The VCpreneur: Startups | Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Fundraising

In this episode, Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner @Antler India & Co-founder @Urban Ladder, joins our host Digjay, to talk about the Antler India program, building & scaling Urban Ladder, raising funds from Mr. Ratan Tata, difference in fundraising approach between 0-1 & 1-10 stage, managing stakeholders expectations & overcoming valleys of death as a founder. Prior to joining Antler India, Rajiv co-founded Urban Ladder (UL), one of India's top omni-channel furniture brand. Over ~8 years, UL raised over $100mm from top Indian VCs, like Kalaari Capital, SAIF Partners (now Elevation Capital) & Steadview Capital. Prior to UL, he served as a Sr Product Manager with Yahoo. An IIT Madras/ IIM Bangalore alum, Rajiv has been featured multiple times on the Fortune 40 U/ 40 India list. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter  ----  Show notes:  1. (01:35) Rajiv’s background; Antler’s mission & entry into India  2. (08:06) Unpacking the fundraising lifecycle of a startup  3. (12:06) Antler India operating model  4. (18:19) Building & scaling Urban ladder  5. (28:35) Raising funds from Mr. Ratan Tata; Difference in fundraising between 0-1 & 1-10 stage of a startup  6. (30:49) Managing expectations of different stakeholders of a company  7. (37:57) Overcoming valleys of death as a founder  8. (41:36) How being an entrepreneur has shaped Rajiv’s personality over the years?  9. (44:46) Rapid fire and closing remarks  ----  If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google Podcasts. We would really appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Raja Ganapathy, Founding Partner @Spring Marketing Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path to venture capital, the gap in the marketing ecosystem and how Spring Marketing Capital aims to plug that using their skin-in-the-game model, importance of articulating the founder’s vision & how it impacts product roadmap, the brand as well as the culture of a startup, his experience working as a CMO at Sequoia India & how new age VC firms can build a strong brand to attract founders. Raja has worked with founders for most of his working life of 24+ years - first with Ogilvy & Brand David, and later as CMO with Sequoia India, before starting Spring Marketing Capital with his co-founders Arun Iyer & Vineet Gupta. Through his career, Raja has partnered with some well-known brands like Byju’s, CARS24, Cred, Daily Hunt, Wakefit, Epigamia, among others. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter ---- Show notes: (01:42) Raja’s background & path to venture capital (04:02) The big gap in the marketing ecosystem; The ‘skin in the game’ model at Spring Marketing Capital (08:32) How Spring Marketing differs from typical ad agencies? (12:08) Raising funds from LPs; Thesis & investment model (16:57) Working with founders to define the core value proposition of their product/service (22:48) Importance of clearly articulating the founder’s vision & how it helps in defining the culture of a startup (26:49) When should founders spend on marketing? (31:57) CMO experience at Sequoia (36:26) Building a strong VC brand like Sequoia, a16z (40:02) Rapid fire & closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google Podcasts. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin/Twitter 

In this episode, Vaibhav Domkundwar, Founder & CEO @Better Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to angel investing, learnings as a 2x entrepreneur, about Better Capital, evaluating founders at early-stage startups, bootstrapping vs fundraising, building leverage as a founder & how to build your brand as a first-time angel investor.  Vaibhav is a UC Berkeley alum, a 2x entrepreneur & now a full-time investor. He founded 2 companies - Roamware which was acquired by PE firm Audax, and Better which was a self-financed startup studio that has now evolved into an early stage venture firm. Today, Better has a strong portfolio of 80+ companies which includes startups like Khatabook, OPEN Bank, Rupeek, TestBook, Yulu. You can connect with Vaibhav here on Linkedin/Twitter ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes & Google Podcasts. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes This will help others discover the podcast. For more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem, you can visit thevcpreneur.com & follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin& Twitter ---- Show notes – (01:26) Vaibhav’s background; Portfolio strategy when investing in seed stage startups (10:46) Evaluating early-stage founders; Gut feel vs data driven decision making  (15:17) How founders can simplify decision making for investors? (19:43) How founders can attract people that share the same passion & drive for their startup? (23:49) Bootstrapping vs Fundraising; Seeking support of investors as you scale up (29:20) Building leverage as a founder (30:37) Building a brand & adding value as an angel investor (36:47) Rapid fire & closing remarks

In this episode, Vinay Bansal, Co-founder & CEO @Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), joins our host Digjay, to talk about the genesis of IPV, building a trust based platform for both founders & investors, funding startups from Seed to Series A/B and how IPV operates like an angel network while helping founders like VCs & PEs do.  Vinay is a finance professional with 20+ years of experience across Fortune 50 companies, private equity & startups. Last, he was Senior Advisor at TPG Global & before that CFO/CIO at Wildcraft India. He is a Chartered Accountant by qualification and spent the first 14 years of his career in leadership positions across Financial Management & Manufacturing / Supply-chain sourcing functions at GE & Hindustan Unilever. You can connect with him here on Linkedin  ----  If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes & Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter  ----  Show notes –  (01:30) Vinay’s background; About Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) – genesis & operating model  (06:45) Building a trust based ecosystem for both founders & investors; Onboarding ~3k investors on the platform  (09:42) Differentiating IPV from other angel investment platforms  (13:00) Selection criteria & lifecycle of a startup at IPV  (18:00) How IPV supports founders that do not end up raising funds through their platform?  (20:48) Funding startups from Seed to Series A/B; How IPV operates like an angel network while adding value to startups like VCs & PEs?  (27:20) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Karthik Venkateswaran, Co-founder & CEO @Jumbotail, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his journey from serving in the Indian army to founding his own startup, the challenges of scaling a marketplace model, hiring employees based on the company’s core values, advantage of going deep in one market before scaling to other geographies, and what founders should particularly look for in their seed stage investors. Jumbotail aims to organise the food & grocery ecosystem in India using technology & has raised close to $50mm in funding so far from a range of Indian as well as international VC funds. Karthik is an alumnus of National Defence Academy and served in the Indian Army for 10 years, with several tenures in hard combat.  He then went on to complete his MBA from Stanford, worked as a Senior Product Manager in ebay US and Director-Products in Flipkart, prior to starting Jumbotail in 2015. Karthik is passionate about building products & technology that will create more economic opportunities for the food and grocery ecosystem, and make commerce more accessible and convenient for the next 1 billion Indians. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter ---- Show notes – 1. (01:40) Karthik & Ashish’s background; Inspiration behind starting Jumbotail 2. (05:30) Jumbotail’s solutions for India’s fragmented food & grocery market 3. (12:15) Overcoming initial challenges and scaling a marketplace model 4. (19:04) Why hiring the right team is extremely critical for a startup’s success? Unpacking Jumbotail’s unique ‘values’ based hiring & appraisal system 5. (23:30) Leveraging macro tailwinds, staying agile and focusing on depth (vs breadth) while scaling up 6. (30:00) Learnings from Jumbotail’s fundraising experience; What founders should look for in their seed stage investors? 7. (35:40) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Sasha Mirchandani, Founder & Managing Partner @Kae Capital & Co-founder @Mumbai Angels, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his learnings from investing in startups over the last 2 decades – from being an angel investor in early 2000s to starting his own VC fund in 2012, how Kae Capital leverages it’s LPs to add value to their portfolio startups, building a legacy VC fund, Sasha’s list of anti-portfolio startups (Oyo, Ola, Meesho, Unacademy) & key learnings from these missed opportunities. Sasha founded Kae Capital in 2012 which is a Mumbai based sector agnostic VC fund that usually invests in seed stage startups. Some of its investments include 1mg, Nua, Porter, Zetwerk among others. Previously, Sasha was a Managing Director at Blue Run Ventures India, CEO and Founder of Imercius Technologies and Head of Corporate Affairs/New Businesses at Mirc Electronics (Onida). Sasha founded Mumbai Angels in 2006 which is among the top angel investment networks in India that connects startups with investors & professionals willing to invest in them. Sasha is among the first batch of angel investors in the country, is known for making early investments in companies like Fractal, InMobi & Myntra and was recently inducted in TiE Mumbai’s Hall of Fame as an Outstanding Angel Investor. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter ---- Show notes – 1. (01:34) Sasha’s background; Starting Mumbai Angels in 2006 2. (03:54) Initial learnings as an angel investor 3. (07:09) Difference in investment approach between a VC and an angel investor 4. (09:04) About Kae Capital – Thesis, Fund size and portfolio composition 5. (10:36) What should VCs consider when choosing their LPs? Leveraging LPs to support portfolio startups 6. (14:39) Exit criteria for VCs; Why VCs need to put more thought on mitigating risks post investment and timing their exits? 7. (17:23) Learnings from his anti-portfolio and avoiding biases when evaluating startups 8. (19:49) Improvement in founder quality over the past 2 decades 9. (22:54) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Vishesh Rajaram, Founder & Managing Partner @Speciale Invest, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his learnings as a venture capitalist (VC) – at Venture East earlier and now at Speciale Invest, backing early-stage startups in disruptive technology domains like Space-tech, micro-mobility, clean energy & robotics, how deep-tech startups can reduce risk and gain trust of investors and iterating investment strategies as a VC. Vishesh who has about 13 years of experience across enterprise technologies and consumer services. Vishesh started his venture capital journey with Venture East in 2007, one of India’s oldest VC firms. After spending almost a decade at Venture East, Vishesh founded Speciale Invest in 2016. Speciale Invest is an early-stage investment firm that focuses on B2B deeptech startups across both hardware & software and has been an early pioneer of domains like Space tech, Robotics, Deep tech software, micro-mobility, and clean energy transportation. So far, it has invested in about a dozen startups, including the likes of Agnikul, Utlraviolet, Truelark and Wingman, among others. Vishesh is a Chartered Accountant and an alum of the Indian School of Business. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter ---- Show notes – 1. (01:59) Vishesh’s path leading up to venture capital 2. (06:02) Learnings from a decadal experience of being a VC 3. (08:40) Founder-insight fit; Backing startups that are building technologies of the future 4. (14:46) Key headwinds for Deep tech / IP driven startups to thrive in India; How founders gain trust of and reduce risk for investors? 5. (20:22) What does Speciale Invest particularly look for in founders that are pursuing hardware/deep tech opportunities? 6. (21:57) Adding value to startups beyond just the capital 7. (23:55) Evolving VC landscape; Overcoming long feedback cycles and iterating investment strategies as a VC 8. (28:13) Key principles to build a strong institutional VC brand 9. (30:25) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Priya Mohan, Startup Sensei @Venture Highway, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her learnings as an entrepreneur and a VC, selling to Byju’s, evaluating exit opportunities, choosing the right VCs, embracing vulnerability and the importance of maintaining mental wellbeing for VCs and founders. Venture Highway is an early-stage VC fund that invests in tech-enabled startups across different sectors. Before Venture Highway, Priya co-founded Vidyartha, an educational technology platform for students in grades 6-12, which she exited successfully to Byju’s - an Indian edtech unicorn. Prior to her operating role at Vidyartha, Priya spent 9 years working as a sell-side investment banker and equity research analyst, where she helped high-growth companies raise private equity, structure and execute complex transactions. These included private investments, secondary sales, and buyouts. Priya is a Chartered Accountant and has a Masters of Business Administration from the Indian School of Business (ISB). You can connect with her here on Linkedin / Twitter ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter ---- Show notes – 1. (01:21) Priya’s background and path leading up to venture capital 2. (02:41) Building Vidyartha – a K12 edtech startup; Lessons from being a first-time entrepreneur 3. (08:53) Key considerations when evaluating an exit opportunity 4. (15:41) Why entrepreneurs should be radically honest with themselves and ask tough questions when deciding between the next fundraise and an exit opportunity? 5. (19:36) About Venture Highway; How startups can benefit from the Silicon Valley connect 6. (23:38) Pros & Cons of having VCs with an operating background; What should founders be cognizant about when choosing VCs to pitch for their fundraise? 7. (27:53) Economic benefits of maintaining mental wellbeing for VCs and founders? 8. (31:39) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Bhaskar Majumdar, Founder & Managing Partner @Unicorn India Ventures, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his experience as an entrepreneur & and an investor, challenges faced by first time VCs, importance of having complementary skillsets among General Partners, overcoming long feedback cycles and being agile as a VC fund and the art & science of evaluating exit opportunities as a founder. In the past decade, Bhaskar has established himself as a well-regarded early stage investor and advisor, especially in the UK and India. He has exited businesses as an entrepreneur and as an investor and brings a strong sense of positioning businesses for exit. He has held senior corporate positions with Times of India, Zee Telefilms and Altavista UK. An Alumni of IIT Kharagpur and an AMP from Harvard, Bhaskar is very active in the angel community network in UK and in India. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/ Twitter ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter ---- Show notes – 1. (01:25) Bhaskar’s background and path leading up to venture capital; About Unicorn India Ventures (UIV) 2. (04:50) Portfolio composition; What UIV looks for in founders before investing? 3. (10:10) How startups can benefit from the cross-border network & international portfolio of venture funds? 4. (12:31) Finding the right Partner when starting a VC fund; importance of having complementary skillsets among Partners 5. (15:59) Challenges faced when raising a new VC fund; Key things to look for in a first time VC/fund manager 6. (20:30) Learnings from the 1stUIV fund and the change in strategy for its 2nd fund 7. (23:11) Evaluating exit opportunities as a founder; What should early stage founders focus on to build a strong foundation to scale their startup? 8. (32:38) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Utsav Somani, Partner @AngelList India & @iSeed, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his exciting journey & vision at AngelList India, the asymmetric upside from writing good cold emails, advantage of having angel investors on your cap table along with institutional VC funds, and starting his own micro fund iSeed, to bridge the gap between India & the Silicon Valley AngelList is platform that is democratizing angel investing and helping startups with fundraising, launching products and hiring talent. Besides leading AngelList India, Utsav is also an experienced angel investor with a portfolio of more than 30 companies which includes the likes of BharatPe, Innov8, LogiNext, Mall91 and many more. He has recently launched his new micro-VC fund called iSeed – which is India's first micro-fund backed by top global founders and investors. The fund will invest in about 30 early-stage Indian startups with an average check of $150k. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter ---- Show notes – 1. (01:31)  Utsav’s background and path leading up to AngelList India; His life changing ‘cold email’ to Naval Ravikant 2. (04:41) Writing a good cold email; Zero downside, Unlimited upside 3. (07:51) Why entrepreneurship & angel investing is glamourized? 4. (10:16) What should founders look for in an angel investor? Common missteps that founders should avoid during their first fundraise 5. (14:36) Learnings as an entrepreneur while scaling up AngelList in India; AngelList’s mission & vision for startups in India 6. (19:54) About Utsav’s latest micro seed fund – iSeed; Bridging the gap between Indian entrepreneurs & Silicon Valley 7. (24:05) Founder personalities & sectors that iSeed is looking to back 8. (27:26) Rapid fire and closing remarks Mentioned in this episode: Utsav’s article about the different types of investors & what founders should be mindful of when raising capital Sumukh Sridhara’s (Head of Product & Engineering, AngelList India) episode on The VCpreneur podcast