August 22nd, 2026

This week had a lot going on.

On Monday I got on a call with Akshay Datt, who hosts the Founder Thesis podcast and puts out two new episodes a week. I run the Decoded Podcast, my own podcast on economics, tech, AI, entrepreneurship, and public policy, and I wanted to know what actually changes once a show goes from episode ten to episode three hundred. I sent him a cold message a few weeks ago and honestly didn't expect a reply. He wrote back the same day! The call was completely worth the wait, and was really insightful as I move forward recording my own podcast.

Also finished building out the first real team around the Decoded Podcast. Hired more than ten new research associates and social media and outreach associates, on top of me and Amaira. Ran more interviews for Edunomix Institute India too, it's been a full week of conversations!

P.S. If you are interested in joining the Decoded Podcast, email me at akshat@thedecodedpodcast.com!

Had a great chat with Arjun Mohan from Standard about the work they do in venture and blockchain infrastructure, and about my own journey so far. I always learn something new talking to people who invest for a living!

And I finally recorded my podcast interview with M. Ram Murty at Queen's University. He's one of the greatest number theory and philosophy brains of our generation, and I have been trying to make this happen for weeks. Releasing soon, and I cannot wait for you all to hear it!

That's the update for now! Honestly, if you're building anything at all, whether it's a startup, a podcast, a research project, or some wild idea nobody else believes in yet, I want to hear about it. Drop a comment or send me a message. See you next week!