Shradha Sharma on 'junoon', optimism, being a founder, and favourite startup stories [#5]

Best in Class with Harish Narayanan

In this episode, I had the pleasure of connecting with Shradha Sharma (@sharmashradha). Shradha is the founder / CEO of YourStory (India's go-to startup media platform, à la TechCrunch). She has been the startup ecosystem's cheerleader for more than a decade, continues to bring out genuine founder stories to a broad audience, and drives India's longest running startup event 'TechSparks'. She's an eternal optimist and I thoroughly enjoyed this hour long conversation with her on a wide ranging set of topics. Hope you enjoy it too.

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Timestamps:

• 00:00 Intro.
• 02:11 "What you lack, will make you run".
• 08:11 Journey leading to Yourstory.
• 11:30 Decoding people and judging less.
• 16:10 Going from a blog to a company.
• 18:00 Challenges as a (female) founder.
• 23:06 Creating a habit of optimism, 'junoon' & self love.
• 28:00 Growth of Yourstory and the journey of TechSparks.
• 32:18 Culture of appreciation.
• 34:56 Favourite startup story.
• 38:44 Most resilient founder, charismatic founder, under-told story etc.
• 41:28 Upcoming product launches.
• 44:08 Entrepreneurship vs working in a company.
• 48:40 An average day.
• 51:20 Hiring hacks.
• 45:10 Quick questions / "Compassion lasts".

Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.