Soul Searching

About Soul Searching

Long-form conversations about India's economy, technology and how we live. Ryan Dsouza talks with economists, founders, researchers and writers about jobs, AI, money and the choices shaping our future. Start with Ravi Handa on leaving India and financial independence. Follow for new conversations. Watch on YouTube: @decentmakeover

Publisher

Ryan Dsouza

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Jul 2021

Latest episode

11 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

278 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Sept 2026

   Why More Features Won't Save Your Startup | Vivian Gomez

   More features don't automatically make a better business. Vivian Gomez, co-founder and CEO of Scoop and a former product and growth leader at Truecaller, joins Ryan Dsouza to talk about building products that create real business value. We discuss Truecaller's fintech journey, scaling with lean teams, starting again from zero, knowing when to kill a product, and growing on a tight budget. Vivian also shares his views on founder salaries, fundraising, B2B vs. consumer products, and what it takes to grow as a product manager. Chapters 00:00 Highlights 00:34 Meet Vivian Gomez 01:22 From Chillr to Truecaller 03:41 Truecaller's fintech bet 09:56 Telecom, AI and infrastructure 17:11 Culture before and after an IPO 22:03 Why Truecaller built in India 29:31 Scaling with a lean team 31:50 Why constraints improve decisions 38:20 Starting again after massive scale 45:50 Knowing when to kill a product 48:15 Growth on a tight budget 52:56 Consumer products vs. B2B 57:55 Should founders pay themselves? 1:02:25 Fundraising, runway and salaries 1:12:19 Ad platforms and owning your customers 1:16:58 First-principles product thinking 1:19:20 Core product vs. more features 1:27:18 Growing as a product manager 1:34:14 Leadership and business outcomes Explore Scoop: https://scoop.app/ Follow Ryan: https://www.instagram.com/decentmakeover

2. 

   29 Aug 2026

   "The government is lying to you" — Prof Santosh Mehrotra on India's jobs crisis

   Host Ryan Dsouza interviews Professor Santosh Mehrotra about India's jobs crisis, revealing how growth figures mask a lack of employment opportunities for millions of young people.

3. 

   25 Aug 2026

   India Doesn't Need Another Frontier Model | Bhavik Vasa

   Ryan Dsouza interviews Bhavik Vasa, a senior leader at GetVantage, who argues India's AI opportunity lies in domain-specific models, not frontier models, unlocking instant credit for MSMEs.

Who has been a guest on Soul Searching

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Santosh Mehrotra
• Bhavik Vasa
• M V Ramana
• Arjun Ramani
• Indranil Tiwary

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

10,301

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

4.1 / 5

9 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 59 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

88

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

0

Contact Soul Searching

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Soul Searching