Venkat Ramaswamy is a professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, contributing to innovation, strategy, marketing, branding, IT, operations and organizational behaviour. His scholarly work (over 40,000 Google Scholar citations) and practical ideas have earned global recognition. In 2004, alongside C.K. Prahalad, he introduced the idea of Co-Creation in the bestseller, The Future of Competition, reshaping value generation through interactive experiences and collaboration. His ideas evolved into transformative practices leveraging digital engagement platforms and multi-stakeholder interactions, detailed further in The Power of Co-Creation (2010) and The Co-Creation Paradigm (2014). Venkat holds degrees from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and IIT Madras.
Krishnan Narayanan is the co-founder and president of itihaasa Research and Digital, where he studies emerging technologies and innovations. Previously, he was a member of the Infosys Labs Management Council. He is an award-winning author of Against All Odds: The IT Story of India (2022) and Empowering India: Ideas for Action by Scientists and Engineers (2023), and has co-chronicled the world’s largest oral history of Indian IT. Krishnan serves as founding Board member of AquaMAP water centre, adviser to the Global Learning Council, and teaches and researches at IIT Madras and its Centre for Responsible AI. Krishnan holds degrees from IIT Madras and XLRI Jamshedpur.
Sanjay Bista is a writer of fiction in Nepali in the postmodernist tradition. His published works include the short-story collections Jun Jastai Ghaam (The Sun, Like the Moon) and Astachaltira (Towards Sunset). This Place of Mud and Bone (Matako Ghar), his first novel, was shortlisted for the Madan Puraskar, Nepal’s premier literary prize, in 2023. Bista teaches at Kalimpong College in north Bengal.
Slurrp Farm was born from the concern of two mothers who realized that the current food system is broken, and requires innovation and creativity to re-introduce sustainable, nutrient dense, and diverse ingredients back into our children’s diet. This is the best way to ensure that kids, farmers and the planet stay happy.
Founder-director of Artsphere & Soulsphere, a unique arts and healing centre in Pune, Anubha Doshi is an award-winning entrepreneur, psychologist, mindfulness-based psychotherapist, expressive arts therapist, classical dancer and accomplished author. Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Expressive Arts Therapy, she holds postgraduate degrees in Clinical Psychology and Communication Management.
Recognized with prestigious honours like She The Shakti, Anubha actively contributes to academic conferences, faculty roles and research initiatives, advancing the fields of expressive arts and therapy.
Manmeet K. Walia is a curator and writer from New Delhi, India, with an ongoing practice focusing on young South Asian voices. After practising journalism for over half-a-decade, she transitioned to working in the Arts. Walia’s curatorial projects include The Library Project, supported by the University of the Arts London (2023), Woven Expression, Chelsea Space, London (2023), and Lines (By)Lines, New Delhi (2022), amongst others.
Walia’s repertoire of public programmes includes working with the Royal Academy of Arts, London, Chelsea Space, London, Faiz Festival, Lahore, and SAPAN, Boston amongst others. She views her curatorial practice as an expressive form of art that allows her to address social issues through experiential discourse.
Nitin Babel is a two-time entrepreneur. He has been recognized by Forbes Asia as 30 under 30, and as a Young Alumni Achiever by IIT Kharagpur. Growing up, Nitin heard his parents’ cautionary tales about the hardships of running a business. Still, he persevered and at the age of 25, he co-founded an AI venture, which received funding from Ratan Tata. Post-pandemic, Nitin ventured into his second startup, bringing with him a decade of navigating the ups and downs of entrepreneurial life. In 2022, he felt inspired to write about the authentic stories of modern entrepreneurs. Through this book, he hopes to offer budding entrepreneurs a realistic and 360-degree perspective on starting-up.
Prateek Roy Chowdhury grew up in the Himalayas, immersed in stories that powered his passion for storytelling. His passion for narratives—fueled by countless Amar Chitra Kathas—eventually led him to IIT Kharagpur where he developed an enduring passion for psychology and mentorship. Now an HR leader at a multinational corporation, Prateek guides future leaders and entrepreneurs in their start-up journey. He believes stories have the power to alter destinies and through this book, aims to help aspiring entrepreneurs find purpose and meaning.
