EP#46 Ashish Dave – Evaluating seed vs growth stage startups, the learning-unlearning cycle in VC and balancing between due diligence & speed of decision making

In this episode, Ashish Dave (CEO @Mirae Asset Venture Investments, India), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to venture capital, setting up Mirae’s India Venture arm, due diligence missteps by VCs when optimizing for speed, sharing cross-learnings from other geographies with portfolio companies, evaluating seed & growth stage startups, the constant upskilling & unlearning required in venture capital & more.

Mirae Asset Group, a leading financial services company headquartered in South Korea which manages ~$1.5bn across multiple funds. Mirae’s India portfolio includes marquee startups like Ola, BigBasket, Shadowfax, Unacademy, Jupiter among others. Prior to Mirae, Ashish was at Kalaari Capital, a well known early stage VC firm in India & prior to that at Mumbai Angels, one of the prominent angel networks in India where he was actively involved in sourcing new opportunities and helping existing portfolio companies. Ashish is an alum of IE Business School. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter.

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Show notes –

1. (01:49) Ashish’s background & path leading up to venture capital - Mumbai Angels, Kalaari & Mirae VC
2. (04:12) Setting up an India dedicated fund at Mirae
3. (07:32) Adapting to the fast & competitive deal making environment in the Indian startup ecosystem
4. (10:49) Potential due diligence missteps by VCs when optimizing for speed
5. (15:12) How can VCs add value to founders?
6. (19:40) Sharing learnings from other geographies with portfolio startups in India
7. (22:17) Evaluating startups at seed vs growth stage
8. (25:56) The constant upskilling & unlearning required in venture capital; importance of getting on ground, gauging customer feedback/behaviour to aid your decision making as an investor
9. (29:39) Advice & suggestions for emerging VCs
10. (35:23) How has being a VC influenced his personality over the years?
11. (37:19) Rapid fire and closing remarks

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