The Neon Show

Kushal Bhagia, Fund Manager at All In Capital, and Karthik Prabhakar, Founder of Peer Capital, share their unique journeys from engineers to venture capitalists. They discuss why not all builders should become VCs and how curiosity drives success in this field. The duo explores the evolving fundraising landscape in India, emphasizing the need for strategic partnerships. They also examine qualities needed in VCs, like patience and resilience, and reflect on the challenges facing emerging managers in a competitive market.

Rahul Sasi is the Co-founder and CEO of CloudSEK, specializing in AI-driven digital risk, while Ananda Krishna is the Co-founder and CTO of Astra Security, focused on cybersecurity. Together, they delve into the magical impact of AI on product development and team dynamics. They discuss the necessity of adapting job roles in response to AI, the importance of coding skills for all employees, and how entrepreneurs can navigate failure effectively. The episode reveals insights into AI's profound transformation of traditional businesses and customer service.

In this engaging discussion, Vijay Rayapati, Co-founder of Atomicwork, and Khadim Batti, Co-founder of Whatfix, share their entrepreneurial wisdom. They delve into the importance of cultivating a genuine company culture that balances humility and ambition. The conversation touches on innovative hiring strategies, the significance of mentorship for founders, and the challenges of AI adoption. They also address the need for flexibility in work hours and the evolving role of leaders in fostering a psychologically safe workplace, ultimately shedding light on how to build enduring companies.

CRM is a category often equated with its market leader, Salesforce.Hence, companies and investors question the viability of building a business in this space.Nilesh Patel, founder of Leadsquared, who built a Unicorn in CRM, joins us today.We discuss the category, the business, and its competitors.With Byju’s as their first large deal, Edtech brought over 40% of their customers.Then the industry went through a downfall, but Leadsquared survived by a well timed expansion.From lack of capital restricting entry into the US market, to fast-forward today, where they have gone global.Nilesh shares his thoughts on the skills founders need and the decisions they have to make -on exits, acquisitions, and hiring.Tune in for more!0:00-Trailer1:35 – Building Leadsquared3:19 – First large deal with Byjus7:12 – Fundraising from Private Equity9:58 – CRM as an Undesirable Investment12:10 – Should Co’s enter the CRM Space?13:35 – How to price SAAS in India?15:23 – Diversifying beyond EdTech16:49 – How to build market differentiation?20:29 – Highest annual deal of <$10M23:37 – India spends $500M-$1B on CRM26:39 – Are Indian founders underpricing?28:40 – GTM in the US Market33:26 – What would Leadsquared do differently?47:32 – When Should a Founder Exit?49:03 – How AI Will Transform CRM55:09 – Views on Byju Raveendran56:55 – When founders think like VC’s-------------Hi, I am your host Siddhartha! I have been an entrepreneur from 2012-2017 building two products AddoDoc and Babygogo. After selling my company to SHEROES, I and my partner Nansi decided to start up again. But we felt unequipped in our skillset in 2018 to build a large company. We had known 0-1 journeys from our startups but lacked the experience of building 1-10 journeys. Hence was born The Neon Show (Earlier 100x Entrepreneur) to learn from founders and investors, the mindset to scale yourself and your company. This quest still keeps us excited even after 5 years and doing 200+ episodes.We welcome you to our journey to understand what goes behind building a super successful company. Every episode is done with a very selfish motive, that I and Nansi should come out as a better entrepreneur and professional after absorbing the learnings.-------------Check us out on:Website: https://neon.fund/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShowwConnect with Siddhartha on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7-------------This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.Send us a text

Meet Sharad Sanghi who built India’s first data center, he spent 25 years building Netmagic, India’s largest data center company. He came to India in 1995, worked at VSNL as the country was discovering the internet, and built a company focused on internet for businesses.Now he is building Neysa, an AI cloud startup, which recently raised $50M to help businesses adopt AI, all from India. With Neysa businesses can use AI without writing a lot of code or use five different tools to run it. And do everything—train models, test them, deploy them, and monitor them—in one single dashboard.Sharad has a lot of perspective to share—as someone who was at the forefront while India adopted the internet, and now, the AI wave.If you're building in AI, part of an enterprise exploring AI, or simply thinking about where India is in the AI race—this episode is for you.0:00 – Trailer02:00 – How Neysa makes AI easy & cheap?04:37 – From datacentre to AI06:54 – 1200 GPUs & 15 Clients07:24 – Selling internet to Businesses12:03 – Why India Needs Local AI Clouds13:20 – How Neysa Plans to Stand Out15:14 – Is Scaling a Hyperscaler Easy?19:26 – Can India Shift from IT to AI?26:40 – AI in Large Enterprises vs Mid-Market27:51 – AI Revolution vs Cloud in 200631:06 – What’s the Moat for AI Startups?33:08 – Is Private Data the Real AI Goldmine?35:59 – Why Product & GTM Matter Early On38:06 – Why Scaling must come before Demand42:12 – OpenAI’s edge on Deepseek?44:52 – How should enterprises navigate AI?46:32 – Did Only NVIDIA Predict the AI Boom?48:17 – Founder 1.0 V/S 2.0-------------Hi, I am your host Siddhartha! I have been an entrepreneur from 2012-2017 building two products AddoDoc and Babygogo. After selling my company to SHEROES, I and my partner Nansi decided to start up again. But we felt unequipped in our skillset in 2018 to build a large company. We had known 0-1 journeys from our startups but lacked the experience of building 1-10 journeys. Hence was born The Neon Show (Earlier 100x Entrepreneur) to learn from founders and investors, the mindset to scale yourself and your company. This quest still keeps us excited even after 5 years and doing 200+ episodes.We welcome you to our journey to understand what goes behind building a super successful company. Every episode is done with a very selfish motive, that I and Nansi should come out as a better entrepreneur and professional after absorbing the learnings.-------------Check us out on:Website: https://neon.fund/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShowwConnect with Siddhartha on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7-------------This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.Send us a text

In this episode of The Neon Show, we bring you into the room with someone who’s spent over a decade backing India’s most ambitious companies.We're joined by Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel. With over 14 years in venture capital, Prayank walks us through his journey of discovering and building expertise in specific sectors—from cybersecurity and developer tools to SaaS and marketplaces—and how VCs identify the categories they truly understand.We dive into how Accel chooses best founders, and the balance between backing founder versus business across stages. Prayank shares his candid thoughts on why India has been slow and late to the AI race, and what a realistic way forward could look like for Indian startups.He also offers a glimpse into Accel’s evolving investment thesis around AI, sector by sector, and talks about how the enterprise landscape is changing—and what that means for Indian founders building in this space.Tune in!0:00- Trailer1:45 – Finding Great Founders6:30 – What We'd Do Differently10:16 – Sector Expertise Matters13:15 – Where AI Money Should Go18:00 – Accel’s GenAI Bets21:18 – Sector-Wise Thesis in AI23:24 – Growth means Product in AI26:45 – Rise of Founder-Influencers29:10 – $650million India Fund31:35 – Beyond Roti, Kapda, Makaan34:07 – Why Accel is Big on Content36:03 – 15 Years in VC38:16 – Highs & Lows of VC Ecosystem43:36 – Knowledge Compounds in VC49:45 – Conviction over Consensus51:06 - Conclusion-------------Hi, I am your host Siddhartha! I have been an entrepreneur from 2012-2017 building two products AddoDoc and Babygogo. After selling my company to SHEROES, I and my partner Nansi decided to start up again. But we felt unequipped in our skillset in 2018 to build a large company. We had known 0-1 journeys from our startups but lacked the experience of building 1-10 journeys. Hence was born The Neon Show (Earlier 100x Entrepreneur) to learn from founders and investors, the mindset to scale yourself and your company. This quest still keeps us excited even after 5 years and doing 200+ episodes.We welcome you to our journey to understand what goes behind building a super successful company. Every episode is done with a very selfish motive, that I and Nansi should come out as a better entrepreneur and professional after absorbing the learnings.-------------Check us out on:Website: https://neon.fund/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShowwConnect with Siddhartha on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7-------------This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.Send us a text

Dev Khare, a Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners with over 13 years of experience, discusses the changing investment landscape in India. He contrasts two funding models: the traditional Silicon Valley approach with high initial burn rates versus the 'compounder' model that promotes gradual growth and profitability. Khare shares insights on the evolution of Indian startups, the rise of AI in enterprise solutions, and the increasing significance of second-time founders. His experiences highlight the unique challenges and opportunities within India's burgeoning tech ecosystem.

Avnish Bajaj, Founding Partner at Z47 and co-founder of Matrix Partners India, brings two decades of VC experience to the table. He discusses how founders should select the right VCs, the importance of operational support in building relationships, and why second-time founders have an edge in today’s market. Bajaj reveals insights into India’s evolving startup landscape, emphasizing the significance of founder-market fit and a long-term investment perspective. Tune in to learn what truly drives success in the competitive world of venture capital.

Sharad Sharma, founder of iSPIRT and a key player in India's digital innovation, dives into the future of India's digital landscape. He discusses the rise of UPI, its transformative effect on transactions, and the necessity for strategic autonomy in tech. Sharma highlights the challenges of maintaining first-mover advantages and critiques reliance on foreign payment systems. He also underscores the importance of collaboration in building effective AI ecosystems and the need for robust regulatory frameworks to secure India’s leadership in global technology.

Vishal Jain, CEO of Zerodha Fund House, brings over 20 years of experience in India's financial markets. He discusses the evolution of mutual funds since the 1960s and highlights the pivotal role of index funds and ETFs in retail investing. Jain reveals why two-thirds of retail investors remain hesitant and underscores the importance of demystifying investments. He also shares his philosophy rooted in India's growth narrative and the cultural significance of gold as a hedge. Can passive investing truly dominate the market? Tune in to discover!