- ‘Kintsugi by IndigoEdge – The Beauty of Imperfection’ brings founders into candid conversations about the pressure, failure, and uncertainty that most people don’t talk about
Bangalore, October 08th: IndigoEdge, a founder-first investment bank, has announced the launch of ‘Kintsugi by IndigoEdge – The Beauty of Imperfection’, a podcast series that brings in founders to talk about the personal side of building a company, beyond growth numbers and funding milestones.
Named after the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, the series is built around the idea that the setbacks founders go through are worth talking about, not hiding. Episodes will cover themes such as mental health struggles, pressure, failure, uncertainty, and why mental health often takes a back seat while running a business.
The series will be hosted by IndigoEdge’s founders, Shivakumar Ramaswami, Zerin Rahiman and Rakesh Pai. Each episode will bring founders into candid, unfiltered conversations around the realities of building and scaling a business. The first season will feature 12 episodes and will be available on YouTube.
Dr. Bettadapura Ashim, Mental Health Director will also be part of the podcast series and interact with founders as part of these conversations.
The first episode features Deepak Gullapalli, Founder and CEO of Head Digital Works, who built a successful gaming business from scratch while navigating personal loss, regulatory uncertainty, and the sudden shutdown of his company’s core business. He opens up about the pressures, setbacks, and self-doubt that came with the journey, and what it took to rebuild after a moment that changed everything.
Speaking about the launch of the podcast, Shivakumar Ramaswami, Founder and Managing Director, IndigoEdge said, “Over the years, I’ve built close relationships with founders, and many of the conversations I value most have taken place away from the boardroom. When you’re part of those conversations, you realise how much of the founder’s journey happens behind the scenes. We talk a lot about the wins, the funding, and the growth, but rarely about the pressure and challenges behind them. With Kintsugi, we want to talk about those parts too, including the struggles founders may not always feel comfortable discussing. The podcast is a first step toward creating more space for conversations about the mental pressure that comes with building a company.”
While the silence of entrepreneurs is hard to measure, the little data that does exist points to how widespread it is. The last major study on the subject, YourDOST’s “Emotional Wellbeing of Entrepreneurs 2024” report, released in partnership with INK, TiE Global Summit, Upekkha, and the NSRCEL cell of IIM Bengaluru, found that 33% of founders reported low emotional well-being and 48% felt a lack of community support. No comparable study has followed since, which is itself telling of how little attention the subject gets. Kintsugi is IndigoEdge’s attempt to open up that conversation through real stories rather than survey data.
