VC10X - Stop Competing with Sequoia: Finding Alpha in Secondaries & Emerging Markets

In this episode, we sit down with Maxim and Pavel from FinSight Ventures to explore their unique "secondary-first" investment strategy, which allows them to capture equity in giants like Anthropic, SpaceX, Stripe, and Palantir.

We dive deep into their newly launched $50M Generative AI Index Fund, a novel product bringing index investing logic to private markets.

Maxim and Pavel also break down their distinct approaches for different geographies—operating as a "fund of funds" in India while pursuing "local monopolies" and super-apps in emerging markets like Uzbekistan.

Tune in to understand why they believe AI-native startups will beat incumbents and how they find alpha in inefficient markets globally.

⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.com

In this episode, we cover:

- Why the "middle" is missing in private market investing.

- How to buy secondaries from early employees and liquidity-seeking funds.

- The "Fund of Funds" strategy for penetrating the Indian market.

- Why AI-native startups have a long-term advantage over incumbents.

Companies & Concepts Mentioned:

Portfolio Highlights: Zoom, SpaceX, Anthropic, Palantir, Stripe, Razorpay, Medibuddy.

Concepts: Secondary Markets, Index Funds, Super Apps, Fund of Funds, DPI (Distributed to Paid-In Capital).

Links -

FinSight Ventures - https://www.finsightvc.com/

Maxim - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nazarovmaxim/

Pavel - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavelgurianov/

Website: https://VC10X.com

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/choubeysahab

Timestamps:

(00:00) - Finsight's unique value proposition in securing competitive deals.

(00:23) - Finsight's secondary-first strategy for its growth stage portfolio.

(00:41) - Adapting investment strategies to find alpha in different markets.

(01:30) - Episode introduction and sponsor message.

(03:12) - Finsight's core investment thesis across diverse global markets.

(04:46) - The logic behind Finsight's $50 million generative AI index fund.

(06:10) - How the growth of secondary markets enables an index fund strategy.

(07:28) - Securing allocations in category-defining companies like Anthropic and SpaceX.

(09:09) - Who sells in the secondary market: employees vs. VCs.

(10:15) - How Finsight sources secondary deals from individual employees.

(12:00) - Finsight's specific investment angle and focus in the Indian market.

(15:05) - Comparing the US secondary approach vs. the India fund-of-funds model.

(16:49) - The philosophy of finding alpha by understanding a fund's strengths and weaknesses.

(18:10) - Key trends in enterprise AI adoption and the shift to sustainable revenue.

(22:09) - How to judge the stickiness and sustainability of an AI startup's revenue.

(24:03) - Using gross margin as an indicator of a product's ROI.

(25:17) - The conviction behind investing in Uzum, Uzbekistan's first unicorn.

(27:40) - Insights into building a global VC firm with diverse strategies.

(30:59) - Evaluating Anthropic in the competitive landscape of large language models.

(34:36) - The biggest misconceptions about Finsight's global investment strategy.

(38:21) - Start of the Rapid Fire Round.

For sponsorship or guest appearance requests, write to prashantchoubey3@gmail.com

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