The VCpreneur: Startups | Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Fundraising

In this episode, Mikhil Innani, Managing Director & CEO @Apollo Finvest, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his varied experiences of scaling products across multiple startups (Pharmeasy, CouponDunia, Hotstar), cultivating a strong team culture at early stages of a startup, defining and measuring growth when scaling up & how he is building the AWS of lending at his latest venture – Apollo Finvest. Apollo Finvest is a public listed NBFC which is currently building the "AWS for Lending" platform enabling fintechs to offering digital loans in <48 hours. Mikhil has 8+ years experience of building products from scratch to scale across different sectors. Prior to Apollo Finvest, he co-founded PharmEasy (Series C funded, online medicine delivery startup) and headed consumer products and growth at Hotstar (India’s largest OTT platform) and CouponDunia (Acquired by Times Internet). Mikhil holds a Master's degree in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor's degree from Mumbai University. 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. (01:35) How Mikhil started his entrepreneurship journey with CouponDunia, followed by PharmEasy & Hotstar? 2. (09:20) How being an entrepreneur over the years has impacted Mikhil’s personality today? 3. (10:34) How one can accelerate their career growth while working at a startup? 4. (11:02) Creating an environment that enables founders to build a great culture at early stages of a startup 5. (14:55) What to look for in the first 10 hires of your startup? 6. (18:13) The framework for measuring & achieving ‘growth’; Importance of defining the north star metric 7. (24:30) Mikhil’s switch from Hotstar; The inspiration behind founding Apollo Finvest 8. (29:50) How Apollo Finvest is building the AWS of lending? Vision for Apollo Finvest in next 5 years 9. (34:35) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Rajul Garg, Founder & Managing Partner @Leo Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his experience of being an entrepreneur, an angel investor & now a venture capitalist. He also talks about collaboration & competition among VCs, importance of building a personal brand in venture capital, Founder-VC fit and why he thinks fundraising should be a core skillset for a founder today. Leo Capital is an early stage VC fund that makes tech investments into India, SEA and US companies. Some of their portfolio companies include the likes of Sheroes, BeatO, Edureka, Flixstock. Rajul was the founder of Pine Labs, the largest PoS payment company in India and GlobalLogic, a leader in outsourced product development – both of which are multi-billion dollar businesses today. Before starting Leo Capital, Rajul consulted with top tier venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and Aavishkaar and was a sought after angel investor. He also founded Sunstone, an innovative technology-led business school. Rajul is an alum of IIT Delhi. You can reach out to 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. (01:20) Rajul’s path leading upto venture capital – from being a 3x entrepreneur, to becoming an angel investor and now a VC 2. (03:05) Challenges faced when starting Leo Capital and raising external funds 3. (04:25) About Leo Capital – Thesis, Fund size & sector focus; What differentiates Leo Capital vs other VC funds 4. (07:30) Choosing the right investor for your startup; Founder-VC fit 5. (11:55) Why fundraising is an important skillset for founders today? 6. (19:30) Dynamics among different VCs in the ecosystem – competition & collaboration 7. (21:52) Importance of building an individual brand equity as a VC 8. (23:40) Rajul’s learnings as an entrepreneur building Pine Labs & GlobalLogic 9. (27:00) How much equity should founders ideally retain at Seed stage? 10. (31:30) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Ishpreet Gandhi, Founder & Managing Partner @Stride Ventures, joins our host Digjay, to talk about the rise of venture debt as a funding alternative for startups, specific use cases & benefits of venture debt to founders, how Stride Ventures differentiates itself from traditional venture debt firms & the outlook for venture debt in India. Stride Ventures is a venture-debt fund focused on lending to growth-stage startups with investments in companies such as LetsTransport, Stellapps & Sugar Cosmetics. Ishpreet has over 13 years of experience encompassing Banking, Private Equity and Venture Capital. During his last stint as Regional Head (North & East) at IDFC Bank, he spearheaded startup business by initiating the lending business across Fintech, Consumer, Logistics and Agritech space. Ishpreet is an alum of Delhi University. You can reach out to 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. (01:09) Ishpreet’s path leading upto venture capital; Starting Stride Ventures 2. (05:32) How Venture debt differs from typical bank loans? 3. (06:30) Key criteria & due diligence measures before lending to startups 4. (10:02) Venture debt use cases for startups 5. (14:12) Typical structure of venture debt deals 6. (16:45) How Stride Ventures adds value to startups beyond providing debt capital? 7. (21:12) Challenges of starting a Venture debt firm 8. (22:50) Why should LPs invest their money in Venture Debt? 9. (24:53) The outlook for Venture Debt in India 10. (28:32) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Anirudh Pandita, Founder @Pocket Aces, joins our host Digjay, to talk about the art & science of building products in the content space, the data-driven approach to cracking distribution, the value in adopting a beginner’s mindset to come up with disruptive innovation & the importance of building a strong team culture as you scale your startup Pocket Aces is a new-age, socially-distributed, digital entertainment company, making highly engaging content for the millennial audience. The company operates multiple content brands including FilterCopy (short videos), Dice Media (multi-episode web series), Gobble (lifestyle videos), Jambo (young-adult animation shorts) and Nutshell (infotainment videos), as well as Loco (game streaming and e-sports app) with 500million+ monthly views across these platforms. The company is backed by prominent investors like Sequoia India, DSP Group and 3one4 Capital. Anirudh, along with co-founders Ashwin Suresh and Aditi Shrivastava, has won several 40 under 40 awards from the likes of Fortune, Social Samosa, IMPACT and BWDisrupt in 2019. Prior to founding Pocket Aces, Anirudh was at Valo Group LLC, a value-oriented hedge fund, based in Philadelphia. Anirudh is a Wharton alum, a Liverpool FC fan, massive cricket buff, and a film fanatic. You can connect with him here on Twitter/Linkedin ---- 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. (01:33) Anirudh’s unconventional journey - Leaving behind his career in Private Equity/Hedge Fund to start a digital content & entertainment business 2. (10:45) The art & science of building products & achieving product-market fit in the content space 3. (12:17) The 0 to 1 journey; Testing hypothesis & launching products using a quick to market, inexpensive fail fast approach 4. (14:43) Cracking distribution - by taking into account different use cases of your product & by understanding consumer needs 5. (17:25) Importance of building a strong team culture as you scale your startup 6. (22:48) Using a beginner’s mindset to disrupt a specific market; Fundraising challenges 7. (28:55) How investors can add value beyond providing the funding dollars? 8. (31:38) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Smita Aggarwal, Global Investments Advisor @Flourish Ventures, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Venture Capital, key criteria for investing in impact creating startups, the untapped Fintech opportunities in India, the incentive to build products for the underserved markets & how VCs play a role in evolution of founders. In her present role with Flourish Ventures, a global fintech focused fund of the Omidyar Group, Smita invests in innovative fintech start-ups that help advance financial health and inclusion in Asia. Previously at Omidyar Network she led multiple new investments in companies like NeoGrowth Credit, Indifi, Bon, Kaleidofin, ZineOne, ShopUp, GramCover, Qoala to name a few. Smita is a fintech investor and a thought leader with deep expertise in venture capital, financial inclusion, digital banking and financial regulation. She has been listed amongst the ‘Top 30 Fintech Influencers’ in India as well as amongst the top 100 women VC investors in the world in a recently published book “Women Who Venture”. With over two and half decades of experience, Smita has held leadership positions with noteworthy firms such as Omidyar Network, Fullerton, Reserve Bank of India and ICICI Bank. She is also a start-up coach and mentor with Catalyst Fund and Village Capital. You can connect with Smita 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. (02:28) Smita’s background & path leading upto Venture Capital 2. (03:45) Best part of her job as a Venture Capitalist 3. (04:30) About Flourish Ventures; Investing in ‘impact creating startups’; Prioritizing between Product, Team & Market 4. (07:00) Measuring & tracking ‘impact’ post making an investment 5. (09:15) Untapped opportunities in Fintech - Insurtech & Embedded Finance 6. (14:25) What should founders focus on when serving the underserved segments of the market? 7. (21:15) Learnings from investing in multiple markets 8. (25:43) The role of VCs in the evolution of founders 9. (27:52) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Brij Bhasin, General Partner @Rebright Partners, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading upto venture capital, how LPs can a play a role in collaborating with & supporting startups, how accelerators & micro VCs can help build a strong foundation for early-stage startups & why it is critical for founders to choose the right investor for their startups. Rebright Partners is an early stage Japanese Venture Capital Fund investing across multiple domains in India & SEA. Brij leads the India investments for the firm. Prior to Rebright, Brij was a founding member with GSF (India’s first multi-city accelerator program for early-stage startups). He was also an advisor and part of the early team at Little Eye Labs which was acquired by Facebook in 2014. Brij has built world class technology products for over 12 years as part of several startups in India and US. He is a Computer Science graduate from the University of Minnesota, USA. You can reach out to 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. (01:18) Brij’s background & path leading upto Venture Capital 2. (02:44) Investment thesis & Vision at Rebright Partners 3. (04:08) Rebright’s unique model where Limited Partners (LPs) to co-invest or invest separate capital outside of the fund; How LPs are collaborating with portfolio startups, providing market access and forging strategic partnerships 4. (09:52) Scenarios where VCs can consider investing in pre-revenue startups 5. (11:53) Being an Entrepreneur in Residence at GSF accelerator & supporting startups in their 0 to 1 journey 6. (13:53) Why Brij recommends first time founders to go through an accelerator program & how it helps in building a strong foundation to scale your startup? 7. (18:33) How to differentiate between different types of capital & choosing the right VC for your startup? 8. (24:33) The promise of the maturing startup ecosystem in India 9. (26:08) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Ray Newal, Managing Director @Techstars India, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his roller coaster journey as an entrepreneur, his learnings from building a startup in India, the key signals that investors look for when investing in early-stage startups, the value of mentorship for founders & how accelerators maximize value for startups by collaborating with different stakeholders in the ecosystem. Ray Newal is a Canadian entrepreneur and early stage investor, currently serving as the Managing Director of Techstars India, where he leads the Techstars Bangalore Accelerator, with a focus on emerging markets. Before joining Techstars, Ray was a co-founder and CEO of Jigsee Inc., a leading mobile video platform in India which operated mobile applications for many of India's largest brands. Prior to Jigsee, Ray spent over a decade leading sales and business development at DoubleClick, MSN, and Yahoo. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter If you are an early-stage startup looking for funding/mentorship, you can apply to the next Techstars India cohort here until Oct 11th, 2020.  ---- 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. 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 ---- Show notes – 1. (01:26) Ray’s background & experience of working across corporates, running a startup and now leading an accelerator 2. (05:30) The roller coster journey of a Canadian entrepreneur building in India 3. (13:52) Fundraising challenges; Key ‘signals’ that VCs look for when investing in early-stage founders 4. (20:22) Learnings as an entrepreneur 5. (22:27) How mentors add value to founders?; Joining Techstars and bringing the accelerator to India 6. (25:47) About the Techstars accelerator program 7. (32:07) Maximizing value for startups by collaborating with different stakeholders in the ecosystem 8. (37:47) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Jitendra Gupta, Founder & CEO @Jupiter, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his learnings as a 2-time entrepreneur, the importance of sharing equity upside with your early employees, leveraging investors and how he aims to transform the banking experience in India with his latest venture Jupiter. Jitendra is a well-known fintech entrepreneur and angel investor in India. Currently he is the Founder@Jupiter, India’s first & only co-created banking experience dedicated to millenials. Prior to Jupiter, Jitendra founded Citrus Pay in 2010, which was acquired by PayU - a fintech company that provides payment technology to online merchants - in 2016. He continued to serve as a Managing Director at PayU, spearheading the credit business of the company before quiting in 2019 to start Jupiter. Jitendra is also a prominent angel investor with investments in companies like Khatabook, KarbonCard, YAP, OPEN, Bira 91, Healofy among others. You can reach out to 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. (01:20) Jiten’s background & path leading up to becoming an entrepreneur 2. (4:36) Building a strong foundation at an early stage of a startup 3. (9:05) Considering exit scenarios and how to evaluate the decision to sell your startup 4. (12:23) Incentivizing your early employees by sharing equity upside with them; Why is this important for the startup ecosystem? 5. (14:53) Expectations and support from investors at Citrus Pay & his new startup Jupiter 6. (17:00) Angel investing – Why Jiten prefers betting on founders more than the proposed business model of their startups? 7. (19:13) Jiten’s 2nd entrepreneurial stint with Jupiter & how he aims to transform banking in India 8. (24:53) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Nitin Sharma, Angel Investor & Founder @First Principles, joins our host Digjay, to share his investment experience with early-to-growth stage companies, his first principles approach to venture investing, why he is bullish on deep tech & his approach to evaluating startups in this space. Nitin has been an experienced VC and advisor to high growth technology ventures in India as well as the US, over the last 14 years. With First Principles, Nitin is currently an active angel investor in 30+ startups in various sectors, including blockchain and other deep tech. He is also the founder of Incrypt Blockchain, a community of blockchain developers in India. Previously, he has been a founding Principal at Lightbox, now a $400mm AUM fund in India and a US venture investor at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a $20bn fund where he co-led NEA's first ed-tech investment. Nitin also serves on the India advisory boards of AngelList, EMVC, TheBetterIndia & USC Viterbi School of Engineering. You can reach out to 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. (00:59) Nitin’s background & experience with NEA, Lightbox and now as an angel investor  2. (06:40) Applying a first principles approach to early-stage investing  3. (09:10) Thesis & opportunities at First Principles  4. (13:20) Benefits of decentralization & backing businesses that are building from India for the world  5. (15:35) Why should investors be bullish on deep tech technologies like Blockchain, AI & IoT?  6. (18:10) Unpacking blockchain as the internet of value; building a blockchain community  7. (23:05) Separating noise from the signal when investing in deep tech companies  8. (28:20) Angel investing 101; Meeting founder expectations and adding value beyond capital?  9. (32:50) Rapid fire and closing remarks

In this episode, Dr. Anand Anandkumar, Founder & CEO @Bugworks, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his experience of working in different domains across multiple geographies, what led him to become an entrepreneur in his late 40s and his pursuit of solving problems at scale, fund raising challenges for deep science startups & how should founders navigate these challenges. Listed in the top 36 global gamechanging startups to watch out for in 2019 by CB Insights, Bugworks Research is a deep science startup that aims to discover novel treatment options for resistant bacterial infections. The company has won many national/international innovation awards and is the 1st company outside North America and Europe to win the coveted CARB-X grant. Prior to Bugworks, Dr. Anand was the co-founder and CEO of Cellworks, a company specialising in personalized oncotherapy by making use of mathematical modelling frameworks, the co-founding Managing Director of the India operation of SpinCircuit (acq by Cadence, 2003) and Magma Design Automation (acq by Synopsys, 2011). He is also the co-founder of EVA, a life sciences and healthcare accelerator and founding member of TiE Bangalore. 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. (01:16) Dr. Anand’s background in semiconductor and biotech space & path leading up to Bugworks 2. (09:06) Key stakeholders in driving R&D and funding in deep sciences; Factors constraining VCs from allocating more capital in this space 3. (14:20) Lessons from the fund raising experience at Bugworks; Importance of tapping global investors & seeking non-dilutive funding options like government grants 4. (19:06) What do VCs bet on when they invest in healthcare/bio-tech startups? Treating investors as part of your extended team and taking the onus of making them subject matter experts 5. (24:10) Need for more mentors in this space and the role of specialized accelerators/incubators 6. (32:00) Characteristics of a strong founding team 7. (33:55) Rapid fire and closing remarks