Foreign Founders

Author: Chibit

Starting a company is thrilling, but also daunting. But what happens if you try building a company in a place where you may or may not have the community and the network to support you in your efforts? I want to ask foreign founders why they decided to take the leap and build their company in a specific location. With this podcast we are exploring ideas, listening to founder challenges, and discovering why foreign founders are the most optimistic group of people I've encountered. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Language: en

Genres: Business, Entrepreneurship, Technology

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#71 Nikhil Teja Kolli, Co-Founder of mokSa.ai
Episode 12
Thursday, 21 August, 2025

Nikhil Teja Kolli built mokSa.ai after witnessing small retail businesses lose 10-15% of their revenue to theft. His solution? Privacy-first AI that catches shoplifters without facial recognition - and small business owners are obsessed with it.From collecting 20,000+ theft videos to building patent-pending AI technology, Nikhil's journey shows how turning a massive problem into data can create game-changing solutions. His AI watches actions, not faces, works with any camera (even $40 ones from 2014), and sends real-time alerts when theft happens.But here's the twist: mokSa.ai doesn't just catch thieves. It predicts customer counts, optimizes employee scheduling, and provides heat maps - basically turning any security camera into a business intelligence powerhouse.🔥 What You'll Learn:How to build AI models from real-world data (20,000+ theft videos)Why privacy-first AI is dominating the surveillance marketThe camera-agnostic strategy that eliminates hardware costsHow to solve problems for overlooked small businessesBuilding operational intelligence beyond just securityScaling from manual monitoring to 200+ AI-powered locations⏰ Key Moments:00:00 - Meet Nikhil Teja Kolli, Founder of mokSa.ai02:30 - Growing Up in Family Retail Business in Hyderabad05:45 - The Liquor Store Incidents That Sparked Everything09:15 - How Small Businesses Lose 10-15% Revenue to Theft12:00 - Building the 20,000 Video Dataset (The Hard Way)15:30 - From Aeronautical Engineer to Railroad to AI Entrepreneur18:45 - Privacy-First AI: Actions vs. Faces21:20 - Why Any Camera Works (Even 2014 Models)24:15 - Beyond Security: Customer Forecasting & Heat Maps27:40 - The Camera-Agnostic Business Strategy🔗 Connect with Nikhil:Website: moksa.aiLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilteja-kolli/About mokSa.ai: Privacy-first AI platform that detects theft, fraud, and provides operational insights for retail businesses using existing camera systems.#AI #RetailTech #SmallBusiness #Privacy #Surveillance #Entrepreneurship #StartupStory #TechFounderEnjoy the episode!If you love this episode, please share and review the podcast! It will help more immigrant and international founders find these content.You can find us here: https://linktr.ee/foreignfounders Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.