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The VCpreneur: Startups | Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Fundraising

The VCpreneur: Startups | Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Fundraising

By Digjay Patel

The VCpreneur podcast provides a unique perspective of the startup world, through the lens of Venture Capitalists (VCs) and Entrepreneurs. The podcast features successful VCs and Entrepreneurs discussing the art & science of building products, scaling startups, fundraising and investing in a venture. Listen in to learn from individuals who have been there, done that and made a dent in the venture universe. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem.
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EP#34 Rahul Mathur – The ‘build in public’ approach for startups, challenges faced by a first time founder and the Insurtech landscape in India

The VCpreneur: Startups | Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | FundraisingMar 28, 2021

00:00
43:02
EP#69 Arpit Maheshwari – Investment philosophy at Stellaris, balancing mindshare when investing in different sectors and managing relationships with startups that are unable to achieve venture scale

EP#69 Arpit Maheshwari – Investment philosophy at Stellaris, balancing mindshare when investing in different sectors and managing relationships with startups that are unable to achieve venture scale

In this episode, Arpit Maheshwari, Principal @Stellaris Venture Partners, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path leading up to Stellaris, the investment philosophy at Stellaris and the journey from Fund I to Fund II, stand-out attributes of select founders from Stellaris’ portfolio, scaling up as an investor and balancing mindshare between different sectors, managing relationships/conversations with startups that are unable to achieve venture scale and value add from investors.

Stellaris is an early-stage sector-agnostic investment firm, currently investing from its second fund of $225mm. Since its inception in 2017, the firm has invested in 30+ startups across sectors like SaaS, financial services, B2B commerce, consumer brands, social commerce, education, electric vehicles, healthcare, and more. Some of its marquee portfolio startups include the likes of Whatfix, MamaEarth, Turno, Slintel, Limechat and Signzy among others. 

Prior to Stellaris, Arpit ran Corporate Innovation for Arvind Limited, managed product and strategy for Cardekho.com’s used-cars business, and headed product management at iProf – an edtech start-up. An IIT-Delhi/IIM-Ahmedabad alum, Arpit started his career with a 3-year stint at BCG.

You can connect with Arpit here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

  1. (01:45) Arpit’s path leading up to Stellaris Venture Partners

  2. (05:06) Stellaris - the investment philosophy and journey of the firm from Fund I to Fund II

  3. (14:06) Stand out attributes of select founders from Stellaris’ portfolio

  4. (21:27) Scaling up as an investor and balancing mindshare between different sectors  

  5. (30:04) Managing relationships/conversations with  startups that are unable to achieve venture scale

  6. (34:05) How has being an investor influenced Arpit over the years?

  7. (35:35) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like⁠ Spotify⁠ & ⁠Apple iTunes⁠). We would appreciate it if you could leave us a review on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple iTunes⁠. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit⁠ thevcpreneur.com⁠ and follow us on Twitter⁠ @thevcpreneur⁠_ & Instagram⁠ @thevcpreneur⁠ for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on ⁠Linkedin⁠ & ⁠Twitter

Apr 09, 202340:43
EP#68 Vishesh Khurana – Building Shiprocket to enable e-commerce in India, the scale up journey and approach to inorganic growth

EP#68 Vishesh Khurana – Building Shiprocket to enable e-commerce in India, the scale up journey and approach to inorganic growth

In this episode, Vishesh Khurana, Co-Founder @Shiprocket, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path leading up to Shiprocket, macro tailwinds that shaped Shiprocket’s evolution and its current product stack, challenges faced when scaling up Shiprocket, empowering leaders and people management, Shiprocket’s inorganic growth playbook, fundraising journey and value add from investors.

Shiprocket is a logistics enablement platform that offers SaaS solutions to online sellers and D2C brands for aggregating and choosing the best logistics partner to ship their e-commerce orders. Shiprocket is backed by some marquee investors like Lightrock, Temasek, Zomato, Bertelsmann, Moore Strategic Ventures, March Venture Capital, and Paypal among others. Till date, Shiprocket has made five acquisitions, including cargo shipping business Rocketbox, supply chain management solution Glaucus, marketing automation platform Wigzo, logistics aggregator Pickrr and Arvin Internet’s retail enablement business, Omuni. 

You can connect with Vishesh here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

  1. (01:31) Vishesh’s path leading up to Shiprocket

  2. (02:59) Genesis of Shiprocket

  3. (06:23) Macro tailwinds that shaped Shiprocket’s evolution and its current product stack

  4. (13:06) Importance of building an alternate demand ecosystem to scale up an e-commerce business

  5. (14:57) Challenges faced when scaling up Shiprocket; Approach to partnerships and competition  

  6. (21:31) Empowering leaders and people management 

  7. (23:17) Shiprocket’s inorganic growth playbook

  8. (28:56) Fundraising journey and value add from investors

  9. (36:56) Shiprocket's expansion plans

  10. (38:28) How has being a founder influenced Vishesh over the years?

  11. (40:29) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like⁠ Spotify⁠ & ⁠Apple iTunes⁠). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple iTunes⁠. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit⁠ thevcpreneur.com⁠ and follow us on Twitter⁠ @thevcpreneur⁠_ & Instagram⁠ @thevcpreneur⁠ for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on ⁠Linkedin⁠ & ⁠Twitter

Mar 26, 202343:52
EP#67 Anjali Bansal – Investing in climate and sustainability, the importance of having a strong board and building longevity as an investor

EP#67 Anjali Bansal – Investing in climate and sustainability, the importance of having a strong board and building longevity as an investor

In this episode, Anjali Bansal, Founding Partner @Avaana Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Avaana Capital, investing in process & product innovation, key headwinds & tailwinds in the current climate tech cycle, innovative sustainability startups from Avaana’s portfolio, the role of the board at early stages of a startup, importance of having a diverse board, how can founders draw maximum value from their board, and what to overindex on to build longevity in one’s career.

Avaana is an early/growth stage fund that invests in technology and innovation-led start-ups catalysing climate solutions and sustainability. Some of its marquee portfolio startups include the likes of Terra.do, Farmart, Eeki Foods, Animall and Praman among others.

Anjali has also invested in and mentored various successful start-ups including Delhivery, UrbanClap, Nykaa and Lenskart. Previously, Anjali has been the Non-Executive Chairperson of Dena Bank, appointed by the Govt. of India to steer the resolution of the stressed bank. Prior to that, Anjali was a Global Partner and Managing Director with TPG Growth PE.

She also serves as an independent director on several leading boards including Tata Power, Bata, Kotak AMC, and Piramal Enterprises. Anjali is also a member of the Advisory Council for the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and serves on the CII National Committee on Corporate Governance. You can connect with her here on Linkedin

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Show notes –

  1. (02:17) Anjali’s background & path leading up to Avaana Capital
  2. (06:37) Identifying the scale-up potential of startups
  3. (10:28) Investing in process & product innovation
  4. (14:30) Climate tech – Key headwinds & tailwinds in the current climate tech cycle
  5. (18:43) Cutting through the noise and staying focused when investing in a hot market/theme
  6. (21:37) Full-stack support that Avaana brings to startups
  7. (23:40) Innovative climate tech startups that are part of Avaana’s portfolio
  8. (26:02) Role of the board at early stages of a startup and how does that evolve as the startup matures in it’s lifecycle
  9. (30:08) Importance of having a diverse board and how to draw maximum value from your board
  10. (33:35) Reflecting on a multi-decadal career - What to overindex on to build longevity in one’s career?
  11. (35:25) Advice for first time GPs
  12. (38:04) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Jan 22, 202343:37
EP#66 Vishesh Rajaram – Opportunities & challenges in climate-tech and unpacking the iterative process to master deep-tech investing

EP#66 Vishesh Rajaram – Opportunities & challenges in climate-tech and unpacking the iterative process to master deep-tech investing

In this episode, Vishesh Rajaram, Founder & Managing Partner @Speciale Invest, joins our host Digjay, to talk about Speciale Invest’s journey with fund I, added advantages of a larger fund II, whether climate tech is at its inflection point today, challenges faced by founders building in this space, Vishesh’s approach to building a thesis in frontier-tech, his portfolio construction strategy at Speciale Invest, overcoming valleys of death as a deep tech startup, and the promise of the Indian frontier-tech story.

Speciale Invest is an early-stage investment firm that invests in deeptech startups - both hardware & software - across domains like Space tech, Robotics, micro-mobility, and clean energy transportation. The firm which recently launched a larger Fund II, has invested in ~25 startups so far. Some of its marquee portfolio startups include the likes of Agnikul, Utlraviolett, Cynlr, Rocketlane, Uravu Labs, Eka Care and Bluecopa among others.

Vishesh started his venture capital journey with Venture East back in 2007. After spending almost a decade at Venture East, Vishesh founded Speciale Invest in 2016. Vishesh is a Chartered Accountant and an alum of the Indian School of Business. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

  1. (02:06) Reflecting on Speciale Invest’s journey so far; The added advantages of a larger fund II
  2. (08:17) Is climate tech finally at its inflection point?
  3. (11:49) Areas within climate tech that Speciale Invest is keen to invest in
  4. (16:03) The challenge of building partnerships and securing access to material-intensive supply chains
  5. (20:07) What should founders over-index on, to solve these challenges?
  6. (22:33) Vishesh’s approach to building a thesis in frontier-tech; Importance of the outbound approach to finding stellar startups
  7. (27:49) Portfolio construction strategy; Investing along the S-curve
  8. (33:14) Overcoming valleys of death as a deep tech startup
  9. (37:44) The promise of the Indian frontier-tech story
  10. (40:01) How has being an investor influenced Vishesh over the years?

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Dec 18, 202242:47
EP#65 Aditya Kulkarni – Building Stoa: India’s alternative to a traditional MBA, leveraging early-stage investors and scaling a profitable edtech business

EP#65 Aditya Kulkarni – Building Stoa: India’s alternative to a traditional MBA, leveraging early-stage investors and scaling a profitable edtech business

In this episode, Aditya Kulkarni (Co-founder & CEO, Stoa), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his past experience as an edtech entrepreneur, meeting his co-founder Raj and stumbling upon the idea of building Stoa, the value proposition of Stoa’s alternative MBA program, building community as a moat, fundraising philosophy at Stoa, leveraging investors in the 0 to 1 phase, the importance of aligning incentives of internal teams with the broader vision of the company as you scale the business, and more.

Stoa School is building India’s alternative to a traditional MBA. The program helps students pick up skills in domains like Product, Marketing, Leadership, Finance, General Management and subsequently helps them find job opportunities within India’s growing startup ecosystem. Since inception, the startup has enrolled 700+ students across several cohorts and has become a sought after program for early-stage professionals looking to level up their career trajectory. Stoa is backed by marquee operators and investors like Udemy and Maven co-founder Gagan Biyani, Better Capital founder Vaibhav Domkundwar, Teachable co-founder Ankur Nagpal, NotBoring Media founder Packy McCormick, Dunce Capital investor John Danner and Zivame co-founder Richa Kar.

An IIM-B and BITS Pilani alum, Aditya is a decadal edtech entrepreneur who has built and sold two startups (Learning Outcomes - acquired by Liga EduTech and BabyOnBoard - acquired by RoundGlass) in the past. You can connect with Aditya here on Linkedin / Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:59) Aditya’s background & past experience as an ed-tech founder
  2. (09:05) Meeting his co-founder Raj and stumbling upon the idea of building Stoa
  3. (16:38) The value proposition of the Stoa program
  4. (21:58) Building community as a moat
  5. (27:54) Fundraising philosophy at Stoa
  6. (33:34) Leveraging investors in the 0 to 1 phase
  7. (37:09) Setting up the ‘students-educators-jobs’ flywheel in action
  8. (41:14) Scaling up - Importance of aligning incentives of internal teams with the broader vision of the company
  9. (46:29) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Nov 27, 202251:51
EP#64 Somesh Dash – Growth investing at IVP, earning the trust of marquee founders and the value of mentorship in venture

EP#64 Somesh Dash – Growth investing at IVP, earning the trust of marquee founders and the value of mentorship in venture

In this episode, Somesh Dash (General Partner, IVP), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to IVP, IVP’s stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and how has the firm managed to win the trust of marquee founders, the importance of mentorship in building a legacy venture firm, learnings from founders of Snapchat, Discord and Lyra Health, some of IVP’s anti-portfolio companies, the potential of the Indian startup ecosystem, the value of independent board members, learnings from fellow investors and more.

IVP is a venture capital firm that invests in companies on the path to rapid growth. Since its inception in 1980, the firm has invested in 400+ companies with a stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and 25+ exits of >$1 billion. The firm has $8.7bn in total committed capital and has invested in marquee companies like Twitter, Coinbase, Brex, Slack, Discord, UiPath, Lyra Health, FTX, Harness among others.

Somesh joined IVP in 2005 and focuses on growth investments in Enterprise Software, Consumer Internet, and Digital Health companies. He was recognized by The New York Times and CB Insights in 2019 as one of the top 100 venture capitalists. A Stanford and UC Berkeley alum, Somesh is also a board member of the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Advisory Council at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and the Tech Interactive. You can connect with Somesh here on Linkedin / Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:50) Somesh’s background & path leading up to IVP
  2. (10:19) IVP’s thesis and past investments
  3. (14:33) The firm’s stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and how it has managed to win the trust of marquee founders
  4. (20:03) Importance of apprentice & mentorship in building a legacy venture firm
  5. (22:02) Learnings from founders of Snapchat, Discord and Lyra; Common thread that cuts across these outlier founders
  6. (30:00) Anti-portfolio at IVP and reflecting on missed opportunities
  7. (36:37) The promise & potential of the Indian startup ecosystem
  8. (42:31) The value add by independent board members, particularly those that have experienced difficult times in their own career
  9. (43:25) Learnings from fellow investors that are on boards of IVP’s portfolio startups
  10. (48:05) Importance of coaching and mental wellbeing
  11. (52:05) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Oct 30, 202258:12
EP#63 Mark Kahn – Investing in startups building for the rural economy, identifying founders that scale and staying relevant as a venture investor

EP#63 Mark Kahn – Investing in startups building for the rural economy, identifying founders that scale and staying relevant as a venture investor

In this episode, Mark Kahn (Managing Partner, Omnivore), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Omnivore, Omnivore’s investment thesis and evolution of the agritech opportunity in India, how and why India stands out compared to other global agritech markets, attributes of founders that are able to scale & raise follow-on rounds, the case against investing in solo-founder led startups, staying relevant as a venture investor, importance of finding a wedge as a first time VC and more.

Founded in 2010, Omnivore invests in early-stage startups developing breakthrough technologies for agriculture, food, climate, and the rural economy. The firm recently announced the launch of its 3rd fund at $130mm. Omnivore was one of the first agri-focused VC funds from India, and has previously backed some stellar startups like DeHaat, Reshamandi, Stellapps, AgNext, Bijak, AGRIM, Eruvaka, Pixxel, and Animall among others.

Prior to Omnivore, Mark led Strategy & Business Development at Godrej Agrovet, one of India’s foremost diversified agribusiness companies and worked at Syngenta and PFM early in his career. An HBS alum, Mark is also the Co-Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Task Force on Agri Startups and a member of the Governing Council of the Maharashtra State Innovation Society. You can connect with Mark here on Linkedin / Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:15) Mark’s background & path leading up to Omnivore
  2. (04:08) Omnivore’s investment thesis
  3. (11:27) Evolution of the agritech opportunity in India
  4. (13:31) Why India stands out compared to other global agritech markets?
  5. (19:21) Portcos that are building the foundation for the agritech ecosystem in India
  6. (24:36) Attributes of founders that are able to scale & raise follow-on rounds
  7. (26:41) The case against investing in solo-founder startups
  8. (30:39) Approach to deal flow and follow-on investments
  9. (32:56) Staying relevant as a venture investor across multiple cycles
  10. (35:52) Importance of finding a wedge as a first time VC
  11. (38:41) How has being a VC influenced Mark’s personality over the years?
  12. (39:18) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Oct 16, 202244:38
EP#62 Pearl Agarwal – Building Eximius Ventures, the Web3 opportunity & parallels between a founder and a first time fund manager

EP#62 Pearl Agarwal – Building Eximius Ventures, the Web3 opportunity & parallels between a founder and a first time fund manager

In this episode, Pearl Agarwal (Founder & Managing Director, Eximius Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Eximius Ventures, the investment thesis & key focus areas at Eximius, the Web3 opportunity, marquee portfolio startups at Eximius, parallels between a founder and a first time venture capitalist, winning the trust of LPs & founders, building the foundation to scale up to a larger fund and more.

Founded in 2020, Eximius is an early-stage micro-VC fund that invests in startups across sectors like fintech, healthtech, gaming & web3. The fund has already made investments in marquee startups like Eka.care, Jar, Stan, Kala Gato and Fego among others.

Prior to Eximius, Pearl spent ~10 years across investment roles in the US and UK, facilitating multi-billion dollar mergers, helping companies raise capital, and more. You can connect with Pearl here on Linkedin / Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:32) Pearl’s background & path leading up to Eximius Ventures
  2. (07:52) Genesis of Eximius; Investment thesis & key focus areas
  3. (15:34) The Web3 opportunity
  4. (19:57) Marquee portfolio startups at Eximius
  5. (24:18) Raising a venture capital fund in the middle of a pandemic
  6. (32:17) Winning the trust of LPs & founders; dealflow strategy as a first time VC
  7. (37:07) Importance of having mentors & advisors for a fund manager
  8. (40:27) Building the foundation to scale up to a larger fund
  9. (45:00) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Sep 18, 202248:22
EP#61 Pankaj Makkar – The bull case for India, mental models to identify stellar startups and Bertelsmann’s India investment playbook

EP#61 Pankaj Makkar – The bull case for India, mental models to identify stellar startups and Bertelsmann’s India investment playbook

In this episode, Pankaj Makkar (Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Bertelsmann, evolution of Bertelsmann’s India investment strategy and why now is a good time to accelerate investments in India, challenges faced in evaluating growth stage startups, mitigating the noise when investing in a ‘hot’ sector, Pankaj’s perspective on the exit landscape in India, mental models to identify stellar startups and more.

Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), is a strategic investment arm of the global Bertelsmann Group which has invested more than $1bn in over 250 companies and funds. Established in 2012, BII is a sector agnostic early-to-growth stage fund that has invested in category-defining companies like Eruditus, Licious, Shiprocket, Pepperfry, AgroStar, Vymo among others. The firm also recently closed its new $500mm India fund.

Prior to Bertelsmann, Pankaj worked with Mayasian conglomerate - The Usaha Tegas Group and invested in various sectors in India and South East Asia. Pankaj received his MBA from Harvard Business School and holds a B.Comm Hons. from Delhi University. You can connect with Pankaj here on Linkedin / Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:50) Pankaj’s background & path leading up to Bertelsmann India
  2. (03:48) Evolution of Bertelsmann’s India investment strategy
  3. (08:25) India bull case - Why now is a good time to accelerate investments in India?
  4. (14:07) Challenges faced in evaluating growth stage startups; Assessing binary & non-binary risks
  5. (20:11) Mitigating the noise & taking a measured approach when investing in a ‘hot’ sector
  6. (24:40) Processing signals from early stage investors
  7. (26:25) Portfolio construction strategy at Bertelsmann
  8. (30:15) Pankaj’s perspective on exits in India’s startup ecosystem
  9. (33:13) Mental models to identify stellar startups; Key outlier founders within Bertelsmann’s portfolio - Eriditus, Licious, Pepperfry, Shiprocket, Agrostar
  10. (37:02) How has being a VC influenced Pankaj’s personality over the years?
  11. (40:40) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Aug 28, 202246:01
EP#60 Madhu Shalini Iyer – Leveraging data science to invest in startups and the global investment perspective at Rocketship VC

EP#60 Madhu Shalini Iyer – Leveraging data science to invest in startups and the global investment perspective at Rocketship VC

In this episode, Madhu Shalini Iyer (Partner, Rocketship VC), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Rocketship VC, genesis of Rocketship VC and its unique data-led approach to investing in startups, incorporating qualitative inputs from past deals to refine data algorithms, combining data with the human element to make the final investment decision, outlier founders from Rocketship’s portfolio, cross-geography learnings for founders given Rocketship’s global portfolio, how Madhu’s global experience has shaped her personality and more.

Rocketship VC is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that uses machine learning and data science to identify & invest in startups around the world. The firm recently closed their 3rd fund at $125mm & has invested in 14 different countries in marquee startups like Khatabook, BukuWarung, Splitwise, Moglix, Apna, Sary, Yulu and more.

Prior to Rocketship, Madhu was the Chief Data Officer at Gojek. She started the Singapore office and helped grow the business into a $1 billion unicorn. Prior to Gojek, Madhu was an operating partner at a $150 million private equity fund building startups across South East Asia. She was part of the founding team of Intuit’s Quickbooks Lending Platform where she helped grow the platform to $300 million and holds 3 patents in the areas of user data augmented algorithms for financial inclusion. You can connect with Madhu here on Linkedin

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Show notes –

  1. (01:54) Madhu’s background & path leading up to Rocketship
  2. (06:54) Genesis of Rocketship VC
  3. (10:54) Unique data-led approach to investing in startups
  4. (14:59) Incorporating qualitative inputs from past deals to refine the data algorithms 
  5. (18:11) Combining data with the human element to make the final investment decision
  6. (24:19) Key deal breakers despite the data checking all the boxes
  7. (30:00) Reverse pitch to founders to win outbound deals
  8. (32:41) Identifying investment trends before they become mainstream
  9. (35:29) Outlier founders from Rocketship’s portfolio
  10. (38:24) Cross-geography learnings for founders given Rocketship’s global portfolio
  11. (43:14) How has Madhu’s global experience shaped her personality?
  12. (49:29) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Aug 07, 202254:32
EP#59 Jatin Desai – Backing outlier founders and investing in deep-tech/IP creating startups

EP#59 Jatin Desai – Backing outlier founders and investing in deep-tech/IP creating startups

In this episode, Jatin Desai (Managing Partner, Inflexor Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Inflexor Ventures, the thesis and evolution of the fund, Jatin’s approach to evaluating & investing in deep tech startups, commercialization of deep tech startups, importance of having exit strategies as an investor, outlier founders from Inflexor’s portfolio, Jatin’s learning curve as a VC, deeptech themes that Inflexor is excited about, how being a venture capitalist has influenced Jatin’s personality over the years and more.

Inflexor Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund that invests in startups leveraging deeptech & technology IP in areas like AI-ML, AR-VR, Big Data, Robotics, Cybersecurity, Blockchain and SpaceTech. The venture recently closed their new fund at $80mm & has invested in startups like Bellatrix Aerospace, PlayShifu, Atomberg, CloudSek, Kale Logistics among others.

Prior to become a venture investor, Jatin was the CIO of Bank of America & DSP Merrill Lynch in India. Before joining the bank, Jatin spent several years in US, EMEA & India in various technology roles dealing with Wall Street banks and Fortune 500 companies. You can connect with him here on Linkedin.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:47) Jatin’s background & his path leading up to Inflexor Ventures
  2. (04:09) The thesis and evolution of the fund
  3. (07:35) Jatin’s approach to evaluating & investing in deep tech startups
  4. (12:46) Overcoming valleys of death & commercialization of deep tech startups
  5. (24:02) Importance of having exit strategies as an investor
  6. (28:05) Outlier founders from Inflexor’s portfolio
  7. (30:17) Jatin’s learning curve as a VC
  8. (32:40) Deeptech themes/sectors that Inflexor is excited about
  9. (35:37) How has being a VC influenced Jatin’s personality over the years?
  10. (36:22) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Jul 17, 202242:42
EP#58 Smita Deorah – Democratizing quality education in India, the growth playbook at LEAD & selecting the right investors for your startup

EP#58 Smita Deorah – Democratizing quality education in India, the growth playbook at LEAD & selecting the right investors for your startup

In this episode, Smita Deorah (Co-Founder & Co-CEO, LEAD), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to LEAD, the genesis phase and what led Smita to make LEAD her life’s work, how LEAD plans to radically improve the state of education in India by transforming schools, the growth playbook & key challenges faced when building a scalable B2B product/service, what should founders focus on when hiring the core team for a mission driven startup like LEAD, Smita’s fundraising experience, LEAD’s criteria to select their investors & value-add from each of them, how being an entrepreneur has influenced Smita’s personality over the years and more.

Smita & Sumeet, founded LEAD in 2012 with a vision to make global-standard education accessible and affordable to students, especially in non-metro cities. LEAD integrates a world-class curriculum with technology that powers all stakeholders in a school environment. Today LEAD caters to 5000+ schools in 500+ cities across India. This school edtech unicorn startup, was bootstrapped through 2017 & has subsequently raised >$100mm in funding from marquee investors like Elevar Equity, Westbridge Capital & GSV Ventures.

Prior to LEAD, Smita founded Sparsh, a non-profit that implemented a pre-school in a box solution in 16 pre-schools around Mumbai. Prior to that, Smita spent 9 years in Procter & Gamble Singapore and India as a leader in Finance, Treasury and Strategy. You can connect with her here on Linkedin or Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:45) Smita’s background & her path leading up to LEAD
  2. (07:15) What led Smita to start LEAD & make this her life’s work
  3. (10:30) The current state of India’s primary education system & how LEAD plans to radically improve the status quo
  4. (17:55) LEAD’s first principles approach of building a scalable B2B product; focus on the target audience, product design and measurable outcomes
  5. (23:25) The growth playbook; Key challenges faced when scaling up LEAD
  6. (34:58) What should one over index on when hiring the core team for a mission driven startup like LEAD?
  7. (39:15) Fundraising experience; LEAD’s criteria to select their investors
  8. (42:12) Value add from each institutional investor on the cap table - Elevar Equity, West Bridge Capital & GSV Ventures
  9. (47:15) How has being an entrepreneur influenced Smita’s personality over the years?
  10. (54:00) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Jun 19, 202201:02:56
EP#57 Ben Mathias – Investing in growth stage startups, value add beyond Series A and why founders should focus on building capital efficient businesses

EP#57 Ben Mathias – Investing in growth stage startups, value add beyond Series A and why founders should focus on building capital efficient businesses

In this episode, Ben Mathias (Managing Partner, Vertex Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Vertex Ventures, history & thesis at Vertex, key defining moments in evolution of India’s startup ecosystem, why it is important for startups to focus on building capital efficient businesses, advice for first time VCs, nuances of investing in growth stage startups, adding value to founders beyond Series A rounds, outlier founders from the Vertex SEA portfolio & what differentiates them from the rest, how being a VC has influenced Ben’s personality over the years and more.

Vertex Ventures is a global network of operator-investors who manage portfolios in the US, China, Israel, Southeast Asia & India. Vertex SEA & India has invested in more than 60 startups including 5 unicorns in their portfolio. Some of their marquee investments include startups like Grab, NIUM, FirstCry, Recko, CloudCherry, Active AI, Licious, and Kapiva among others.

Prior to Vertex, Ben was a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) where he launched their India presence. While at NEA, he led several investments in the Technology and Healthcare sectors. Prior to joining NEA, Ben had a successful software career in Silicon Valley where he held senior positions at E2open and i2 Technologies (acquired by JDA Software). You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:42) Ben’s background & path leading up to Vertex
  2. (04:36) About Vertex Ventures - thesis & history of the fund
  3. (11:02) Key moments in India’s evolution as a startup ecosystem
  4. (15:02) The current macro backdrop; Why is it important for startups to focus on building capital efficient businesses?
  5. (18:44) Advice for first time VCs
  6. (21:38) Nuances of investing in growth stage startups
  7. (24:41) What does ‘value add’ mean for founders at and beyond Series A funding?
  8. (29:27) Outlier founders from the Vertex portfolio; What differentiates these founders from the rest?
  9. (32:42) Internalizing that venture capital is a long game; Challenges faced as a VC
  10. (37:14) How being a VC has influenced Ben’s personality over the years?
  11. (38:17) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

May 29, 202243:22
EP#56 Mayank Banerjee – Building Even Healthcare, choosing the right co-founders and understanding the investor perspective when fundraising as a founder

EP#56 Mayank Banerjee – Building Even Healthcare, choosing the right co-founders and understanding the investor perspective when fundraising as a founder

In this episode, Mayank Banerjee (Co-Founder & CEO, Even Healthcare), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Even, choosing the right co-founders, the problem statement that Even is solving for, challenges faced in the 0 to 1 journey, attracting quality talent at the earliest stages of a startup, straddling between the short term & long term vision, the importance of understanding the VC perspective when fundraising as a founder and having a thesis about the kind of investors you’d like to have on your cap table.

Founded in 2020, Even is a healthtech company that partners directly with top hospitals to provide completely cashless, quality healthcare to its members. The startup aims to rid India of out-of-pocket healthcare expenses and mitigate illnesses early on with appropriate medical interventions with its partner hospitals. Even is backed by marquee investors like Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund (led by Peter Thiel) and operator investors like Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, Cred CEO Kunal Shah, Zerodha Founder Nithin Kamath and DST Global partner Tom Stafford. Prior to Even, Mayank co-founded Compass News, an AI based journalism platform with offices in London and New York & later worked with Entrepreneur First in Bangalore. Mayank studied at the Oxford University where he was the President of the Oxford Union. You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter

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Show notes – 

  1. (01:37) Mayank’s background & path leading up to Even 
  2. (05:20) Meeting his co-founders; What should one over-index on when choosing their co-founders? 
  3. (09:47) The genesis phase & the problem statement that Even is solving for 
  4. (17:07) Challenges faced in the 0 to 1 journey 
  5. (19:12) Attracting quality talent at the early stages of a startup 
  6. (20:49) North star metric for Even today 
  7. (22:09) Straddling between the short term & long term vision 
  8. (23:17) Fundraising experience at Even; Importance of understanding the VC perspective when fundraising as a founder 
  9. (26:37) Having a thesis about the kind of investors you want to have on your cap table 
  10. (29:20) Rapid fire and closing remarks 

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

May 08, 202233:38
EP#55 Sanjay Nath – The journey from a fund manager to a firm manager, the platform approach of supporting founders and building an enduring VC brand

EP#55 Sanjay Nath – The journey from a fund manager to a firm manager, the platform approach of supporting founders and building an enduring VC brand

In this episode, Sanjay Nath (Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Blume Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Blume Ventures, the genesis of Blume to build an institutional seed stage fund, challenges faced as a first time fund manager, change in investment & hiring strategy with a growing fund size, the platform and community approach of supporting founders, building a strong VC brand, identifying founders that can build global companies from India, his learnings from a decadal career in VC and more.

Founded in 2010, Blume is one of India's leading early-stage venture funds with more than $200 million in assets under management (AUM) across multiple funds & over 150 investments that includes startups like Unacademy, Yulu, Dunzo, Slice, ClassPlus, Ultrahuman, GreyOrange Robotics, Dataweave, Locus, Tricog, Lambdatest, Nektar.ai amongst others.

Prior to Blume, Sanjay was based in the Silicon valley where he held consulting and management roles at Sun Microsystems, PwC and IBM Global Services. An alum of BITS Pilani and UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, Sanjay got his start in venture capital as an angel investor with Mumbai Angels where he invested in startups like InMobi, LittleEye Labs (acquired by Facebook) and others. You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (02:02) Sanjay’s background & path leading up to Blume
  2. (03:45) The genesis of Blume Ventures; Building an institutional fund to invest in seed stage startups
  3. (06:09) Challenges faced when launching Fund I
  4. (10:02) Change in investment & hiring strategy with a growing fund size
  5. (15:55) The platform and community approach of supporting founders
  6. (18:59) Building a strong brand as a VC firm
  7. (20:20) Sectors that are likely to be global offshoots from India
  8. (22:02) Key traits of founders that have the capability to build global companies from India
  9. (30:14) Learnings from a decadal career in VC
  10. (33:14) How has being a VC influenced Sanjay’s personality over the years?
  11. (36:42) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Apr 03, 202245:25
EP#54 Mihir Gupta – Building Teachmint, leveraging inorganic growth to scale up and lessons from fundraising

EP#54 Mihir Gupta – Building Teachmint, leveraging inorganic growth to scale up and lessons from fundraising

In this episode, Mihir Gupta (Co-Founder & CEO, Teachmint), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Teachmint, surviving the 0 to 1 phase as first time founders, building a foundation to scale up rapidly and how to sustain momentum after scaling up, benefits & challenges of pursuing inorganic growth, finding a balance between core venture building & fundraising, aligning fundraising strategy with market dynamics, optimizing for 'conviction' & 'speed' of decision making when choosing your investors and more.

Founded in 2020, Teachmint is an edtech-infrastructure startup that helps teachers and institutes create their own virtual classrooms and build direct relationships with students. The startup that is backed by marquee investors like Learn Capital, Rocketship.vc, Better Capital, Lightspeed India, Vulcan Capital among others, has scaled up rapidly in the past 2 years to become one the of the largest teaching platforms in the world.

Prior to founding Teachmint, Mihir held leadership positions in startups like OYO and Open Financial. An IIT Bombay alum, Mihir spent the early years of his career as a consultant with McKinsey, working extensively in South East Asia and India. You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (02:16) Mihir’s background & path leading up to Teachmint; Bringing together the founding team
  2. (08:42) Surviving the 0 to 1 phase as first time founders
  3. (10:46) Building a foundation to scale up rapidly
  4. (14:19) What should founders focus on, to sustain momentum after scaling up?
  5. (17:09) Teachmint’s approach to attracting & retaining quality talent
  6. (20:43) Benefits & challenges of pursuing inorganic growth
  7. (27:22) Finding a balance between core venture building & fundraising
  8. (29:51) Aligning fundraising frequency & strategy with market dynamics
  9. (33:29) Optimizing for conviction & speed of decision making when choosing your investors; How to gauge conviction when talking to investors?
  10. (37:26) How has being a founder influenced his personality over the years?
  11. (38:30) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Mar 13, 202243:14
EP#53 Shiv Sharma – Building Stocktwits in India, pioneering social finance & cracking a new market with an established product

EP#53 Shiv Sharma – Building Stocktwits in India, pioneering social finance & cracking a new market with an established product

In this episode, Shiv Sharma (VP International, Stocktwits), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Stocktwits, the reducing gap between startups from India & The Silicon Valley, making the switch from venture capital to the operating side, how Stocktwits is building the world’s largest social finance app, leveraging community to drive financial literacy, why now is the right time for the company to enter India, launching a product in a new market & importance of collaborating with local partners when doing so.

Founded in 2008, Stocktwits is the world's leading social network and community of 6mm+ investors and traders. The company is now entering India on the back of its $30mm Series B funding led by Alameda Research Ventures along with participation from Times Bridge.

Prior to Stocktwits, Shiv was a VC at Cisco Investments, backing Enterprise SaaS companies. An INSEAD Business School alum, Shiv is passionate about all things public market investing & investing education. You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:32) Shiv’s background & path leading up to Stocktwits
  2. (03:34) The reducing gap between startups from India & Silicon Valley
  3. (07:02) The switch from venture capital to the operating side
  4. (10:02) Common mental models that can be applied to both private & public market investing
  5. (12:28) About Stocktwits; Why now is the right time for the company to enter India?
  6. (18:53) Leveraging community to drive financial literacy
  7. (23:02) Launching a product in a new market; Importance of collaborating with local partners
  8. (29:15) Vision for Stocktwits - Build the largest social finance platform in the world
  9. (32:11) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Feb 27, 202237:30
EP#52 Jyotsna Krishnan – Building conviction as a ‘founding investor’, Elevar’s unique investing DNA and backing entrepreneurs that build for the underserved markets

EP#52 Jyotsna Krishnan – Building conviction as a ‘founding investor’, Elevar’s unique investing DNA and backing entrepreneurs that build for the underserved markets

In this episode, Jyotsna Krishnan (Managing Partner, Elevar Equity), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Elevar Equity, Elevar’s unique investing DNA, taking concentrated bets while investing at very early stages of a company, why ‘aspiration’ is the key emotion that founder’s should tap on when building for the underserved markets, building conviction as a ‘founding investor’, Elevar’s North-star metric as a VC fund, how being a VC has influenced Jyotsna’s personality over the years & more.

Founded in 2006, Elevar Equity is a VC firm that invests in transformative and scalable ventures focused on underserved customers & low-income communities. Elevar has invested in 40+ companies across India and Latin America, which includes impact driving companies like Ujjivan, Samunnati, LEAD School, The Better India, InCred, Justo, Indifi amongst others. Prior to Elevar, Jyotsna was at HSBC and worked directly with the bank’s India leadership. An SP Jain alum, Jyotsna has over 16+ years of work experience spanning across banking, retail financial services and building businesses as an early-stage investor. You can connect with her here on Linkedin.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:43) Jyotsna’s background & path leading up to Elevar Equity
  2. (06:01) Elevar’s DNA - Understanding the pulse of the underserved customer segment in emerging economies
  3. (08:50) Unique VC & PE crossover investment style - concentrated bets while investing at very early stages of a company
  4. (11:20) Why ‘aspiration’ is the key emotion that founder’s should think about when building for this segment
  5. (17:59) Available white spaces for founders to build trusted brands catering to the underserved markets
  6. (25:49) Building conviction as a ‘founding investor’
  7. (31:11) North-star metric for a VC fund like Elevar
  8. (32:50) How being a VC has influenced Jyotsna’s personality over the years?
  9. (36:45) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Feb 13, 202241:17
EP#51 Rohan Verma – Building Breathe Well-Being, re-inventing chronic care with a community-first approach and nailing the timing of your fundraise

EP#51 Rohan Verma – Building Breathe Well-Being, re-inventing chronic care with a community-first approach and nailing the timing of your fundraise

In this episode, Rohan Verma (Co-Founder & CEO, Breathe Well-being), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, making the switch from B2B to B2C, the key problem statement that Breathe Well-Being is trying to solve & it’s unique product positioning, key learnings from his entrepreneurship journey, achieving balance & focusing on mental wellness as a founder and the importance of nailing the quantum & timing of your fundraise.

Breathe Well-Being is a digital therapeutics company that helps people prevent, manage and reverse chronic conditions using a community-first approach. The startup has built a clinically proven Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Programme which has seen rapid  adoption over the past couple of years & very high retention rates across all it’s cohorts. Breathe Well-Being is backed by marquee VCs like Accel, 3one4 Capital, General Catalyst as well as angel investors like Sandeep Singhal, Ashish Gupta, Stanford Angels among others. Prior to Breathe Well-being, Rohan ran an edtech startup before spending 3 years at McKinsey & Nomura. An alum of NTU Singapore, Rohan is a Crossfit Level 2 trainer & mindfulness coach. You can connect with him here on Linkedin.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:45) Rohan’s background & path leading up to Breathe Well-Being
  2. (03:50) The switch from B2B to B2C
  3. (11:50) Problem statement & Breathe Well-Being’s unique product positioning
  4. (20:55) ‘No outcome, No pay’ policy for clients
  5. (26:13) Key learnings from Rohan’s entrepreneurship journey
  6. (28:38) Achieving balance & focusing on mental wellness as a founder
  7. (31:35) How to assess whether a company is ready to raise venture capital?
  8. (37:25) Managing back-to-back funding rounds; Importance of nailing the quantum & timing of your fundraise
  9. (39:15) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Jan 23, 202246:04
EP#50 Amit Gupta – Playing the long game and building category creating startups like InMobi & Yulu

EP#50 Amit Gupta – Playing the long game and building category creating startups like InMobi & Yulu

In this episode, Amit Gupta (Co-Founder & CEO, Yulu), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, the switch from mobile (InMobi) to mobility (Yulu), evolution of Yulu’s product over the past 5 years, leveraging public & private partnerships to build a strong foundation, what does it take to build a category-creating startup, learnings from previous ventures & the importance of playing the long game, fundraising experience at InMobi & Yulu and his angel investing playbook.

Yulu is a micro-mobility platform powered by shared electric two-wheelers that aims to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in India. The startup is backed by marquee investors like Rocketship, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Blume Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Wavemaker, among others. Prior to Yulu, Amit co-founded a mobile adtech platform called InMobi which was one of the first unicorn startups of India. You can connect with him here on Twitter or Linkedin

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Show notes –

  1. (02:42) Amit’s background & path leading up to Yulu
  2. (05:38) The switch from mobile (InMobi) to mobility (Yulu)
  3. (07:39) Evolution of Yulu’s product over the past 5 years; Impact of Covid-19 on Yulu’s journey
  4. (18:00) Leveraging public & private partnerships to build a strong foundation for a new category
  5. (23:05) What does it take to build a category-creating startup?
  6. (26:25) Learnings from previous ventures - ‘Playing the long game’
  7. (29:41) Fundraising experience at InMobi & Yulu
  8. (33:26) Importance of choosing the right investors
  9. (38:21) Amit’s angel investing playbook
  10. (40:30) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Dec 19, 202144:32
EP#49 Rajan Bajaj – Building Slice, re-inventing payments & the pursuit of building a quality consumer product for India

EP#49 Rajan Bajaj – Building Slice, re-inventing payments & the pursuit of building a quality consumer product for India

In this episode, Rajan Bajaj (Founder & CEO, Slice), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, the problem statement & need for a product like Slice today, pivots made since founding the company in 2016, how Slice differentiates itself - both on the product & distribution front, the fundraising challenges faced during early days of Slice and what according to him is the biggest value add from investors. 

Slice is a leading fintech startup that aims to build a smart, simple, and transparent financial platform to redesign the financial experience for millennials. Founded in 2016 by a then 22 year old Rajan, Slice went through multiple pivots before launching the physical cards business in 2019. The startup became the latest Indian unicorn after its recent $220mm fundraise led by Tiger Global & Insight Partners. Other existing investors in the startup include marquee VCs like Blume Ventures, Better Capital as well as angels like Kunal Shah, Sachin Bansal among others. An IIT Kharagpur alum, Rajan was part of the product team at Flipkart before founding Slice. You can connect with him here on Twitter or Linkedin

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Show notes – 

(01:41) Rajan’s background & path leading up to entrepreneurship 

(03:10) Problem statement & need for a product like Slice today 

(06:02) Pivots made over the past 5 years - From Buy Now Pay Later to a virtual credit card to a physical credit card 

(10:13) How Slice differentiates itself on the product & distribution front? 

(17:52) Thoughts on competition & growth potential of the market itself; Go-forward vision for Slice 

(22:42) What should founders optimize for when fundraising for their startup? 

(26:00) Challenges faced by Slice in it’s fundraising journey; Biggest value add from investors 

(32:53) Rapid fire and closing remarks 

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Dec 05, 202138:06
EP#48 Ritu Verma – Seeding startups that are building for the next billion, challenges faced as a GP and the importance of collaboration in venture capital

EP#48 Ritu Verma – Seeding startups that are building for the next billion, challenges faced as a GP and the importance of collaboration in venture capital

In this episode, Ritu Verma (Co-founder & Managing Partner, Ankur Capital), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to venture capital, thesis & vision at Ankur Capital, learnings from past investments in Agritech & Healthtech, common blind spots faced by founders in the 0-1 phase, Learnings from Fund I, challenges faced as a GP, collaborating with fellow VCs & more.

Ankur Capital is an early stage VC fund that invests in startups with transformative technologies building for the next billion Indians. The fund has invested in some marquee startups like Wasabi, Rupifi, Cropin & Niramai among others. Prior to starting Ankur Capital, Ritu worked on bringing innovation from the lab to the market for companies like Unilever and Philips. An ex-physicist, Ritu also has experience of investing in IP led renewable technologies. She has a PhD in physics from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from INSEAD. You can connect with her here on Linkedin/Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:37) Ritu’s background & path leading up to venture capital - physicist to VC
  2. (04:58) Thesis & vision at Ankur Capital
  3. (10:27) Learnings from investing in Agritech & Healthtech
  4. (13:14) Adding value to portfolio startups
  5. (16:50) Common blind spots faced by founders in the 0-1 phase
  6. (18:48) Learnings from Ankur Capital’s Fund I; Adapting to changing market dynamics
  7. (24:08) Collaborating with fellow VCs
  8. (26:04) Challenges faced as a General Partner
  9. (30:39) Addressing the diversity challenge in VC
  10. (34:05) How has being a VC influenced Ritu’s personality over the years
  11. (34:39) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Oct 31, 202140:34
EP#47 Arjun Vaidya – Building Dr. Vaidya’s, overcoming self-doubt as a founder and his approach to fundraising & exits

EP#47 Arjun Vaidya – Building Dr. Vaidya’s, overcoming self-doubt as a founder and his approach to fundraising & exits

In this episode, Arjun Vaidya (Venture Lead India, Verlinvest; Ex-CEO, Dr. Vaidya’s), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship & venture capital, his inspiration behind starting an Ayurveda brand, initial challenges, pivots & overcoming self-doubt as a founder, brand positioning & differentiation, learnings from the fundraising process & how should founders think through an exit transaction.

Dr. Vaidya’s is India’s largest D2C Ayurveda brand that offers ayurvedic products to treat illnesses and maintain wellness. Arjun & his co-founder Trisha, successfully exited the business to RPSG in 2021. Post the exit Arjun has now joined Verlinvest as their Venture Lead for India. Verlinvest is a leading family owned evergreen investment group with over €1bn in AUM & investments in companies like BYJU’S, Epigamia and Wakefit among others. Prior to starting Dr. Vaidya’s, Arjun worked at a PE firm called L-Capital. A Brown university alum, Arjun is also an active angel investor (25+ investments) & a mentor to many young DTC founders in the ecosystem. You can connect with him here on Linkedin.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:41) Arjun’s background & path leading up to entrepreneurship & venture capital
  2. (02:53) Genesis & inspiration behind starting an Ayurveda brand
  3. (09:29) Brand differentiation & identifying what your brand stands for
  4. (12:47) Initial challenges, pivoting the business & overcoming self-doubt as a founder
  5. (20:11) Fundraising & scaling up - When to raise funding & whom to raise from?
  6. (26:18) How to think through an exit decision?
  7. (33:01) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Oct 10, 202138:23
EP#46 Ashish Dave – Evaluating seed vs growth stage startups, the learning-unlearning cycle in VC and balancing between due diligence & speed of decision making

EP#46 Ashish Dave – Evaluating seed vs growth stage startups, the learning-unlearning cycle in VC and balancing between due diligence & speed of decision making

In this episode, Ashish Dave (CEO @Mirae Asset Venture Investments, India), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to venture capital, setting up Mirae’s India Venture arm, due diligence missteps by VCs when optimizing for speed, sharing cross-learnings from other geographies with portfolio companies, evaluating seed & growth stage startups, the constant upskilling & unlearning required in venture capital & more.

Mirae Asset Group, a leading financial services company headquartered in South Korea which manages ~$1.5bn across multiple funds. Mirae’s India portfolio includes marquee startups like Ola, BigBasket, Shadowfax, Unacademy, Jupiter among others. Prior to Mirae, Ashish was at Kalaari Capital, a well known early stage VC firm in India & prior to that at Mumbai Angels, one of the prominent angel networks in India where he was actively involved in sourcing new opportunities and helping existing portfolio companies. Ashish is an alum of IE Business School. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:49) Ashish’s background & path leading up to venture capital - Mumbai Angels, Kalaari & Mirae VC
  2. (04:12) Setting up an India dedicated fund at Mirae
  3. (07:32) Adapting to the fast & competitive deal making environment in the Indian startup ecosystem
  4. (10:49) Potential due diligence missteps by VCs when optimizing for speed
  5. (15:12) How can VCs add value to founders?
  6. (19:40) Sharing learnings from other geographies with portfolio startups in India
  7. (22:17) Evaluating startups at seed vs growth stage
  8. (25:56) The constant upskilling & unlearning required in venture capital; importance of getting on ground, gauging customer feedback/behaviour to aid your decision making as an investor
  9. (29:39) Advice & suggestions for emerging VCs
  10. (35:23) How has being a VC influenced his personality over the years?
  11. (37:19) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Sep 26, 202142:29
EP#45 Aprameya Radhakrishna – Building the vernacular ecosystem for Bharat,  lessons on fundraising & identifying the right sounding board as a founder

EP#45 Aprameya Radhakrishna – Building the vernacular ecosystem for Bharat, lessons on fundraising & identifying the right sounding board as a founder

In this episode, Aprameya Radhakrishna (Co-founder @Koo, Vokal & TaxiForSure), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, founding TFS & exiting to Ola, founding Vokal & Koo to build the vernacular ecosystem for India, identifying people that can act as a sounding board, retaining talent, fundraising lessons & more.

Koo is a regional language microblogging and social networking platform with >$10mm users, while Vokal is India’s largest vernacular Q&A platform. Prior to Vokal & Koo, Aprameya founded TaxiForSure, a cab hailing platform which was later acquired by Ola for $200mm in 2015. An IIM-Ahmedabad alum, Aprameya is also an active angel investor in the ecosystem & has invested in startups like Pocket Aces, Unacademy, TapChief & Daily Ninja among others. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter.

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Show notes:

  1. (01:30) Aprameya’s background & path leading up to entrepreneurship - founding Taxi For Sure (TFS)
  2. (04:53) Inspiration to start Vokal after the TFS exit
  3. (07:40) Key challenges faced when building the vernacular ecosystem for Bharat
  4. (13:42) Learnings as a 2nd time entrepreneur
  5. (15:45) Decentralizing your organization as you scale; Building a sounding board that can provide you unbiased feedback
  6. (20:02) Retaining & building a talent pipeline
  7. (23:10) Lessons on fundraising; Onboarding investors that align with your vision and have the patience & appetite to back you in the long run
  8. (29:28) Value add from growth stage investors
  9. (32:15) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Sep 12, 202136:21
EP#44 Anurag Ramdasan – The venture capital learning curve, supporting founders in their follow-on fundraise and establishing a strong VC brand

EP#44 Anurag Ramdasan – The venture capital learning curve, supporting founders in their follow-on fundraise and establishing a strong VC brand

In this episode, Anurag Ramdasan (Partner@ 3one4 Capital), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to 3one4 capital, overcoming the venture capital learning curve & key skill sets required to break into VC, the decision making process at 3one4, learnings from anti-portfolio startups, supporting startups in their follow-on fundraise, establishing a strong VC brand & more.

3one4 Capital is one of the top performing early-stage VC firms in India with a portfolio of 50+ active startups including startups like Koo, Licious, Open, Darwinbox, Betterplace. Anurag leads investments at 3one4 Capital and has been with the fund since its inception in 2016. Anurag spends a lot of his time working with portfolio companies and their founding teams across tech, product, business strategy and fundraising. Previously he led tech & was the first employee at the bay area-based edtech startup, Edcast. Anurag is also the founding member of Code For India, a not-for-profit organisation, centered on getting engineers to work with & develop technology solutions for other NGOs. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter.

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Show notes:

  1. (01:27) Anurag’s background & path leading up to venture capital
  2. (04:42) Overcoming the venture capital learning curve; What skillsets are required to break into VC?
  3. (13:51) Decision making process at 3one4 Capital
  4. (16:27) Learnings from Anti-portfolio startups
  5. (21:14) Supporting startups in their follow-on fundraise; What do the best founders focus on most when raising a follow-on round?
  6. (26:07) Establishing a strong VC brand
  7. (29:27) How has being a VC influenced Anurag’s personality over the years?
  8. (32:17) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Aug 29, 202138:36
EP#43 Shruti Gandhi – Investing in enterprise tech startups, the operator VC perspective & differentiating oneself as an emerging VC

EP#43 Shruti Gandhi – Investing in enterprise tech startups, the operator VC perspective & differentiating oneself as an emerging VC

In this episode, Shruti Gandhi (Founder & Managing Partner @Array Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to venture capital, the evolution of Array’s enterprise tech thesis, how engaging with potential customers can help early stage startups to validate their product & help VCs to support their investment decision, what founders should focus on before thinking about going global, differentiating oneself as an emerging VC, staying ahead of the curve in enterprise tech & more.

Array Ventures is an early stage VC fund that invests in enterprise tech startups solving problems using big data, AI & ML for large industries. Shruti has a strong mix of operating and investing experience. Prior to founding Array, Shruti was a tech investor at True Ventures, Samsung Electronics, Lightbank, HighBAR Partners, and the i2A Fund. Shruti started her career with IBM as a software engineer & later founded her own BigData company Penseev in 2010. She also has an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth Business School and completed her engineering in CS from Columbia University. You can connect with her here on Linkedin/Twitter

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Show notes:

  1. (01:44) Shruti’s background & path leading up to Array Ventures
  2. (02:56) About Array Ventures; Evolution of Array’s enterprise tech thesis
  3. (06:04) How engaging with potential customers can help a) early stage startups to validate their product & b) VCs to support their investment decision
  4. (09:40) Building a global enterprise - What should founders focus on before thinking about going global?
  5. (14:34) How can emerging VC funds differentiate themselves & build a strong brand?
  6. (16:44) Staying relevant & ahead of the curve as an enterprise tech VC
  7. (20:15) How has being a VC influenced Shruti’s personality over the years

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Aug 15, 202124:02
EP#42 Anubhav Jain – Building Rupifi, learnings from Seed to Series A and why speed matters at early stage startups

EP#42 Anubhav Jain – Building Rupifi, learnings from Seed to Series A and why speed matters at early stage startups

In this episode, Anubhav Jain (Co-founder & CEO@ Rupifi), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to founding Rupifi, the recent positives & challenges faced by the SMEs, what is embedded finance & it's use cases, Rupifi’s embedded cash-flow based lending model, importance of speed at early stage startups, what founders should optimize for - between Seed & Series A rounds, role of early stage investors in raising subsequent funding rounds & more.

Rupifi is a fintech startup that helps MSMEs find suitable financing on different digital B2B platforms and marketplaces using an embedded cash-flow based lending model. Prior to founding Rupifi, Anubhav was the Co-Founder & Head of Risk at Qbera, a personal loan marketplace startup that was later acquired by InCred. Anubhav is a 3-time founder with a strong background in credit risk management & has worked at companies like American Express & Razorpay. An IIM Indore alum, Anubhav is also an occasional angel investor. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:22) Anubhav’s background & path leading up to Rupifi
  2. (05:12) Recent positives & challenges in the Indian MSME sector
  3. (12:24) How Rupifi’s cash-flow based embedded lending model solves some of these challenges?
  4. (17:10) Embedded finance & its use cases
  5. (24:12) Rupifi’s approach towards building an MVP & achieving PMF; Why speed matters at early stage startups?
  6. (30:49) Fundraising experience at Rupifi; What should founders optimize for in between Seed & Series A rounds?
  7. (38:43) Role of early stage investors in helping startups raise subsequent funding rounds
  8. (43:18) How has being a 3-time founder influenced Anubhav’s personality over the years?
  9. (45:08) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Aug 01, 202148:10
EP#41 Sushma Kaushik – Investing in the Bharat opportunity, DNA of impact entrepreneurs & the evolving exit landscape for impact funds

EP#41 Sushma Kaushik – Investing in the Bharat opportunity, DNA of impact entrepreneurs & the evolving exit landscape for impact funds

In this episode, Sushma Kaushik (Partner @ Aavishkaar Capital), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path to VC, the genesis of Aavishkaar Capital & it’s key portfolio startups, the evolution of the fund’s thesis across 4 funds, unlocking of the massive Bharat opportunity, the DNA of impact entrepreneurs, the evolving exit landscape for impact funds & key learnings from Sushma’s decadal experience as a VC.

Aavishkaar Capital is an early-stage VC firm & the equity arm of The Aavishkaar Group which is focused on developing the impact ecosystem in Asia and Africa. Aavishkaar Capital has ~$500mm in AUM & has invested in notable companies like Chqbook, Agrostar, Soulfull, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank among others. Sushma has ~18 years of diverse experience in the field of early stage investing, small business incubation and consulting across sectors. An ISB Hyderabad alum, Sushma has also been recognized as “40 under 40 Alternative Investment Professionals in India” in 2017 and one of the “Top 100 women in finance in the leading category”. You can connect with her here on Linkedin/Twitter.

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Show notes –

  1. (01:50) Sushma’s background & path to VC
  2. (05:50) Aavishkaar Capital - Genesis, key portfolio companies & evolution of thesis across 4 different funds
  3. (11:05) How India’s digitization push has unlocked the massive Bharat opportunity?
  4. (18:25) Evaluation framework for impact creating startups; The DNA of impact entrepreneurs
  5. (27:40) Evolving exit landscape for impact funds; Importance of making timely exits for LPs
  6. (32:55) Key learnings from her decadal experience as a VC
  7. (37:05) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Jul 18, 202143:29
EP#40 Pankaj Mitra – Decoding corporate VC, Cisco’s symbiotic relationship with portfolio startups & collaborating with traditional VC funds

EP#40 Pankaj Mitra – Decoding corporate VC, Cisco’s symbiotic relationship with portfolio startups & collaborating with traditional VC funds

In this episode, Pankaj Mitra (Director & India Head @Cisco Investments), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to corporate VC, Cisco’s mandate in India, the symbiotic relationship with its portfolio companies, learnings from other enterprise tech ecosystems like US & Israel, difference between Corporate & traditional VC and how Cisco collaborates with & invests in other VC funds.

Cisco has a portfolio of ~10 start-ups including - Whatfix, Videonetics, Mobikwik, Mobstac and CloudCherry - that it has already invested in directly or through investment partnerships with VC funds. Cisco is also an LP in VC funds like Aavishkaar, Stellaris Venture Partners & Chiratae Ventures. Prior to joining Cisco Investments in 2018, Pankaj was formerly at Infosys Corporate Development, where he helped enable early stage investments for Infosys’ $500M innovation fund. A UC Berkeley and IIT Kharagpur alum, Pankaj started his career with Delsoft (acq. by Mentor Graphics) & later worked at companies like VMware & Deloitte. You can connect with him here on Linkedin

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Show notes –

  1. (01:46) Pankaj’s background & path leading up to Cisco India
  2. (04:07) Cisco’s mandate & sector focus in India; Key portfolio companies
  3. (06:47) The symbiotic relationship between Cisco & its portfolio startups
  4. (11:33) Learnings from other enterprise tech ecosystems like US & Israel
  5. (15:49) How Cisco differentiates itself from other corporate VCs; Cisco’s Launchpad program for early stage startups
  6. (18:58) Difference between a Corporate VC & traditional VC
  7. (22:08) How Cisco collaborates with & invests (as a LP) in other VC funds
  8. (29:29) Learnings from working closely with startups & VCs over the past decade
  9. (33:20) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Jul 04, 202139:53
EP#39 Manish Singhal – Evaluating & backing disruptive ideas, challenges of raising a VC fund and the bull case for deeptech in India

EP#39 Manish Singhal – Evaluating & backing disruptive ideas, challenges of raising a VC fund and the bull case for deeptech in India

In this episode, Manish Singhal (Founding Partner @Pi Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to venture capital, thesis for Pi Ventures & key portfolio startups, framework for evaluating disruptive ideas, fund allocation strategy as an early stage VC, learnings from his failed attempts to raise a venture fund, role of LPs in differentiating yourself as a VC fund & the bull case for deeptech in India.

Pi Ventures is an early-stage VC fund focused on investing in disruptive ideas leveraging machine learning, AI, and IoT. So far the fund has backed 13 startups from its 1st fund, which include marquee names like Locus, Agnikul, SigTuple, Pyxis & Wysa. Before founding Pi Ventures, Manish co-founded Lets Venture, a leading angel investment platform in India and worked for over 2 decades in R&D, product & leadership roles in companies like Motorola & Sling Media. An Alumnus of IIT Kanpur, Manish has also contributed to the standardisation of MPEG-4 standard and holds a couple of video technology patents to his name. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

  1. (01:45) Manish’s path to starting Pi Ventures; What inspired him to become a VC?
  2. (08:11) Evolution of the fund’s thesis; Key portfolio startups
  3. (12:04) Evaluating framework for disruptive ideas - Demand & Supply Resonance map
  4. (17:12) Founders’ approach to bridge the gap between a standalone technology/project & a commercial product
  5. (19:19) Fund allocation strategy as a VC; Key metrics that influence the follow-on funding decision
  6. (23:28) Challenges of raising a VC fund; Learnings from failed attempts to raise money prior to starting Pi
  7. (29:06) Role of LPs to differentiate yourself as a VC fund & supporting portfolio startups
  8. (31:45) The Bull case for deeptech innovation in India
  9. (33:59) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Jun 20, 202137:52
EP#38 Shruti Kapoor – Building Wingman, unpacking B2B sales and scaling up as an entrepreneur

EP#38 Shruti Kapoor – Building Wingman, unpacking B2B sales and scaling up as an entrepreneur

In this episode, Shruti Kapoor (Co-founder & CEO @Wingman), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path to entrepreneurship, building Wingman, winning your first 5 customers at a B2B startup, scaling up as an entrepreneur, the Y-Combinator experience & what founders should optimize for when fundraising for their startup.

Wingman is a Y-Combinator backed SaaS startup that empowers sales teams with conversation intelligence, actionable insights on successful playbooks and delivers real-time coaching. The company has also raised funding from notable VCs like Speciale Invest & Venture Highway. Since the start of her career, Shruti has worked across lifesciences research, investment banking, technology investing, commercialization, product development, fin-tech. Prior to Wingman, Shruti was part of Payoneer India's founding team & led the company’s go-to-market strategy. You can connect with her here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:30) Shruti’s path to becoming an entrepreneur

2. (04:10) The ‘Why’ behind starting Wingman - genesis & problem statement

3. (07:00) Unpacking B2B ‘Sales’; Wingman’s role in empowering the Sales function of an org

4. (13:20) Key learnings from the 0 to 1 phase of a startup; The approach to winning your first 5 customers

5. (20:03) Scaling up as an entrepreneur as you scale your business; The Y-combinator experience

6. (24:45) Timing your fundraise while still trying to achieve product-market fit; What to optimize for, when fundraising for your startup?

7. (29:20) Leveraging your investors post the fundraise

8. (30:45) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay here on Linkedin & Twitter

Jun 06, 202134:43
EP#37 Abhishek Goyal – The VC to founder journey, entrepreneurship lessons from the VC experience & investing in Flipkart

EP#37 Abhishek Goyal – The VC to founder journey, entrepreneurship lessons from the VC experience & investing in Flipkart

In this episode, Abhihshek Goyal, Co-founder @Tracxn & Serial Angel Investor, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his exciting journey as an entrepreneur, VC & an angel investor, learnings from his previous startups & scaling his latest venture – Tracxn, how being a VC & an angel investor influences his operating style as an entrepreneur, Abhishek’s investment in Flipkart, his approach to angel investing & fundraising advice for founders.

Abhishek started his career with Yahoo & Amazon and also founded two startups before joining Accel Partners. After working for 3 years at Accel, Abhishek plunged back into entrepreneurship, and launched two more startups — UrbanTouch (which was later acquired by online fashion flash sales retailer FashionAndYou), and his current venture Tracxn, an online startup discovery platform for VC funds. Tracxn is backed by angels like Ratan Tata, Nandan Nilekani, Sachin Bansal, Girish Mathrubootham & VCs like Sequoia, Accel & Prime VP. Besides being a serial entrepreneur & ex-VC, Abhishek is also a serial angel investor who has invested in 100+ startups through personal & institutional capital. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:51) Abhishek’s journey as an entrepreneur, VC & an angel investor

2. (04:02) Tracxn - Genesis & problem statement; Starting up in US & then scaling the team in India

3. (08:37) Learnings from the previous startups that helped build a strong foundation at Tracxn

4. (09:53) How being a VC & an angel investor influences his operating style as an entrepreneur?

5. (13:13) Investing in Flipkart – The funding backstory

6. (18:23) Approach to angel investing; What motivates Abhishek to back early stage startups?

7. (26:41) Founder perspective – Pitfalls to avoid when raising funds from angels & value-add expectations

8. (30:33) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify & Apple iTunes. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

May 16, 202134:26
EP#36 Anshuman Bapna – The massive cleantech opportunity, building a strong culture at a remote-first startup and managing pivots & exits as a founder

EP#36 Anshuman Bapna – The massive cleantech opportunity, building a strong culture at a remote-first startup and managing pivots & exits as a founder

In this episode, Anshuman Bapna, Founder @Terra, joins our host Digjay, to talk about the ‘why’ & ‘how’ behind his latest venture - Terra, investor trends & the massive opportunity in clean tech, building a strong culture at a remote first startup, managing pivots & how should a founder think about exits.

Terra is an online climate school which is on a mission to activate 100 million highly-skilled, climate-conscious professionals by 2030. The company aims to turn climate focused intentions into real world impactful actions. An alumnus of IIT-Bombay and Stanford Business School, Anshuman is a serial entrepreneur who has founded & exited multiple startups in the past, including traveltech startup mygola, Democracy Connect, and RightHalf.com. Prior to starting Terra, Anshuman was the Chief Product Officer at MakemyTrip. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:24) Anshuman’s background & path leading up to Terra

2. (04:22) The ’Why’ behind starting Terra; Building the talent stack for the climate economy

3. (07:59) The massive clean tech opportunity - Investor trends across India & US

4. (13:14) Terra’s mission & outlook for the next decade

5. (16:20) Building a strong culture at a remote-first startup

6. (22:04) Managing pivots - key principles to help make the decision

7. (26:25) Fundraising approach as a 1st time & 2nd/3rdtime founder

8. (32:56) Thoughts on approaching exits as a fouder; How founders can derive maximum value from an exit opportunity?

9. (37:18) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify & Apple iTunes. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

Apr 25, 202144:19
EP#35 Sanjay Swamy – Identifying category creating startups, adding value as an operator VC & finding investor-founder fit

EP#35 Sanjay Swamy – Identifying category creating startups, adding value as an operator VC & finding investor-founder fit

In this episode, Sanjay Swamy, Managing Partner @Prime Venture Partners (Prime), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his journey as an entrepreneur & now as a VC, the genesis story & investment philosophy at Prime, adding value as an operator VC, finding investor-founder fit, identifying & backing category creating startups and the VC-founder relationship at Prime.

Prime VP is an early-stage VC fund focused on backing category-creating tech companies out of India building for the local and global markets. It has a portfolio of 25 startups so far, which includes startups like Recko, MyGate, MoneyTap & Dozee among others. Before starting Prime in 2012, Sanjay took up multiple roles at companies like mCheck & Ezetap. Sanjay also co-founded ZipDial, which was later acquired by Twitter in 2015. Sanjay started his career in the Silicon Valley in 1992, working with companies like Integrated Systems, Xerox, Portal Software before returning to India in 2003. Sanjay is also a volunteer at iSPIRT and played a prominent role on the UIDAI project under the leadership of Nandan Nilekani. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:43) Sanjay’s background & path leading up to Prime

2. (07:57) The opportunities that led him to start Prime along with his co-founders; The investment philosophy at Prime

3. (11:27) Adding value to the portfolio companies as an Operator VC; Finding investor-founder fit

4. (17:38) Evolution of the startup landscape & Prime’s investment approach since starting the first fund in 2012

5. (21:31) Why Prime VP likes to back category creating startups? How to evaluate & identify such startups?

6. (30:23) Advice for young VCs – Building trust & supporting founders

7. (34:23) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify & Apple iTunes. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

Apr 11, 202138:22
EP#34 Rahul Mathur – The ‘build in public’ approach for startups, challenges faced by a first time founder and the Insurtech landscape in India

EP#34 Rahul Mathur – The ‘build in public’ approach for startups, challenges faced by a first time founder and the Insurtech landscape in India

In this episode, Rahul Mathur, Founder & CEO @BimapPe, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background & path leading upto BimaPe, the current insurtech landscape in India, striking a balance between founder vision & customer feedback, challenges faced as a first time founder, key advantages of ‘building in public’, fundraising at a pre-product stage and benefits of having multi-stage investors on your cap table.

BimaPe is a Mumbai based Insurtech startup that is trying to demystify insurance and its management for individuals and families across India. Prior to starting BimaPe, Rahul was the Startup Lead at Accenture’s FinTech Innovation Lab and a Product Manager at Laka Insurance, an early-stage InsurTech startup based in London. He is also an Ambassador at the Asia InsurTech podcast. Rahul holds a master’s degree in Statistics from the University of Warwick. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:25) Rahul’s background & path leading upto BimaPe

2. (03:06) Current insurtech landscape in India – key wins & challenges

3. (07:46) The problem that BimaPe is trying to solve in the insurance space

4. (12:21) Striking a balance between founder vision & customer feedback

5. (16:30) Challenges faced as a first time founder

6. (22:27) Going from unorganized to organized chaos in the early stages of a startup

7. (27:16) Advantages of ‘building in public’

8. (31:08) Fundraising at a pre-product stage; Benefits of having multi-stage investors on your cap table

9. (38:50) Rapid fire and closing remarks
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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify & Apple iTunes. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

Mar 28, 202143:02
EP#33 Anirudh Damani – The micro-VC investment model, cap table discipline by founders & learnings from investing in 85+ startups

EP#33 Anirudh Damani – The micro-VC investment model, cap table discipline by founders & learnings from investing in 85+ startups

In this episode, Anirudh Damani, Managing Partner @Artha Venture Fund, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to VC, investing in startups through his family office before starting his own fund, benefits & mechanics behind managing a micro VC fund, Artha’s investment thesis, fund allocation & deal sourcing strategies, and how founders can keep their cap tables clean in their initial funding rounds.

Artha Venture Fund is an early-stage sector agnostic fund that has been investing in start-ups since early 2012. Prior to launching the fund, Anirudh was an active angel investor in many early-stage startups. Anirudh also owns Artha Energy Resources and is the MD and CEO at Artha Group of Companies. He also serves as a member of the Advisory Board at Venture Catalysts. Anirudh holds a double major in economics and business administration from Austin College. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:37) Anirudh’s background & path to VC

2. (07:55) Returning to India & investing in startups through his family office

3. (13:59) Difference between running a family office & a VC fund

4. (16:47) Benefits of managing a micro VC fund; Preference of managing multiple micro funds vs a single mega VC fund

5. (20:24) Artha’s investment thesis, fund allocation strategy & key investments

6. (28:02) Deal sourcing - Partnering with accelerators, referrals from portfolio founders & co-investors

7. (30:10) Why is it important for founders to keep their cap table clean?

8. (33:21) Learnings from investing in 85+ startups

9. (35:44) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify & Apple iTunes. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

Mar 14, 202140:45
EP#32 Vindhya C – Unpacking product management, building ‘customer-centric’ products & founder-product manager dynamics

EP#32 Vindhya C – Unpacking product management, building ‘customer-centric’ products & founder-product manager dynamics

In this episode, Vindhya C, Founder @OnThatJob / Product @Pexels, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her experience as a product consultant with early stage startups, the typical lifecycle of a product & how modern no-code creator tools are changing that, building ‘customer-centric’ products, common missteps by founders at the MVP & product-market-fit stage of a startup, identifying and hiring good product managers & Founder-PM dynamics.

‘OnThatJob’ is a cohort-based learning program that helps people understand the scope of a specific job, especially in the early stages of a startup. Vindhya, popular on Product Twitter as Vindytalks, is known for her blogs on Product Management & consulting early stage startups. She also won Hacker Noon’s PM of the year award in 2019. Prior to joining Pexels, Vindhya worked in various product roles at startups like Loco (Pocket Aces) & Directi. You can connect with her here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (03:30) Typical lifecycle of a product; How ‘No-code’ tools have inverted that lifecycle – sharing the end-product first & working backwards to build the product

2. (07:19) Different approaches to build a ‘customer-centric’ product

3. (09:26) Founder missteps at the MVP & PMF stage

4. (12:45) Different roles of a Product Manager; Org structures within startups that can empower product managers

5. (18:57) Strategizing vs actually building the product; When to adopt an experiment & fail fast approach

6. (25:46) When should a founder hire a product manager? Identifying & hiring good product managers

7. (33:10) Founder-PM dynamics; passing over responsibilities

8. (36:53) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify & Apple iTunes. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

Feb 28, 202142:02
EP#31 Dhimant Parekh – Building The Better India, the shift from content to commerce & the role of community in establishing a strong brand

EP#31 Dhimant Parekh – Building The Better India, the shift from content to commerce & the role of community in establishing a strong brand

In this episode, Dhimant Parekh, Founder & CEO @The Better India, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his journey building Asia’s largest content platform for impact, his learnings from the 0-1 phase, importance of developing deep customer relationships, leveraging community to build a strong consumer brand & his fundraising experience at The Better India.

Dhimant along with his co-founder & wife Anuradha started The Better India in 2008, right after graduating from ISB. What started as a side project then has now scaled up to become Asia’s largest content platform for impact. Later the duo also launched a new vertical called The Better Home which is India’s first sustainability focused subscription product company. Prior to becoming a founder, Dhimant worked in various product roles at Intuit, Hoopos.com & is considered to be one of the top Product Mentors for startups in India. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:27) The ‘why’ & ‘how’ behind starting The Better India

2. (06:52) Learnings from & challenges faced in the 0-1 phase

3. (12:50) The shift from content to commerce powered by community

4. (18:55) Importance of developing deep customer relationships; Leveraging community to build a strong consumer brand

5. (22:39) Context switching between long & short-term decision making as a founder

6. (25:08) Fundraising challenges; Picking the right investors to partner with

7. (30:53) Rapid fire and closing remark

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify & Apple iTunes. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

Feb 21, 202136:30
EP#30 Prasanna K – Understanding SaaS fundamentals, building Upekkha & accelerating growth for SaaS startups

EP#30 Prasanna K – Understanding SaaS fundamentals, building Upekkha & accelerating growth for SaaS startups

In this episode, Prasanna K, Founding Partner @Upekkha Catalyst, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading upto Upekkha, the fundamentals of a SaaS business, validating the need for your product, acquiring your first 50 customers & retaining them, what is value SaaS  & how Upekkha is helping founders scale their SaaS business & more. 

Upekkha is a Value SaaS Accelerator working with B2B SaaS startups to help them scale & achieve profitable growth. Prasanna has >15yrs of experience in tech & product at firms like Amazon & Tejas Networks. Prior to starting Upekkha, Prasanna worked closely with 120+ startups at Microsoft’s India accelerator. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (00:09) Prasanna’s background & path to Upekkha; Fundamentals of a SaaS business (Software as a Service)

2. (08:05) Validating your product; Acquiring your first 50 customers & retaining them

3. (17:20) Characteristics of a successful SaaS founder; Strategic hiring of initial team members

4. (21:48) The inspiration behind starting Upekkha; What is Value SaaS?

5. (24:50) Why most SaaS startups die due to capital indigestion vs capital starvation?

6. (29:47) Upekkha’s operating model & how it helps SaaS startups in scaling up

7. (30:57) SaaS Outlook for India & the world

8. (34:05) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google Podcasts. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

Feb 14, 202139:25
EP#29 Rajiv Srivatsa – Co-building startups at Antler India, the Urban Ladder experience & unpacking the fundraising lifecycle of a startup

EP#29 Rajiv Srivatsa – Co-building startups at Antler India, the Urban Ladder experience & unpacking the fundraising lifecycle of a startup

In this episode, Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner @Antler India & Co-founder @Urban Ladder, joins our host Digjay, to talk about the Antler India program, building & scaling Urban Ladder, raising funds from Mr. Ratan Tata, difference in fundraising approach between 0-1 & 1-10 stage, managing stakeholders expectations & overcoming valleys of death as a founder. Prior to joining Antler India, Rajiv co-founded Urban Ladder (UL), one of India's top omni-channel furniture brand. Over ~8 years, UL raised over $100mm from top Indian VCs, like Kalaari Capital, SAIF Partners (now Elevation Capital) & Steadview Capital. Prior to UL, he served as a Sr Product Manager with Yahoo. An IIT Madras/ IIM Bangalore alum, Rajiv has been featured multiple times on the Fortune 40 U/ 40 India list. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter 

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Show notes: 

1. (01:35) Rajiv’s background; Antler’s mission & entry into India 

2. (08:06) Unpacking the fundraising lifecycle of a startup 

3. (12:06) Antler India operating model 

4. (18:19) Building & scaling Urban ladder 

5. (28:35) Raising funds from Mr. Ratan Tata; Difference in fundraising between 0-1 & 1-10 stage of a startup 

6. (30:49) Managing expectations of different stakeholders of a company 

7. (37:57) Overcoming valleys of death as a founder 

8. (41:36) How being an entrepreneur has shaped Rajiv’s personality over the years? 

9. (44:46) Rapid fire and closing remarks 

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google Podcasts. We would really appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

Feb 07, 202148:20
EP#28 Raja Ganapathy – The ‘skin-in-the-game’ marketing model, partnering with founder-led companies & building a strong VC brand

EP#28 Raja Ganapathy – The ‘skin-in-the-game’ marketing model, partnering with founder-led companies & building a strong VC brand

In this episode, Raja Ganapathy, Founding Partner @Spring Marketing Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path to venture capital, the gap in the marketing ecosystem and how Spring Marketing Capital aims to plug that using their skin-in-the-game model, importance of articulating the founder’s vision & how it impacts product roadmap, the brand as well as the culture of a startup, his experience working as a CMO at Sequoia India & how new age VC firms can build a strong brand to attract founders.

Raja has worked with founders for most of his working life of 24+ years - first with Ogilvy & Brand David, and later as CMO with Sequoia India, before starting Spring Marketing Capital with his co-founders Arun Iyer & Vineet Gupta. Through his career, Raja has partnered with some well-known brands like Byju’s, CARS24, Cred, Daily Hunt, Wakefit, Epigamia, among others. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter

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Show notes:

  1. (01:42) Raja’s background & path to venture capital
  2. (04:02) The big gap in the marketing ecosystem; The ‘skin in the game’ model at Spring Marketing Capital
  3. (08:32) How Spring Marketing differs from typical ad agencies?
  4. (12:08) Raising funds from LPs; Thesis & investment model
  5. (16:57) Working with founders to define the core value proposition of their product/service
  6. (22:48) Importance of clearly articulating the founder’s vision & how it helps in defining the culture of a startup
  7. (26:49) When should founders spend on marketing?
  8. (31:57) CMO experience at Sequoia
  9. (36:26) Building a strong VC brand like Sequoia, a16z
  10. (40:02) Rapid fire & closing remarks

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google Podcasts. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin/Twitter 

Jan 31, 202146:57
EP#27 Vaibhav Domkundwar – Building leverage as a founder, simplifying decision making for investors & bootstrapping vs fundraising

EP#27 Vaibhav Domkundwar – Building leverage as a founder, simplifying decision making for investors & bootstrapping vs fundraising

In this episode, Vaibhav Domkundwar, Founder & CEO @Better Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to angel investing, learnings as a 2x entrepreneur, about Better Capital, evaluating founders at early-stage startups, bootstrapping vs fundraising, building leverage as a founder & how to build your brand as a first-time angel investor. 

Vaibhav is a UC Berkeley alum, a 2x entrepreneur & now a full-time investor. He founded 2 companies - Roamware which was acquired by PE firm Audax, and Better which was a self-financed startup studio that has now evolved into an early stage venture firm. Today, Better has a strong portfolio of 80+ companies which includes startups like Khatabook, OPEN Bank, Rupeek, TestBook, Yulu. You can connect with Vaibhav here on Linkedin/Twitter

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes & Google Podcasts. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes This will help others discover the podcast. For more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem, you can visit thevcpreneur.com & follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin& Twitter

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Show notes –

  1. (01:26) Vaibhav’s background; Portfolio strategy when investing in seed stage startups
  2. (10:46) Evaluating early-stage founders; Gut feel vs data driven decision making 
  3. (15:17) How founders can simplify decision making for investors?
  4. (19:43) How founders can attract people that share the same passion & drive for their startup?
  5. (23:49) Bootstrapping vs Fundraising; Seeking support of investors as you scale up
  6. (29:20) Building leverage as a founder
  7. (30:37) Building a brand & adding value as an angel investor
  8. (36:47) Rapid fire & closing remarks
Jan 24, 202142:33
EP#26 Vinay Bansal – Democratizing angel investing & growing with startups

EP#26 Vinay Bansal – Democratizing angel investing & growing with startups

In this episode, Vinay Bansal, Co-founder & CEO @Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), joins our host Digjay, to talk about the genesis of IPV, building a trust based platform for both founders & investors, funding startups from Seed to Series A/B and how IPV operates like an angel network while helping founders like VCs & PEs do. 

Vinay is a finance professional with 20+ years of experience across Fortune 50 companies, private equity & startups. Last, he was Senior Advisor at TPG Global & before that CFO/CIO at Wildcraft India. He is a Chartered Accountant by qualification and spent the first 14 years of his career in leadership positions across Financial Management & Manufacturing / Supply-chain sourcing functions at GE & Hindustan Unilever. You can connect with him here on Linkedin 

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes & Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter 

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Show notes – 

  1. (01:30) Vinay’s background; About Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) – genesis & operating model 
  2. (06:45) Building a trust based ecosystem for both founders & investors; Onboarding ~3k investors on the platform 
  3. (09:42) Differentiating IPV from other angel investment platforms 
  4. (13:00) Selection criteria & lifecycle of a startup at IPV 
  5. (18:00) How IPV supports founders that do not end up raising funds through their platform? 
  6. (20:48) Funding startups from Seed to Series A/B; How IPV operates like an angel network while adding value to startups like VCs & PEs? 
  7. (27:20) Rapid fire and closing remarks
Jan 17, 202133:04
EP#25 Karthik Venkateswaran – Building Jumbotail, scaling a marketplace model & hiring for values

EP#25 Karthik Venkateswaran – Building Jumbotail, scaling a marketplace model & hiring for values

In this episode, Karthik Venkateswaran, Co-founder & CEO @Jumbotail, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his journey from serving in the Indian army to founding his own startup, the challenges of scaling a marketplace model, hiring employees based on the company’s core values, advantage of going deep in one market before scaling to other geographies, and what founders should particularly look for in their seed stage investors.

Jumbotail aims to organise the food & grocery ecosystem in India using technology & has raised close to $50mm in funding so far from a range of Indian as well as international VC funds. Karthik is an alumnus of National Defence Academy and served in the Indian Army for 10 years, with several tenures in hard combat.  He then went on to complete his MBA from Stanford, worked as a Senior Product Manager in ebay US and Director-Products in Flipkart, prior to starting Jumbotail in 2015. Karthik is passionate about building products & technology that will create more economic opportunities for the food and grocery ecosystem, and make commerce more accessible and convenient for the next 1 billion Indians. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:40) Karthik & Ashish’s background; Inspiration behind starting Jumbotail

2. (05:30) Jumbotail’s solutions for India’s fragmented food & grocery market

3. (12:15) Overcoming initial challenges and scaling a marketplace model

4. (19:04) Why hiring the right team is extremely critical for a startup’s success? Unpacking Jumbotail’s unique ‘values’ based hiring & appraisal system

5. (23:30) Leveraging macro tailwinds, staying agile and focusing on depth (vs breadth) while scaling up

6. (30:00) Learnings from Jumbotail’s fundraising experience; What founders should look for in their seed stage investors?

7. (35:40) Rapid fire and closing remarks

Jan 10, 202140:40
EP#24 Sasha Mirchandani – Angel investing to venture capital, learnings from missed investment opportunities & building a legacy VC fund

EP#24 Sasha Mirchandani – Angel investing to venture capital, learnings from missed investment opportunities & building a legacy VC fund

In this episode, Sasha Mirchandani, Founder & Managing Partner @Kae Capital & Co-founder @Mumbai Angels, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his learnings from investing in startups over the last 2 decades – from being an angel investor in early 2000s to starting his own VC fund in 2012, how Kae Capital leverages it’s LPs to add value to their portfolio startups, building a legacy VC fund, Sasha’s list of anti-portfolio startups (Oyo, Ola, Meesho, Unacademy) & key learnings from these missed opportunities.

Sasha founded Kae Capital in 2012 which is a Mumbai based sector agnostic VC fund that usually invests in seed stage startups. Some of its investments include 1mg, Nua, Porter, Zetwerk among others. Previously, Sasha was a Managing Director at Blue Run Ventures India, CEO and Founder of Imercius Technologies and Head of Corporate Affairs/New Businesses at Mirc Electronics (Onida). Sasha founded Mumbai Angels in 2006 which is among the top angel investment networks in India that connects startups with investors & professionals willing to invest in them. Sasha is among the first batch of angel investors in the country, is known for making early investments in companies like Fractal, InMobi & Myntra and was recently inducted in TiE Mumbai’s Hall of Fame as an Outstanding Angel Investor. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:34) Sasha’s background; Starting Mumbai Angels in 2006

2. (03:54) Initial learnings as an angel investor

3. (07:09) Difference in investment approach between a VC and an angel investor

4. (09:04) About Kae Capital – Thesis, Fund size and portfolio composition

5. (10:36) What should VCs consider when choosing their LPs? Leveraging LPs to support portfolio startups

6. (14:39) Exit criteria for VCs; Why VCs need to put more thought on mitigating risks post investment and timing their exits?

7. (17:23) Learnings from his anti-portfolio and avoiding biases when evaluating startups

8. (19:49) Improvement in founder quality over the past 2 decades

9. (22:54) Rapid fire and closing remarks

Dec 20, 202027:12
EP#23 Vishesh Rajaram – Backing mission-oriented founders & investing in disruptive tech startups

EP#23 Vishesh Rajaram – Backing mission-oriented founders & investing in disruptive tech startups

In this episode, Vishesh Rajaram, Founder & Managing Partner @Speciale Invest, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his learnings as a venture capitalist (VC) – at Venture East earlier and now at Speciale Invest, backing early-stage startups in disruptive technology domains like Space-tech, micro-mobility, clean energy & robotics, how deep-tech startups can reduce risk and gain trust of investors and iterating investment strategies as a VC.

Vishesh who has about 13 years of experience across enterprise technologies and consumer services. Vishesh started his venture capital journey with Venture East in 2007, one of India’s oldest VC firms. After spending almost a decade at Venture East, Vishesh founded Speciale Invest in 2016. Speciale Invest is an early-stage investment firm that focuses on B2B deeptech startups across both hardware & software and has been an early pioneer of domains like Space tech, Robotics, Deep tech software, micro-mobility, and clean energy transportation. So far, it has invested in about a dozen startups, including the likes of Agnikul, Utlraviolet, Truelark and Wingman, among others. Vishesh is a Chartered Accountant and an alum of the Indian School of Business. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:59) Vishesh’s path leading up to venture capital

2. (06:02) Learnings from a decadal experience of being a VC

3. (08:40) Founder-insight fit; Backing startups that are building technologies of the future

4. (14:46) Key headwinds for Deep tech / IP driven startups to thrive in India; How founders gain trust of and reduce risk for investors?

5. (20:22) What does Speciale Invest particularly look for in founders that are pursuing hardware/deep tech opportunities?

6. (21:57) Adding value to startups beyond just the capital

7. (23:55) Evolving VC landscape; Overcoming long feedback cycles and iterating investment strategies as a VC

8. (28:13) Key principles to build a strong institutional VC brand

9. (30:25) Rapid fire and closing remarks

Dec 13, 202033:54
EP#22 Priya Mohan – Lessons from an entrepreneur turned VC, key considerations when evaluating an exit and importance of maintaining mental wellbeing for VCs & founders

EP#22 Priya Mohan – Lessons from an entrepreneur turned VC, key considerations when evaluating an exit and importance of maintaining mental wellbeing for VCs & founders

In this episode, Priya Mohan, Startup Sensei @Venture Highway, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her learnings as an entrepreneur and a VC, selling to Byju’s, evaluating exit opportunities, choosing the right VCs, embracing vulnerability and the importance of maintaining mental wellbeing for VCs and founders.

Venture Highway is an early-stage VC fund that invests in tech-enabled startups across different sectors. Before Venture Highway, Priya co-founded Vidyartha, an educational technology platform for students in grades 6-12, which she exited successfully to Byju’s - an Indian edtech unicorn. Prior to her operating role at Vidyartha, Priya spent 9 years working as a sell-side investment banker and equity research analyst, where she helped high-growth companies raise private equity, structure and execute complex transactions. These included private investments, secondary sales, and buyouts. Priya is a Chartered Accountant and has a Masters of Business Administration from the Indian School of Business (ISB). You can connect with her here on Linkedin / Twitter

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:21) Priya’s background and path leading up to venture capital

2. (02:41) Building Vidyartha – a K12 edtech startup; Lessons from being a first-time entrepreneur

3. (08:53) Key considerations when evaluating an exit opportunity

4. (15:41) Why entrepreneurs should be radically honest with themselves and ask tough questions when deciding between the next fundraise and an exit opportunity?

5. (19:36) About Venture Highway; How startups can benefit from the Silicon Valley connect

6. (23:38) Pros & Cons of having VCs with an operating background; What should founders be cognizant about when choosing VCs to pitch for their fundraise?

7. (27:53) Economic benefits of maintaining mental wellbeing for VCs and founders?

8. (31:39) Rapid fire and closing remarks

Dec 06, 202037:15
EP#21 Bhaskar Majumdar – The value of GPs with complementary skill sets, learnings from investing in startups from different geographies & the art of identifying exit opportunities

EP#21 Bhaskar Majumdar – The value of GPs with complementary skill sets, learnings from investing in startups from different geographies & the art of identifying exit opportunities

In this episode, Bhaskar Majumdar, Founder & Managing Partner @Unicorn India Ventures, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his experience as an entrepreneur & and an investor, challenges faced by first time VCs, importance of having complementary skillsets among General Partners, overcoming long feedback cycles and being agile as a VC fund and the art & science of evaluating exit opportunities as a founder.

In the past decade, Bhaskar has established himself as a well-regarded early stage investor and advisor, especially in the UK and India. He has exited businesses as an entrepreneur and as an investor and brings a strong sense of positioning businesses for exit. He has held senior corporate positions with Times of India, Zee Telefilms and Altavista UK. An Alumni of IIT Kharagpur and an AMP from Harvard, Bhaskar is very active in the angel community network in UK and in India. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/ Twitter

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:25) Bhaskar’s background and path leading up to venture capital; About Unicorn India Ventures (UIV)

2. (04:50) Portfolio composition; What UIV looks for in founders before investing?

3. (10:10) How startups can benefit from the cross-border network & international portfolio of venture funds?

4. (12:31) Finding the right Partner when starting a VC fund; importance of having complementary skillsets among Partners

5. (15:59) Challenges faced when raising a new VC fund; Key things to look for in a first time VC/fund manager

6. (20:30) Learnings from the 1stUIV fund and the change in strategy for its 2nd fund

7. (23:11) Evaluating exit opportunities as a founder; What should early stage founders focus on to build a strong foundation to scale their startup?

8. (32:38) Rapid fire and closing remarks

Nov 29, 202035:39
EP#20 Utsav Somani – The AngelList India journey, advantage of having good angel investors on your cap table & starting a micro fund to bridge the gap between India & the Silicon Valley

EP#20 Utsav Somani – The AngelList India journey, advantage of having good angel investors on your cap table & starting a micro fund to bridge the gap between India & the Silicon Valley

In this episode, Utsav Somani, Partner @AngelList India & @iSeed, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his exciting journey & vision at AngelList India, the asymmetric upside from writing good cold emails, advantage of having angel investors on your cap table along with institutional VC funds, and starting his own micro fund iSeed, to bridge the gap between India & the Silicon Valley

AngelList is platform that is democratizing angel investing and helping startups with fundraising, launching products and hiring talent. Besides leading AngelList India, Utsav is also an experienced angel investor with a portfolio of more than 30 companies which includes the likes of BharatPe, Innov8, LogiNext, Mall91 and many more. He has recently launched his new micro-VC fund called iSeed – which is India's first micro-fund backed by top global founders and investors. The fund will invest in about 30 early-stage Indian startups with an average check of $150k. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

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If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

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Show notes –

1. (01:31)  Utsav’s background and path leading up to AngelList India; His life changing ‘cold email’ to Naval Ravikant

2. (04:41) Writing a good cold email; Zero downside, Unlimited upside

3. (07:51) Why entrepreneurship & angel investing is glamourized?

4. (10:16) What should founders look for in an angel investor? Common missteps that founders should avoid during their first fundraise

5. (14:36) Learnings as an entrepreneur while scaling up AngelList in India; AngelList’s mission & vision for startups in India

6. (19:54) About Utsav’s latest micro seed fund – iSeed; Bridging the gap between Indian entrepreneurs & Silicon Valley

7. (24:05) Founder personalities & sectors that iSeed is looking to back

8. (27:26) Rapid fire and closing remarks

Mentioned in this episode:

Utsav’s article about the different types of investors & what founders should be mindful of when raising capital

Sumukh Sridhara’s (Head of Product & Engineering, AngelList India) episode on The VCpreneur podcast

Nov 22, 202031:13