{"podcast":{"title":"First Principles","slug":"first-principles-5628315","podcast_index_feed_id":5628315,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/first-principles-261f2954-4e6b-4315-973d-17d02efc10f6","website_url":"https://the-ken.com/podcasts/first-principles/","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/K08hZeonPE_LKoRR1XoX9vXBdbNx_Q4up_0_drcr3WU/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zMGQw/NzNkOTYwNWUzMjMy/NmUwZjgyMGRiZDZk/MDBhNC5qcGc.jpg","author":"The Ken","episode_count":63,"summary":"First Principles is a weekly interview podcast comprising authentic, candid, and insightful conversations between some of India’s most accomplished founders and business leaders, and Rohin Dharmakumar, The Ken’s CEO & co-founder. From personal philosophies, mental models and decision making frameworks, to reading habits, parenting styles or personal interests, each episode will delve into what makes each of these leaders unique.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-15T08:17:38.623450+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/first-principles-5628315"},"episode":{"title":"Part 1: Impresario's Riyaaz Amlani on Mocha, \"Handmade,\" four near-deaths and 25 years of building places to be","slug":"part-1-impresario-s-riyaaz-amlani-on-mocha-handmade-four-near-deaths-and-25-years-of-building-places-to-be","published_at":"2026-06-15T00:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/first-principles-5628315/part-1-impresario-s-riyaaz-amlani-on-mocha-handmade-four-near-deaths-and-25-years-of-building-places-to-be","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/first-principles-5628315","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/9b819ebe","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/9b819ebe/19954394.mp3","summary":"Check out our corporate subscription plan: https://the-ken.com/corporate-teams/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=corporate-subscriptions Part 1 of Rohin Dharmakumar's conversation with Riyaaz Amlani is the origin story: why a returning UCLA grad decided Bombay was missing \"places to be,\" how Mocha became Social, and what it actually takes to keep a restaurant group alive for 25 years in the highest-mortality business there is. The shisha ban, the private-equity money that never arrived, COVID, the marble hustle at age six, and the real engine underneath it all: people. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: 95% fail by year two — and the man who didn't 01:46 Why Mocha in 2001: a city missing \"places to be\" 03:23 Bombay the \"coolest cousin\"; South Bombay snobbery moves to Bandra 05:05 The MTV / Gen X generation and a West-facing India 07:47 UCLA, entertainment management, and learning to live culture 11:29 What \"Handmade\" and \"Impresario\" mean 14:13 The business today: 80 restaurants, 900 cr, 5,500 people 15:29 Why restaurants die; learning from the community 18:02 People vs processes — and why he keeps returning to people 19:32 Social: the millennial third space and the shisha ban 25:41 The Gen Z puzzle; Saltwater to Bandra Bourn; evolution vs revolution 30:46 Real estate: location vs locality and India's \"80 pockets\" 32:32 The metric that matters: AOV x covers x table turnaround 35:33 COVID and surviving \"mass-extinction events\" 39:17 The town hall: the team takes 40% pay to save the company 40:51 What losing a restaurant feels like; the discipline to quit 42:44 Mental model: 4-5 engines to ride economic cycles 46:42 The marble business and hustling from age 12 51:20 Bowling alleys & Phoenix Mills: people buy time together 53:44 Self-rating: 7.5 as a pare…","meta_description":"Check out our corporate subscription plan: https://the-ken.com/corporate-teams/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=corporate-subsc…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3858,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/first-principles-5628315/episodes/part-1-impresario-s-riyaaz-amlani-on-mocha-handmade-four-near-deaths-and-25-years-of-building-places-to-be/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/first-principles-5628315/part-1-impresario-s-riyaaz-amlani-on-mocha-handmade-four-near-deaths-and-25-years-of-building-places-to-be.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}