Vani Kola

The best funding decision I ever made? Not raising. For two years, I bootstrapped my first company. It gave me time. Control over the pace of growth. And clarity I couldn't have bought. But I've ...

“𝗔 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲" - 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗞𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿. A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. We can apply this to many aspects of life. When applied to leadership, it shi...

Thank you, TiE Bangalore, for the warm welcome. Looking forward to building together.

We often keep going back to 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 to seek inspiration. By observing and mimicking the intricacies of nature, scientists and engineers have been able to build interesting technologies. Rob...

“The cloud is just someone else’s computer… sitting on someone else’s land, drinking someone else’s water.” Google’s decision to withdraw its $2 billion data centre project from Indianapolis staye...

I came across this quote recently that triggered a longer reflection. Charles Dickens wrote this in 1836, but it feels relevant even today: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧...

The Union Budget 2026 underscores a decisive shift in India’s economic growth strategy: 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡. What stood out for m...

Terminal 2, Bangalore feels less like an airport and more like a pause. You walk slower without knowing why. Exotic trees tucked between glass and steel. Leaf shapes you last noticed in botany cla...

𝗗𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 𝗜𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 When I was eight, a cousin pushed me into an irrigation well. I was pulled out quickly. But the fear stayed. I avoided water. Last year, knee rehab brought me back to the p...

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭?” “𝘐𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘨… 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦?” “𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 '𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴'? Curious about these? Here are my musings on celebrating 20 years of Kalaari Cap...

What’s something that can hold the fascination of a 5-year-old, a 35-year-old, and a 65-year-old at the same time? 𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗢. When my children were younger, visiting Legoland was a yearly ritual. Lo...

Innovation doesn’t come from certainty nor is it overnight success. It comes from the repeated failures and learning insights. “If you don’t give people a chance to fail, you won’t innovate.” Fa...

For every Einstein, Newton, or Curie, there are those whose work changed the world, yet they remain unknown. Progress isn’t built just by the few, but also by those who work in the shadows, relent...

The world full of wonder hidden in plain sight. In the everyday sounds, shapes, and patterns, a deeper logic we often overlook. Ideas that seemed small on the surface, but ripple into something f...

Five years ago, if someone had said that skincare in India would become a cultural shift not just a category Most of us would have smiled and moved on. Yet here we are 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘂𝗺𝘀 in every bathroom 𝗮𝗰...

Words have the power to change lives, influence decisions, and encourage reflection. Every Monday, I share quotes and my thoughts on what the words meant to me. Words by different leaders, shaped ...

There is a place where innovation feels alive and the impossible becomes possible. Every time I visit IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP) I am highly energised. surrounded by young builders who ...

What would happen if you dropped a ball straight through the Earth?' This was a question we were asked to contemplate in Physics class. The hint is 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆. In theory, if you could drill a perf...

“𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.” — Swami Vivekananda Millions have been inspired by Swami Vivekananda’s words and his life. He...

A young team member recently described an idea as “so delulu.” Everyone laughed. I paused. Half intrigued, half confused. Turns out, delulu is short for delusional, but in a playful, self-aware...