The Neon Show

After completing his MBA from IIM Lucknow in 1998, Anand started his first EduTech company around the Dotcom boom - Brainvisa which became one of the largest eLearning companies in India and later on got acquired by Indecomm Global Services. From 2007 to 2012, he backed several startups as an Angel Investor - Fasoos & MyDentist.Later in his career in 2012, he became a Founding Partner at IndiaQuotient, Venture Capital Firm which has invested in over 50 startups in the last 8 years.Some of his portfolio companies are LoanTap, Clip, and Sharechat among others.In this podcast, Anand shares his understanding of the Indian Middle-class consumer & also shares his learnings on how can startups build products for them. Notes - 00:35 - His Journey from Starting the first company in Dotcom boom to becoming a VC in 201201:50 - Experience with Early Portfolio Companies - Financial Services & Content09:00 - Understanding Indian consumers & building products for them16:55 - Investing in Indian Cosmetics Brand - Sugar20:50 - Serving the average Indian consumer with disposable income27:30 - Thesis behind building Indian Consumer Brands32:50 - Core Themes for future Portfolio companies at IndiaQuotient 38:50 - Portfolio Companies in Small Business Software - Vyapar, Fleetx, BharatAgri39:48 - Being bold & Taking Contrarian bets as a VCSend us a text

After graduating from IIT Kanpur in 1992, Manish worked with several top firms - Tata Elxsi, Motorola, Ittiam Systems & Sling Media.In 2013 he started LetsVenture which enables Angel Investors, Family Offices and Funds to discover and invest in early-stage and growth startups.Post that, in 2016, he started pi Ventures, which primarily invests in AI, IoT & Blockchain companies.Some of his portfolio companies are FrontdeskAI, Wysa, and SigTuple among others.In this podcast, Manish shares his experiences of investing and helping entrepreneurs build AI Startups. Notes - 00:40 - From Graduating IIT Kanpur in 1992 to starting pi Ventures in 201606:50 - Keys learnings while building Venture firms10:58 - Learning from path-breaking Entrepreneurs14:08 - Unsolved problems & prospects for upcoming startups in AI16:54 - Criteria for evaluating AI companies27:52 - Helping in building AI Startups28:22 - Convincing VCs to invest in AI Startups30:15 - Challenges while fund-raising as a VC37:26 - Advice for Founder’s who get lost in their JourneySend us a text

Sameer’s journey in India’s venture capital ecosystem began back in 2007 when he joined Reliance Ventures, where he focused on early-stage investments in the Technology, Media / Entertainment & Telecommunications domain.After being with Reliance for 4 years he joined Nexus Venture Partners in 2011 & currently leads their Bangalore office. At Nexus in the last 9 years, he has been part of the investment team that has lead investments in over 35 of their Portfolio companies.Some of Nexus portfolio companies are Druva, OLX, NetMagic, PaySense, Gluster, Rancher, H20, MapMyIndia, Pratilipi, Delhivery, Myupchar, Rapido, Snapdeal, Unacademy, Zomato, and Zolo among others.In this podcast, Sameer shares his experiences of identifying top-notch founders & his signature style of signing the Term sheet in the first meeting with the founders in whom he sees potential. Notes - 00:36 - From CFA Level-I to spending over 11 years in Venture Ecosystem07:48 - I’m very fond of what I do as VC10:50 - Investing in over 35 Portfolio Companies across - Business Services, Consumer Brands, Data & AI, Enterprise & Healthcare16:30 - Top 2 Portfolio Companies in every fund18:00 - Growth & Success of Postman and UnAcademy20:19 - Story behind signing term-sheet at UnAcademy27:11 - Size of Test Prep market in India28:48 - Investing in Postman right around its buyout stage33:37 - Signature style of getting Term-sheet signed & Investing then & there38:30 - Learnings from Mistakes as a VC41:05 - Identifying secular trends/shift in markets44:48 - Guiding founders in situations where they are able to raise $50M+ but haven’t had experience building big startups47:17 - Quality of founders is getting better & better51:55 - Low-value creation in several crappy companies in India01:01:20 - Low-key & Successful Portfolio Companies at Nexus Venture Partners01:04:50 - Being called a P/E VC Investor01:07:10 - Culture of hierarchy-free & openness at a VC firmSend us a text

Sanjay started his career in Silicon Valley in 1992 & spent over 7 years at his first company, working in different roles across - Sales, Customer Support, Engineering & Marketing. He then worked with Xerox & Portal Software in US before coming back to India in 2003.From 2003 to 2011, he had several experiences most of which revolutionized entire ecosystems they were part of, right from mCheck, ZipDial, Ezetap & Aadhar Team (at UIDAI).Finally in 2011, he started Angel Prime (now Prime Ventures) which invests in early-stage entrepreneurs to build great companies.Some of his portfolio companies are Moneytap, Ezetap, Happay, and Kredx among others.In this podcast, Sanjay shares his experiences & learnings from being on both sides of the Startup ecosystem - An Entrepreneur & A VC. Notes - 00:38 - His journey from a small town in Karnataka to Silicon Valley & finally becoming a VC04:04 - Part 1- Experience & Learnings in Silicon Valley (from working in Sales, Customer Support to Engineering)05:55 - Working with Xerox 08:40 - Coming back to India and working with mPortal & mChek11:20 - Realizing of being Ahead of Time at mChek 14:08 - Successful Startups which Controlled their Ecosystem like Paytm & those which rode the Ecosystem changes like PhonePe & GooglePay16:49 - Part 2 - Working with Aadhar (UIDAI Team) & Experiencing the formulation of Aadhar19:56 - Part 3 - Bringing together previous learnings & starting AngelPrime (currently Prime Ventures)22:51 - Conceptualizing ZipDial while being on a flight25:10 - Validating Market Fit in less than $100 at ZipDial28:45 - Building Ezetap - Being on the Merchant Side30:45 - Being the First Sculptor of the Company34:16 - Formulating Market Specific Preferences as a VC40:00 - Importance of being Honest & Open with your VC Partners44:57 - There’s No Completely 100% Right or Wrong situation being a VC47:59 - Being a Founder in Late 30s or 40s50:37 - Having 360 days of Frustration & 5 days of Glory as an EntrepreneurSend us a text

#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Sid Talwar, Managing Partner, Lightbox VenturesIn 2001, Sid founded Evolv, a vocational training company funded by Singapore Technologies. Over the next 6 years, he built it into a business that trained 20,000+ people annually across 200 cities in South Asia and the Middle East. He later sold it to NIIT in 2007 but continued to lead the internal teams in adopting new technology as a transformative force in education and vocational training.Post that, after being associated with GSF India for about a year, he Cofounded Lightbox Ventures in 2014. Some of his portfolio companies are Furlenco, Embibe, Dunzo, Cleartrip, and Bombay Shirt Company.In this podcast, Sid shares his experience of helping Entrepreneurs solve & avoid mistakes in their Entrepreneurial Journey. Notes - 00:36 - His Journey of helping Entrepreneurs Solve & Avoid Mistakes 01:58 - Invest in Few Companies at a time to understand them better04:03 - Top Exits from Fund-II07:34 - Building relationships with Portfolio Companies10:40 - What kind of businesses is Lightbox trying to promote?18:39 - Investing in Embibe based on the Aditi’s conviction as a Founder22:54 - Investing in Furlenco after getting to know Ajith Karimpana In & Out26:34 - Challenges in building a subscription model in India for Furniture35:42 - Thesis behind recent Investment in Nua 39:18 - Advice to Entrepreneurs while Pitching to VCsSend us a text

#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Adith Podhar, Founding Partner, Gemba CapitalAdith belongs to a typical Marwari family from Mumbai, after completing his MBA from the University of Mumbai, he worked with ICICI Bank handling fundraising for individual investors in Private Equity. During 2013 to 2017 he also headed Motilal Oswal Private Equity as their Vice President. In June 2017, he finally decided to start his own journey as an Early Stage Investors and started Gemba Capital. Some of his portfolio companies are myHQ, ClearDekho and HoiFoods.In this podcast, Adith shares his experience of operating as an Early Stage Investors and his learnings. Notes - 00:42 - Journey from Typical Marwari family to experiencing different stages in Entrepreneurial Journey and finally becoming a VC 05:11 - Why he started Gemba Capital? 06:48 - How did he develop his Priority Sectors and created his Investment Thesis? 11:40 - Investments, Vision & Thesis in Fintech 13:19 - Difference between companies which have scaled faster compared to others15:10 - Macro Factors behind Scaling faster and larger for a Company16:44 - Why is Cashout / CreditLine model becoming a popular product in Fintech?17:55 - How to crack your Distribution Channels suitable to your Products?22:04 - Ideal Co-investors24:20 - Overcoming Challenges and Hardships as a VC29:57 - Is the Sequoia Surge Programme a Threat to Small/Early Stage VC Firms?30:52 - Overcoming biases as a VC while Investing33:22 - Mistakes & Learnings as an Angel InvestorSend us a text

#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Tej Kapoor, Co-Executive President of Fosun RZ Capital (India & Africa)From 2007-13, Tej held several key positions at AOL in the United States and then at Naspers Group.In 2016 he joined Fosun RZ Capital, where some of his portfolio companies are Gland Pharma, Delhivery, MakeMyTrip, Ixigo and Kissht.In this podcast, Tej shares his experience of working with both Large scale markets as well as Seed-stage startups in India & China. Notes - 00:47 - Journey from AOL in the US to Naspers and finally heading Fosun RZ (India & Africa)04:17 - What is Fosun RZ Capital about? 05:42 - Typical Ticket Sizes08:45 - Focus Markets in 2020 - Fintech, Travel, E-commerce, Consumer Brands10:54 - Parameters to evaluate Seed/Early stage companies12:41 - Shift from dealing with Large Ticket Sizes at Naspers to Seed Stage Investing at Fosun RZ 15:25 - Role of Storytelling in Fundraising by Early-stage founders17:46 - Crucial aspects to building and selling your product20:20 - Growth Scale of Ixigo & Delhivery 22:31 - Key investments & Thesis at Naspers25:12 - Experience & Learnings in working with Founders of Ixigo, Delhivery & Ibibo28:57 - How’s the Startup and Angel Investing culture in China?34:50 - New Verticals of E-commerce Startups coming up in 202036:58 - Evaluation of a Fintech Startup & New opportunities in Fintech SpaceSend us a text

#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Gaurav Munjal, Co-founder, Unacademy“Every single mistake that entrepreneurs do 99% of that is already documented somewhere.” - Gaurav MunjalSince his childhood Gaurav was an innovative person, at the age of 12 years, he created a similar to KBC-like quiz which was demonstrated amongst his classmates and the school. In 2013 he started Flat.to (real estate platform for college students and bachelors across India) which later become FlatChat and got acquired by CommonFloor in 2014.In 2015 he Co-founded Unacademy, which was originally a YouTube channel started back in his college days. Today Unacademy gets 140Million views / month on its youtube channels + app/web.In this podcast, Gaurav shares his experience of scaling & creating a dent in the Edtech space, as well as lays down the path to how can one grow personally & professionally as an Entrepreneur. Notes - 0:53 - Journey from a 12-year curious kid to Founder of Unacademy03:32 - First Entrepreneurial Journey Flat.to (Real estate platform for college students and bachelors across India) (Later FlatChat)09:12 - How he got started with Unacademy in 201509:54 - Learnings for building a product for Large markets11:02 - Mistakes as a first-time Founder & Learnings14:37 - “Learning should be part of a CEO’s schedule.”17:05 - What do his notes or learning structure look like?18:03 - How does his recall process work to revisit his ideas or tasks?19:09 - Key milestones of Unacademy over the years 24:11 - Is storytelling a major pillar for an entrepreneur?25:38 - Building a successful company that will create a dent in the Industry28:25 - What is Unacademy replacing in the physical world?32:42 - Getting the best educators on Unacademy35:50 - How being an Obsessive founder helps him compared to other founders who are more relaxed?37:53 - How does he transfer his passion for learning among his team members?39:27 - “The values of an organisation are not what they put up on the wall, it’s what you do every single day!”40:00 - Distribution & Branding at Unacademy41:22 - What have been the Growth levers for Unacademy from 2015 - 2019?45:16 - Cracking Monetisation54:57 - Book recommendations by him for the listenersSend us a text

#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Kitty Agarwal, Head of Corporate Development, Info EdgeBelonging from a Calcutta based Marwari business family, Kitty completed her MBA from IIM Ahemdabad in 2012, post which due to her interest in Entrepreneurship, she came in touch with Sanjeev Bikhchandani and joined Info Edge.She has spent the last 6 years investing in early-stage consumer internet companies. Working closely with portfolio companies for strategy-building, monitoring progress and follow-on fundraising. She also looks after deal sourcing, due diligence, and legal documentation.Some of Info Edge’s Portfolio Companies include - Zomato, Ustraa, and MeritNation among others.In this podcast, Kitty shares her experience of Early Stage Investing at Info Edge and How she closely works with Founders to enable Growth.Notes - 00:41 - Her Journey from a Marwari Business Family in Calcutta to Info Edge03:15 - How did investing in other Startups began at Info Edge?05:50 - Recent 5 Investments06:35 - First Cheque Size & the Stage at which they enter a business08:00 - What value does Info Edge brings to the table apart from money in Portfolio companies? 08:56 - Misconception about Info Edge owing a greater than 50% stake in Portfolio companies13:26 - Evaluation Process for Potential Portfolio companies 19:00 - What’s her take on Content-based startups in India?20:55 - Potential Markets & Opportunities in 2019-2026:30 - How does Info Edge help its Portfolio companies in setting up Corporate Governance34:30 - Lessons for Founders, based on her experiences with their Portfolio companiesSend us a text

#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner, Prime Venture Partners“I’ve more patience than the average person, because life is a marathon, not a sprint” - Shripati AcharyaComing from a very humble background, Shripati did his schooling in Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bhopal. Later took admission in IIT Madras, then went to Stanford to pursue his Masters and finally did his MBA from Harvard.In 1999, he Co-founded Snapfish (now part of HP) - One of the largest online photo services in the world with over 70M members. In his later career he worked at Senior Management roles at Cisco & UIDAI Aadhaar.In 2011, he Co-founded Prime Venture Partners, one of India's Premier Early Stage Funds, focused on creating disruptive, category creating technology companies out India for local and global markets.His Portfolio Companies include - Ezetap, Happay, and MyGate among others.In this podcast, Shripati shares his deep insights of the SaaS opportunities in India & the core fundamentals of Early Stage Investing.Notes - 00:36 - His Journey from Kendriya Vidyalaya in Bhopal to Stanford01:47 - How did he start Snapfish?03:10 - From being the Founder of Snapfish in the US, what brought him into the Indian Startup Ecosystem?04:17 - How was Prime Venture Partners started?06:06 - “Being a VC you should meet every entrepreneur with an open mind and not have preconceived notions” 08:24 - Operating Thesis at Prime Ventures15:45 - Meeting existing Portfolio companies regularly for discussing Strategic Actions 17:27 - His thoughts on Wealth Creation & Public Marketing Investing19:14 - What are the parallels between Early Stage Investing & Public Market Investing?22:17 - Potential in Indian SaaS companies to go for an IPO25:28 - Unfortuante failures or hurdles occur when Entrepreneurs are caught up in hindsight32:54 - Is it possible to build breakout companies like Whatsapp in India?Send us a text