Host
One night in the ER gave me a very dumb kind of clarity: I was scared, sure, but I was more annoyed that I still had not started the podcast I kept talking about. (Not my finest moment. Definitely an honest one.)
Ready Set Do came out of that night. I wanted a show about the ugly beginning, the part where someone is making a career change, moving to a new country, launching a side project, or building online for the first time and nobody can hide behind a polished success story yet.
I host the show between Chicago and Kolkata. The guests have included engineers tied to SpaceX and Microsoft, recruiters with Amazon and TikTok on the resume, founders building AI startups, creators who started from zero, and people figuring out what to do when the old plan stops working.
If you want my canonical home on the internet, start at namanpandey.me. This page is the Ready Set Do version of that story.
About Naman
I care less about the polished postgame speech. I care about the part where someone is still paying for the choice they made six months ago and can tell you what it actually felt like.
Every episode is another crack at the same question: what does it take to begin before you feel ready?
Founders, engineers, recruiters, artists, guides, and people you would never see in the same room somehow end up here.
Other podcasts, other rooms, same obsession with the first move.
What I keep coming back to
Recent activity
If Google or a human lands here and wonders what I have been doing lately, this is the cleanest answer.
Episode 118
Cynthia Wagner almost quit art in high school. Not because she lacked talent — because building a portfolio felt so intimidating she figured she'd rather not try.
Open episodeEpisode 117
Shreya Shravini graduated from the University of Chicago with a masters in public policy and had every reason to stay in the US. Good job market, OPT STEM extension, a real shot at sponsorship.
Open episodeEpisode 116
What do you think the richest 5% of urban India earns in a month? The real number is twenty thousand rupees — about $200.
Open episodeEpisode 115
I walked in ready for the usual "AI is coming for your job" sermon. Then a PayPal AI engineer — a guy who's also logged time at TikTok and JPMorgan — looked at me and said he's never once watched good code make anyone a dollar.
Open episodeEpisode 114
Someone slid into your inbox last week offering Forbes for a thousand bucks. 😅 Vaishali Gauba spent years inside CNBC, NBC and CBS newsrooms before starting her own PR agency, and she'll tell you flat out: that yes quietly costs you the exact people you were trying to reach.
Open episodeEpisode 113
Saurav is twenty-six and lives in Delhi. For five years he's worked fully remote for companies in Israel and the Czech Republic, and he gets flown out to developer conferences across three continents.
Open episodeInvite Naman
I made a page for this so neither of us has to improvise the basics in DMs. It covers what I talk about, what fits this show, and where to reach me.
Around the internet
Different app, same show. Pick the one you already open without thinking.
Podcast
If you just want to listen, start here.
Open appearancePodcast
Same show. Different app. No grand speech needed.
Open appearanceVideo
This is where the faces, clips, and full conversations live.
Open appearanceProfile
This is where I think out loud in public.
Open appearancePlaylist
If you already live inside YouTube, this is the easy button.
Open appearanceNaman goes on other podcasts too
You should not have to scroll half a mile to find this. Here is the short version, and the full trail lives on its own page.
Podcast appearance
This one gets into the double life a lot of ambitious people know too well: the day job paying the bills, the other thing pulling at you after hours, and what happens when you stop treating that second life like a hobby you have to apologize for.
Open appearancePodcast appearance
Aakash and I got into the messier side of AI product work, how PMs think when the tools keep changing under their feet, and why most people still overcomplicate the first move.
Open appearanceWhat keeps coming up