Founder Thesis

Akshay Munjal shares his first-hand experience of watching the Hero Group founder Brijmohan Lall Munjal build up Hero into a truly remarkable business. He shares his personal journey of first running the corporate training venture Hero Mindmine, then setting up the BML Munjal University, and finally creating Hero Vired as an ed-tech platform to train the youth on next-generation skills at scale.Additional links:-1.Hero Vired: Hero Group partners with MIT, Cambridge for edtech company2.Hero Vired betting on upskilling wave in the post-pandemic 3.How Hero Vired Is Humanising The Work Experience?4.Sculpting, to be patient & accept the course of life

"The First Law of Fintech: No amount of capital is enough to burn if your unit economics are broken."Sandeep Patil stresses that while tech startups might get away with a "grow now, profit later" model, fintech is different. Because you are dealing with a balance sheet, having a clear line of sight to profitability on a per-customer or per-transaction basis is the absolute first filter for securing investment from a top-tier VC like QED.Sandeep Patil is the Partner and Head of Asia at QED Investors, a premier global venture capital firm with $4.3 billion in assets under management that has backed 28 unicorn companies. Before his move into venture capital, Sandeep had a storied career as an operator. As the MD & CEO for India at Truecaller, he quadrupled revenues to over $100 million, drove the company to profitability, and paved the way for its successful IPO. Previously, as the Head of Fintech at Flipkart, he scaled consumer and SME lending products to benefit over 1.3 million borrowers. India's Unfair Advantage: Why India's digital public infrastructure (like UPI and the Account Aggregator framework) creates a unique, open environment for innovation that surpasses other global markets. The Operator-Investor DNA: How QED leverages its partners' deep operational experience to act as "consiglieres" or trusted advisors to their founders, providing practical advice beyond just capital. Regulation as a Feature: A contrarian view that a clear regulatory landscape is attractive because it builds customer trust and provides clarity for long-term operations. Avoiding the "Tourist VC" Trap: The importance of VCs committing to a geography long-term to help build the ecosystem, rather than just flying in to deploy capital when the market is hot.Chapters(00:00) Introduction(01:28) The Capital One DNA: How the "First Fintech" Shaped a VC's Thesis(07:35) Why QED Bet Big on India: The 3 Pillars of the Investment Thesis(12:02) India's Secret Weapon: Unpacking the Digital Public Infrastructure (UPI, AA)(19:13) The 3 Fintech Models VCs are Funding in India Right Now(30:03) The Non-Negotiable Investment Filters: Unit Economics, Growth & Founder DNA(37:35) From Seed to Series D: A Founder's Guide to Answering the Right Questions(44:08) Beyond Strategy: Why People & Vision are The Only Things That Matter(49:45) How to Get Noticed: The Best Way to Approach a Global VC like QED(59:18) The Investor's Take on Crypto, DeFi, and the Future of FinanceHashtags#FounderThesis #VentureCapital #FintechIndia #StartupFunding #SandeepPatil #QEDInvestors #Entrepreneurship #BusinessPodcast #StartupIndia #InvestmentStrategy #UnitEconomics #Scaling #AkshayDatt

Market leader and one of the most well-funded startups- Axio is creating ripples across the lending ecosystem. But the journey of reaching the top has been full of highs and lows, and Gaurav candidly shares his lessons from a decade of building and scaling India’s pioneering lending fintech.Additional links:-1.Decoding Fintech Startup axio’s Growth Playbook For Serving 6 Mn Users And Beyond2.Meet Axio, The Fintech Now Helping 6 Million Indians To Access Credit3.Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja at axio on the credit fintech opportunity ahead

UptimeAI is a plug-and-play solution helping manufacturers solve glitches before they manifest by ingesting data generated from the production process. Jagadish talks about how he identified problems in traditional manufacturing and built the venture that’s powering smart manufacturing across the world.Additional links:-1. UptimeAI: AI-based virtual expert to bring enhance efficiency and predictability in plant operations2.UptimeAI Raises $3.5M in Funding

Entropik is solving a truly hard problem of how to read the mind of a consumer. They have built an AI-powered platform that helps companies decode the emotional state of consumers by using neuroscience and machine learning. This conversation is a masterclass in building deep-tech products and scaling them globally.Additional links:-1.StartUp Central: Can AI gauge what you feel? Emotion AI provider Entropik says this2.How Entropik is solving for the attention economy by humanising experiences with AI3.A Young Bengaluru Startup Has Built World's 1st AI That Can Detect & Understand Your Emotions

Tanay talks about his amazing journey of overcoming odds multiple times - be it in getting a job with Microsoft and building the Microsoft Teams product or in the way Invact is disrupting how we are preparing the next generation for meaningful employment.  Invact is a truly original edtech platform that aims to help millions of young Indians who live in tier 2,3 and 4 towns and have almost no access to affordable quality education.Additional links:-1. In conversation with Tanay Pratap, Founder and CEO, Invact Metaversity2.I’m a teacher at heart and will always be one: Invact Metaversity’s Pratap3.Exclusive: Metaverse is not our soul. That’s where the disagreements started: Tanay Pratap

In the shadows of large payments companies exists a startup that is building with the reverse philosophy- ftcash first acquires customers for loans and then gives them payment processing services. Vaibhav talks about how his unique background helped him build ftCash using first principles thinking.Insights shared:- Managing risks in the payments business The merchant lending ecosystem Keeping yourself on top of the game as a founderAdditional links:-1.Ftcash: No Cash, Please2.Indian Fintech Startup ftcash Wins MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Challenge3. Bridging The Payments Gap4. Vaibhav Lodha talks about India’s thriving fintech scene5. “Faster Than Cash”: An Interview with ftcash’s Vaibhav Lodha

It is of no doubt that technology is a crucial driver of financial inclusion. Avanti Finance is building an ecosystem around tech to empower India’s unbanked sector. Backed by stalwarts Ratan Tata and Nandan Nilekani, this startup sees the promise of making India poverty-free. Rahul shares his learnings from his long experience inside GE and the fundamental principles of scaling up a lending business focussed on the unbanked and the underbanked.Insights shared:- Why microfinance institutions are unable to fix the credit gap Why the partnership model works better than building distribution The GTM strategy Benefits of co-lendingAdditional links:-1. Ratan Tata and Nandan Nilekani’s Avanti Finance wants to help 150 mn households get rid of poverty.2. “Financial inclusion is a necessary pathway to enable the sustainable growth of any country”3. Know How This Bengaluru-Based Fintech Startup Aims To Build Sustainable Livelihoods

News and journalism are shifting their strategy from being free for consumption to going behind paywalls. ConScent is building a full-stack revenue solution for publishers, and in this episode, Sunny talks about the publishing landscape and the various ways to monetize content through smart user journeys and better intelligence.Insights shared:- The business case of subscriptions How to customize paywalls Pricing strategy How will the publishing industry evolveAdditional links:- SaaS startup ConScent aims to be a one-stop solution for media houses, OTT players “Micropayments can help publications gain more revenue than advertising”: ConsCent’s Sunny Sen ConsCent.ai unveils its Intelligent E-Reader Solution for Publishers

GoQii is a leader in the health-tech space, having raised more than 100 mn dollars till date from top VCs. Vishal leveraged his understanding of gaming to make gamification the heart of Goqii. He recollects his journey of building GoQii as a second-time founder.Insights shared:- GTM and pricing of health tech products and services How healthcare management differs from insurance Metrics of a health tech business Don’t find structure- advice for aspiring foundersAdditional links:- Vishal Gondal: The game is afoot I love chaos, and it is where I thrive, says Vishal Gondal Hardware is not the business at GOQii, healthcare is: Vishal Gondal Why healthtech wearable startup GOQii is betting on preventive healthcare