The Neon Show Why & How Clarity and Depth outscores storytelling ft Vani Kola, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital
In whichever industry or ecosystem you are, there are some people you just can’t not know about, because they are the ones who have either -
# had a major role in shaping the industry as it is today
# or achieved something at such a massive scale that no one can miss to notice it
The guest of our today’s episode Vani Kola, founder and managing director of Kalaari Capital, is one such person. She was listed as one of the most powerful women in Indian business by Fortune India in 2014.
She started her career in the silicon valley, as a serial entrepreneur and spent close to 22 years. While in silicon valley, she founded an e-procurement company RightWorks, which was later sold for $657 million.
After returning to India in 2006, she founded Indo-US Venture Partners (IUVP) in 2006, which was later rebranded as Kalaari Capital.
Some stats around Kalaari Capital -
# 188+ Investments; popular portfolio companies are Dream11, Myntra, Cure.fit, and Snapdeal
# 23+ Exits; most notable exits include Workday, Milkbasket, and Simplilearn
During the podcast, Vani shares with us how she approaches any new investment, how she suggests the founder to treat any failure, how yoga and meditation have positively impacted her life and more.
Notes -
02:50 - “What you can’t dream, you can’t achieve.”
10:32 - “What didn’t work can give you an actionable insight.”
18:09 - Assessing a founder’s potential vs pedigree
23:12 - Having a depth of clarity rather than just being a good storyteller
38:54 - Balance to life: Meditation & Yoga
41:05 - CXXO Initiative: $10 million fund for women founders