Show notes
Manhar Garegrat joined CoinDCX when it was 35 employees. He left when it had grown to 750, right as the Indian crypto market went from banned to wide open.Then he did something most people wouldn't: walked away from that kind of growth and that kind of salary to co-found Panthera, a Web3 infrastructure startup that pivoted from retail wallets to B2B just four months in, when the retail thesis didn't hold up. Eleven months later, after raising money proved harder than the enthusiasm warranted, he moved on to Liminal, where he now heads the country business.In this founder story, Manhar takes us through his path from digital marketing and mobile app growth into crypto, what 14 months of back-and-forth with Singapore's Monetary Authority actually taught him about regulation, why conviction sometimes has to override the numbers, and his honest take on why entrepreneurship isn't something you fully walk away from once you've done it.⏱️ Timestamps:0:00 – Introduction1:43 – From Final Cut Pro to fintech to crypto: how the career actually happened3:34 – Joining the VDA space in 2019, and learning from the OGs of 2012-134:33 – Building Panthera's foundation at CoinDCX5:35 – Scaling from 35 to 750 employees after the RBI ban was quashed6:34 – 14 months with Singapore's Monetary Authority: what regulators actually want9:16 – Starting Pantheira: the bet on Web3 infrastructure9:54 – The retail wallet pivot: what Instagram and Meta's crypto ambitions taught him12:38 – Taking the leap: letting go of a CoinDCX salary13:04 – Why raising funds was harder than expected16:16 – Life after Panthera: joining Liminal17:30 – Three don'ts for aspiring entrepreneurs🎙️ Chasing Impact covers six sectors shaping the next decade of India: Fintech, AI, Climate, Mobility, HealthTech, and Defence.🔔 Subscribe for a new episode every week.
