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Mangesh Hattikudur
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Professional Background
Mangesh Hattikudur is a dynamic and innovative media professional with a rich background in podcast development and creative content creation. He is widely recognized for co-founding Mental Floss, a renowned publication that bridges education and entertainment with its unique and witty content. Mangesh's impressive career trajectory has also seen him take on leadership roles at iHeartRadio, where he currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Podcast Development. In this strategic role at iHeartRadio, he has been instrumental in shaping the future of podcasting and expanding the platform's reach with engaging and thought-provoking shows.
Before joining iHeartRadio, Mangesh co-hosted the popular podcast Part-Time Genius at HowStuffWorks, where he captivated audiences with his engaging storytelling and insightful commentary. With a knack for synthesizing complex ideas into digestible content, he has earned a reputation for making learning fun and accessible. His creativity and passion for knowledge not only reflect in his podcasts but also in the plethora of shows he has developed during his time at iHeartRadio.
Mangesh's journey into the world of media started with Mental Floss, where he not only served as the co-founder but also held the positions of Chief Creative Officer and editor. His ability to blend creativity with insightful content helped in elevating Mental Floss into a beloved source of trivia, cultural insights, and entertainment for people around the globe. His early roles at the publication showcased his leadership skills and foresight in content curation and audience engagement strategies.
Education and Achievements
Mangesh Hattikudur's educational background is as impressive as his professional one. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Area Studies from Duke University, where he developed a keen understanding of diverse cultures and human behaviors. This academic foundation has undoubtedly played a critical role in shaping his creative approach to storytelling and media production.
Before attending Duke, Mangesh laid the groundwork for his future success through his education at Alexis I duPont High School, where he demonstrated early signs of his innovative thinking and creativity. His academic journey reflects a commitment to understanding the complexities of human culture, which he seamlessly integrates into his work in the media industry.
Achievements
Mangesh's career is marked by numerous achievements that underscore his ability to push the boundaries of creativity in media. As co-founder of Mental Floss, he helped cultivate a community that values curiosity, knowledge, and entertainment, winning the hearts of millions.
His transformative work at iHeartRadio, where he holds a significant role in podcast innovation, has further established him as a thought leader in the industry. Mangesh's talent for crafting compelling narratives has made his shows stand out, contributing to the growth of the podcasting genre as it becomes an increasingly vital part of contemporary media consumption.
Additionally, his engaging presence as a host on Humans Growing Stuff showcases his enthusiasm for learning and sharing knowledge about gardening and sustainability, thus reaching another audience who shares similar interests.
Overall, Mangesh Hattikudur continues to be a vibrant force in the media landscape, blending creativity, education, and entertainment in a manner that resonates with diverse listeners. His ongoing journey promises to inspire those in the fields of media, education, and beyond.
Highlights
Today, we're dropping Ep. 1 of Afghan Star, hosted by John Legend and I wanted to say why this show is important to me. In the Fall of 2021, not long after US troops had pulled out of Afghanistan, we met with Saad Mohseni in NYC. The next day he was headed to the White House to lobby for help getting people out of Afghanistan. A few days earlier, he'd been at 10 Downing doing the same. For weeks, Saad had been working his phone day and night (barely sleeping) trying to get safe passage out for anyone he knew. And when we chatted, he said: "in the US, people think the troops went in to get rid of the Taliban, then they leave 20 years later and the Taliban takes over, and people ask what was it all for?" But for people on the ground, those 20 years mattered. There were at least two generations of youth affected, who were now being forgotten; generations of people who had fallen in love with music and soap operas and the idea of democracy, and holding politicians accountable, and using their voices. People who had tasted the possibility of a very different Afghanistan and yearned for it. Our telling of Afghan Star-- the way it not only brought music back to the country, but brought warring peoples together on stage, placed women in visible positions of power, and truly taught the country to vote, is inadequate. 8 Eps aren't enough to show just how much Saad & people like Daoud, Masood, Aryana and the insanely brave employees of MOBY GROUP changed the country. But I'm hoping you give it a listen, because it's an incredible reminder of the power of music. And the ways pop culture can shape all culture
https://lnkd.in/eFUdVkdq
Thank you to iHeartMedia for greenlighting this show. To Saad and the Mohsenis for so generously allowing us to tell their story. To the incomparable John Legend, who isn't just kind and talented, but is never afraid to speak out for what he believes. To Tom Freston and John Sykes for their support. To my colleagues at Samizdat Audio, especially Joe Sykes and Meera Kumar, who shepherded a difficult story through stormy passage, and delivered something beautiful. To the talented Kyle Murdock and the musicians who contributed their work to this. To Jeff Entman, who mixed the show gorgeously. To Axel Alonso, Matthew Anderson and the incredible team at AWA, who commissioned art for the shows, which we'll be selling to benefit women's education in Afghanistan. To our friends at iHeart: Bob Pittman, Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, Carrie Lieberman, Nathan Otoski, Katrina Norvell, Ali Perry, Nikki Ettore-- who supported this show in a difficult climate. How could I forget Rachel Strom and Meenakshi Krishnan who vetted the show for us! And of course, my friends at Kaleidoscope: Kate Osborn and Oz Woloshyn who flew to Turkey to get this show off the ground; Constantinos Linos, who spun plates to keep partners happy; and most importantly to Dara Potts and Vahini Shori for being our rocks on the promotions front. Hope this show makes you proud
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
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