Sumi Das (CapitalG) - How to invest in consumer tech in both U.S. and emerging markets, when does the growth stage start, and the advantages of having a single LP structure

My guest today is Sumi Das, who is a Partner at CapitalG. CapitalG is Alphabet’s independent growth fund. Some of their investments include Airbnb, Lyft, and Duolingo. We discuss CapitalG’s relationship to Google, Google Ventures, and the advantages of a single LP, Sumi spends alot of time not only thinking about consumer opportunities in North America,, but also in emerging markets so we focus on some of the differences building consumer technology and evaluating opportunities in different regions and what makes technology transferable to other markets and not transferable. Without further ado, here’s Sumi.

Here are some of the questions I ask Sumi:

1. What was your interest in technology?
2. How did you end up at CapitalG, and also, can you tell us a little about what CapitalG is and your relationship to Alphabet and Google?
   1. The future is mobile - what’s the future today?
3. What’s your definition of growth-stage investing?
   1. How big can this market be?
   2. Can they scale to adjacent markets?
4. How do you think about the differences when investing and building companies in emerging markets vs. the U.S.?
   1. What makes a piece of technology transferable into other markets?
   2. What type of market do you have to start by building everything at the same time vs. focusing on one specific use case?
   3. How does this translate into your theory of when it makes sense to bundle vs. unbundle?
   4. How does scale look different?
5. When you’re investing in emerging markets, what consumer characteristics are you looking for or are appealing?
6. How do you think about engineering talent abroad and recruiting for your companies?
7. How do you think about valuations at the growth stage in this current market?
8. They say that growth stage happens when you have product-market fit. How do you analyze on a deeper level if a company does have product-market fit and the depth of that connection?
9. What’s one thing you would change about VC?l
10. What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?
    1. Professionally - Sam Walton biography
11. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
12. What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?