From Urban Ladder to Antler India: Insights from a Founder turned VC | Rajiv Srivatsa | BP2B S2E20

This week’s guest on the Best Place to Build Podcast is someone who builds by enabling others to build. Rajiv Srivatsa’s journey began with IIT Madras, moved through Infosys, an MBA, and multiple professional roles, before he went on to co-found Urban Ladder with a friend. In this episode, he shares why they chose to sell furniture online, how they challenged traditional buying behaviour, and what gave them the confidence to build a digital-first furniture brand. Today, Rajiv works closely with early-stage founders—helping them identify strong ideas, refine their vision, and build companies with clarity and purpose. He also talks about how the four stages of Ikigai inspire his thinking on work, life, and entrepreneurship, and how that philosophy guides the way he supports founders. Watch the full episode to learn about: The journey behind Urban Ladder Different types of builders and why they are both necessary How Ikigai influences Rajiv’s approach to building Four stages of building a company Chapters: [00:02:00] Antler India and Rajiv’s role in the company [00:08:37] Rajiv’s interpretation of the word ‘Build’ [00:16:30] Rajiv’s journey and perspective on Builders [00:21:33] The four stages of building a company [00:30:06] Mini Masterclass: How to Approach Building a Company [00:42:00] A walk-through of the Urban Ladder journey [00:49:00] Rajiv’s approach to building culture at work [00:54:04] Why IIT Madras is a great environment to build [00:57:59] Wrapping Thoughts and Rajiv’s IITM batch # Antler #AntlerIndia #VentureCapitalist #Builder #Founder #CultureatWork #BestPlacetoBuild #IITMadras

Rajiv Srivatsaguest

Jan 30, 20261h 0mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: January 30, 2026
Duration: 1h 0m
Channel: Best Place To Build
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

This week’s guest on the Best Place to Build Podcast is someone who builds by enabling others to build. Rajiv Srivatsa’s journey began with IIT Madras, moved through Infosys, an MBA, and multiple professional roles, before he went on to co-found Urban Ladder with a friend. In this episode, he shares why they chose to sell furniture online, how they challenged traditional buying behaviour, and what gave them the confidence to build a digital-first furniture brand. Today, Rajiv works closely with early-stage founders—helping them identify strong ideas, refine their vision, and build companies with clarity and purpose. He also talks about how the four stages of Ikigai inspire his thinking on work, life, and entrepreneurship, and how that philosophy guides the way he supports founders. Watch the full episode to learn about: The journey behind Urban Ladder Different types of builders and why they are both necessary How Ikigai influences Rajiv’s approach to building Four stages of building a company Chapters: [00:02:00] Antler India and Rajiv’s role in the company [00:08:37] Rajiv’s interpretation of the word ‘Build’ [00:16:30] Rajiv’s journey and perspective on Builders [00:21:33] The four stages of building a company [00:30:06] Mini Masterclass: How to Approach Building a Company [00:42:00] A walk-through of the Urban Ladder journey [00:49:00] Rajiv’s approach to building culture at work [00:54:04] Why IIT Madras is a great environment to build [00:57:59] Wrapping Thoughts and Rajiv’s IITM batch # Antler #AntlerIndia #VentureCapitalist #Builder #Founder #CultureatWork #BestPlacetoBuild #IITMadras

SPEAKERS

Rajiv Srivatsa
guest

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Best Place To Build, featuring Rajiv Srivatsa, From Urban Ladder to Antler India: Insights from a Founder turned VC | Rajiv Srivatsa | BP2B S2E20 explores founder Rajiv Srivatsa on building, culture, and day-zero investing Rajiv frames “building” as creating something from nothing that delivers measurable impact, evaluated by both depth (meaningfulness) and scale (reach).

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