A Podcast by Rakesh Naga Chinta

TheChinta
Show

Going behind the scenes with top-tier product leaders shaping the future of technology. Deep, informal conversations about unique experiences, real tactics, hard-won lessons, and the systems that made them who they are.

4.7Spotify Rating
4+Episodes
10+Companies
117Minutes
Product ManagementStartupsVenture CapitalCareer GrowthLeadershipTechnologyEntrepreneurshipProduct ManagementStartupsVenture CapitalCareer GrowthLeadershipTechnologyEntrepreneurship
The
Chinta
Show
Hosted by Rakesh N N Chinta
4.7 on Spotify

Welcome to The Chinta Show, where we go behind the scenes with top-tier product leaders shaping the future of technology. Each episode is a deep, informal conversation — no scripts, no soundbites — just honest dialogue about the experiences, tactics, strategies, failures, and systems that shaped the most interesting minds in tech, venture, and entrepreneurship.

Rakesh interviews product managers, founders, executives, and investors from companies like Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Swiggy, and NASA. If you are building products, managing teams, or transitioning into product management — this is your toolkit for real-world, battle-tested wisdom.

Topics

What We Talk About

01
Product Management
Decision-making, experimentation, user empathy, metrics, and how the best PMs balance speed with quality.
02
Startups & Entrepreneurship
Building from zero, product-market fit, fundraising, scaling teams, and navigating failure.
03
Venture Capital
How investors evaluate startups, fundraising dynamics, and what founders and VCs look for.
04
Career & Growth
Breaking into product, navigating transitions, embracing risk, and unconventional career paths.
05
Leadership
Managing people, building culture, making hard trade-offs, and communicating with clarity.
06
Tech & Life
Productivity systems, reading habits, mental models, and the tools product leaders live by.

Format

How Each Episode Unfolds

The Journey
We trace the guest's path — how they entered product, pivotal moments, mentors, and milestones.
The Deep Dive
We zoom into products, features, or challenges. Decision-making, experimentation, and collaboration.
Rapid-Fire
Favorite tools, productivity hacks, reading habits, leadership mantras, and predictions.

Guests From

Facebook AIMicrosoftAmazon AWSNASAa16zMetaSwiggyCisco

Episodes

Conversations

Deep, unscripted conversations with product leaders building the future.

Episode 04
AM
Amal Muzaffar
Product & Investing Partner, a16z. Ex-PM at Facebook AI (Instagram Reels), WeWork, American Express. UMich Ross.
a16zFacebook AIInstagramWeWorkAmex
Capturing Opportunities & Embracing Risk
28 min
Jan 2021
Amal rose from financial services at Amex to leading product at WeWork, then specializing in the AI behind Instagram Reels at Facebook. She has since joined Andreessen Horowitz as a Product & Investing Partner. A featured speaker at Product School and Director of Marketing for The Citizens Foundation.
Key Topics
Making use of opportunities when PM wasn't a known career path
Taking short-term risks that compound into long-term moves
Persistence in the face of rejection and failure
Leveraging skills and network to maximize impact
Episode 03
MH
Mahek Hooda
Senior PM at Meta. Ex-Microsoft (Teams). University of Houston Bauer. Product Coach & Angel Investor.
MetaMicrosoftTeamsHouston
Don't Worry About the Destination, Focus on the Journey
22 min
Dec 2020
Mahek started in supply chain but kept her sights on product. At Microsoft, she shipped Teams meeting chat controls used by teachers worldwide during the pandemic. She later joined Meta as Senior PM, launching the Meta AI Business Assistant.
Key Topics
Transitioning from supply chain to product management
Embracing your uniqueness when your path isn't linear
Persistence through repeated rejections
Shipping features at scale during the pandemic
Episode 02
VP
Varun Perla
Technical PM at Charles Schwab. Ex-PM at Swiggy & Cisco. MS from UPenn. BITS Pilani. AI/ML Instructor.
SchwabSwiggyCiscoUPennBITS
Embrace Risk and Experiment — PM is a Unique Journey
44 min
Dec 2020
Varun's career spans India's hyper-growth startup ecosystem to Wall Street fintech. At Swiggy, he managed 1,000+ restaurant relationships. He pursued his MS at UPenn (cross-registering at Wharton), then moved into technical PM at Cisco and Charles Schwab.
Key Topics
How COVID reshaped business models in food delivery
PM at a 10-person team versus 50+ people
Core PM competencies: clarity and communication
From India's startup scene to Ivy League and Wall Street
Episode 01
SS
Srini Sekaran
Senior PM at Amazon AWS. Former ML Researcher at NASA Ames. Founder of Gavano (Georgia Tech). Published author.
AWSAmazonNASAGeorgia Tech
How to Incorporate PM Principles in Your Job Search
23 min
Dec 2020
Srini worked on ML at NASA Ames for diabetic retinopathy diagnosis, then founded Gavano, a venture-backed enterprise startup. He published a book on product launches with 1,000+ readers. In this inaugural episode, he treats your job search as a product problem.
Key Topics
Applying PM principles to your own job search
Embracing your unique journey with recruiters
Differentiating yourself from hundreds of applicants
The path from NASA ML to Amazon Senior PM

Mission

Why This Show Exists

The product management space is filled with frameworks and jargon — but real product growth comes from lived experience, strategic trade-offs, and lessons learned in the trenches. We are here to tell those stories.

Our mission is to unlock the collective wisdom of the world's top product minds and make it accessible to every product thinker. We believe in thoughtful dialogue over soundbites, and systems thinking over checklists.

Demystify Product Leadership
Show what high-level PM really looks like — beyond frameworks, into the messy, creative, human reality.
Equip with Practical Insights
Battle-tested mental models, strategies, and tactics you can apply immediately.
Highlight the Human Side
The missteps, challenges, and moments of resilience. The best lessons come from the hardest moments.
Inspire the Next Generation
Product leaders who think critically, act strategically, and build meaningfully.

Your Host

Rakesh Naga Chinta

RNC
Senior Product Manager
Microsoft

Previously at Google, SpaceX,
Meta, Tesla, Apple

Rakesh is a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft, where he has scaled internal products to over 20,000 users and orchestrated cloud infrastructure generating $30 million in annual savings. His career spans Google, SpaceX, Tesla, Meta, Apple, and multiple Y Combinator startups.

With degrees from Harvard, Michigan, Northwestern, IIM Calcutta, and current studies at Johns Hopkins and Stanford, he brings a rare intersection of technical depth, business acumen, and curiosity to every conversation.

MicrosoftHarvardMichiganForbes 30u30Kleiner PerkinsY CombinatorSpaceXGoogle

Your Toolkit for
Real-World Wisdom

New episodes feature product leaders sharing the unfiltered truth about building in tech.

Be a Guest

Share Your Story

We are always looking for thoughtful product leaders, founders, and builders who want to share their journey — the wins, the failures, and the insights that don't make it into blog posts.

Host
Rakesh Naga Chinta