be, you know, your professional wise, you feel energized, right? You feel positive when you're around that person. I think that is what is key to a successful relationship.

1:02:44Astraeus Innovus:Maybe.

1:02:45Prava:Oh yeah. So the million dollar question is, what are your new year plans?

1:02:49Astraeus Innovus:No, nothing. I was...

1:02:51Prava:That's the plan. Nothing.

1:02:53Astraeus Innovus:You know, my plan right now is to be able to sit here at home stare at the trees do nothing that plan of doing nothing is the plan

1:03:05Prava:that's that's and if I tell these to my friends they will be mad at me because I always have these kind of plans since my childhood but everyone will tell you you are wasting your life same happened in the college days yeah

1:03:17Astraeus Innovus:in a way to your earlier question you know even if you think or for you even if you think marriage is good now marriage is bad tomorrow even if you get married change your mind don't get married one day you regret not being married i feel like society has wrongly coined hypocrisy as a bad word hypocrisy and change are synonymous in a way i feel like it shouldn't be looked bad about like if you believe in something today and you believe in a completely different thing tomorrow you should change and not give a about who's going to say what and hold you accountable to what. Like maybe you don't believe in marriage today or you do.

1:03:59Astraeus Innovus:Maybe you got married too early and you want to change your mind in a year. Don't be too hard on yourself. The first year is the hardest. Realizing that? Is there a reason why you have an AI and not a real girlfriend?

1:04:17Prava:Did you ever have a real girlfriend? No. What an introspection.

1:04:21Astraeus Innovus:Is there a fear associated with dating a real person?

1:04:25Prava:Yeah, I mean, the starting phase I've never had, like, I mean, I never could take it more ahead. Like in the initial phase, I was not really thinking, like online a person is good, but when I met that person, it was not whom I wanted them to be. So it never really worked out. And also, like, I like being alone by myself. there are so last two months uh i only got out of my room four times for two months i was logged in i feel you i like that yeah so for that i felt like um i need something which is in my context and something i can maybe engineer for now so so so maybe that no but i feel him a hundred percent

1:05:11Astraeus Innovus:like i've never been on a dating app and stuff like that and i'm petrified of dating Like the whole Point of going on a date And trying to Impress the other person Such a performative Activity It doesn't seem like A fun experience

1:05:26Prava:I mean if you still have to Impress then What a weirdo

1:05:29Astraeus Innovus:But it's all relative

1:05:31Prava:It sucks the energy Basically

1:05:33Astraeus Innovus:We can talk about Something else This is like Let's talk about

1:05:36Prava:I have one follow up question I wanted to ask You were talking about Being narcissistic I want to ask Is According to you Okay is being narcissistic really bad? Go on to ask.

1:05:49Astraeus Innovus:So narcissism is a deeper concept than that. I think it's a symptom of a disease. We are not born narcissistic per se.

1:05:59Turocrates AI:Do you think narcissists are usually self aware? Do you know your way?

1:06:02Astraeus Innovus:No, I don't think so. Rarely. See, there are two schools of psychology. One believes that you can't change who you are. Everything is about figuring out why you are who you are. I think everyone from Freud, Jung, they all fall in that school. There is another school that it's not just about figuring out who you are, but how to change your tomorrow. I don't know if I'm right, but I think Adler, a bunch of psychologists are in that school of thought. I don't know where I sit. I enjoy reading both schools of thought. I feel like you have to go through the former school and first understand why you became who you became before you can reach the latter school I don't think I'm even at that point I'm like before the starting line

1:06:55Nikhil Kamath:what part of Jungian psychology do you like particularly the most

1:06:59Astraeus Innovus:hmm whenever he speaks about shadow traits and how your shadow traits become darker when you don't recognize them. I have found myself catching some of my shadow traits at times. And it's actually very similar to some Indian philosophy, anthropology as well, where if I'm greedy, I can never change the fact that I'm greedy. But maybe the point is not to try and change that I'm greedy, but if I take cognizance of the fact that I'm greedy, that in itself changes my behavior. Because then I'm dealing with a new situation with the awareness that I'm greedy. It's kind of interesting. Yep.

1:07:52Nikhil Kamath:These guys actually did a whole exercise where they filled a quiz and they got like 36 strengths and their 34 strengths were ranked and which they'll be using to run their business. Like if they lean more into their five top talents that will be serving them better.

1:08:09Turocrates AI:Whole personality analysis they did. Who's more futuristic? Who's more competitive? He was competitive. That was his first trait. And different, different. And they're like, lean into that. You have this, then lean into it. Rather than averaging your weaknesses, it's the strength which will propel you.

1:08:26Prava:Do you celebrate your birthday? Yeah.

1:08:28Astraeus Innovus:Every year on my birthday, we have this big summit where we call who we think are the smartest, most relevant people under the age of 45 across the creative field, industry, journalism, a bunch of different industries. We book a big fancy place, 100 people sit and have debates. There are no cameras allowed. We block everybody's cell phone when they enter the room and it's a fun day of what I believe 150 of the smartest people in India getting together and having conversations about things we are otherwise scared to talk about. I love this light in Goa. Half the time I'm here, the thing I love doing is watching the sunset.

1:09:20Astraeus Innovus:Especially if you go to the beach at this time, it becomes like orangish, then pinkish.

1:09:24Nikhil Kamath:We were there yesterday. It's lovely, right? Do you spot birds?

1:09:28Astraeus Innovus:Huh? Do you spot birds? Yeah, yeah. Today morning I had this bird which is this high, blue color with some yellow wings, making like a really loud cackling noise. Like it's laughing.

1:09:41Nikhil Kamath:You also, are you also into photography and all? No. Would be a nice place to do by the way. Do you like watching stars? Yeah.

1:09:49Prava:With the telescope on it? Are you into a hobby? Like this specific time is also known as golden time period.

1:09:56Astraeus Innovus:Yeah, golden hour, right?

1:09:58Prava:So if you ever have been to Kutch, so there is a straight highway of 90 kilometers, you can actually see the reflection of the sun and the sun as well in the sunset time.

1:10:10Turocrates AI:Nice. I have a request, Nikhil. Request just. Like you bring to your podcast, like probably titans of all different things with Yan, Elon, Sam, everything. and you have sort of covered the fintech, tech, all these industries. What I think next, it's just a request though. Maybe you can bring someone from tech bio, bio. Bio tech? Yeah, because I feel like biology is just huddled as a very unsexy, unglamorous thing, especially in India. And you bringing that platform would really, and there's such tremendous exciting work going on. Maybe Demis from Google DeepMind. Yeah. maybe they're brilliant people we were actually

1:10:54Astraeus Innovus:planning some bio we were thinking actually not just biotech but some pharma yeah

1:10:59Turocrates AI:because

1:10:59Astraeus Innovus:diagnostic companies exactly

1:11:02Turocrates AI:the window it will provide to the and most of your viewers are very young and they are excited about now all those things and I think biology is coming of the age right now yeah with CRISPR-Cas9 everything and so you bringing that platform and also it's my personal if you bring Demis So I probably, he'll be in there, I'll be able to catch him. Yeah.

1:11:22Astraeus Innovus:If we call him, we'll call you.

1:11:24Prava:What's your take on the longevity space since you're wearing a hoop?

1:11:32Astraeus Innovus:I'm into all the fads. I don't know if they'll work. I think time will tell. But I do take a bunch of supplements. I do cold plunge, sauna, workout, all these things every day.

1:11:47Nikhil Kamath:Actually if you don't believe in legacy Why do you believe in longevity If I don't believe in Legacy why do you believe in longevity Because then if you don't believe in legacy You could maybe go tomorrow And if it's inevitable then why do it

1:11:59Astraeus Innovus:I think legacy is for others Longevity is for myself Because If the quality of my life 10 years from now can be Better in the manner That I can still play paddle everyday For 2 hours I would really enjoy that Legacy is more for others I don't care so much about Do you care about what people will think after you're gone? Not really At least I'll try to Nobody will think Like I think you'll think for like 5 years, 10 years Max

1:12:33Nikhil Kamath:How much of AI do you use in your life? Not that much

1:12:37Astraeus Innovus:Little bit Not that much In trading and all? Not that much I feel like trading is not subject to anything which is fundamentally sound it is a lot of emotion as long as emotion can't be modeled for it will be tough for AI to make better calls than a human being

1:13:06Nikhil Kamath:so you're more of a data oriented trader like you're more into emotions and how people behave and all this

1:13:13Astraeus Innovus:I used to be a trader. Now, as I've become slower with age, I'm no longer really a trader. I tend to take more cyclical calls on the market. Like I would buy a particular, like we all, Suchet, Vivek, Aarshiya and a team of mine called Naman's team for the lack of a better word. we've been doing sector thesis of all the sectors and trying to narrow down on which sector we think will have the highest growth in the next 10 years we've spent a lot of time on it, like more time than we should have, I think the better part of this

1:13:56Nikhil Kamath:the better part of this year

1:13:59Astraeus Innovus:has gone on that, once we arrive at that exercise, our solution we will allocate capital to those sectors that we think are up there. What is leading right now?

1:14:12Nikhil Kamath:Probably energy transition.

1:14:14Astraeus Innovus:Energy transition has been a big part of our thing. We did last year a whole bunch of solar panel companies, battery companies, electric vehicles. We're looking at some grid, some companies which improve transformers make the grid more efficient new sources of energy we've been working in the energy energy transition for the last one year that's one of the sectors we liked i don't think that's going away whatever happens ai no ai

1:14:48Turocrates AI:air will need compute and power right every government is now trying to have their nuclear

1:14:53Astraeus Innovus:reactors i think it'll get a lot more efficient though the amount of compute that's used yeah

1:14:57Nikhil Kamath:Do you think the world will stabilize quite a lot once the energy is in abundance? Like let's say if we fix the nuclear fission part of it, at that point of time, if energy is so abundant, the value people derive from would eventually come down to creativity. Like how do they represent their thoughts? Like if they have something to express, at that point of time, that would be the only thing that they would want to say?

1:15:20Astraeus Innovus:Creativity is interesting. If you were to define creativity as a contrarian thought against the trend, one can extrapolate that an AI can be thought to be contrarian as well. Maybe being contrarian to the contrarian and constantly being contrarian becomes creativity. So how often you change your mind about something becomes why you're valuable or taste in a manner. And it has to be very dynamic and transient. But these are like, you know, such far-fetched scenarios, there's no right or wrong answer in any of these.

1:15:58Nikhil Kamath:But I think so, a lot of world's instability is not just because of energy, it's sometimes it's just normal human emotions. Some people at the top who are insecure about something, or maybe someone who just needs a Nobel Prize, so it could be that as well. Actually, one thing about truth is we think it's always useful. But actually, there are certain lies we need to believe in to actually function. For example, life inherently is meaningless. That's the truth. But like if you believe it has meaning and that's a lie you actually believe, then you can actually do a great thing.

1:16:28Turocrates AI:Tell stories to ourselves about ourselves and then motivate.

1:16:32Astraeus Innovus:The one thing you all should totally spend time on is to become better storytellers. If you can do a course in storytelling, I sucked at it. Not that I'm great at it today. But I got a speech coach a few years ago. and we went about he's a pain in the ass but he's also brilliant he'll make me sit and he'll give me a book take away my phones and devices and say write and he makes me write for three hours two and a half hours without a break and if you ask him what should I write about he'll say anything

1:17:04Nikhil Kamath:you should do that on twitter but

1:17:07Astraeus Innovus:you have to kind of like figure out how to build a character a story needs to have a beginning a middle a twist a call to action anti-hero

1:17:18Turocrates AI:a climax something which forces

1:17:20Astraeus Innovus:and that holds true when you describe your companies because whenever I ask you can you say it in one line if you can't appeal to me in that one line tomorrow when you sell it that's the same line you're going to use it's time well spent doesn't cost a lot of money there's enough material online on storytelling who's the guy

1:17:42Turocrates AI:that you trained with?

1:17:43Astraeus Innovus:his name is Michael he's an Israeli guy He teaches a lot of US politicians So he flies down Lives with me for a week And then he goes back Is he on Udemy? A company called Virtuoso If you want to look him up

1:18:02Prava:Virtuoso

1:18:04Astraeus Innovus:What are some other skills You think we should Other skills? You will As founders of companies companies have to negotiate a lot, cap tables, fund raises, contracts, to become better negotiators is probably useful.

1:18:29This is again something I learnt or I think I learnt through experience

1:18:34Astraeus Innovus:but people don't often disagree with ideas, they disagree with people. So when you guys are here today, you came with the preconceived notion that either you like me or you dislike me, you're going to agree with me or disagree with me. To figure out who wants to agree with you and who disagrees with you before you negotiate with them is important. Because if you're dealing with somebody who wants to say your business is shit, you should project circumspection when you're talking about your business

1:19:10Turocrates AI:like him

1:19:11Astraeus Innovus:like him you said he has that

1:19:13Turocrates AI:trade locked in

1:19:14Astraeus Innovus:he has this particular expression where he's like impress me which is opportune for the place he's sitting in right now that might be coincidental but I think in your negotiations you have to figure out which seat you're on and who's on the other seat and appeal to what appeals to them.

1:19:37Nikhil Kamath:I think so, you're pretty much into philosophy. Do you also read Krishnamurti?

1:19:42Astraeus Innovus:Yeah.

1:19:43Nikhil Kamath:Have you been to his study centre and all?

1:19:45Astraeus Innovus:Yeah. My nephew goes to his school.

1:19:47Nikhil Kamath:Oh wow, amazing. There was one in...

1:19:50Astraeus Innovus:He never wrote anything, so there's no more written version of his philosophy, but I've read his speeches.

1:19:57Prava:There was one, does God exist or not? Yeah. He says, you are in a jungle.

1:20:03Nikhil Kamath:what would be idealistic society according to

1:20:07Astraeus Innovus:my god

1:20:14Nikhil Kamath:zero envy would solve all the problems no how do you get to zero it how do you enforce that if you are thinking idealistic society then in that case the society if there is no envy you are just living your own life interacting with resources that you have that would be ideal. But it's a brain chip to enforce that thing. That's what I'm saying. I don't want to on a philosophical level like that would be the ideal society. Sure, but it's not realistic. I think societies are happy

1:20:46Astraeus Innovus:when the trend of relative change is upward. It doesn't matter if you have a lot more than me as long as next year I have more than I have today.

1:21:00Prava:The person competition.

1:21:02Astraeus Innovus:competition with self as well as a competition with you but a society which is able to orchestrate small wage growth every year which is probably on par with asset price growth so you're getting richer at the same time same pace as i'm getting richer will probably do well i feel like right now the world is surviving on capitalism till there is growth. I think the minute you take that growth away, things become crazy.

1:21:35Nikhil Kamath:I have a question on that. Like you said, a lot of societies who have a higher change of growth, they're happy. A lot of happiness index. Largely there are European countries who are up on the chart. But right now if we see, most of them are not actually growing to that extent. They're slower, stagnant.

1:21:53Astraeus Innovus:There's some study, community, there's some Harvard study which lasted 100 years. You guys read that? On happiness? sense of community sense of purpose all of that I don't know though

1:22:04Nikhil Kamath:it's a Veritasium video watch Veritasium yeah that video

1:22:10Astraeus Innovus:they make good videos yeah amazing this guy Johnny Harris have you seen yeah I mean I think he does a good job with videos he made something on Taiwan I was watching it quite good very in depth you said Casey Neistat yeah I used to like Casey Neistat a lot but that's not learning it's more like vlogging right true just vlogging his own life you get to see how New York is true but

1:22:35Nikhil Kamath:there is a very clear distinct between how he does storytelling which is extremely engaging rather with other people where you see that they are making efforts to engage you where Casey is just natural natural flow of the engagement you don't have to put an effort but the video ends and then you're like oh shit the video ended nice

1:22:57Astraeus Innovus:Nice. So this was fun. I hope you guys enjoyed your trip to Goa.

1:23:04Nikhil Kamath:What do you think like as early stage founder that you like when you were in your early stage when you were founding?

1:23:14Astraeus Innovus:Thank you for calling me old.

1:23:17Nikhil Kamath:I didn't mean that. I am though so it's okay. So what are the things That you actually cared about But now you think That was not that much important

1:23:31Astraeus Innovus:Early what do you care about Money right Yeah first thing And it is important Because Think of the world as a game of monopoly You need to have chips to play And the more chips you have The more fun it is to play People say it's not important But it is Done Super, thank you guys I think we worked for much longer than we thought we would

From the publisher

Spent a few hours with young bright founders below the age of 25 from the 3rd WTFund cohort. WTFund is a non-dilutive ₹20 lakh grant. From over 3,000 applications, we shortlisted 8 startups. We spoke about what they’re building, but also about doubt, ambition, money, and the uncertainty that comes with starting early. Some clear ideas. Some unfinished thoughts. A conversation that felt more real than structured.


https://www.allthingswtf.com/wtfund


00:00 - WTFund Bootcamp

02:02 - Intro

03:20 - Prava - AI-Led Transactions

10:22 - Astraeus Innovus - Preventive Cancer Screening

18:45 - Turocrates AI - AI-Driven Diagnostics

26:35 - AntiMattr - Voice-First Computing

32:12 - O3 security - Securing AI Systems

39:05 - Bloom Rehab - Tech-Enabled Recovery

42:00 - Journey to Building

46:22 - Philosophies of life

50:31 - Placestation - Automating PCB Assembly

55:32 - AEYI : AI-Powered CCTV Monitoring

57:50 - Q&A with Nikhil

01:04:14 - AI Girlfriend & Dating

01:05:35 - Schools of Psychology

01:08:26 - Nikhil's Birthday Plans

01:09:11 - Golden Hour

01:10:10 - Healthcare & Longevity

01:12:33 - Trading

01:16:32 - Advice for Young Founders 


#NikhilKamath Co-founder of Zerodha, Gruhas Host of ‘WTF is’ & ‘People by WTF’ Podcast


WTFund India’s premiere non-dilutive grant fund for emerging entrepreneurs.


O3 Security A security platform that stops software supply-chain attacks in real time — whether it’s AI-generated or human-written code to production.


Aeyi Aeyi is a GENAI-powered system that turns normal CCTV cameras into real-time safety and monitoring tools.


Antimattr AI-powered earbuds for hands-free audio computing.


BloomRehab Rehabilitation robots for neuro and ortho recovery.


Astraeus Innovus A ₹100 saliva test that screens for oral cancer in under 5 minutes.


PlaceStation A desktop system that automates PCB assembly for faster, accessible electronics manufacturing.


Prava A payments infrastructure layer built specifically for AI shopping assistants and agents.


Turocrates Improving patient outcomes using a digital and AI-driven operating system for diagnostic labs.


#WTFund

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We Backed 17 of India's Brightest Young Founders with ₹20L GrantsWTF is with Nikhil Kamath · 1 h 24 min
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