🧬 Kittu Kolluri - Neotribe Ventures - Part 1 | Entrepreneurship as a First-Generation Immigrant | Working & Growing at Silicon Graphics | Learning From Mistakes & Pride of Ownership | The Dangers of Company Microcultures

Part 1 of 3.

My guest for this week’s episode is Kittu Kolluri, Founder and Managing Director of Neotribe Ventures, an early- and growth-stage venture capital firm investing in companies that solve hard technical problems and disrupt non-traditional industry sectors. Neotribe is led by a team of serial entrepreneurs with a track record of supporting and advising startups from seed round to IPO.

As a Silicon Valley veteran with a career spanning three decades, Kittu has had numerous roles before his time at Neotribe Ventures. Some highlights include working as an engineer at Silicon Graphics, co-founding Healtheon/WebMD, being the founder and CEO of Neoteris, and investing in over four dozen successful companies as a general partner at NEA.

Join us as we sit down with Kittu to talk about his childhood in Hyderabad and his recollection of the many serendipitous accidents that have occurred in his life. He talks about his experience as a first-generation immigrant getting into entrepreneurship, and the differences between his and his parent’s generation. He also discusses how he got into computer science, his time at Silicon Graphics, and his opinion on why culture can make or break a startup. Please enjoy my conversation with Kittu Kolluri.

Find Our Guest, Kittu Kolluri, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kittukolluri/
https://www.neotribe.vc/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
https://www.excedr.com

Timestamps:
00:20 Intro
01:51 Episode starts, Kittu’s childhood in Hyderabad, India, recognizing accidental influences in his life
06:10 The difficulties of taking the entrepreneurial risk as a first-generation immigrant
08:50 The differences in outlook between his parent’s generation and his generation
10:18 Choosing to studying mechanical engineering, ending up at SUNY Buffalo
12:52 Studying operations research, getting exposure to computer science, benefits of multidisciplinary exposure
16:35 Working at Silicon Graphics, falling in love with being a software engineer
20:48 Dealing with a company’s rapid growth, learning from your mistakes
24:05 Pride of ownership, mentors and colleagues who influenced Kittu
28:37 Being a student for life, the definition of trust in a team
30:17 Why startups can beat large companies, the dangers of microcultures in a company, company culture’s importance
34:02 Outro

Social & Website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
Staffing Your Startup https://www.excedr.com/blog/staffing-your-startup
Writing a Business Plan https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-write-a-business-plan-for-biotechs
What Is Startup Valuation https://www.excedr.com/resources/startup-valuations
Biotech Funding for Startups https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options
Bootstrapping Your Biotech Startup https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-bootstrap-biotech-startup
Silicon Graphics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics
Grant Funding for Biotech Startups https://www.excedr.com/resources/grants-public-funding-biotech-startups
Naming Your Startup https://www.excedr.com/resources/naming-your-startup
Pre-Money vs. Post-Money https://www.excedr.com/resources/pre-money-vs-post-money
Should You Incorporate in Delaware https://www.excedr.com/resources/incorporating-your-biotech-startup

People Mentioned:
Shankar Srinivasan https://www.linkedin.com/in/srinivasanshankar/
Jim Clark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Clark
Pavan Nigam https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavannigam/ 

The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.