The Neon Show

Coming from a Tech-background Mekin spent his early career at Yahoo, Ugenie, Lulu.com, and Flipkart.Since 2016, he has also been an Angel Investor investor and exited a few startups such as - UrbanClap, Vaahan, Tapchief, Quizziz & mGaadi.In 2017 he started Udhyam, it focuses on nurturing and guiding students to become future entrepreneurs at the school level. In 2018, he parallelly started Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship, referred to as GAME. As the name suggests, it aims to create 10M entrepreneurs (50% of women), who will create 50M jobs by 2030.In this podcast, Mekin shares his opinions regarding the current situation of MSMEs and how Udhyam & GAME are moving towards their goals amid Covid-19 crisis. Notes - 00:48 - Joining Flipkart and founding Udhyam02:52 - How does Udhyam stimulates and encourages young entrepreneurs?04:34 - How was GAME founded and what problem does it solve?06:14 - Enabling entrepreneurs who run a small business and employ 5-20 people12:53 - How are MSMEs affected by Covid-19?18:21 - Behavioural changes after the crisis20:45 - Opportunities which might emerge from the current scenario27:30 - How is Udhyam leveraging the current lockdown?36:02 - Advice to entrepreneurs to navigate through this crisisSend us a text

#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Sanjay Nath, Managing Partner at Blume VenturesIt seems as if Silicon Valley has been a consistent choice during the early career phase for several Indian VCs! Sanjay isn’t an exception as well. After spending his early years in Silicon Valley, in 2006 he came back to India and became an active member of Mumbai Angels.Finally, after 4 years of being an Angel Investor, he cofounded Blume Ventures in 2010. So far Blume Ventures have announced funds of a combined value of $150M with over 192 Portfolio Companies.Some of its Portfolio Companies are - Dunzo, LBB, Cashify, and Unacademy.In this podcast, Sanjay shares his opinions on Indian startup ecosystem navigating through Covid-19 crisis. Notes - 00:44 - From Joining Mumbai Angels to Co-founding Blume Ventures03:40 - Backing Naveen Tiwari, InMobi during 2008 Crash07:35 - How do you test the founders in good vs bad times?12:02 - How has Covid-19 affected Mobility & SaaS Startups?15:30 - Advice to founders to navigate through these tough times16:30 - Startups contributing to building the Future of Work21:53 - Change in Investment Thesis from 2011 (Super-Angel Fund) to 2020 (Fund-III)24:31 - Post Covid-19 Scenario for Non-Consumer Startups (SaaS, Deep Tech, Enterprise)29:55 - Survival of best companies being self-sufficient32:05 - How to evaluate & implement cost-saving strategies?40:10 - Considering and dealing with possibilities of mergers & acquisitionsSend us a text

Mark started Omnivore, an impact Venture Fund focused around Agritech back in 2010. Omnivore has so far invested in over 57 startups which are based on multiple verticals such as - B2B, B2C, Fresh-to-home & Rural Fintech.Some of his Portfolio Companies are - Bijak, Stellapps, and DeHaat.In this podcast, Mark shares his experiences & learnings of investing in Agritech Startups in India over the last decade. Notes - 00:40 - Omnivore’s Background03:06 - Why was Agritech chosen at the focus at Omnivore?05:50 - Investing in Stellapps full-stack dairy digitization08:18 - Portfolio Company - Intello Labs building fresh produce quality system using AI & ML09:47 - Impacting Indian farmers - Lowering cost, increasing profitability, insurance, better techniques13:55 - Co-investing with other Indian Venture Capital firms17:13 - Various verticals in Agritech - B2B, B2C, Rural Fintech, Fresh-to-home21:12 - Challenges while investing in Agritech - Incubation period of the investment, Connecting with farmers, Finding the right opportunities24:40 - How is Omnivore creating a difference in Agritech in India?31:28 - Impact of Covid-19 on AgritechSend us a text

After working at BCG for 2 years, Ishaan joined Sequoia India's Analyst Program in 2011. He spent around three and a half years at Sequoia India. He then went to business school and joined Sequoia India back in 2016. In this podcast, Ishaan shares his experiences & learnings of investing in Consumer brands and Fintech Startups. Notes - 00:42 - Joining Sequoia India's Analyst Program01:57 - Investing experiences over 9 years at Sequoia03:34 - Culture at Sequoia - “Singular focus on doing the right thing for all the stakeholders”.04:45 - “We help the daring entrepreneurs build from Idea to IPO & beyond”.06:23 - “While investing you never have the right or wrong answer”.09:29 - Macro-trends driving Consumer Brands in India11:05 - Financial Services in India are still unpenetrated12:21 - Mamaearth - Being a digital-first personal care brand for their consumers12:57 - Eruditus - Making Ivy league colleges more accessible15:18 - Fintech Startups in India leveraging large digital footprint of their customers to serve them better18:30 - Razorpay - Solving merchant payment issues with innovative solutions20:34 - Scope & Future of Neobanks in India across various customer segments28:37 - Challenges while investing from a large pool of amazing foundersSend us a text

“It’s fine to grow slower, but importantly to grow sustainably.” Mohit has been a successful Angel Investor since 2012 growing over 20x in his portfolio. He even considers his learnings from one of his early investments - Local Banya equivalent to an MBA degree.Since 2017 he has been a part of the Investment Trust of India Group and manages investments in early-stage innovative ideas.Some of his Portfolio Companies are - REVOS, Evolve Snacks, and ten3T Healthcare.In this podcast, Mohit shares his experiences & learnings of investing in Startups which have sustainable growth models. Notes - 00:42 - His learnings from being an Angel Investor05:40 - Investing his own money in early ideas in Ecommerce Startups09:32 - Co-investing in REVOS - Smart Mobility Platform11:15 - Investment & Growth Thesis in Evolve Snacks12:40 - Investing in Preventive Healthcare - ten3T Healthcare18:04 - Avoiding over-ownerships in Portfolio Companies to have a downside protection26:20 - Is securing a Hyper-investment a sure success parameter for a Startup?28:59 - Important to have Sustainability in Investing v/s Spray & PraySend us a text

#100xEntrepreneur Podcast with Vaibhav Domkundwar, CEO at Better Capital“Do Zero Paid Marketing - To Understand What’s Working And What’s Not” Vaibhav has founded successful companies like Roamware (acquired by Audax Group) and Better Inc. As a VC & a founder, he’s a core believer in implementing & experimenting with organic growth hacks to grow a company, this reflects in most of his portfolio companies as well. Some of his Portfolio Companies are - Khatabook, OPEN Bank, Gramophone, and ShopKirana.In this podcast, Vaibhav shares his experiences & learnings of investing in Startups which provide a simple but complete solution to a consumer problem. Notes - 00:35 - His Journey from Founding Two Companies to Becoming a VC05:20 - Investing in 45 Companies in Last 2 Years07:02 - While making an Investment Decision it’s important not to Templatize a Founder’s Idea09:30 - Investing in Asia’s first Neobank - OPEN14:29 - Creating a product which completely solves a problem rather than offering a better way of dealing with it - Khatabook16:05 - Agritech Portfolio Companies - Gramophone, Jai Kisan, BharatAgri18:49 - Investing in a Truly AI-first company30:57 - How does Better helps its Portfolio Companies?Send us a text

#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Rutvik Doshi, Managing Director, Inventus Capital PartnersRutvik refers to himself as an “Accidental Venture Capitalist”, coming from a Product management & Software Engineering background.He’s an IIT Kharagpur alumni and later did his MBA from INSEAD. During his early career, he worked at Broadcom Inc. & Google.In this podcast, Rutvik shares his experiences & learnings of building relationships with founders, scanning through potential investments & more. Notes - 00:35 - Accidental Venture Capitalist03:50 - Being a part of Inventus Capital Partners05:50 - Investing in PolicyBazaar & RedBus.in09:14 - Scaling & Diversity in HealthifyMe12:35 - Filters & Criteria to scanning potential investments15:43 - Being a mentor to the founding team22:30 - Giving 1st Priority to Founder / Business & then later check on the Market32:10 - Common traits among founders who’ve scaled 100x36:45 - Fine line between Conviction & Stubbornness in founders37:55 - Challenges while fund-raising as a VCSend us a text

#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Vidit Aatrey, Founder & CEO, MeeshoAfter completing his B.Tech. from IIT Delhi, Vidit worked with ITC & InMobi during his early career. It was around 2015 when he decided to try out something and while exploring other options he came across this idea to create a platform (Meesho) where people could start & manage their business from the comfort of their home.In this podcast, Vidit shares his experiences of building Meesho & understanding the core needs of their customers. Notes - 00:40 - His career background and bringing an un-organized business online04:30 - Building 1st version of Meesho11:10 - Aggregating distributors on the platform12:50 - Making investors understand the new business model15:55 - What helped him keep growing while building a new business model?17:40 - Tackling the growth slowdown 6 months after raising capital from SAIF Partners26:25 - Listen or Die (Talking to users every 30 days)27:43 - Meesho’s revenue model29:30 - Current User Persona32:38 - Culture & DNA of Employees at Meesho35:55 - Change in Go to market strategy41:45 - Hiring strategy for Key Leadership roles48:50 - Irrespective of your growth don’t compromise with Culture FitSend us a text

After completing his MMS from BITS Pilani in 1993, Rahul entered into the Investment Banking domain. From 1997 to 2006, he was part of Walden International as an Investment Manager. It was the first Silicon-Valley based VC Firm to come & establish a presence in India. This was when Rahul experienced Venture Capital & Angel Investing from a close perspective.Later in 2006, he cofounded Helion Ventures with a $140M fund size, which has since then made over 135 investments across Finance, Healthcare, Logistics & Agri.Some of the Portfolio companies are MakeMyTrip, Bigbasket, RailYatri, and Ezetap among others.In this podcast, Rahul shares his experiences of finding & nurturing Indian entrepreneurs for the past 15 years. Notes - 00:38 - Sharing his Journey via his book - The Moonshot Game: Adventures of an Indian Venture Capitalist03:10 - Working as an Investment Banker in 199509:05 - Cofounding Helion Ventures in 200622:10 - Starting multiple VC firms/funds from Helion25:15 - Traits of founders who build great companies28:22 - Three core reasons behind Investing in Bigbasket32:30 - Taking tough calls as a VC based on your experience38:50 - Giving synthesised advices as a VC vs a Canned-one44:44 - Starting Unitary Helion Fund45:17 - Building products for middle class by design & not by accidentSend us a text

After completing his graduation from IIT Bombay, Hemant worked at AMD during his early career. In 2012, after completing his MBA from Cambridge University, he joined Google, where he worked in New Partnerships & Development for 5 years, post which he joined Andreessen Horowitz in 2017.Lastly, after seeing a huge potential in the growing Indian Startup Ecosystem, he ended up moving to India in 2018 and joining Lightspeed India.Some of Lightspeed India portfolio companies are Udaan, Darwinbox, OKCredit, and Shuttl among others.In this podcast, Hemant shares his learnings of building a Tech company in India, he also shares his Venture Investing experiences in India & the US. Notes - 00:46 - Growing up in Middle of Himalayas to joining Lightspeed India05:38 - Joining Corporate Development at Google after MBA06:26 - Choosing Lightspeed India vs any other VC firm in the US12:10 - Is it necessary to raise a Venture Capital to build a big company?15:38 - Is it the right time to build a Tech company in India?18:16 - Looking after Enterprise, Fintech & Logistics focused deals19:59 - Big wins for Lightspeed in India - Byju’s, OKCredit, Udaan, OYO25:25 - Difference b/w Venture Investing in US & India (Andreessen Horowitz vs Lightspeed)30:42 - What Indian Entrepreneurs can learn from their US counterparts?33:22 - “Most problems are solvable if you immerse yourself deep within”38:33 - Best Founders know much better about a Market than a VCSend us a text