In an exciting episode, Shantanu Deshpande and Revant Bhate co-host the podcast as they welcome Avnish Bajaj, the founder of Matrix Partners India. Join this power-packed conversation as they dive into the world of entrepreneurship, discussing what it means to be a founder-first, the types of founders they invest in, and the key factors they look for when making investments. Discover how due diligence processes for companies have evolved into elaborate procedures and gain insights into Avnish's perspective on the future of the Indian startup ecosystem. Don't miss out on this enlightening discussion with three prominent voices in the entrepreneurial landscape, filled with invaluable advice for aspiring founders and investors alike! Coming Up 00:00 - 00:58 Introduction 00:58-4:00 “Business used to be a bad word” 4:01 - 7:13 Matrix/ VCs and founders 7:14 - 10:40 How to pick investments? 10:41 - 12:42 Which Archetype to back?: 12:43 - 15:03 Founder versus Market: 15:11 - 17:10 Different journeys require different skill sets while scaling: 17:11 - 19:10 What makes a Founder a Founder? 19:14 - 20:46 Indicators of a Good Founder 21:03 - 25:45 Need of the hour 26:00 - 33:40 Matrix and Avnish’s journey 33:42 - 42:10 Navigating the market: 42:15 - 45:39 Going against what the market thinks/ the fundamentals have changed 45:40 - 53:05 Bringing Luxury Brands to India 53:06 - 54:15 “Indians are known to be cheap. I think that’s changing”: 54:35 - 59:26 Consolidation in the Industry & John Doerr 1:01:41 - 1:10:07 The NFW rule: 1:10:10 - 1:11:28 “VCs are starting to talk to each other and collaborate”: 1:11:45 - 1:13:35 How to balance Revenue & Capital? : 1:13:52 - 1:18:15 Creating markets and capital allocation 1:18:16 - 1:18:56 Are our principles influenced by the West? 1:18:57 - 1:21:37 How to measure ROCE for long-term investments? 1:22:04 - 1:25:50 Going public 1:26:03 - 1:31:51 Should Founders be given Secondaries? : 1:37:03 - 1:41:30 Stock-based compensation & equity dilution: 1:41:51 - 1:45:50 Making Adjustments & Smart Business Strategies 1:45:56 - 1:50:46 Building Talent & Future Founders 1:51:04 - 2:00:30 Now, people are thinking 60 year careers: 2:00:32 - 2:07:10 Avnish’s Advice for those on the fence 2:07:45 - 2:09:49 Conclusion 2:10:16 - 2:11:13 ABOUT OUR CHANNEL My name is Shantanu and I am the founder of Bombay Shaving Company and Bombae. I LOVE entrepreneurship. Personally, I would rate myself as an average (at best) entrepreneur, but I love great ones. The BarberShop with Shantanu S2: Raiser’s Edge goes beyond our conversations from S1 on our podcast to tangible help. With the help of our sponsors at BSC and Bombae we have put together a season which brings together a corpus of 50+ equity seekers looking to support 20+ start-ups in their growth and success. We will be releasing an episode every Friday at 9 pm. Tune in and hope you enjoy. :) _____________________________________________________
