"Infrastructure always beats applications."

This is the core philosophy that made Sharad Sanghi one of India's most successful tech entrepreneurs.

While others built consumer apps, he built the data centers that powered them. Now at 56, he's doing it again with AI infrastructure, showing why betting on the plumbing beats betting on the applications.

Sharad Sanghi is a pioneer who built India's technology infrastructure backbone. He founded NetMagic in 1998, India's first data center company, scaling it to ₹3,600 crores revenue and 19 data centers before selling to NTT Communications for $116 million. Under his leadership, the company grew to serve 1,500+ enterprise customers with 300MW of IT capacity. After a successful exit, he's now building his second unicorn - Neysa, an AI cloud platform that raised $50 million in just 6 months. With degrees from IIT Bombay and Columbia University, and experience building the early internet backbone in the US, Sharad brings 30+ years of infrastructure expertise to India's AI revolution.

Key Insights from the Conversation:

👉Infrastructure-First Strategy: Building foundational technology layers creates more defensible businesses than applications

👉Crisis Management: Survived dot-com crash and 2008 financial crisis through disciplined focus on profitability over growth

👉Zero Layoff Philosophy: Maintained employment through multiple economic downturns, proving empathy drives long-term success

👉80-20 Cloud Strategy: Competed with hyperscalers by focusing on 20% of features that 80% of customers actually use

👉AI Market Opportunity: India's transition from labor arbitrage to product innovation creates massive global opportunities

👉Supply-Constrained Business: Data center and AI infrastructure businesses benefit from demand exceeding supply

👉Second Innings Mentality: Starting a new venture at 56 proves age is irrelevant when solving transformative problems

This insightful conversation was conducted by Akshay Datt, serial entrepreneur and host of Founder Thesis, India's leading startup-focused podcast featuring deep conversations with disruptive founders.

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