Credit: Special Arrangement
An upcoming Kannada podcast titled ‘Mundhe Banni’ aims to ignite the spirit of entrepreneurship across Karnataka by spotlighting homegrown success stories.
The idea has been on creator Vasant Shetty’s mind for over six years. “I was curious why there’s a cultural resistance to entrepreneurship in Karnataka,” he says. “Growing up, our parents and peers never encouraged us to start businesses or create jobs,” adds the Bengaluru-based entrepreneur.
Shetty traces this resistance to deeper structural and historical factors. Citing the book, ‘India’s New Capitalists’ by Harish Damodaran, he explains that north-western communities had early exposure to mercantile systems under British rule — unlike Karnataka. “The book also notes that southern India suffers from a ‘Vaishya vacuum’ (a lack of strong mercantile communities),” he adds.
Though the Mysore kings were entrepreneurial, many of their initiatives became government-run or nationalised. Karnataka has seen some success stories like Infosys and Zerodha, Shetty notes, but he believes “a knowledge-based economy must now emerge in tier-2 and tier-3 towns”. “With AI disruption, everything is getting automated. Students and fresh graduates, especially from small towns, may have to turn to entrepreneurship as IT jobs shrink,” he adds.
The podcast will feature hour-long episodes in Kannada once every fortnight. They will spotlight the journeys, struggles, and successes of entrepreneurs from towns like Hassan, Hubballi, Gadag, and Bagalkote.
Co-hosted by Shetty and Kiran Kodlady, it launches in early August and will be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more.
For updates, visit mundhebanni.com.