EP#13 Ray Newal – Identifying signals that matter to investors & how accelerators add value to the startup ecosystem

In this episode, Ray Newal, Managing Director @Techstars India, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his roller coaster journey as an entrepreneur, his learnings from building a startup in India, the key signals that investors look for when investing in early-stage startups, the value of mentorship for founders & how accelerators maximize value for startups by collaborating with different stakeholders in the ecosystem.

Ray Newal is a Canadian entrepreneur and early stage investor, currently serving as the Managing Director of Techstars India, where he leads the Techstars Bangalore Accelerator, with a focus on emerging markets. Before joining Techstars, Ray was a co-founder and CEO of Jigsee Inc., a leading mobile video platform in India which operated mobile applications for many of India's largest brands. Prior to Jigsee, Ray spent over a decade leading sales and business development at DoubleClick, MSN, and Yahoo. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

If you are an early-stage startup looking for funding/mentorship, you can apply to the next Techstars India cohort here until Oct 11th, 2020. 

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Show notes –

1. (01:26) Ray’s background & experience of working across corporates, running a startup and now leading an accelerator

2. (05:30) The roller coster journey of a Canadian entrepreneur building in India

3. (13:52) Fundraising challenges; Key ‘signals’ that VCs look for when investing in early-stage founders

4. (20:22) Learnings as an entrepreneur

5. (22:27) How mentors add value to founders?; Joining Techstars and bringing the accelerator to India

6. (25:47) About the Techstars accelerator program

7. (32:07) Maximizing value for startups by collaborating with different stakeholders in the ecosystem

8. (37:47) Rapid fire and closing remarks