UppConnect - Founder & Operator Community
Where founders and operators build better companies together.
Not another networking club. A curated room where operators take apart real companies, think together, and leave with something they can actually use.
Startup Under the Knife
Arth by Emcure
Date
TBA
Time
2:00 - 5:00 PM
Location
TBA
Admission
By application
[ 01 ] The shift
Most communities are built around networking. We're built around building together.
We don't gather to exchange business cards. We gather to take apart real companies, challenge each other's assumptions, and help every operator in the room make a sharper call. Knowledge is the hook - what you do with it is the point.
Learn
We take apart real companies - not slide decks. You leave with patterns you can use, not theory you forget by Monday.
Connect
The value is the room. Founders, operators, marketers and investors who are actually building - not collecting business cards.
Build
Discussions turn into decisions. Members apply what surfaces here inside their own companies, and report back what worked.
[ 02 ] The flagship program
Startup Under
the Knife.
Every month the community picks one startup and collectively reverse-engineers it - from branding and product to growth, pricing and distribution.
It isn't about criticising companies. It's about understanding, in detail, why they work - and what you can borrow.
Research, apart
Before we meet, members each take one angle of the company - brand, product, growth, pricing, ops - and dig in on their own.
Dissect, together
In the room, everyone brings their findings. We debate strategy, expose blind spots, and reverse-engineer why it works.
Extract, and apply
We leave with lessons sharp enough to use - and members report back what actually moved the needle at their own company.
[ 03 ] This month on the table
Arth by Emcure
Arth is the OTC wellness arm of Emcure - a 45-year-old, top-12 Indian pharma company - trying to become a D2C wellness brand, driven by Namita Thapar. From a menopause-only range to gummies, drops and creams fronted by Vidya Balan and MS Dhoni. The community takes it apart across fifteen angles.
OTC wellness by Emcure · under the knife
✦ Angles are a starting point - members bring whatever the company deserves.
[ 04 ] The agenda
Three hours. One room.
> TBA · 2:00 - 5:00 PM · TBA
Welcome & Community Introduction
Meet the room. A quick sense of who's here and how the session runs.
Startup Under the Knife - Arth by Emcure
DissectionThe community brings its research on Arth by Emcure to the table - from formulation and the chemist counter to the D2C funnel. We debate strengths, expose blind spots, and pull out lessons every founder can use.
Featured session
TalkA featured talk from an operator who's been there. Speaker announced closer to the date.
Open Networking & Discussion
The part that compounds. Real conversations with founders, operators and builders solving similar problems.
Close
Loose ends, follow-ups, and who to keep talking to.
[ 05 ] What you leave with
Practical frameworks, not theory. Real decisions, not vanity metrics.
Real case studies
A live teardown of a real company, not a recycled framework.
Sharper thinking
Pressure-test your instincts against operators who've shipped.
Peers, not an audience
People solving the same problems, in the same room, this week.
Evidence over opinion
Debate grounded in research and results - not the loudest voice.
Apply it immediately
Ideas specific enough to use inside your own company on Monday.
A network that compounds
Relationships that keep paying off long after the room clears.
[ 06 ]Who's in the room
The value is who's sitting next to you.
We keep the room deliberately mixed and deliberately small - people who build, ship and operate, not spectators. That's what makes the conversation worth the afternoon.
✦ Curated by application - every seat is someone who can contribute.
[ 07 ] Your host
The guy from
the community.
Arbab Usmani has been in the community since 2007 - long before it became a growth tactic. Eighteen-plus years of showing up: organising meetups, mentoring founders, and quietly connecting the people who go on to build together.
He's not the expert flown in to lecture. He's the guy from the community - the one who's always been in the room. UppConnect is simply the latest room he's built, run on the same instinct he's had for nearly two decades: bring the right people together, and make sure everyone leaves with more than they walked in with.
18+
years in the community
2007
in the room since
Founder
UppConnect
Arbab Usmani · Founder, UppConnect · Digital Marketing Strategist
[ 08 ] Also on the day
Featured session - to be announced
Alongside the dissection, we run a focused talk from an operator who's been there. We announce the speaker and topic closer to the date - applications are open now.
[ 09 ] From the last rooms
The conversations, the connections.
A look back at what happens when the right people are in one place.
[ 10 ] Limited seats
Apply for a seat.
Every session is built for participation. We read every application and keep the room to people who'll contribute, not just attend.
- Session
- Startup Under the Knife #003
- Date
- TBA · 2:00 - 5:00 PM
- Location
- TBA