The Indian Startup Show

Stop Doom-Scrolling! In 2026, the global average screen time has climbed to a staggering 6 hours and 38 minutes a day. We are constantly plugged in, but is it a lack of willpower, or are we just losing a rigged game? Today on the podcast, we sit down with Aditi Mandal to find out. Aditi spent a time working as a UX researcher, designing and making highly engaging digital products. 

But in 2017, she realized she was falling victim to the very systems she helped build. After embarking on a digital fitness journey, Aditi successfully beat the algorithms, engineering her own screen time down from 6 hours to just 1 intentional hour a day., Now, through her company Take Back Your Time, she coaches adults on how to build sustainable digital habits. 

We break down the exact mechanics of why we are addicted to our phones, the specific design tricks apps use to keep you scrolling, and the step-by-step toolkit you need to reclaim your attention without deleting the apps you need for work. Whether you're an entrepreneur struggling to focus or just someone looking to reclaim your attention span, Aditi breaks down actionable strategies—from introducing "positive friction" to buying an old-school alarm clock—that actually work in the real world.

Key Takeaways from this Episode

The UX of Addiction: Why screen addiction isn't your fault—it's the consequence of thousands of engineers designing platforms to capture your attention.

How Aditi: operates as a solopreneur and runs her 5-week cohort programs.

Navigating the social perception of screen addiction and convincing people to invest in digital fitness.

Real client stories: Better sleep, increased energy, and a touching story of a father bonding with his son.

Beating the Algorithm: We break down the specific mechanical tricks apps use to keep you hooked, and the exact counter-strategies you need to fight back.

The 4 Foundational Digital Habits: The exact, step-by-step mechanisms Aditi uses to help her clients break free from endless scrolling.

The "Necessary App" Dilemma: How to set boundaries with mandatory apps like WhatsApp and LinkedIn that you simply cannot delete.

Building a Wellness Business: Aditi’s journey of bootstrapping Take Back Your Time, finding her first paying clients, and growing her WhatsApp community.

The Myth of Device Addiction: The core issue isn't an addiction to the physical device, but a compulsion to consume content every 10 to 15 minutes.

Engineering "Positive Friction": How to make content consumption inconvenient by changing settings like YouTube autoplay, pausing your watch history, and keeping devices in another room.

The "Long-Distance" Phone Relationship: Why keeping your phone physically away from you in a backpack or another room creates the necessary pause between a thought and a distraction.

Why Digital Detoxes Fail: Retreats offer temporary peace, but they remove you from your real-life context. Sustainable change requires doing the habit work in your actual environment.

and much more!

Links

www.takebackyourtime.in

https://x.com/takebackyortime

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditi-mandal-77139742/

Hosted And Produced by Neil Patel
https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/neilpatel2

Enjoyed this episode? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! Share this episode with your friends.

Listen and Subscribe to More Episodes
https://www.indianstartupshow.com/

Music by Punch Deck.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kdduxAVaFnbHJyNxl7FWV

Travel isn't just about places, it's about the stories and the people behind them. In this episode of the Indian Startup Show, I sit down with Dr. Tathagata Neogi, Co-Founder and CEO of Immersive Trails. Armed with a PhD in archaeology, he returned to Kolkata to build a dynamic, tech-enabled marketplace that connects conscious travelers with expert curators. 

We dive into the realities of bootstrapping a startup, the challenge of educating investors on a niche business model, and how Immersive Trails is organizing India's fragmented local guide market. 

Tathagata also shares powerful insights on building a high-trust team culture, leveraging AI to speed up market entry, and navigating the startup ecosystem while managing Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) 

We also talk about working with his wife, 19th-century true crime and cemeteries in Kolkata . Finding toilets, and everything in between. So please enjoy the show.

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

The Origin Story: Transitioning from an archaeology PhD in England to launching a research-driven walking tour company in Kolkata.

Early Wins & Skepticism: Hosting the very first walking tour at the South Park Street Cemetery and proving the concept to family and friends.

Bootstrapping & Tech Challenges: Learning marketing on the fly and why finding the right tech leadership was a game-changer.

Investor Relations: Why investors often confuse Immersive Trails with MakeMyTrip and how to effectively pitch an experience-based marketplace.

The Value Proposition: Organizing the highly fragmented market of local tour guides and delivering quality-controlled experiences..

Culture & Leadership: Building a high-trust, empathy-driven team of five and rejecting toxic hustle culture.

Co-Founder Dynamics: The unique advantages of building a startup alongside a spouse with complementary academic backgrounds.

AI Integration: How Immersive Trails uses a custom AI model and writes 30% of their backend code with AI.

Founder Lessons: Why hiring a technical co-founder early on is the one thing Tathagata would do differently.

Visibility & Leadership: Tathagata opens up about living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) to bring visibility to founders navigating invisible disabilities.

Popular Experiences: The platform offers a wide range of tours, with popular examples including a "Murder and Mayhem" true crime tour in 19th-century Kolkata, historical tours of the Red Fort from the perspective of Mughal women, and specialized food experiences in Lucknow

Links

Website: immersivetrails.com

Connect with Tathagata Neogi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tathagataneogi/

 

Hosted And Produced by Neil Patel
https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/neilpatel2

Enjoyed this episode? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! Share this episode with your friends.

Listen and Subscribe to More Episodes
https://www.indianstartupshow.com/

Music by Punch Deck.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kdduxAVaFnbHJyNxl7FWV

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel Freezer Epiphany That Sparked a Zero-Waste Bakery. Today I speak with Sarah Patka, the visionary chef and founder behind Mumbai’s premium niche bakery, Love & Flour. 

Driven by a passion for baking science and a strict zero-waste philosophy, Sarah shares her journey from working the grueling shifts at the Taj Mahal Palace to bootstrapping her own boutique dessert brand. 

We dive deep into the operational strategies of running a made-to-order, storefront-free bakery, the art of fusion desserts, and why prioritizing consistent quality over mass-market scaling is the secret recipe for building a legacy brand. Whether you are an aspiring baker or a seasoned entrepreneur, Sarah’s advice to "start before you feel ready" will leave you inspired.

In This Episode, We Cover:

The Origin Story: Leaving the traditional hotel hospitality world for the creative freedom of baking.

The "Aha" Moment: Finding clarity and passion during a hectic shift in a freezing hotel walk-in.

Tackling Food Waste: How witnessing the staggering 70-80 million tons of annual food waste in India inspired Love & Flour's strict zero-waste, pre-order business model.

Overcoming Failure: Sarah Patka shares a personal story about a failed baking venture during her student years where a recipe was ruined by excess baking soda!

Content Creation: Recognizing the adage that customers eat with their eyes, Sarah Patka taught themself photography and videography to produce marketing content, choosing to invest in a camera rather than hiring expensive photographers.

Bootstrapping a Bakery: Wearing multiple hats, from accountant to self-taught food photographer, to build a brand from scratch.

Menu Innovation: Introducing global concepts like cookie pizzas and interactive Diwali fusion desserts to the Mumbai market.

The Authenticity of Sugar: Sarah's philosophy on maintaining the integrity, texture, and flavor of traditional desserts rather than compromising with sugar-free or gluten-free substitutes.

Future Vision: Why Love & Flour is aiming to be a legacy boutique brand rather than a mass-market commercial enterprise.

Beginner Baking Advice: For those interested in starting to bake, Sarah Patka recommends beginning with brownies or cookies rather than cakes,

Essential Baking Tools: Sarah Patka identified four key tools for bakers: a spatula for cleaning batter, a whisk for mixing, a scraper for finishing cakes, and a hand blender.

Advice for Founders: Why you shouldn't fear failure, the importance of showing up every day, and why you must start before you feel fully ready.

Connect with Sarah Patka & Love & Flour:

Instagram: @LoveandFlour

LinkedIn: Sarah Patka

Hosted And Produced by Neil Patel
https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/neilpatel2

Enjoyed this episode? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! Share this episode with your friends.

Listen and Subscribe to More Episodes
https://www.indianstartupshow.com/

Music by Punch Deck.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kdduxAVaFnbHJyNxl7FWV

Marry the problem, not the product! In this episode, I sit down with social entrepreneur Nikky Kumar Jha, the first engineer from his small village in Bihar, India. Nikky initially set out to tackle massive global issues like climate change—until a professor advised him to look in his own backyard. What he found was a devastating local crisis: despite the fertile soil along the Ganges, farmers were losing 40% of their produce to rot because standard refrigeration was too expensive and the rural power grid was too unreliable. From a "hilarious" first prototype that short-circuited in 30 minutes, Nikky went on to build a tech revolution for the "last mile." This episode covers the messy reality of grassroots innovation, why Nikky turned down a massive investment on Shark Tank, and how his hardware is transforming local economies. Finally he shares the amazing story of a visually impaired woman who used his device to boost her profits so much, she built her own home.

 

Episode Highlights

The Solution: How a portable, 20-watt storage unit extends the shelf life of produce by 3-5x without refrigeration or chemicals.

Massive Impact: The tech is already cutting food waste by over 40% and boosting the income of small marginal farmers and street hawkers by 60% to 70%.

Designing for Reality: Why building for a "utopian world" fails, and how local power fluctuations (110-volt vs 220-volt) forced a complete redesign.

Leverage Design Thinking: Aspiring founders should conduct thorough empathy studies and regularly utilize the Business Model Canvas (BMC) to manage execution.

Management Style: Nikky kumar jha described their management style as encouraging entrepreneurship, stating that they do not fire employees. Instead, they encourage employees to eventually start their own ventures, offering to introduce them to the ecosystem and investors.

IEEE Global Involvement: Nikky kumar jha serves as a lead for IEEE CS Global's special projects, including a global incubation center. They credited their network within the IEEE ecosystem for helping them overcome problems and find new collaborative opportunities.

The Shark Tank Rejection: The real reason Nikky walked away from a Shark Tank India offer to keep his focus strictly on marginalized farmers instead of third-party vendors.

Revitalizing Rural Ecosystems: How moving his factory back to his home village in Bihar created dignified jobs and actively stopped youth migration to the cities.

Co-founder Dynamics: Nikky kumar jha advocated for having family members as co-founders to avoid disputes, provided they possess complementary skills. Their sister, a biotechnologist, and their brother, who focuses on sales, are their current co-founders.

Hometime Hero. Instead of building his empire in a massive tech hub, Nikky moved his factory right back to his village in Bihar. This move created dignified local jobs and actually stopped the migration of youth leaving the village for city work.

What’s Next: A sneak peek at an affordable, modular housing that can be assembled in 15 minutes for flood-prone areas.

The Founder's Playbook

"Marry the problem, not the product." Ideas are worthless unless they execute on a genuine local problem.

Nail the Customer Service: Never launch a hardware product in a geography where you cannot realistically provide service and maintenance.

Resources & Links

Connect with Nikky Kumar Jha on LinkedIn.

Learn more about the technology at https://saptkrishi.com/products/

The Indian Startup Show has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 70 Tech Startup Podcasts on the web.https://podcast.feedspot.com/tech_startup_podcasts/

Hosted And Produced by Neil Patel
https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/neilpatel2

Enjoyed this episode? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! Share this episode with your friends.

Listen and Subscribe to More Episodes
https://www.indianstartupshow.com/

Music by Punch Deck.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kdduxAVaFnbHJyNxl7FWV

Giving People a Second Life! We are thrilled to welcome back Rishi Krishna, the visionary Founder and CEO of Symbionic, for his first appearance since November 2021! A lot has changed since our last conversation. 

After losing his right arm in a tragic bus accident in 2018, Rishi channeled his personal adversity into founding Symbionic, an assistive tech startup dedicated to building affordable, life-changing prosthetic devices. 

In this episode, we dive deep into the massive pivots the business has undergone, what it really takes to build and scale in India, and how Symbionic is quite literally giving people a second life. Rishi also pulls back the curtain on his recent experiences pitching on Shark Tank India Season 4 and Startup Singham, offering invaluable advice for early-stage founders on navigating the noise, securing finance, AI and finally An inspiring story of delivering a prosthetic to a user just before her wedding, allowing her to celebrate with confidence and without self-consciousness.

🎧 What You'll Hear in This Episode:

The Origin & The Human Impact

The Catalyst: Rishi reflects on the 2018 bus accident that changed his life and sparked the creation of Symbionic in 2019.

Wearing Prosthetics in Public: Overcoming stigma and the emotional reality of living as an amputee.

Building the Tech & The Business

Engineering Robotic Arms in India: The challenges of R&D, hardware design issues, and combating prosthetic abandonment rates.

The Major Pivot: How the product and the company’s trajectory have drastically evolved since 2021.

Scaling Up: A look at the numbers—revenue targets, distribution channels, and building a robust customer data engine.

The Team: How Rishi's childhood friend, Naranjan, stepped up as Co-Founder and Head of Engineering, and how Rishi’s own role as CEO has shifted over the years.

Pitching, Funding, & The Future

Under the Lights: Behind-the-scenes insights from pitching on Shark Tank India Season 4 and Startup Singham.

Mastering the Pitch: Rishi’s top tips for founders preparing to pitch their startups on television or to investors.

The AI Advantage: The good, the bad, and how Rishi currently spends 60% of his day leveraging AI tools like Claude to streamline operations.

💡 Rishi's Top Advice for First-Time Founders

"In an era where technology makes building products easier, the real challenge is managing the endless possibilities. Figure out exactly what to do, rather than trying to do everything. It is far more effective to perfect one thing than to do many things inadequately."

Persistence is Non-Negotiable: Too many founders pivot or give up at the first sign of a minor obstacle. Stay the course and trust your R&D.

Lean on Your Support System: Success is rarely a solo endeavor. From early collaborators to incubation teams, finding the right support network is crucial to scaling.

🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned

Learn more about Symbionic: https://www.symbionic.co/

Watch Rishi on TV: Search for Symbionic Shark Tank India Season 4 or Startup Singham on YouTube/SonyLIV.

Hosted And Produced by Neil Patel
https://www.linkedin.com/today/author/neilpatel2

Enjoyed this episode? Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! Share this episode with your friends.

Listen and Subscribe to More Episodes
https://www.indianstartupshow.com/

Music by Punch Deck.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7kdduxAVaFnbHJyNxl7FWV