All posts by Neel Achary

Industry veteran brings more than 30 years of experience launching therapies for neurological diseases, including Huntington’s disease, and will prepare Skyhawk for the launch of SKY-0515 as early as 2027.

BOSTON, Mar 11 — Skyhawk Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel small molecule therapies to modulate critical RNA targets for a series of challenging neurological diseases, announces the appointment of Aaron Deves as Chief Commercial Officer. Mr. Deves brings more than 30 years of experience commercializing therapies for neurological disorders, including for chorea associated with Huntington’s disease (HD) with AUSTEDO^®. SKY-0515 is Skyhawk’s lead program and is being developed as a potential disease-modifying therapy for Huntington’s disease.

 

“Skyhawk may receive accelerated approval for SKY-0515 in Australia within the next twelve months, and in other major markets during 2027,” said Bill Haney, CEO of Skyhawk Therapeutics. “Aaron’s 30 years of experience successfully building commercial teams and launching innovative drugs for challenging neurological conditions helps prepare Skyhawk to bring a much-needed disease-modifying treatment to patients with Huntington’s disease as quickly as possible – pending additional clinical results and regulatory approvals.”

“I am incredibly excited to join Skyhawk,” said Aaron Deves, Chief Commercial Officer of Skyhawk Therapeutics. “Skyhawk’s Huntington’s disease program can be the cornerstone of a powerful commercial neuro business.  And the company’s rich pre-clinical pipeline of RNA targeting drug programs addresses the most impressive set of challenging neurological conditions I’ve seen in my career – and does so with small molecules that are often the most patient friendly modality. I’m thrilled to join the company to prepare for the launch of SKY-0515 and to help ensure the broadest number of patients can access this important therapy.“

In the early days of a startup, speed feels like the only advantage that matters. Founders hire quickly, ship fast, solve problems in real time, and keep the culture “organic.” It works. Until it doesn’t.

Somewhere between 15 and 30 employees, many startups hit an invisible wall. Execution slows down. Good people get confused. Roles overlap. Managers are promoted too early. Feedback becomes emotional. Hiring turns into a gamble. And the founder becomes the default problem solver again.

That moment is not a strategy problem. It is a people systems problem.

Shailesh Kantak, a leadership and people systems coach and the Founder of the MSME India Network (MINT), has spent years working closely with businesses at this exact stage. “Most founders don’t fail because they lack ambition,” he says. “They get stuck because the business is still running on personal control instead of repeatable people systems.”

The real startup bottleneck is not funding, it is team design

Startups are built on intensity. But intensity cannot replace clarity forever. When a team grows, informal coordination stops working. What the business needs next is simple structure, with human warmth intact.

Strong people systems do not mean corporate HR. They mean clear roles, clear expectations, clear rhythms, and clear leadership habits. They help a founder move from firefighting to direction setting.

A few people systems that decide whether a startup scales smoothly or stalls:

A hiring system that filters for skill and attitude, not just speed

Role clarity that removes confusion and prevents silent resentment

Performance rhythms like weekly check ins and monthly reviews that keep work visible

Feedback habits that are respectful, specific, and consistent

Culture practices that are designed, not left to chance

“When these systems are missing, even a great team starts underperforming,” says Shailesh. “And the founder starts feeling like the only dependable person in the room.”

Enter MSME India Network, a community built for founders who want a self running team

The MSME India Network is a learning and implementation community designed for Indian startup founders and MSME business owners who want to build strong teams and scale without founder dependence.

MINT is built around one core idea. The business should not wait for the founder.

It helps members escape what the community calls the Founder’s Trap, where the founder is involved in every decision, every follow up, and every escalation. Over time, this trap limits growth and drains energy.

MINT’s mission is to help founders build leadership capability and people systems that scale. Its long term goal is to enable a community of 25,000 plus MSME business owners by 2030, and help them build organisations that are stable, values driven, and execution strong.

How the community works

MINT is not a passive content library. It is structured around participation, reflection, and action.

Here is what members typically experience inside the community:

1) Clarity sessions that start with the founder
Founders begin by building personal and leadership clarity. This creates better decision making and steadier leadership behaviour. “If the founder is unclear, the team will always feel unclear,” says Kantak.

2) Practical frameworks for building people systems
Members learn a simple people systems framework that covers the full journey of team building. Attracting the right talent, hiring with structure, nurturing culture, enabling learning and growth, and building engagement through ownership.

3) Templates, playbooks, and implementation support
This is where most founders feel relief. Instead of starting from scratch, they get tools they can apply immediately. Job description formats, interview scorecards, role clarity sheets, feedback frameworks, performance check in guides, and simple dashboards.

4) Community learning formats that drive action
MINT runs hackathons, bootcamps, and guided sprints where members work on one system at a time. The environment encourages sharing, accountability, and real progress.

A member founder from a services startup recently described the shift in one line, “I stopped chasing my team for updates because the weekly rhythm did it for me.”

Why this matters for startups right now

Startup ecosystems celebrate product, growth, and capital. But people systems often get treated as a later stage concern. In reality, people systems are a growth lever from day one.

Startups compete for talent, and retention is fragile. A strong engineer or a strong sales performer will not stay in a workplace that feels chaotic or unclear. Shailesh puts it plainly. “Good people don’t leave loudly. They leave slowly, in their effort first, and then with their resignation.”

The earlier startups design their people systems, the faster they can grow without breaking culture, quality, or founder health.

A founder profile that explains why this community is built differently

Shailesh Kantak is not building MINT from theory. He is the Founder and CEO of Flexi Ventures Pvt. Ltd., an HR Consulting and Talent Acquisition firm founded in 2014. Over the years, he has worked closely with business owners and leadership teams across industries, helping them solve people challenges on the ground.

That experience shaped MINT’s tone and design. Practical, founder friendly, and rooted in what actually works inside Indian startups.

“Founders don’t need motivation,” says Shailesh. “They need a clear path. They need systems that reduce dependence. And they need a community that keeps them honest about implementation.”

The bigger vision

MINT is ultimately a movement to make Indian startups and MSMEs stronger from the inside. Not only through strategy and sales, but through leadership behaviour, team capability, and repeatable people systems.

For founders who want to scale, this is the quiet work that changes everything. When people systems are strong, execution becomes predictable. Culture becomes intentional. Teams become dependable. And founders finally get space to think, build, and lead.

As Shailesh says, “The goal is not to work less. The goal is to stop being the system.”

Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of The Midnight Boy: A Percy St. John Novel by E. A. Allen. This book is published by Histria YA, an imprint of Histria Books dedicated to outstanding works for teens and young adults.

In Edwardian England, where gaslight meets gutter magic, a boy thief with a haunted past is recruited into the empire’s most secret war. The Midnight Boy, the standalone prequel to Percy St. John and the Chronicle of Secrets blends dark academia, supernatural thriller, and Victorian spy caper into a fast-paced series opener for fans of Garth Nix, Philip Pullman and Samantha Shannon.

At its heart are classic tropes with a twist: the brutal orphanage that hides a conspiracy, a snarky

guardian cat that may be more than it seems, found family in a locksmith’s workshop, and a reluctant prodigy drawn into cloak and dagger missions. Expect cursed schools, demonic infestations in the city’s underbelly, and a charismatic villain who refuses to stay dead.

Perfect for readers seeking a high concept, cross over supernatural fantasy, The Midnight Boy offers espionage, occult mystery and coming of age peril in the shadows of a crumbling empire.

E. A. Allen is a cattle farmer, historian, and retired CIA intelligence officer who writes mystery and adventure fiction for both adults and young readers. He is the author of the Montclaire Mysteries for adult readers, and the Percy St.-John Adventures for teens and young adults, inspired by the classic traditions of Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Agatha Christie. Allen holds a Ph.D. in Modern European History from Tulane University, has studied in France at the University of Montpellier and the Sorbonne, and previously served as Senior Analyst for European Security Affairs at the CIA and Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Europe on the National Intelligence Council. He lives with his wife on a farm in the mountains of northwest Arkansas.

The Midnight Boy: A Percy St. John Novel by E. A. Allen, 200 pp., ISBN 978-1-59211-590-7, is available at HistriaBooks.com and from all major book retailers. The book is also available as an eBook. Titles published under the imprints of Histria Books are distributed in the United States and Canada by Simon & Schuster and in the rest of the world through Unified Book Distribution. For information on publishing with Histria Books, please visit HistriaBooks.com or contact us at info@histriabooks.com.

Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of ¿Cómo te sientes?: A Beginner Reader book in Spanish to teach children social-emotional literacy by Amy Conroy. This story is published by Histria Kids, an imprint of Histria Books dedicated to outstanding works for children that both educate and entertain.

Meet ¿Cómo te sientes?, a joyful gateway to Spanish for the youngest learners and the grownups who guide them. This is not just another vocabulary book; it is a gentle introduction to big feelings in a little-kid format, perfect for storytime snuggles and circle time alike.  

Built around high-frequency, socio-emotional language, ¿Cómo te sientes? supports key early literacy goals while opening the door to bilingualism. Repetition, rhyme and clear first-person expressions invite children to speak up, try out new words and immediately use them in real life.  

For educators and librarians, it fits seamlessly alongside SEL and world language curricula. For families, it feels like a cozy picture book that just happens to be in Spanish. With vibrant, contemporary art and a focus on diverse, modern families, ¿Cómo te sientes? delivers what today’s market seeks: a warm, accessible, classroom-ready resource that builds empathy, confidence and a love of language.

Amy Rush Conroy is an anthropologist, educator, and mother of three bilingual children in Los Angeles, California. She is the founder of Habla Blah Blah, a company dedicated to engaging young children in second-language learning through song and experiences since 2006, inspiring thousands of children to learn Spanish, French, or English. Habla Blah Blah was named “Best Children’s Songwriter” (2016) and awarded “Best Children’s Song” (2017) by the Indie Music Channel. Amy is also a Spanish elementary teacher and a pioneer in the Global Parenting movement.

¿Cómo te sientes?: A Beginner Reader book in Spanish to teach children social-emotional literacy by Amy Conroy, 20 pp., ISBN 978-1-59211-684-3, is available at HistriaBooks.com and from all major book retailers. This title is also available as an eBook. Titles published under the imprints of Histria Books are distributed in the United States and Canada by Simon & Schuster and in the rest of the world through Unified Book Distribution. 

Mar, 11: Bharat Intelligence, an agritech start up building a formal and dignified marketplace for agricultural labour, has appointed Anurag Bisoi as its Chief Product Officer. The appointment marks a significant step in the company’s journey from early execution to large-scale productisation across rural labour markets.

Anurag joins Bharat Intelligence as a seasoned entrepreneur and product builder. He previously co-founded Animall, one of India’s largest dairy technology platforms, where he led product architecture and growth. Under the founding team’s leadership, Animall scaled to over 10 million downloads, digitising a highly fragmented ecosystem of dairy farmers across the country.

He built products for low-literacy, vernacular-first users operating in informal markets  designing intuitive workflows that drove adoption in some of India’s most underserved regions. The platform went on to raise over ₹200 crore in institutional funding and scale nationwide.

Beyond Animall, Anurag has worked at the intersection of product, infrastructure and emerging technology, consistently focusing on building systems that operate reliably in complex, offline-first environments.

At Bharat Intelligence, Anurag will focus on converting on-ground execution into repeatable, measurable and scalable product infrastructure. As the company expands across districts and crops, it is transitioning from founder-led operations to deeply systemised product architecture — enabling scale without operational chaos.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Azhaan Merchant, said,

“Anurag has built for Bharat at scale. Getting to 10 million downloads in a rural, low-literacy ecosystem is not marketing — it is product clarity. As we scale our labour grid across Maharashtra, we need discipline in product design, distribution mechanics, and user simplicity. Anurag brings exactly that.”

Mr. Gourav Sanghai, added,

“We have proven demand, supply and execution capability, so the next chapter for Bharat Intelligence is about scale. Now we must build durable product layers that allow us to scale to lacs of workers and farmers without friction. Anurag’s experience in marketplace architecture and rural product design will be critical.”

Speaking on his new role, Mr. Anurag Bisoi said,

“India’s rural markets do not need more apps. They need products that work reliably, simply and predictably. Bharat Intelligence is building infrastructure for a workforce that has never been formally organised. The challenge is to create systems that are intuitive and can scale without losing trust.”

With this appointment, Bharat Intelligence reinforces its commitment to building disciplined product systems for India’s offline economy — combining operational depth with scalable architecture to formalise one of the world’s largest informal workforces.

Digital payment and patient communications offerings alleviate friction throughout the patient journey

Durham, NC — Mar 11 — Sightview, the only electronic health record and practice management partner focused solely on eyecare, will showcase two recently updated tools for its eyecare-specific EHR/PM offering at Vision Expo 2026 (March 11-14, 2026). Advancements include the addition of new digital payment options to more easily and proactively collect patient payments, and an updated communications package to automate outreach, curb patient leakage, and improve experiences.

“Patients increasingly expect a digitally-driven experience with eyecare, specifically in optometry, where they want a retail experience alongside their clinical care,” said Tycene Fritcher, CEO of Sightview. “From tapping their phone to pay for their lenses, to automated text reminders, eyecare providers have an opportunity to modernize processes to improve patient loyalty and experiences, while streamlining backend processes, as well.”

The Sightview Pay solution, powered by Global Payments, enables providers to collect payments before an appointment or at time-of-service via digital options like estimated payments, text-to-pay and card-on-file. These expanded payment options allow eyecare providers to capture patient payments faster, speeding cashflow while likewise reducing paper-based bills and patient frustration.

Likewise, Sightview Patient Engagement allows providers to personalize and automate outreach to improve appointment volume and patient engagement. Pre-made templates like annual reminders, lens sales, and automated post-service or post-delivery check-ins allow practices to capture patients’ interest while ensuring a positive experience. The system’s automation features mean these new touchpoints won’t add extra work to already burdened staff.

Sightview will demo these enhanced offerings in booth #4021 at the show, alongside its integrated EHR/PM platform, purpose-built for eyecare.

Mar 11: Histria Books is pleased to announce the release of Paphos by Nick Burnette. This book is published by Histria SciFi & Fantasy, an imprint of Histria Books encompassing outstanding, innovative works in the genres of science fiction and fantasy.

Paphos is a heart-wrenching science fiction novel of first-contact mystery and claustrophobic survival horror set on a world that does not want to give up its secrets.

When a small research team touches down on a pristine alien planet, they expect data, samples and maybe a publication or two. Instead, they awaken something ancient, hungry and far more intelligent than they are. Trapped light years from help, cut off from Earth, they become test subjects in a planetary laboratory that rewrites the rules of life itself.

Paphos is a story of a single father, a brilliant young girl and the terrifying price of curiosity. Fans of Annihilation, The Last of Us and classic “science team in over their heads” tales will find familiar tropes twisted into something unsettling and new, as humanity’s drive to explore collides with an ecosystem that has its own plans for us.

Nick Burnette is an American author specializing in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Raised in a secret society of 80’s movies, he honed a unique blend of adventure, suspense, and imagination—along with a few deadly skills best left in the dojo. When he’s not crafting high-stakes stories of first contact, cyberpunk detectives, and kung fu, he can be found plotting his next twist, exploring the cosmos with a telescope, or debating the finer points of old television series with his wife.

Paphos by Nick Burnette, 250 pp., ISBN 978-1-59211-683-6, is available at HistriaBooks.com and from all major book retailers. The book is also available as an eBook. Titles published under the imprints of Histria Books are distributed in the United States and Canada by Simon & Schuster and in the rest of the world through Unified Book Distribution. 

PFRDA Earmarks 1% of ₹17 Trillion NPS Corpus for AIF Investments: Chairperson S. Ramann at IVCA Conclave

Mumbai,  Mar 11:Shri S. Ramann, Chairperson, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), joined a fireside chat with S. Sriniwasan, Managing Director, Kotak Alternate Asset Managers, and Vice Chairperson, IVCA, on Day 1 of IVCA Conclave 2026. With Vision to Value: The New Era of Indian Alternate Capital as the theme of the Conclave, their session focused on long-term capital formation and the evolving investment landscape in India.

During the conversation, Shri Ramann highlighted the growing role of pension capital in strengthening India’s financial markets and supporting sustainable economic growth. He emphasised that deeper domestic institutional participation is critical for market stability and broadening access to long-term savings instruments.

“We’ve put this together with the NPS Trust, which holds the assets on behalf of subscribers. What we’re talking about is an AUM of about ₹17 trillion, and we have earmarked 1% of that for investment into AIFs. We’ve also got the benchmarks ready thanks to CRISIL, so the structures are now in place and it’s really about how efficiently we execute the process,” 

He also emphasised that improving governance standards, enhancing risk management frameworks, and aligning regulatory policies with global best practices will be vital to building a resilient and inclusive retirement savings system.

“It goes down to a matter of disclosure, trust, and the ability of the ecosystem to demonstrate transparency and efficiency. Each fund manager and GP has the responsibility to meet the governance standards that institutional capital expects,” Shri Ramann added.

The IVCA Conclave, the annual gathering of India’s alternate capital ecosystem, convened regulators, policymakers, domestic and global investors, and industry leaders to explore the opportunities and challenges shaping this dynamic landscape.

Fintech and SaaS veteran with more than 30 years of experience to lead company’s technology initiatives

FOLSOM, Calif. — March 11 — One Inc, the leading digital payments network for the insurance industry, today announced the appointment of fintech transformation leader Bryan Thompson as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). With deep payments expertise, Thompson will lead the vision, strategy, and development of One Inc’s technology. He will oversee the company’s global IT roadmap, innovation initiatives, and enterprise security.

Bryan is an expert in fintech and SaaS transformations, with more than 30 years of experience building high-performing organizations focused on innovation and operational excellence. He has a proven track record in technology development, security, and large-scale platform modernization. Across enterprise and startup environments, Thompson has led financial services and SaaS companies through acquisitions, integrations, and major change initiatives. He has also built data and AI platforms that accelerate growth while improving customer experience, efficiency, and reliability.

Prior to joining One Inc, he served as CTO of professional business platform 8am (formerly AffiniPay), where he helped drive rapid SaaS growth and navigated multiple strategic acquisitions. He also served as CTO at Heartland Payment Systems, where he modernized merchant services for businesses across key sectors. Earlier in his career at EDS, Thompson built expertise in high-volume transaction processing—experience that aligns with One Inc’s mission to process complex insurance payments securely, reliably, and at scale.

“We’re pleased to welcome Bryan to our growing team of Onesters as we advance our mission to create a unified digital payments network that connects the insurance ecosystem,” said Ian Drysdale, CEO at One Inc. “Bryan’s track record leading technology development, engineering, security, and infrastructure will be critical as we build new capabilities that allow carriers to operate more efficiently and deliver on the promise of insurance.”

“Through their relentless dedication to the insurance industry, One Inc has built a reputation for delivering revolutionary solutions that enable a traditional industry to meet the rapidly evolving expectations of today’s policyholders,” added Thompson. “I look forward to working with Ian and the entire team at One Inc to build on this momentum, as carriers adopt technologies that improve operational efficiency and deliver modern, seamless experiences for policyholders.”

MELBOURNE and NOIDA, India, Mar 11 —HCLTech, a leading global technology company, today announced a partnership with Hockey Victoria to support the Melbourne Cobras franchise, which will debut in the Hockey One League this year.

The Melbourne Cobras is the eighth franchise to join Australia’s premier domestic hockey competition. As part of Hockey Victoria’s vision to build a globally connected and inclusive franchise, the Melbourne Cobras will bring together Indian international players alongside leading local talent, strengthening the future of the sport in the region while celebrating the diversity of the community.

As part of the partnership, HCLTech will design and develop a digital fan engagement platform for Hockey Victoria and the Melbourne Cobras. Going beyond traditional sponsorship, HCLTech will apply its global experience in building large-scale digital platforms for sports organizations to enhance fan engagement across digital channels.

The platform will feature live match insights, interactive content and personalization, helping fans across Australia and India connect more closely with the team and the sport.

“We are proud to partner with Hockey Victoria to launch the Melbourne Cobras,” said Sonia Eland, Executive Vice President and Country Manager, Australia and New Zealand, HCLTech. “We have helped leading sports organizations around the world build strong, scalable fan platforms and we are excited to bring that experience here to create a more connected fan experience and help grow hockey across Australia and India.”

Andrew Skillern, Chief Executive Officer of Hockey Victoria, said, “The launch of the Melbourne Cobras represents a defining moment for Hockey Victoria and for the future of our sport. From the outset, our vision was to build a team that reflects the diversity of our community while showcasing world-class hockey talent on an international stage. Partnering with HCLTech enables us to offer a truly innovative and inclusive experience for fans.”