

Founding Fuel
Founding Fuel aims to create the new playbook of entrepreneurship. Think of us as a hub for entrepreneurs- the go-to place for ideas, insights, practices and wisdom essential to build the enterprise of tomorrow. It is co-founded by veteran journalists Indrajit Gupta and Charles Assisi, along with CS Swaminathan, the former president of Pearson's online learning venture.
Our Work


The Best Stories of Summer 2026
Ideas that help make sense of a changing world
Founding Fuel

The End of the Pageview: How Agentic AI is Forcing a Reckoning in Publishing
The media industry is confronting a stark new reality: survival in the AI era means abandoning the cybersecurity arms race and pricing content for machines instead of humans
Founding Fuel
Editor’s Note | Sharpening the Signal
Founding Fuel

Beyond the Headlines: The Human Complexity of the Middle East
Books, films and cultural works that help us see the Middle East beyond the noise of geopolitics
Founding Fuel


India’s AI Gambit: The Choices That Will Define Power
Speed is not strategy. The real battle is over sovereignty, science and state capacity
Founding Fuel

The Ecology of Engagement: What Madhav Gadgil Taught Us to See
From sacred groves to the Western Ghats, Gadgil’s work rebuilt the bridge between science and lived experience.
Founding Fuel

Understanding the Living Will—Clarity, Autonomy, and Care at the End of Life
Why talking about death early may be the most humane act of care we offer our families—and ourselves
Founding Fuel

The Best of FF Life 2025
11 stories that asked us to slow down, look closer, and feel more deeply
Founding Fuel

The Best Stories of 2025
Ten of our best work through the year—on business, leadership, and geopolitical trends
Founding Fuel

When Numbers Lie
Why measurement is never neutral—and why AI forces us to rethink what we trust
Founding Fuel

2025 in Review | Episode 5: India’s Strategic Tightrope in a Fragmenting World
Ambassador Shyam Saran on a post-American order, a slowing China, and how India must balance room for manoeuvre with hard-headed realism on Russia, the US and China.
Founding Fuel

2025 in Review | Episode 4: Europe’s Year of Hard Choices
Europe entered 2025 already strained by war, fractured politics, and economic anxiety. As Philippe Le Corre explains, this was the year when three pressures collided—an unending war in Ukraine, a drastically altered transatlantic dynamic under Trump 2.0, and a more openly competitive China
Founding Fuel

2025 in Review | Episode 3: America’s Year of Disruption
Justin Logan of the Cato Institute on how Trump’s second term reshaped global trade, defense alignments, and America’s domestic equilibrium—and why the turbulence may be far from over
Founding Fuel

2025 in Review | Episode 2: The Erosion of Global Norms & Accelerating AI
Sundeep Waslekar, president of Strategic Foresight Group, on a West in turmoil, an international order in free fall, and an AI race racing ahead of rules.
Founding Fuel

2025 in Review | Episode 1: China and the Trumpian Reset
How does China see the Trumpian reset of the global order? What's really happening inside its domestic economy? And are we seeing signs of a thaw with India? A conversation with Chinese economist Prof. Yao Yang
Founding Fuel

The Age of Individualism—and Its Unseen Costs
John Kay—one of the world’s leading thinkers on economics, corporate purpose, and capitalism—explores why individualism remains so deeply entrenched, even as it fuels inequality, populism, and institutional decay. Part 1 of a two-part conversation
Founding Fuel

How Community, Not Competition, Can Renew Capitalism
The real job of management is managing the not always compatible expectations of stakeholders, says John Kay. The organizations that have been successful in the long run are the ones that managed these balances. Part 2 of a two-part conversation
Founding Fuel

The Government Works—Just Not How You Think
The government is not as a machine to fix, but a living system to serve: a conversation with Subroto Bagchi, entrepreneur, author, and public servant
Founding Fuel

The $100K H-1B Shock & India’s Innovation Moment
The visa fee has sent shockwaves through the global talent ecosystem. What does this mean for U.S. startups, Indian engineers, and the future of innovation?
Founding Fuel

Terry Szuplat on the Art of Powerful Communication
Seven takeaways from a conversation with President Barack Obama’s speechwriter
Founding Fuel

‘Everybody Has a Sacred Story’
An extract from Barack Obama’s speechwriter Terry Szuplat’s new book, ‘Say It Well’
Founding Fuel

Book Extract: From customer journeys to integrated experiences
A brand’s attempt at relevance and how AI worked for it. An extract from Sangeet Paul Choudary’s new book, “Reshuffle”
Founding Fuel

Power shifts and algorithms
Sangeet Paul Choudary in conversation with Shrinath V on how AI is changing business strategy. Part one of the two-part podcast: “The Next Game: Competing When AI Changes the Rules.”
Founding Fuel

Where to Play and How to Win in the AI Era
Sangeet Paul Choudary, author of ‘Reshuffle’, in conversation with Shrinath V. The final in a 2-part podcast: ‘The Next Game: Competing When AI Changes the Rules’
Founding Fuel

Curtain Raiser: The Durga Puja Experience in Kolkata
Experiencing the world’s largest street art festival
Founding Fuel

How to make cultural festivals independent, inclusive, and sustainable
Cultural festivals succeed when they put community before commerce and independence before sponsorship—while continuously experimenting to stay relevant and inclusive. Insights from the builders of the Bangalore Lit Fest and Mumbai’s MAMI film festival
Founding Fuel

12 Places That Helped Shape Post-Independence India
They tell the story of modern India’s evolution
Founding Fuel

John Kay on Purpose, Profit—and the Perils of Thinking Like a Hare
In conversation with D Shivakumar, the acclaimed economist revisits the soul of business—from Boeing’s fall to Apple's hollow shell—and what real strategy should look like
Founding Fuel