Tech My Breath Away

How do you build an online community of 100k+? | Tech My Breath Away 13

In this captivating podcast, Priyanka Kasturi, the creator of Age of Geeks (formerly ML India), shares her inspiring journey from her early interest in understanding the human brain to building one of the most engaging tech communities online. Watch as she opens up about her challenges, triumphs, and the hard choices that shaped her path. In this first of two conversations, Abbhinav (123 of AI), and co-host Debayan (Microsoft) talk with Priyanka Kasture, Co-founder and Head of Community at Age of Geeks and Freelance community manager. P.S.: This episode was shot in late 2023. ### **Priyanka Reveals** - **Her Early Curiosity**: Priyanka reveals how her interest in understanding the brain led her to explore AI and machine learning, sparking the creation of ML India, which later evolved into the Age of Geeks. - **Content Creation Strategies**: Priyanka dives into how she creates engaging content using memes and infographics, explaining the importance of prioritization and sacrifices in pursuing her passions. - **Balancing Academic Struggles & Business Ambitions**: She shares the impact of focusing on her business, Art Nerd, and the challenges it posed to her academic journey, yet how those failures set her on the path to creating Age of Geeks. - **Behind the Scenes of Age of Geeks**: Priyanka provides insights into the workings of her community, from running workshops and collaborations to managing the community’s growth and revenue streams. - **Navigating FOMO & Uncertainty**: Without mentors, Priyanka had to learn by trial and error, using her missteps to fuel her success. # *TIMESTAMPS* 00:00 - Teaser 00:30 - Intro 01:28 - Infographics, & memes in educational content 04:35 - How it all started 08:00 - Content creation journey 12:45 - How to start content creation 15:55 - Transition from Artnerd to ML India 17:05 - Navigating without mentors 19:45 - Fearing of being ordinary 21:45 - How art shapes life 25:30 - Failures in life 28:05 - Managing business with College life 34:10 - Hard choices to make 36:05 - What is ML India 38:20 - How the age of geeks helps 40:40 - Bootstrapped or Funded 42:00 - Scaling Up 45:15 - Revenue generation 46:30 - Administrative structure in Age of Geeks 49:45 - Stay tuned for part 2 ### **Best Moments** **You make time for what you love**: Priyanka’s philosophy on prioritizing what matters most, and the choices successful people make daily. **Community growth through engagement**: Priyanka shares how early on, even with 3,000 to 6,000 followers, people actively contributed, drawn by the community's vibrant pattern, helping it grow rapidly and organically. **Balancing passions & academics**: Her decision to focus on her business came with consequences, including low attendance and missing exams, but led to greater opportunities. **Building a self-sustaining community**: Priyanka shares how community contributions turned Age of Geeks into a collaborative, thriving network. **Revenue streams & growth**: Workshops, sponsorships, and collaborations fuel the continued success of Age of Geeks. **GUEST LINKS (Priyanka Kasture)** LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyanka-kasture/ Age of Geeks: https://www.ageofgeeks.org/ **ABOUT THE HOSTS** 123 of AI, Website: https://www.123ofai.com LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/abbhinavvenkat Instagram Channel: https://www.instagram.com/aiwithabbhinav Abbhinav Venkat, is the founder of 123 of AI, an ed-tech company enabling working professionals upskill in AI/ML. He is an entrepreneur, AI researcher, and podcaster. Prior to starting 123 of AI, he spent several years at multiple Silicon Valley startups as a Computer Vision Scientist. His academic career involved AI research at IIIT-H and Stanford University with several top-tier publications in BMVC, ICCV, ACPR. For his research, he was awarded Qualcomm’s Innovation Fellowship, felicitated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), GOI, as well as invited for talks in 4 continents.

What is like to be a Computer Vision Researcher? - Chandradeep | Tech My Breath Away #12

Chandradeep Pokhariya, an AI researcher at Brown University, and ex-IIIT-H MS, talks about his journey as a computer vision and 3D researcher, covering their experiences from startup to academia, their research projects, their views on AR/VR and generative AI, and the importance of collaboration and a fundamental approach to problem-solving. Join us, in the second of two-part conversation, with hosts Abbhinav (123 of AI) and Debayan (Microsoft)! *CHAN REVEALS:* * His initial experiences in the field of Computer Vision, including their time at a startup and the challenges faced. * Their transition to research, collaborating with professors, and getting accepted into the master's program at IIIT-H. * Details about his research work, including projects on hand gesture recognition, 3D reconstruction of clothed humans, and surface parameterization. * The future of AR/VR and generative AI in 3D * His research fellowship at Brown University * Following first-principles thinking for problem solving *GUEST LINKS (Chandradeep Pokhariya)* LinkedIn:   / chandradeep2   [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUVSaVlGcXFNQTV6cDZtMU95bzJPa2xqLVFHQXxBQ3Jtc0tsTUFxbGNWNG1wTWdiVS1qNzRUVjl2bXBlT3Y1b1ZCRHM2MTFOTFkzcXhFcnBHenlZTUZwNU1pR1lMb1hmQ1lBSVRSNU5KR05VTTRrLVJhMFdmVVhvV2hvVE5ad1JVUHZOVDZHamdnNExDY1k1dHRyVQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fchandradeep2%2F&v=E4b4rnaIwBA] *ABOUT THE HOSTS* 123 of AI, Website: https://www.123ofai.com [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbmctdEtLeVN1UEVFZDBRUEEzemNFTXNwZU1CQXxBQ3Jtc0treEJUZ2VFX3k4RlpDbWtMdHNFTm1NZ0wtN21MUE5FRFhyV1FOZjQtNTRaTmdlc25aaG9GUThVMGU4RGFteE14OU1SRlZkekI2MU9mM3NJTzYzVExEMHR5YnhUR3RQZ0RkeWdUcW94SF8tLUo4TmlFUQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.123ofai.com%2F&v=E4b4rnaIwBA] LinkedIn:   / abbhinavvenkat   [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbUFKdk03c0F0bUl1VUlWSVJJbFc0YXJFTUtpUXxBQ3Jtc0tsZjZfcVdDMEZvN2xIcTI0UENTZWc2Q2NzODdESVVncWI1WlZvVnRZbGg4RWpRRlpkVndmYWM3NzVpUmsxN2JGbzRJX2NQUS16UWVMZVhRVTV0OWN5RV9aUUJlNFdJanluTWFEZUZOVlAtNWY5Q3Z6dw&q=https%3A%2F%2Flinkedin.com%2Fin%2Fabbhinavvenkat%2F&v=E4b4rnaIwBA] Instagram Channel:   / aiwithabbhinav   [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbVktZWt6X01fZlRudk9TZlVUMlBKS0ZFc1ZUZ3xBQ3Jtc0trUnJRamF1aGtnZEV1Z3hIbDZ2Vk9wendtdGNPLW5NZ3pMVk96YXN0SUppb1NrWHNPRC1fZmZlbUNjS0c1TDVraW9iZ1czSE1XVWtlVmNnM1YxUGMwZTk2RV9ERDQ5ZmxvemlHTWJVSjFZMjFrSnFmTQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Faiwithabbhinav&v=E4b4rnaIwBA] Abbhinav Venkat, is the founder of 123 of AI, an ed-tech company enabling working professionals upskill in AI/ML. He is an entrepreneur, AI researcher, and podcaster. Prior to starting 123 of AI, he spent several years at multiple Silicon Valley startups as a Computer Vision Scientist. His academic career involved AI research at IIIT-H and Stanford University with several top-tier publications in BMVC, ICCV, ACPR. For his research, he was awarded Qualcomm’s Innovation Fellowship, felicitated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), GOI, as well as invited for talks in 4 continents. Debayan Das, is an Applied Scientist at Microsoft, and an expert on recommendation systems. He attained his BTech in Computer Science from IIIT-H, where he found his love for Machine Learning. He is ever-curious, an avid traveller and a space geek.

Small Town to the Ivy Leagues - Chandradeep | Tech My Breath Away # 11

Chandradeep Pokhariya, an AI researcher at Brown University, and ex-IIIT-H MS, talks about his journey from a sleepy small town in Uttarakhand, to finding his way into the Ivy Leagues while overcoming challenges such as lack of access to the internet, infrastructure, and even language barriers. Join us, in this first of a two-part conversation, with hosts Abbhinav (123 of AI) and Debayan (Microsoft)! CHAN REVEALS: * What it was like growing up in a remote village near the Nepal border, in a close-knit community * The cultural shock he experienced when he first went to Kota for exam preparation and witnessed urban life. * How he had to climb a hill to download videos for his studying AI and deep learning. * His journey during undergrad at GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, where he pursued a bachelor's degree in industrial and production engineering * His experiences in working in startups, the work culture, and the long hours he put in to stand up to peers from IITs, Stanford and MIT * The language barrier he experienced when he moved to Bangalore * Key problem statements he has worked on in 3D - Warping, Key-point detection, 3D Hand Modeling, and Object Detection. * Trade-offs between working at a big company versus a startup and the importance of mental health ABOUT THE FOUNDER Abbhinav Venkat, is the founder of 123 of AI, an ed-tech company enabling working professionals upskill in AI/ML. He is an entrepreneur, AI researcher, and podcaster. Prior to starting 123 of AI, he spent several years at multiple Silicon Valley startups as a Computer Vision Scientist. His academic career involved AI research at IIIT-H and Stanford University with several top-tier publications in BMVC, ICCV, ACPR. For his research, he was awarded Qualcomm’s Innovation Fellowship, felicitated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), GOI, as well as invited for talks in 4 continents. 123 of AI’s official website: https://www.123ofai.com [https://www.123ofai.com/] LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/abbhinavvenkat [https://linkedin.com/in/abbhinavvenkat]

Pivots, Premiumization, and Rejecting Customers - Sonakshi Nathani | Tech My Breath Away # 10

Sonakshi Nathani talks about pivots, premium pricing, rebranding, conflict management, the role of her co-founder, facing discrimination as a female founder, differences between Indian and US markets, and launching multiple products, in this fascinating second part of our 2-part conversation, with Abbhinav (founder, 123 of AI) and co-host Debayan (from Microsoft). SONAKSHI REVEALS: * The origin story of BIK and rebranding * How they pivoted from an online store builder called Bikai to an AI-powered conversational commerce platform. * How a sales-led model was not sustainable for them, leading to the decision to target larger enterprises with higher-value contracts. * Challenges and learnings as a founder: Sonakshi shares her experiences as a founder, including the importance of adaptability, having a co-founder, managing a team, dealing with conflicts, and the challenges of being a woman in tech. She emphasizes the value of harmony, trust, and unity within the team. * How she faced discrimination as a female founder * The differences between the Indian and US markets in terms of technology adoption and value perception. * The launch of ManifestAI BEST MOMENTS: * "Pivots are part of the journey. You have to evolve" * "We went through a lot of ups and downs during that transition - people interpreted it very differently in media, so we went through those phases, but internally we were very strong. We were very happy we saw us moving in the right direction because there was this harmony, there was this unity." - On the value of harmony and unity within the team. * “We'll only operate in quality, we'll only operate in premium so we started charging a Lac a month and mostly, also very upfront quality." - On the decision to position BIK.AI [http://bik.ai/] as a premium product and target high-value customers. * “Definitely, I cannot control what you think, but I can control who my customers can be. And with what you're saying today, I choose to reject you as a customer." - On standing firm on her values and not compromising for customers who undermine her company. * "You have to be a good communicator that is a little bit more fundamental as opposed to being an extrovert. Communication is what is key. Can you convey whatever you want in the most effective way?" - On the importance of effective communication as a founder, rather than just being an extrovert. ABOUT THE FOUNDER Abbhinav Venkat, is the founder of 123 of AI, an ed-tech company enabling working professionals upskill in AI/ML. He is an entrepreneur, AI researcher, and podcaster. Prior to starting 123 of AI, he spent several years at multiple Silicon Valley startups as a Computer Vision Scientist. His academic career involved AI research at IIIT-H and Stanford University with several top-tier publications in BMVC, ICCV, ACPR. For his research, he was awarded Qualcomm’s Innovation Fellowship, felicitated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), GOI, as well as invited for talks in 4 continents. 123 of AI’s official website: https://www.123ofai.com [https://www.123ofai.com/] LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/abbhinavvenkat [https://linkedin.com/in/abbhinavvenkat]

Identifying Problems, Target Audience, and the Entrepreneurial Mindset - Sonakshi Nathani | Tech My Breath Away # 9

Let’s delve into Sonakshi's entrepreneurial journey from Microsoft to her own company, BIK, highlighting the importance of understanding the target audience, developing products based on customer feedback, maintaining an entrepreneurial mindset, and learning from successful founders, while also emphasising the need for a safety net when starting a business. In this first of 2-part conversation, Abbhinav (123 of AI) and co-host Debayan (Microsoft) are in conversation with Sonakshi Nathani, founder of BIK, ex-Microsoft, ex-IIITH. SONAKSHI REVEALS: * Her family background in business - owning a shop and how her grandfather's entrepreneurial spirit inspired her from a young age * Her journey of joining Microsoft after college - getting into the same race as her batchmates. * Her decision to quit, and finding a problem of interest to build a company. * The importance of having a safety net, whether financial or familial, when starting a business. * Insights into how they identified their target audience, developed their product (Bikai), and determined pricing based on customer feedback. * Her conversations with customers - the importance of understanding the customer's pain points and speaking their language. * The role of mindset, passion, and perseverance in entrepreneurship, as well as the value of learning from successful founders' stories and constantly challenging oneself. BEST MOMENTS: "If a normal person like him can do it, then why can’t I” - Sonakshi on gaining confidence from hearing successful founders' stories. “The only you know I think metric which can guide you if you are doing right or not is are you getting good sleep" - Sonakshi's unconventional metric for success in the early days. "You have to fool your mind and this is not just one time job. You have to do that every day as an entrepreneur because every day is a challenge." - Sonakshi on the mindset required for entrepreneurship. "You have to just speak with them, understand thought processes and execute." Sonakshi on the importance of understanding customers' thought processes and acting on their feedback. ABOUT THE FOUNDER Abbhinav Venkat, is the founder of 123 of AI, an ed-tech company enabling working professionals upskill in AI/ML. He is an entrepreneur, AI researcher, and podcaster. Prior to starting 123 of AI, he spent several years at multiple Silicon Valley startups as a Computer Vision Scientist. His academic career involved AI research at IIIT-H and Stanford University with several top-tier publications in BMVC, ICCV, ACPR. For his research, he was awarded Qualcomm’s Innovation Fellowship, felicitated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), GOI, as well as invited for talks in 4 continents. 123 of AI’s official website: https://www.123ofai.com [https://www.123ofai.com/] LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/abbhinavvenkat [https://linkedin.com/in/abbhinavvenkat]