How sustainable are your fashion choices? With all the insanity happening across the world right now, what can you do to play your part in consuming clothes that respect the planet?

“As eco-conscious consumers realize the environmental toll of fast fashion, there's an increased focus on making clothes that are better for the planet. This can be using less resource intensive manufacturing processes, committing to recycled or sustainable materials, designing more durable fabrics, and even creating markets for clothing resale.”

The audio app space has been booming in India. India has about 150 million daily listeners. They’re the third largest podcast market after the US and China, and they're growing at 50% annually. In fact, the majority of our listeners are from India!

While listening to podcasts is a great way to escape mentally, the third and probably most important topic we discuss on this episode is companies set up to support mental health. Following the year we’ve just had, the demand for mental health services has risen exponentially.

“The mental health market will probably be worth around $250 billion by 2027. So there's a lot of room to grow here.”

Finally, we discuss trading baseball cards on Stock X, creating your own Avatar and the importance of stretching your calves out via a wooden slant box. This episode is jam packed full of great Indian companies you should check out. Download and listen today.

On today’s podcast:

• Sustainable fast fashion brands
• The audio app space
• Taking care of your mental health
• Trading baseball cards
• Stretching your calves

Links:

• The August Company
• No Nasties
• North Mist
• KuKu FM
• Pocket FM
• Mind House
• Stock X

We are super excited for this episode of Halo Drop. At the start of the pandemic we hosted an amazing conversation with American football player, Jerry Rice, who imparted a wealth of wisdom gleaned during his time both on and off the football field.

“I never thought I would get drafted and go on to live the ultimate dream of playing professional football. You know, a guy out of Mississippi who goes to Mississippi Valley State University and gets drafted by the greatest team ever: The San Francisco 49ers.”

Jerry is a Hall of Famer, was a part of three winning Super Bowl teams and holds over 100 NFL records. Today he’s the CEO and founder of GOAT Fuel (Greatest Of All Time).

“You're not always going to win. But it's like, what do you do when you don't? And that's when I think you realize that you have to be tougher, you gotta be stronger. You have to be able to fight through adversity.”

In this episode, Jerry shares his journey from football dream to reality, the power of working together as a team, winning the Super Bowl three times, why losing makes you stronger, how to prepare mentally and physically for greatness and longevity, and why the GOAT mindset is for everyone.

“I'll do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t. That's what I'm all about. That's what I did in football. I always tell people to love what you do, and always give 100%.”

On today’s podcast:

• From football dream to reality
• Winning and losing the Super Bowl
• Why fear of failure is his biggest motivator
• The importance of leading by example
• Fueling the GOAT mindset

Links:

• Jerry Rice
• https://goatfuel.com/

If you’re an Indian entrepreneur or you're thinking about founding a startup in India, don’t miss Venktesh Shukla this week on Halo Drop. Venk is a general partner in Monta Vista Capital, a VC company focused on seed stage B2B companies, bringing a hands-on operational approach to the first years of a company's life.

As President of TiE, a nonprofit that exists to promote wealth creation through entrepreneurship, Venk presides over one of the most powerful networks focused on technology startups in Silicon Valley. Venk is also the founding chair and active member of the TiE angels, one of the most active angel investor groups in the Valley.

“In those 3 years that the group invested in 25 companies, I wrote only 5 checks, but those 5 companies turned out to be the best of those 25, and nobody else in that 100% investor group got those 5 right.”

Venk is also involved in Startup India, an initiative designed to make it easier to startup, fund and grow a company in India.

“I used to write extensively, criticising [startup] policies in newspapers in India. The government thought that the best way for them to prevent me from writing all these things is to bring me inside.”

In this latest episode, Venk shares his incredible journey: from his boyhood dream of being an engineer, to coming to the US for his MBA. How he became Teradyne’s most successful sales person having never sold before. Why he became a VC. How he became involved in Startup India. Why having a wide network of people is invaluable. And how meditation gets his head back in the game.

“I sit down and try to figure out where I want to be two years from today. That frames how I should be spending my time today. What do I want to see happen in two years from today, and then work backwards from there.”

On today’s podcast:

• Finding product market fit
• Becoming a TiE angel
• The advantage of being a distributed company
• Startup India
• His advice for new entrepreneurs

Links:

• Venktesh Shukla
• https://tie.org
• @vshukl
• https://www.montavc.com/
• Steve Blank - The Four Steps To The Epiphany
• Bertrand Russell - In Praise Of Idleness
• Ries & Trout - Positioning