Deliberate Talks ft. Akshar Madhavaram - Reshaping the sports landscape with fans experience.

[00:00:00] Welcome to another exciting episode of the Deliberate Talks Podcast and I'm your host, Dakshin Adyanthaya, here to take you ringside into the realm of sports innovation and entrepreneurial drive. So get ready to dive into the fast-paced world of sports leagues, fan engagements and startup growth as we sit down today with our guest, Akshar Madhavaram. Akshar is the co-founder of 12R, an elite fan engagement platform with a decade of partnerships spanning across premier sporting leagues.

[00:00:28] He also leads the charge at IPBL, the International Professional Boxing League. Today, we'll uncover how Akshar's vision is reshaping the sports landscape, building communities and transforming how fans experience their favorite sports. It's all coming up right after this quick intro.

[00:00:50] This is the Deliberate Talks weekly podcast powered by the Pixelated Egg Digital Ventures.

[00:01:02] And we are back. Hello, Akshar. Welcome to the Deliberate Talks Podcast. Super thrilled to have you today.

[00:01:08] I'm doing great, Dakshin. And yeah, I'm extremely thrilled and excited to get going.

[00:01:14] Super. Thank you, Akshar. So before we kick things off, I want to start with asking you, if you had to put a boxing rule to this podcast interview, what rule would you instate right away?

[00:01:25] So like, just like in boxing, how can you not hit below the belt?

[00:01:31] I would ask you not to ask me a lot of secrets and a lot of things that are cooking. So yeah.

[00:01:37] Damn, that's going to be hard. I'm going to keep myself not away from asking you this, but I'll try my best.

[00:01:43] So now that we are all prepped up for the show, I'm going to start with asking you some amazing things that you've been up to.

[00:01:49] So let's start with how did you conceptualize this whole journey of 12R and IPPL happened to you?

[00:01:56] What sparked the entire idea of boxing as a sport?

[00:02:00] So I mean, the things always start, especially if you're an entrepreneur, starting something on your own, understanding all the intricacies and how difficult it is.

[00:02:09] So ideally, it always starts very early on, right?

[00:02:13] So there's always some fundamental foundational thing in your head, which kind of drives you towards your first business of sorts.

[00:02:19] So I've always been a sports person all my childhood, although I was studious, but I was like always in the sports captain, sports team, like a captain sort of a role always in college and in school.

[00:02:33] So sport was always go to escape reality at the same time to be competitive, right?

[00:02:41] I think maybe secrete all those mind juices naturally, I would say.

[00:02:45] So that's how sport was for me all my life.

[00:02:49] And another thing which was important for me to always think about, what do I do next?

[00:02:53] When I was in a phase where, what do I do next?

[00:02:55] It was COVID.

[00:02:56] A lot of things were changing in the world.

[00:02:58] A lot of new things were happening.

[00:03:00] And then that's when I kind of reconnected with my childhood friend, who and I go way back, right?

[00:03:06] We started school together when we were first graders.

[00:03:08] So, and I always knew his dad was a professional boxer and he was from a boxing family.

[00:03:14] I've heard stories been between when he was hosted an event sometime, like a few years back before COVID.

[00:03:21] So having known that when he told me, let's have a chat, I'm doing something in the space of boxing and crypto.

[00:03:28] Are you like, do you want to hear it out?

[00:03:30] Do you want to like maybe see how can you help me out in this?

[00:03:33] When I hear the story, I was like, okay, maybe I can do this.

[00:03:36] I can do that.

[00:03:36] Then slowly the discussions went so intense and we kind of wiped so much.

[00:03:41] And it was, it was like a calling.

[00:03:43] Then I went, I was like, all in.

[00:03:44] Let me just, I kind of, I cannot at this point be half-hearted with such a good opportunity.

[00:03:49] I have to like go all in and then be like the co-founder and get going with all the things together.

[00:03:55] So that's, that's how the thing started off.

[00:03:57] Okay, lovely.

[00:03:58] But why boxing?

[00:03:59] Like, yes.

[00:04:00] Did you love personally being a part of the sport?

[00:04:03] Have you played the sport or why boxing?

[00:04:05] So yes.

[00:04:06] So no, like, so again, a bit of philosophy before I directly answer the question.

[00:04:11] So there were, I was, there are two kinds of philosophies which people keep living by, right?

[00:04:17] One philosophy is that, hey, there are some North Stars, like good college, good job or ideal MBA

[00:04:23] or some, some job, some exam, government exam of some sorts.

[00:04:28] And they run behind that.

[00:04:29] And once they get there, they think life is all set, right?

[00:04:32] Right.

[00:04:32] And then there is the other philosophy where you, life just gives you opportunities or throws

[00:04:37] things at you.

[00:04:38] And then it's all about how, how do you love, like make use of each opportunity, go all in

[00:04:43] and like absorb all of it, right?

[00:04:45] And then do something meaningful out of it.

[00:04:48] I'm a big believer of the second.

[00:04:49] So in that way, when this came to me, I didn't think of anything more than saying, hey, it

[00:04:55] kind of vibes with me and it's a sport end of the day.

[00:04:58] Every sport has the same thing.

[00:04:59] I played multiple sports in childhood.

[00:05:01] So even though I never played boxing, I understood the entire dynamics is going to be the same,

[00:05:07] right?

[00:05:07] So because of that, it didn't never, never stopped me from going all in.

[00:05:12] Although when I was starting off, I didn't know anything about boxing.

[00:05:14] Honestly, I knew I watched some boxing matches with some friends in college and in my childhood,

[00:05:20] but I knew the names, but I didn't know the rules.

[00:05:23] I didn't know the entire intricacies and stuff.

[00:05:26] But as I started, I had this opportunity of like leading this entire thing, strategically

[00:05:32] approached it.

[00:05:33] Then naturally I became a fan, right?

[00:05:35] I've consumed so much boxing and I realized, hey, I mean, I'm more and more like confirmed

[00:05:41] that India as a geography will love this sport if it becomes a popular sport of any sorts.

[00:05:48] So, so yeah.

[00:05:49] So again, you know, just coming to that part of it and then you went ahead and started with

[00:05:54] 12R and IPBL, you were a part of the, you know, the core members.

[00:05:58] But what is 12R?

[00:06:00] I'm also keen on knowing that.

[00:06:02] What's the name 12R mean?

[00:06:04] Yeah.

[00:06:04] So it stands for 12 rounds.

[00:06:06] So 12 rounds.

[00:06:08] Boxing typically has 12 rounds.

[00:06:10] Professional boxing.

[00:06:10] So it's 12 rounds.

[00:06:12] It encompasses other combat sports also, like for MMA, for instance, has three to five rounds.

[00:06:19] Boxing also has three or four to 12 rounds.

[00:06:23] And each and every combat sports kind of goes in the rounds format.

[00:06:27] So, so yeah.

[00:06:28] So like the overall art is going to be the 12 rounds.

[00:06:32] It's going to be the go-to for combat, combat sports enthusiasts, be it content, be it any

[00:06:39] sort of games and engagement with other fellow combat sports enthusiasts.

[00:06:44] They would want to come there, hang out.

[00:06:45] And we're also creating an entire incentive layer around it using the cryptocurrencies and

[00:06:51] stuff.

[00:06:52] So yeah, that's, that's what 12R is in short.

[00:06:56] Right.

[00:06:56] So now that you're speaking about 12R, you know, it also focuses, like you mentioned about

[00:07:01] elite fan engagement.

[00:07:03] Yes.

[00:07:03] But what differentiates your approach from other sporting platforms that does the same?

[00:07:08] Like, how do you build that unique connection between fans and athletes?

[00:07:13] Yes.

[00:07:13] I mean, like fan engagement is something that's very, very, very important for every sport.

[00:07:21] What we are kind of tackling is like a small, small white space.

[00:07:25] You're not doing something very novel.

[00:07:27] You're not trying to do something game changing, cutting edge.

[00:07:30] You're not doing AI, ML, mix all that with some sort of VR, AR, and we're not doing anything

[00:07:35] of that sort.

[00:07:36] But we realized that, hey, a lot of sports have benefited from the crypto technologies

[00:07:41] through how people use NFTs, collectibles or fan tokens for the sport, how it kind of added

[00:07:48] some revenue and added some visibility and even engagement for the sport.

[00:07:53] And we also heavily researched and gone through a lot of case studies, how fantasy sports or

[00:07:58] other games like Dream 11 and other brand collaborations in general have helped sport

[00:08:03] and sport stars, right?

[00:08:05] To become even more famous and create some meaningful stories out there.

[00:08:10] So when we realized that, then we were like, hey, we need to do and we went back to boxing.

[00:08:15] We was thinking, yeah, let's do events.

[00:08:17] Let's do something with NFTs.

[00:08:19] Let's do something fancy, right?

[00:08:21] And then we're like, hey, wait, within the combat sports world, it's a huge world.

[00:08:26] There are like a lot of fragmented combat sports martial arts that exist globally.

[00:08:31] And no, people don't know.

[00:08:33] People don't know the difference between wrestling or WWE or UFC or MMA or like the local kusti,

[00:08:41] like local, what is wrestling?

[00:08:43] What is this?

[00:08:44] What is Olympics?

[00:08:44] What is amateur?

[00:08:45] What is professional?

[00:08:46] So complicated.

[00:08:47] And it's very segmented because they have a lot of, lot of history.

[00:08:52] Combat sports have been there even like before a lot of other modern things existed.

[00:08:57] So it's there ever since Mahabharata or your Greek mythologies because wars and armies were something

[00:09:04] and entertainment people used to do some sort of combat sports itself to entertain the two sides

[00:09:10] and even within your side.

[00:09:12] So because of that reason, it's fragmented and there is no digitization of these stuff,

[00:09:18] be it the content, be it some gamification around that, something.

[00:09:22] So bare minimum things like fantasy boxing, fantasy MMA, fantasy kickboxing didn't exist.

[00:09:29] It doesn't exist to be honest.

[00:09:31] Or there's no single platform where a fan enthusiastically can go to and stuff.

[00:09:35] So when we realize, hey, it's a small problem, but if you leverage the category,

[00:09:40] it'll help the athletes, it'll help the sport.

[00:09:42] At the same time, it'll bring fans closer.

[00:09:45] Because of Dream 11 today, I know a lot of people who don't know anything about cricket,

[00:09:50] like women who maybe were not good enthusiasts of cricket.

[00:09:54] But because of Dream 11, now they know a lot of players' names.

[00:09:58] They know strategies.

[00:09:59] They know a lot of things.

[00:10:00] That kind of showed that, hey, apart from everything else,

[00:10:04] it's a good way to bring fans and athletes closer.

[00:10:09] So that's when 12 are kind of started off.

[00:10:13] And you did mention crypto and NFTs.

[00:10:16] Yes.

[00:10:16] You know, I'm also someone who believes in the technology of blockchain and crypto.

[00:10:21] But, you know, in this whole process, we know how the market has been,

[00:10:24] how the projects have incorporated the gamification of NFTs and crypto

[00:10:30] into their marketing strategy.

[00:10:32] And honestly, it hasn't been really a fruitful conversation for a lot of brands and companies.

[00:10:38] How has it been for you and, you know, R2L as a company?

[00:10:44] How beneficial has it been?

[00:10:47] So definitely what we realized as we started building was,

[00:10:53] hey, what we're solving is a global problem, firstly.

[00:10:56] It's not an India-level problem or something like that.

[00:11:00] And the second thing, what we also noticed is,

[00:11:03] hey, again, our market initially is not going to be India

[00:11:07] because Indians don't know boxing.

[00:11:08] So for them, fan engagement is third or fourth step.

[00:11:11] First, we need to show them boxing.

[00:11:12] It needs to be on TV.

[00:11:13] It needs to be on your main news.

[00:11:15] That's another battle that we're fighting parallelly, right?

[00:11:18] But coming to 12-hour, we realized it's a global problem

[00:11:21] and the market has also fragmented globally.

[00:11:23] So that's when we realized as a fundamental philosophy of crypto being an internet thing,

[00:11:30] not heavily regulated with your personal identity,

[00:11:34] the ability to do business or ability to access that product globally becomes much easier

[00:11:40] because you're opening a global financial currency,

[00:11:43] which is your Bitcoin or Ethereum, bringing them onto the platform.

[00:11:46] So for that reason, we realized crypto is going to be the fundamental technology

[00:11:52] when it comes to transactions.

[00:11:54] Although as we get more mature in the form of the organization that we are building

[00:11:59] and also the legal and compliance side of our capabilities keep increasing,

[00:12:03] we'll then integrate the fiat world,

[00:12:08] we'll integrate the other regulations and stuff in place.

[00:12:12] So that's how we wanted to end of the day, give a user an end-to-end experience

[00:12:17] where they are having that fiat experience and crypto experience.

[00:12:21] And also like, it doesn't matter.

[00:12:23] They just want to enjoy boxing their coming.

[00:12:26] Payments or anything should not be an issue for them to come engage as much.

[00:12:31] So you did mention of all those things from a fan experience to NFTs,

[00:12:35] but are there any other multiple revenue streams that make the model more robust?

[00:12:41] Yes. So I think one of the things which starts off very in the start itself

[00:12:46] is also the pay-per-view side of things, right?

[00:12:48] Because we are also property owners, because we also have our own events that we do.

[00:12:52] And a lot of other like partners of ours, 12 hours partners across the globe

[00:12:58] who do events, but they don't really see today India to be like a place where they can monetize.

[00:13:04] So if we kind of step in and say, if we have the ability to bring the new audiences onto boxing,

[00:13:11] at the same time, maybe they are fight enthusiasts, but they don't watch your country's boxing events.

[00:13:17] So what if we become the face, right?

[00:13:19] So today, for instance, another bagler, right?

[00:13:22] If you look at fan code, what the Dream Sports Company does, right?

[00:13:26] A lot of sports which were not there, accessible to them,

[00:13:29] they just created a face where they can get and put that stuff, right?

[00:13:33] So when we start to, and they focus, same strategy, India as a market,

[00:13:38] and then multiple niche sports.

[00:13:40] They were first in the market, so obviously they picked all the easiest sports.

[00:13:44] Now for us, we capture even more, what do you say, nichier sports,

[00:13:49] which is like your MMA, boxing, karate, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai.

[00:13:53] So all this is also like an underserved market of like 2 billion audience, to be precise.

[00:14:00] So pretty excited to build in this space.

[00:14:02] I'm sure.

[00:14:03] And talking about IPBL, how did your connection with IPBL come into existence?

[00:14:09] So it was always there because Prashant, his dad, and the entire wider boxing ecosystem,

[00:14:16] as it stands at this point, the Indian Boxing Council, the thousands of professional boxers,

[00:14:23] all your cult fit boxers who potentially are actually professional boxers,

[00:14:27] and a lot of retired boxers, coaches, all of them have been craving for something big to happen in India

[00:14:35] when it comes to boxing, right?

[00:14:36] So there was like this one cycle of sporting leagues that came out in India,

[00:14:41] when one after the other came, but COVID kind of destroyed all the ones

[00:14:44] which didn't have strong fundamentals, right?

[00:14:47] And boxing didn't have a solid start in that.

[00:14:50] It didn't come out in that cycle.

[00:14:53] It always had the potential, but I mean, it's just luck always.

[00:14:57] There's the luck factor of when everything falling in place also, right?

[00:15:00] And it is also politics and boxing go way back

[00:15:05] because of combat sports in general, the nature of what these people become

[00:15:09] post their boxing careers, the stardom, the get and all that stuff.

[00:15:13] So yeah, in that sense, when we realize, hey, it requires dedicated attention, capital,

[00:15:20] we need to create strong IPs currently working on two brands,

[00:15:24] the Boxing Bay and the Indian Pro Boxing League, the IPBL.

[00:15:28] So the league is going to be a typical IPL structure with eight franchisees facing off each other.

[00:15:35] The franchisee owners are being onboarded as we speak.

[00:15:38] So we're targeting an event that the league took off next year towards the second half.

[00:15:43] And then the other brand, Boxing Bay, is all about taking boxing to where already people are in India, right?

[00:15:51] Be it colleges, be it breweries, be it some sort of IT parks where there are some spaces where people are already

[00:15:59] hanging out and make it like a more approachable or more accessible thing for audiences

[00:16:06] and use that platform to create cool content at the same time, identify talent, right?

[00:16:11] Who can then become boxers and can become famous overnight because of viral content that can be created.

[00:16:18] So yeah, we're coming out with these properties and trying to make boxing, boxing,

[00:16:22] the next big and popular thing in India.

[00:16:24] Yeah, super.

[00:16:26] You know, just digging in a little more about the Pro Boxing League.

[00:16:31] And you did mention this, there have been some big monies, some big people investments in the past

[00:16:37] in such kind of a format as well.

[00:16:39] We've tried to make boxing IP to the level of IPL, right?

[00:16:44] On a more personal note, I want to know what are some of the challenges that you're currently facing

[00:16:48] in managing to scale up a league like this?

[00:16:51] How are you going to not repeat the same mistakes or do something different where those people did not try

[00:16:58] in terms of succeeding?

[00:17:00] Got it.

[00:17:01] No, a very valid question and thought, right?

[00:17:04] Because it's been 20 years since India, India's masses have been migrated towards the entire sporting culture

[00:17:11] through IPL.

[00:17:12] But not many other sports have made it, right?

[00:17:15] To look at it broadly and widely,

[00:17:18] you'll clearly see that there is cricket on one side and all other sports on the other side, right?

[00:17:23] In terms of fandom, money, everything, right?

[00:17:26] Even everything else put together also doesn't come even like a bit close to the what,

[00:17:32] how big IPL is.

[00:17:34] Might come, maybe soon, like in the next two years, three years,

[00:17:37] they're going to get mature.

[00:17:38] So that's one big reason because India as a whole created this category for the world, right?

[00:17:45] So India, Indian ecosystems, investors, capital from India, from abroad,

[00:17:51] who are Indians connections and networks, right?

[00:17:54] The entire ecosystem of India, core India, has been investing so much into cricket that

[00:18:00] every other sport is a risk for an investor to think of.

[00:18:05] Because people are either personally invested into cricket because their kids play cricket

[00:18:09] or they have some somebody, they invested in exporting cricket sort of an asset.

[00:18:15] Any sorts of that, right?

[00:18:17] Because of that, people don't want to do anything, even favors.

[00:18:21] If you have some favors to call in, I have some favor to ask you, give sponsorship to the event

[00:18:25] or give some funding to this event, give some CSR to this other sport, right?

[00:18:30] So all these are favors which need to be called at a higher level.

[00:18:36] That's when big capital comes into sports, right?

[00:18:39] And when all these are being repeatedly used onto cricket and everybody's invested.

[00:18:45] So that's the reason every other sport in India cannot dream of what IPL is doing

[00:18:51] because that IPL needs to wear off and which we Indians will not let go of, right?

[00:18:56] So at the same time, although that has been a challenge, another bright side is even without

[00:19:03] having to kill IPL or degrade what the amount of wealth going into IPL or cricket in general,

[00:19:12] India's consumption level is also increasing a lot.

[00:19:16] So that kind of is the time where people will want more experiences, more spending capabilities

[00:19:21] and you're not competing.

[00:19:23] People want everything.

[00:19:24] If they watch something today, they would want to watch something else tomorrow.

[00:19:28] And then the priorities increase, their consumptions, they become more choosy.

[00:19:31] So that's when more niche things starts blowing out of proportion, right?

[00:19:36] So all the sports in India are eagerly waiting for that time where more brands come invest

[00:19:42] and more capital flows into the category of sports in general.

[00:19:46] So that has been the primary challenge, right?

[00:19:49] It's a very, very deep issue.

[00:19:52] It's not just, you can't say it's one thing.

[00:19:54] It's not money.

[00:19:55] It's not like support.

[00:19:57] It's not like fame.

[00:19:58] It's not talent.

[00:19:58] It's not like some politics.

[00:20:00] You can't blame anything.

[00:20:01] It's like as a country, we've invested so much and are some or the other way invested

[00:20:08] into cricket.

[00:20:09] It is difficult for any other sport to grow as rapidly as possible.

[00:20:15] So there are some selfless folks across India putting in their time.

[00:20:21] They're personally devoted to the sport.

[00:20:23] They're creating their own subculture of their own.

[00:20:26] And that's how the sport has survived so far, right?

[00:20:29] Now we are adding on to that, trying to take that subculture to become a bigger culture,

[00:20:34] right?

[00:20:34] So that it remains with the Indian contemporary world that we're trying to create.

[00:20:41] But yeah, excited to see how it goes.

[00:20:44] But just extending that conversation, I know no one's to be blamed for this.

[00:20:47] Because you have your set of fans and you have your set of brands and companies looking to

[00:20:54] invest when there is a potential, right?

[00:20:56] They're putting in money.

[00:20:57] From a larger conversation, do you think there are enough people coming into the sport as a

[00:21:02] talent looking forward to become an athlete in the world of boxing?

[00:21:07] And two, does it support with regards to infrastructure enough for more and more talent

[00:21:13] to come up there and then scale up to a global level?

[00:21:16] What is your personal thought of that?

[00:21:18] Yes, perfect.

[00:21:20] Very well framed question because there are two things, right?

[00:21:22] There is the human side of it, the talent, and then the material side of it, which is

[00:21:26] the infrastructure, right?

[00:21:29] Infrastructure, I'll tackle it.

[00:21:30] We do boxing events in a brewery.

[00:21:33] That means it's like a 20 by 20 feet space, right?

[00:21:37] All that we need.

[00:21:38] Maybe a couple of mics and some lights, very minimal lights because all you have to focus

[00:21:42] is on two people fighting.

[00:21:44] So to host an event, we can go as low as 2-3 lakh rupees, right?

[00:21:50] Whereas even a most local high school cricket event might cost you more because of the ground

[00:21:56] maintenance and all that stuff.

[00:21:58] So compared to any other sport, the infra play to host an event is so easy.

[00:22:04] To come to then play, it's even more easier.

[00:22:07] All you need is like you can just shadow box and learn boxing, right?

[00:22:12] You can all you need to invest is in one boxing bag, right?

[00:22:15] You don't need a ground.

[00:22:16] You don't need to go travel somewhere to like learn the sport and all that stuff.

[00:22:21] Obviously, I'm making it sound way more easier.

[00:22:24] But it's more about the mindset, right?

[00:22:27] The perception is, hey, it's a violent sport.

[00:22:30] You'll get hit.

[00:22:32] But to be honest, every sport is violent.

[00:22:34] I think I'm more scared of stretching my leg to reach a badminton shuttlecock and I might

[00:22:41] just pray in order to do something, right?

[00:22:43] For me, that's scared.

[00:22:44] And for some person, getting hit on the face is as scary.

[00:22:49] But for some people, getting hit on the face is like, okay, it's normal because their lifestyle

[00:22:53] is like that, right?

[00:22:54] And for some, maybe just doing a simple thing like jumping in water is scary.

[00:22:58] So you can't say like boxing is violent just because it is perceived or showcased as a

[00:23:04] violent sport through movies or other things.

[00:23:06] To be honest, it's just every other sport.

[00:23:09] How much of a risk is there in any other sport, there is that risk in boxing too.

[00:23:14] So talent, it's damn easy.

[00:23:16] The resources you needed to take it up is easy.

[00:23:19] And coming back to the individual, their Haryana belts in the North showed that it's an aspirable

[00:23:27] thing.

[00:23:28] You get good government jobs.

[00:23:29] You become fit in life.

[00:23:30] You are very responsible.

[00:23:32] You have that macho persona around you.

[00:23:35] You have celebrities who are made wealth globally from boxing.

[00:23:39] So all the things are favorable, right?

[00:23:42] So what exactly is missing again is just the culture aspect, right?

[00:23:46] It's like the chicken and egg problem.

[00:23:48] You have, you need talent to have a sport.

[00:23:51] You have, you need the sport to, for the talent to come there, right?

[00:23:55] So if you ignore the fact, why is there no talent?

[00:23:58] It's not like talent doesn't exist, but the talent quickly quits the sport.

[00:24:03] It's like every year there are so many people aspiring to be a boxer.

[00:24:06] The second they have a decision to make.

[00:24:08] Hey, should I go to the government job, take a government job, quit, forget the sport for

[00:24:13] the rest of your life?

[00:24:14] Or hey, there is a professional pathway for me, train, invest in myself.

[00:24:19] I can actually become an asset, make money, create content parallelly.

[00:24:23] So all that is, it's not aspirational yet.

[00:24:27] The second it becomes aspirational, I think volume of people that we have who are fit,

[00:24:34] who aspire to be like a model, who aspire to like be macho, who aspire to like be your

[00:24:40] Andrew Tate or all your, what do you say, the toxic masculinity that they want to portray

[00:24:46] themselves to be.

[00:24:47] Yeah.

[00:24:47] All this kind of can be channeled into like a more sporty character that they can become,

[00:24:53] right?

[00:24:53] And across the globe that changed lives of a lot of people who are in different sections

[00:24:58] in economy to like scale up, level up their lifestyle because of the sport, how easy it

[00:25:04] is to get in.

[00:25:05] So yeah, and India has a lot of potential.

[00:25:08] Speaking in the, even in the darker side of a lot of people who are in that category of

[00:25:13] always willing to fight, get into fights, have that in them, right?

[00:25:17] Indians have that in them.

[00:25:19] They always love watching anime or films or even the street fight they want to go watch.

[00:25:26] So both in the viewership aspect and also to participate, there's always interest.

[00:25:31] It's just the pathway that they need to see.

[00:25:34] This pathway is set for a person.

[00:25:37] If it is set, majority subscribe to it.

[00:25:39] And if this sort of a pathway is set for boxing, it is very well established with cricket.

[00:25:46] How you have to get into like a training, very young age.

[00:25:50] You then try to get into the school level events.

[00:25:52] And there is a pathway you have, you know, which academies are good in your local area and

[00:25:57] which selection you need to clear.

[00:25:59] And then which cricket event you need to go play well to get selected so that everything

[00:26:04] is set for cricket.

[00:26:05] And it took time.

[00:26:07] And similarly for boxing, we're trying to do the same thing.

[00:26:10] Establish the local level to the world level.

[00:26:14] Bring a very clear picture.

[00:26:16] Okay.

[00:26:16] Hey, if I want to build my career, this is the way to go.

[00:26:19] And for them, then it's all about dedicating their time and performing well.

[00:26:24] So that it is just make a living out of it as such.

[00:26:29] Thanks.

[00:26:31] And, you know, I just want to conclude this round with asking you an interesting talent

[00:26:36] story in a boxing match that you have witnessed because we are talking so much about boxing

[00:26:41] fights and talent.

[00:26:42] I really want to know which is that interesting story that made you go like, I am creating

[00:26:48] figures of things like this that I watch.

[00:26:51] I mean, things here in the sport have been slightly towards on the darker side.

[00:26:58] It is not like, hey, there's some cool, interesting stuff that people can associate with.

[00:27:04] It's more around how determined the people are, right?

[00:27:08] How much their personal, the wages that they live on and the work they do.

[00:27:13] I have this, I know this one person who's like, his day job is to go like break stones and

[00:27:21] carry them to another place.

[00:27:23] And it's a very menial job.

[00:27:25] And people today don't even aspire to be that.

[00:27:28] But he was that.

[00:27:29] And at the same time, a very stylish boxer in the ring, fighting, winning and fighting

[00:27:34] in Dubai, fighting in Russia, fighting in different places.

[00:27:37] So that sort of thing shows, right?

[00:27:41] Like if Instagram Reels is praised and it's evaluated so much because it's changing people's

[00:27:47] lives from like racks to riches or like that showing some their uniqueness in their own

[00:27:52] way to the world.

[00:27:53] Right.

[00:27:53] So similarly, any sport has that power of like changing somebody's life over time.

[00:28:00] So that is like a very deep rooted meaning that exists because people's life depend on

[00:28:05] it.

[00:28:05] And people's lives can be changed through the entire work that we are currently putting

[00:28:11] out.

[00:28:11] Always is like a good, meaningful or like, although however impossible it kind of seems, we keep

[00:28:17] going at it.

[00:28:18] So that's, that's a primary reason.

[00:28:21] It's not that fancy side of thing.

[00:28:22] But obviously once, if, if things are put into motion, then always it is going to be

[00:28:27] boxing as fancy it can get, right?

[00:28:29] It's the Saudi life.

[00:28:30] It's the, it's like Ronaldo and Salman Khan standing beside each other to watch a boxing

[00:28:36] event.

[00:28:36] So if things work out, then obviously the lifestyle is going to be very fancy.

[00:28:41] It's going to be fun.

[00:28:42] So that's also your incentive, right?

[00:28:45] You should not shy away from that fancy culture being built in India.

[00:28:50] Absolutely.

[00:28:51] Great stuff there actually.

[00:28:52] Great.

[00:28:53] With that, we come to the end of our first round of questions.

[00:28:56] Time to move to the rapid fire round of questions.

[00:28:59] I'm going to throw some jabs at you.

[00:29:01] Are you ready for this?

[00:29:02] Yes.

[00:29:04] Cool.

[00:29:05] In 60 seconds, three tips for budding entrepreneurs in the sporting business.

[00:29:10] First step is to, you can be an entrepreneur without having to, without like changing your LinkedIn

[00:29:17] status, without establishing an entity, without having a co-founder, without like doing all

[00:29:23] the things that you, without having a pitch deck or a card or an office.

[00:29:27] So it's very important that people realize early on itself that entrepreneurship is not something,

[00:29:34] right?

[00:29:35] It's like, as you are living, you were a student first, then you're a employee, then you're

[00:29:40] like a father, brother, mother, whatever.

[00:29:42] Right.

[00:29:43] Just like that entrepreneur or a business owner is a role that you have to play at some

[00:29:48] point in your life.

[00:29:49] Maybe it is now or it is when you're 80, when you have some properties, you're your owner,

[00:29:53] right?

[00:29:53] You're managing your property.

[00:29:55] So whatever, everything that you're managing is your being a business owner and, and then

[00:30:00] starting your own business, the science of it can be put into entrepreneurship.

[00:30:05] Right.

[00:30:05] So, so as such, it's just a way of doing things, right?

[00:30:09] If you're inculcating your first principles of how dreaming about it itself is being an entrepreneur,

[00:30:16] like one point where I want this business of mine, I want to do this, I want to own my

[00:30:20] stuff at some place.

[00:30:22] Right.

[00:30:23] So that, that spirit needs to be there.

[00:30:26] So that's the first thing, right?

[00:30:27] Get the philosophy of being an entrepreneur first, right?

[00:30:30] Second thing is that it's always good to be humble and be real about what you know and

[00:30:38] what you don't know.

[00:30:39] You need to be your biggest critique and you need to be your biggest motivator at the same

[00:30:44] time.

[00:30:44] So if you're not that kind of a person, so you should not try and jump in very early.

[00:30:50] You might as well build that skills by being an employee, by being working with your dad

[00:30:56] or some other person.

[00:30:58] Just get that sort of experience of being in a routine and having that grind, right?

[00:31:03] So definitely need some basic fundamental skills.

[00:31:06] Even though your idea is next level, everything is next level.

[00:31:09] You need to be organized for sure.

[00:31:11] So that's the second thing.

[00:31:13] And then third one is like having that love for that stuff, whatever you're doing, right?

[00:31:19] You need to love what are you doing.

[00:31:21] Like if you're not completely in to solve that problem or to change something that already

[00:31:30] exists or do something out of pure want or need to do that, it won't work out.

[00:31:37] So unless you have that sort of dedication towards that thing, don't jump in.

[00:31:42] Right.

[00:31:43] Okay.

[00:31:43] In 50 seconds, how do you convince celebrities or will convince other industry mavens to be

[00:31:50] a part of your venture?

[00:31:51] To be honest, till date, it was always that celebrities, I mean, not just celebrities,

[00:31:57] right?

[00:31:58] Any person who you think in your life is like a big shot, be it your boss or be it your

[00:32:03] parents or any big figure starting off from parents to your bosses, celebrities or some

[00:32:09] rich billionaires or not, right?

[00:32:11] They always say yes, very easily.

[00:32:13] If you actually put it very clearly what their role is in the entire thing that you're doing,

[00:32:20] right?

[00:32:21] And in that way, I learned that through what we did, right?

[00:32:25] We were very genuine with our asks.

[00:32:27] We were very straightforward with why we need a celebrity or a person with their skill set

[00:32:33] or their needs there.

[00:32:34] If we put it very clearly and they could relate to that life, their life being mixed with this

[00:32:39] product or this brand or this sport, then they'll easily say yes.

[00:32:43] So when we realized that, then we kept doing what we are doing and then saw what fits,

[00:32:49] what is needed.

[00:32:50] If you try doing that, then it's not going to work.

[00:32:54] It will be true to yourself and the product and the journey.

[00:32:56] And then you can then put in an ask and it becomes very easy for them to say yes because you're

[00:33:02] not just making it very difficult for everybody to do that.

[00:33:05] It's very natural that that happens.

[00:33:07] So that's what we realized.

[00:33:09] In 40 seconds, three cities or arenas you dream to host a boxing match.

[00:33:16] Okay, I'll tell number one the last, right?

[00:33:18] So I'll say number three would be I would want to host one boxing event somewhere in like

[00:33:25] the Himalayas, right?

[00:33:26] Like somewhere there is like there should be like a good crowd in a safely put space.

[00:33:31] But there's some crazy good view of Himalayas.

[00:33:35] But I was always a mountain person and I like that scene, right?

[00:33:39] I would want that event to be recorded live streamed and it's a good piece of content that

[00:33:43] we could do someday.

[00:33:44] Okay, that's the three.

[00:33:45] No specific geography but the set and scene is that.

[00:33:48] Maybe the second one, I would definitely want to host something in the Middle East at this

[00:33:55] point.

[00:33:56] The Saudi kind of way in Saudi doing some Indian sort of all Indian sort of event or India

[00:34:04] Pakistan sort of an event in Saudi.

[00:34:07] And then third would be Vegas, right?

[00:34:10] So Vegas, your MGM grants, the casinos in the Vegas or any one big venue in Vegas is definitely

[00:34:19] an event that you would want to someday promote as such.

[00:34:24] Okay.

[00:34:25] Okay.

[00:34:25] In 30 seconds, if your life was made into a sports document, what would you want its title

[00:34:31] to be?

[00:34:32] Oh, I think all the namings of everything that we do was done by my co-founder Prashant.

[00:34:38] So, yeah.

[00:34:39] I am always a person who's like, yes, I like this.

[00:34:43] I can work with this branding.

[00:34:44] No, I'm kind of blank now.

[00:34:47] I'll ask Prashant the answer.

[00:34:49] Yeah.

[00:34:49] And then maybe get back to you and maybe we can add it as a edit later.

[00:34:53] So, in 20 seconds, one life skill people can learn from boxers.

[00:35:00] Oh, like you'll realize that your initial perception that, hey, getting hit is actually

[00:35:07] a thing that you need to avoid is so counterintuitive to sport like boxing.

[00:35:13] You actually need to want to take good hits so that you're positioning yourself in a good

[00:35:18] space and then use it as a rebound to give a knockout, right?

[00:35:21] So, because of that reason, it's some of the very counterintuitive things exist in life,

[00:35:28] which we kind of take it for granted.

[00:35:30] But we actually need to stick to those very simple things which kind of sometimes don't

[00:35:35] make sense.

[00:35:36] You need to be happy to take a hit on your face and you need to be wanting to take good

[00:35:41] hits on your face to actually finish the matches.

[00:35:44] So, finally, in 10 seconds, one talent that the world should look forward to in the future

[00:35:50] of boxing.

[00:35:50] Like, we have one guy called Chandru.

[00:35:53] This guy has a good story.

[00:35:55] He has two events that he fought with us.

[00:35:58] We identified him then.

[00:36:00] We spotted him then.

[00:36:00] He's having some couple of more exciting fights that we'll be soon announcing.

[00:36:05] He'll be there.

[00:36:06] He already has some celebrities liking his career.

[00:36:09] So, he's being one of the good moves.

[00:36:12] He'll soon come out into the world as a person from India, from Tamil Nadu, to south of India.

[00:36:19] So, I wanted to see how his story goes.

[00:36:22] Excited for him.

[00:36:24] Fabulous stuff, Akshar.

[00:36:25] With that, we come to the end of today's episode.

[00:36:28] It was great talking to you everything about art will, the fan engagement, the boxing, the

[00:36:33] world of boxing, seriously, and learning new things from you about the sport.

[00:36:37] I thoroughly enjoyed hosting you.

[00:36:39] Did you have a good time too?

[00:36:40] Oh, yes.

[00:36:41] Super.

[00:36:41] Thank you so much.

[00:36:42] Delightful.

[00:36:43] And wishing you and all your ventures nothing but the best.

[00:36:46] Thank you so much for being a part of the show.

[00:36:48] Cheers.

[00:36:48] Sure.

[00:36:49] Thanks a lot, Daxan.

[00:36:50] See ya.

[00:36:50] And with that, we come to the end of today's episode.

[00:36:52] Don't forget to subscribe to all the audio and video channels of The Deliberate Talks.

[00:36:57] Join me for another story next week.

[00:36:59] Until then, be curious, be adventurous, and never stop learning.

[00:37:03] Cheers.