Healing The Startup Ecosystem: An Investor's Contrarian View | Dr. Aniruddha Malpani (Malpani Ventures)

Oct 2, 2020

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"At the end of the day, I only care about process. I can't care about outcomes."

This core philosophy from Dr. Aniruddha Malpani highlights a powerful mindset applicable to both medicine and angel investing. He emphasizes that while outcomes (like getting pregnant or a startup succeeding) involve uncertainty, focusing on a sound, ethical process is what truly matters and is within our control.

Dr. Aniruddha Malpani is a pioneering IVF specialist in India, co-founding one of the country's early IVF clinics over 30 years ago. Beyond helping build families, he's a prolific author, a long-term stock market investor, and an active, outspoken angel investor through Malpani Ventures, typically investing between ₹50 lakhs and ₹2 crores in early-stage startups. His journey reflects a unique blend of medicine, entrepreneurship, and principled investing.

Key Insights from the Conversation:

Ethics Over Everything: Building a successful medical practice and investment portfolio without compromising on integrity or giving kickbacks.
Information Therapy: The crucial role of educating patients and the power of transparency in building trust.
Process Over Outcome: Why focusing on the quality of your actions is more important than worrying about uncontrollable results, in IVF and investing.
Contrarian Angel Investing: Seeking learning over ROI, making contrarian bets with patient capital, and betting on the jockey (founder).
Learning from Failure: Embracing early investment losses as "priceless learning" to refine future strategy.
Adding Value Beyond Money: Acting as a 'kindergarten teacher' for startups, focusing on governance, discipline, and long-term thinking.
Healing the Ecosystem: The responsibility to call out unethical practices in both healthcare and the startup world.

Chapters:

(0:00) Introduction: The Founder Thesis
(2:10) Meet Dr. Malpani: IVF Specialist & Angel Investor
(6:09) Bringing IVF to India: The Entrepreneurial Start
(11:33) Information Therapy: Empowering Patients
(16:07) Building the Clinic Ethically: No Kickbacks Allowed
(21:11) From Professional Income to Passive Wealth
(30:56) Angel Investing: Failures, Learnings & Contrarian Bets
(39:43) The Malpani Ventures Investment Philosophy & Process
(54:04) Adding Value Beyond Capital: Mentorship & Governance
(1:02:30) Calling Out the Ecosystem: Byju's & LinkedIn Controversy
(1:08:07) Betting on the Jockey: Founder Traits That Matter
(1:13:11) Legacy: Healing Sick Systems & Process vs Outcome

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