Episodes 119
Avg. Duration 1h 25m
Activity Highly Active
Since Aug 2022
Latest Episode Jun 2026

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Schedule
Weekly
Format
Episodic
Consistency
30%
Hosting
feeds.transistor.fm

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About This Podcast

First Principles is a weekly interview podcast comprising authentic, candid, and insightful conversations between some of India’s most accomplished founders and business leaders, and Rohin Dharmakumar, The Ken’s CEO & co-founder. From personal philosophies, mental models and decision making frameworks, to reading habits, parenting styles or personal interests, each episode will delve into what makes each of these leaders unique.

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Recent Episodes

S3E14 Impresario's Riyaaz Amlani on 25 years of selling time, not food, and surviving four near-deaths

Jun 15, 2026 2h 5m

In a business with the highest mortality rate of any, Riyaaz Amlani has spent 25 years building Impresario into 80+ restaurants across 20 cities — Social, Smokehouse Delhi, Antisocial, Bandra Born,…

S3E14 Part 1: Impresario's Riyaaz Amlani on Mocha, "Handmade," four near-deaths and 25 years of building places to be

Jun 15, 2026 1h 4m

Part 1 of Rohin Dharmakumar's conversation with Riyaaz Amlani is the origin story: why a returning UCLA grad decided Bombay was missing "places to be," how Mocha became Social, and what it actually…

S3E13 Part 2: Kuku’s Lal Chand Bisu on the Bathoth-to-Bandra arc, learning from iterations not books, and why nos beat yeses

May 04, 2026 1h 15m

Part 2 picks up exactly where I left Bisu — on why a 7-year-old audio platform is releasing a theatrical film on May 8. From there, we go everywhere. Bisu's actual journey from a small village in…

S3E13 Kuku's Lal Chand Bisu on charging Bharat ₹399 a year, the Bathoth-to-Bandra arc, and why nos beat yeses

Apr 29, 2026 2h 16m

Lal Chand Bisu and three batchmates from IIT Jodhpur started Kuku FM in audio in June 2018. Almost everyone wrote them off — the louder competitor was getting the press, the VCs didn't believe…

S3E13 Part 1: Kuku's Lal Chand Bisu on killing three products, ditching the free tier and charging Bharat ₹399 a year

Apr 29, 2026 1h 3m

Lal Chand Bisu started Kuku in audio in 2018. Almost everyone in the press wrote them off — the louder competitor was getting the headlines, the VCs didn't believe vernacular India would pay, and the…

S3E12 Part 2: Curefoods' Ankit Nagori on why Indians only eat healthy Monday to Thursday, focusing on brand over scale, and what drives him now

Mar 30, 2026 1h 3m

Welcome back to First Principles. This is Part 2 of our full conversation with Ankit Nagori, founder and CEO of Curefoods. If you have not listened to Part 1, go back and start there.In this half,…

S3E12 Part 1: Curefoods' Ankit Nagori on cold emailing his way into Flipkart, designing for talent density, and surviving a pandemic on 2 crores a month

Mar 23, 2026 53m

Welcome to First Principles. This is Part 1 of our full conversation with Ankit Nagori, founder and CEO of Curefoods.Ankit joined Flipkart as the 22nd employee after cold emailing its founders at a…

S3E12 Curefoods' Ankit Nagori on building India's "House of (food) Brands" and talent density at Flipkart

Mar 23, 2026 1h 54m

"I can't tell you what those years feel like. It was just a breeze. The camaraderie, the talent density. To be able to assemble that team at one place during a short period was the reason why…

S3E11 Part 2: Captain Fresh's Utham Gowda on seafood as the world's last unorganised trillion-dollar industry, why undervaluation is a founder's superpower and his “reverse career path”

Mar 02, 2026 58m

Welcome to First Principles! This is part 2 of episode 52, the full conversation.Rohin met Utham Gowda at Spacebot Studio in Indiranagar on a Tuesday afternoon. Utham was compact, measured, and…

S3E11 Captain Fresh's Utham Gowda on seafood as the world's last unorganised trillion-dollar industry, why undervaluation is a founder's superpower and his “reverse career path”

Feb 23, 2026 2h 1m

Rohin met Utham Gowda at Spacebot Studio in Indiranagar on a Tuesday afternoon. Utham was compact, measured, and precise in the way he spoke, like someone who has spent years learning when to talk…

S3E11 Part 1: Captain Fresh's Utham Gowda on seafood as the world's last unorganised trillion-dollar industry, why undervaluation is a founder's superpower and his “reverse career path”

Feb 23, 2026 1h 6m

Welcome to First Principles! This is part 1 of episode 52, the full conversation.Rohin met Utham Gowda at Spacebot Studio in Indiranagar on a Tuesday afternoon. Utham was compact, measured, and…

S3E10 Part 2: Kalpana Morparia on the culture of dissent, the 90-day NYSE race, and why ambition requires self-redundancy

Feb 09, 2026 57m

Hello, listeners, and welcome back to part 2 of the 51st episode of First Principles.Ms. Kalpana Morparia reached out to us via email after the bro-ification episode. It was the most pleasant…

S3E10 Kalpana Morparia on the culture of dissent, the 90-day NYSE race, and why ambition requires self-redundancy

Feb 02, 2026 1h 55m

Hello, listeners, and welcome back to the 51st episode of First Principles.Ms. Kalpana Morparia reached out to us via email after the bro-ification episode. It was the most pleasant surprise and we…

S3E10 Part 1: Kalpana Morparia on the culture of dissent, the 90-day NYSE race, and why ambition requires self-redundancy

Feb 02, 2026 1h

Hello, listeners, and welcome back to part 1 of the 51st episode of First Principles.Ms. Kalpana Morparia reached out to us via email after the bro-ification episode. It was the most pleasant…

S3E9 Part 2: Darwinbox’s Rohit Chennamaneni on leading without a CEO, the ‘show don’t tell’ product mindset, and why resilience beats intelligence

Jan 19, 2026 1h 1m

In the 2nd part of the 50th episode of First Principles, Rohit Chennamaneni, co-founder of Darwinbox, joins the show to talk about what changes after the early chaos of a startup fades.He explains…

S3E9 Darwinbox’s Rohit Chennamaneni on leading without a CEO, the ‘show don’t tell’ product mindset, and why resilience beats intelligence

Jan 12, 2026 1h 50m

In the 50th episode of First Principles, Rohit Chennamaneni, co-founder of Darwinbox, joins the show to talk about what changes after the early chaos of a startup fades.He explains how Darwinbox has…

S3E9 Part 1: Darwinbox’s Rohit Chennamaneni on leading without a CEO, the ‘show don’t tell’ product mindset, and why resilience beats intelligence

Jan 12, 2026 49m

In part 1 of the 50th episode of First Principles, Rohit Chennamaneni, co-founder of Darwinbox, joins the show to talk about what changes after the early chaos of a startup fades.He explains how…

First Principles, second look: The 2025 wrap

Dec 29, 2025 1h 38m

What a year it's been.After a long hiatus and when we thought we'd closed the curtains for good, First Principles came back in April 2025 for Season 3. And what made this comeback so special? Simple:…

S3E8 Part 2: Ixigo's Aloke Bajpai on using empathy, customer experience, and resilience to both survive and thrive

Dec 22, 2025 1h 8m

Hello and welcome back to First Principles. This is the part 2 of the 49th episode since we started, or the 8th episode of season 3.In this episode, I sit down with Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO of Ixigo,…

S3E8 Part 1: Ixigo's Aloke Bajpai on using empathy, customer experience, and resilience to both survive and thrive

Dec 15, 2025 1h 1m

Hello and welcome back to First Principles. This is the part 1 of the 49th episode since we started, or the 8th episode of season 3.In this episode, I sit down with Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO of Ixigo,…

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does First Principles have?

First Principles has published 119 episodes since August 2022, covering topics in Business, Entrepreneurship.

Is First Principles still active?

First Principles is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 1h 25m.

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