EP#6 Adith Podhar – The micro-VC perspective, investor biases and decoding the art & science of venture investing

In today’s episode, Adith Podhar, Founding Partner @Gemba Capital, joins our host Digjay, to discuss among other topics, the nuances and challenges of running a micro-VC fund, evaluating founders at early-stage startups, the portfolio creation approach for first time VCs, identifying and avoiding VC investment biases and decoding the art & science of venture investing.

Adith is the Founding Partner at Gemba Capital, a micro-VC fund which invests in angel and seed rounds in tech enabled startups that are focused on the India consumption story and cross border SaaS. Some of his portfolio companies include myHQ, ClearDekho, SureClaim, ShopKirana, Upekkha, Kaarva, SleepyCat, and HoiFoods, among others. Prior to starting Gemba Capital, Adith worked at Motilal Oswal PE (MOPE) fund in Mumbai with responsibilities across the investment cycle from deal sourcing - due diligence - negotiation - execution - monitoring - exit. He started his career with ICICI Bank, as a product manager for PE in the International Private Banking division. Adith is also the founder of 'Crepeteria' - a chain of quick-serve restaurants. Crepeteria got seed funded and Adith ran it for 4 years expanding it to 3 cities. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter

If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin / Twitter

Show notes –

1. (01:10) Adith’s background and how he ended up starting his own micro VC fund

2. (03:20) Thesis and Opportunity at Gemba Capital

3. (08:12) Relationship with large VC funds

4. (09:30) Evaluating founders at early stage startups; The ‘Founder Attribute Score’ methodology

5. (12:00) Defining & achieving Product Market Fit; Growth vs Profitability

6. (16:40) Challenges of running a micro VC fund – Long feedback loop, raising funds from LPs, building your brand/network, competition

7. (18:30) Niche/thematic funds vs Sector agnostic funds

8. (20:45) Portfolio creation for early stage VCs

9. (22:20) VC investing – An art or a science?

10. (23:50) Common investment biases of a venture capitalist & how to avoid them

11. (28:40) Rapid fire questions and closing remarks