The Neon Show

Podcast with Vishal Gupta, Managing Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.“When you create a Network effect, your moats become stronger and your growth is also disproportionate.” - Vishal GuptaVishal did his MBA from IIM Calcutta, in 2002. Post which he initially worked with HCL and later joined Reliance Capital Private Equity in 2003.Finally, he joined Bessemer Venture Partners in 2006.Some of the portfolio companies at Bessemer Venture Partners India include - Bigbasket, Swiggy, Pharmeasy, Urbanclap and DocsApp among others.In this podcast, Vishal shares, about startups with Strong Distributions Channels, opportunities in Healthcare and more.Some Questions answered by Vishal in this Podcast -1. What’s his take on Operational heavy businesses like Bigbasket & Swiggy ?2. What does he think Distributions & Supply Channels in Startups?3. Why does he believe in Data-driven board meetings?4. What is his thesis for opportunities in Healthcare in India?5. What markets didn’t worked out for him?P.S. I would like to give a big shoutout to Qtrove.comQtrove.com is a content and community driven curated marketplace that exhibits and sells natural, organic and non-mass produced products made by small and local sellers driven by passion and purpose. Qtrove.com wants its consumers to 'MakeTheSwitch' to a sustainable lifestyle for a better tomorrow. Qtrove.com wants to change how you consume products IN your body (that is food), ON your body (that is personal care) and AROUND your body (Household Care). They are the G-Commerce (G stands for Good) guys. Use the code 100x to get exclusive 20% discount till 31st oct 2019. I have myself made lifestyle switch into more organic and sustainable products. For eg. the honey and sugar which I consume, the soaps which I use at my home are all made by these local sellers made by hand. Not only you are using something which is good for your body, you are also providing livelihood to so many people.Send us a text

Ash started his career in Banking and joined Silicon Valley Bank and has been since associated with them.He is credited with bringing the major VC & Investment houses of Silicon Valley & San Francisco Bay Area to India in 2003 (also known as the birth of Venture Capitalism in India).He later started Saama Capital in India with the vision of being an Active Co-Investor.Saama Capital is also well known for being an early investor in Paytm. Some of the other investments of Saama Capital include – Raw Pressery, Sula Vineyards, Shaadi.com, and Games2Win among others.In this podcast, Ash shares his journey and experience of bringing the VC culture in India, setting it up and investing in several well-known Consumers Brands & Fintech companies.Some Questions answered by Ash in this Podcast –1. How did the birth of Venture Capital happen in India back in 2003?2. How was his experience during his first meeting with Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm) during his investment pitch?3. How does he see a Startup doing pivots and what was some of the successful Pivots in his investments?4. What has been his philosophy during all of his investments?5. Where did his market thesis didn’t work out?6. What are some of his big companies & exits in Consumer brands?7. What habits does he attribute to his successes?8. How is 2019-20 for founders?9. What are some of his advice for new VCs?A big shoutout for my friends at Sleepy Owl Coffee. Sleepy Owl makes super smooth Cold Brew Coffee and Hot Brew Coffee that requires no equipment to brew. Their Brew Packs are made from the best Indian Coffee beans, carefully roasted and packed immediately to seal in the flavour. Ready to brew, anywhere. Just add water & let it brew overnight. Apart from cold brews, Sleepy Owl recently announced their entry into the hot coffee segment with the launch of an entirely new category- 100% biodegradable, Equipment-free 5 min Dip-N-Sip Brew Bags. . Real coffee that’s made at home. Available at www.sleepyowl.co – use the code 100x at checkout to get 15% off your first order.Send us a text

“What kind of products can I build for consumers who are already on the Internet, rather than bringing offline consumers online.” - Miten SampatMiten started his career in US after completing his Masters in Computer Science, in 2007. It was in 2012 that he began as an Angel Investor and Advisor for Startups.Around the same time, he took the call to move back into India and explore & leverage the Startup ecosystem here.In 2013, he joined the TimesCity and later shifted to managing investments decisions at Times Internet. Some of the portfolio companies at Times Internet include - MX Player, ET-Money, Dineout, Haptik, Shuttl and Cricbuzz among others.In this podcast, Miten shares, the investment philosophy & thought process practised by him at Times Internet.Some Questions answered by Miten in this Podcast -1. What made him come back to India & join Times Internet?2. What does he think about Times Internet investing as a Minority Share Holder?3. What markets or investment thesis didn’t work out for them ?4. Why did Times Internet Shutdown TLABS (Accelerator for Startups like - Inshorts & Pratilipi)? 5. What habits does he attribute to his success as an investor ?6. How does Times Internet chooses build Vs buy ?Send us a text

Anurag Ramdasan, Head Of Investments at 3one4 Capital (Early Stage VC Fund).Out of the 60 Portfolio Companies, some well-known names are OPEN, Licious, Pocket Aces, YourStory & Darwinbox.In this podcast, Anurag shares his experience of coming from a hardcore Coding background into the VC world and also talks about some specific markets in the Startup Ecosystem like Content, Consumer Brands & Fintech.Some Questions answered by Anurag in this Podcast -1. How was his journey from being an Engineer to an Investor?2. How has their journey been with OPEN & Licious?3. Being one of the Youngest Principal’s, how did he mature so fast?4. How did 3one4 Capital establish themselves into this Ecosystem?5. Which were the markets where they had a Thesis and got a win?6. What were the markets which didn’t work out for them?7. What excites them being an Investor rather than being an Operator in the Startup Ecosystem?8. What are the upcoming markets in India where they are interested?9. How do you solve monetisation consents of Founders?Send us a text

Utsav Somani, Partner, AngelList India shares his experience at AngelList India & Syndicates (Private Single-deal VC funds led by Top Angels).Some of the Startups where Utsav has invested as angel investor are BharatPe, AdPushup, Innov8, CoinDCX, Elemential Labs, Sugar Cosmetics, LogiNext, ARATA, Stranger & Sons, Mall91, Pernia's Pop-up Shop.Some Questions answered by Utsav in this Podcast -1. What is a Syndicate & How does it work?2. What are the minimum requirements to become a General Partner in a Syndicate?3. How can first-time founders approach AngelList for raising funds?4. How many Startups have been funded by Syndicates in India until now?5. How does AngelList ensure Startups which are funded by Syndicates to get updates & communicate with the Investors?6. What does an average Syndicate ticket size look like?7. What is “The Collective by AngelList India”?8. What is the Investment Thesis followed at AngelList - “Top-down” or “Bottom-up”?9. How does AngelList India work in sync with AngelList US?A guide for founders how to use AngelList in India:https://medium.com/@AngelListIndia/how-angellist-helps-indian-startups-raise-capital-277076828f5bSend us a text

Dheeraj Jain, Founder at Redcliffe Capital shares his experience and thoughts around investing in Biotech / Health Care & Consumer Brands in India.By now he has invested in 32 companies, whereas some of his notable exits include Innov8, Burger Singh & Supr Daily. Some of the successful companies where Dheeraj initially invested, and since then they have raised significant amount of subsequent fundings are PeeSafe, LifCare, The Man Company, Drivezy, Coho, Coutloot and Qdesq, among others.Some Questions answered by Dheeraj in this Podcast -1. What caught his attention towards Health Care companies in India?2. Why is it the right time for Biotech Startups to scale up in India?3. Can Consumer Brand Startups become massive?4. What were his thoughts while investing in PeeSafe & The Man Company?5. What’s was the secret behind the 100x growth of Drivezy?6. What role do markets play when a company has to scale?7. What kind of characteristics does he look for in a Founder, during the early stage funding?8. Over the last 4-5 years, How has he seen himself grow as an Investor?Send us a text

Brij Bhasin (General Partner at Rebright Partners, Ex-Operating Partner at GSF India).In 2012 he joined GSF (India's first multi-city accelerator program for early-stage tech product startups). Then in 2015, he joined Rebright Partners (an early stage Japanese Venture Capital Fund investing across Deep Tech, Healthcare, Mobility, Enterprise SaaS, B2B products and Internet/Mobile). Some successful portfolio companies in DocsApp & LetsTransport.Some Questions answered by Brij in this Podcast 1. What were his key learnings at GSF India?2. What were some of the key startups he advised or mentored?3. How did he joined Rebright Partners?4. Which few startups has he invested at Rebright Partners recently? How has their growth been?5. While evaluating deals for Rebright Partners, how does deal flow works for him?6. As an early stage investor what markets have been a win for him in the last 5 years?7. What would be his advice to founders in order to reach out and pitch to him?Send us a text

Sukhbir Singh is a well-known Bollywood singer. He is also called the prince of Bhangra. He has recently become an active startup investor. His first investment is in the beverage market in India.In this podcast, Sukhbir shares his journey of how living hand to mouth in Kenya, in a Gurudwara taught him humbleness and never letting your success or work change your human principles. His parents migrated when he was just two years old from Jalandhar, India. His father was into singing, classically trained, but he was spiritually inclined. So he worked as a Gyaniji in Gurudwara in Kenya.He learned different instruments by being in a band in Kenya, started off as a keyboard player, then progressed to a drummer, guitarist, and then eventually a singer, started from backing vocals and then lead vocal. More on his journey in the podcast.When being asked on:1. How do you feel when you meet young founders today?I see myself in them. I see when I was their age and I had that desire and passion to create a song, would take an idea from just a melody to a song. And, for Startups I see them in a very similar fashion it starts with an idea and then the passion behind the ideas of people actually take that idea and make it into a reality. 2. How music production and startups are related?It's the same thing with startups you don't know if that is going to work. It's unless and until you put it into practices. Similarly, with music production, you take an idea to make it into song and then let you know the masses decide whether it's a hit song or not.Sukhbir also shares:1. What he is looking in startups and founders that he wants to fund2. His advice to founders to deliver excellence in business3. His learnings from 25 years in the music industry that can be applied to startups4. His advice from his own experience on dealing with failure in startupsFrom Siddhartha: A shoutout to India’s first start-up to create shoes with Natural and Sustainable Fibres. Neeman’s shoes are extremely lightweight and flexible. I wear them without socks, and I don’t have to worry about odour anymore. Plus, if they ever catch a stain, I dump them in a washing machine. Overall, after wearing Neeman’s – I don’t think I can wear any other shoes. So, go ahead and try them. Just for the audience of 100X, my buddies at Neeman’s are offering an exclusive 15% OFF using the code 100X on https://neemans.comSend us a text

Semil Shah, Founder at Haystack & Venture Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, talks about his journey to becoming a successful Venture Capitalist.Semil founded Haystack in 2013 (An Early Stage Investment Fund). Some successful portfolio companies in Haystack include DoorDash, Instacart, Carta, Giphy, and Wag.Some Questions answered by Semil in this Podcast -1. What are his learnings for people who want to become a VC?2. How to choose the kind of Investor you want to become? Do you want to sit on the Board or do you want to be Growth & Network Driven?3. Is there any other path to become a VC other than an Ivy League college followed by some experience as a Consultant? 4. What should a 23-24 year old be doing fresh after college, to enter this Ecosystem?5. What was his First Fund size? How did he convince his first 5 LPs to put in the money?6. How did he happen to join Lightspeed Ventures?7. What are the Key Elements he looks for while investing?8. How much of his time does he dedicate to raise funds vs time spent on deploying it?9. What habits does he attribute for his success as a VC in such a short time (which generally takes others 10-15 years to achieve)?Send us a text

Sanjeev Aggarwal is the Founder of The Fundamentum Partnership, Growth stage fund.Sanjeev has also been the Founder of Helion Ventures, one of the earliest Venture Capital Funds in India established in 2006.Sanjeev started his entrepreneurial journey as the Co-Founder of Daksh, one of the largest BPO in India which sold to IBM for $150 Million in 2004.Sanjeev shares his investing thesis in the podcast where startups need to solve a big problem for a large market. And if the participants in the market is very diffused which is the case with most consumer businesses, then organising that market can deliver you a very big impact.Eg Daksh was participating in $100 Billion outsourcing industry.MakeMyTrip $20 Billion travel industry.BigBasket $300 Billion grocery industry.Common theme is that very large market, highly under penetrated in terms of how it is organised and how digitally influenced it is.In founding team Sanjeev looks for First Principals thinkers. Reason that element is you are solving problem that has never been solved before so you can’t use a template to replicate. You have to create you template on the run.He is looking for Co-founders who are like Hindu gods Brahma and Vishnu, who are very complementary to each other, one if the visionary and other executes and builds on that vision.Why story tellers win ?Storytelling is as much about your thinking process as it is about communication process.Capital goes to those founders who are thinking big and who are thinking scale. Investors make their own mistakes but that is what is very attractive to investors. Are you solving a big problem. Do you have vision of the future. While you will solve actual problems bottoms up but do you have bigger picture very clearly in front of your mindThere is value in how you communicate but to me communication skills is an outcome of your thinking skills. And therefore they are the rightful recipient of large capital because in India GDP is growing and digital GDP is growing even faster. So there are lot of big problems which are waiting to be solved which is what these entrepreneurs are doing.Journey of scale up think in horizontal. It’s really about 4 things:1. Strategy: How are you thinking of shaping a market2. Structure: What is the organisation design. 3. Putting the right people 4. Having a very strong governance mechanism.Send us a text