The Desi VC with Akash Bhat

In 2016, Russian hackers broke into John Podesta’s Gmail during the US election. That single breach exposed how vulnerable email really is – and it directly inspired a billion-dollar cybersecurity startup.At the time, even the most powerful people in the world couldn’t fully secure their inboxes. Once hackers got access, there was nothing stopping them from reading everything: drafts, attachments and sensitive documents. Instead of trying to prevent email hacks, three ex-Dropbox engineers — Abhishek Agrawal, Ryan Noon, and Chris Park — asked a better question: What if you assumed the breach would happen, and protected the inbox anyway?Material Security built a powerful layer on top of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, locking down sensitive emails, verifying identity before access, and giving security teams real visibility — all without requiring a migration.In this episode, I sit down with Abhishek Agrawal, Co-founder & CEO of Material Security. We dive into their journey from pre-idea validation to scaling to a billion dollar valuation in about 5 years, lessons in management and leadership, and most importantly understand how Material Security is redefining email security for enterprises. If you're starting out or searching for your billion-dollar idea, this is a masterclass on going from zero to scale.⏳ Timestamps:Trailer (00:00) Intro (01:39)How Material Security began? (03:30)Why and how did the team visualize exit scenarios? (09:45)What did their pivot feel like? (11:58)How they used feedback to create their product (24:51)How did they deal with rejections? (26:15)How did the early version of their product look like? (33:44)Did they consider changing ICPs? (38:17)Was it easy to convince investors? (40:46)How did the internal mindset shift feel like? (50:51)What specific shifts did Abhishek have to bring in? (57:15)What are the things Abhishek would do differently, if starting now? (01:07:17)What’s Abhishek’s advice to his younger self? (01:24:01)🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Kevin Carter is the Founder & Chief Investment Officer of EMQQ Global, a San Francisco based investment management and research firm focused on providing investors access to the fast growing Emerging and Frontier Markets technology sector.EMQQ Global invests in publicly traded internet and ecommerce companies operating in 50+ countries, including India, China, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Egypt, Mexico, Vietnam, and Turkey. Through ETFs listed across US, Europe, and Asia, the fund helps investors access the digital consumer revolution reshaping global markets.US investors can tap into this opportunity via three investment strategies:EMQQ: Emerging Markets Internet & EcommerceFMQQ: Ex-China Emerging Markets Internet & EcommerceINQQ: India Internet & EcommercePrior to EMQQ, Kevin was the Founder & CEO of AlphaShares, an investment firm offering five Emerging Markets ETFs in partnership with Guggenheim Investments. Previously, Kevin was the Founder & CEO of Active Index Advisors acquired by Natixis in 2005 and the Founder & CEO of eInvesting acquired by ETRADE in 2000.In this episode, Kevin outlines how India’s massive, young population, business-friendly reforms in recent years, and world-class education system are fueling rapid growth. He breaks down why India is uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of digital consumption—and why now is the time for investors to pay attention. From mobile payments to food delivery and online education, India’s tech ecosystem is scaling faster than ever, creating unprecedented investment opportunities.TimestampsOpening trailer (00:00)Meet Kevin: intro to the episode (01:46)How do you break into public market investing? (02:28)How do people actually invest in public markets? (04:58)Is investing in emerging markets too risky? (11:04)What drives investors toward emerging markets? (17:05)What exactly is an emerging market? (19:35)When did India become an attractive market? (24:00)What happens after you invest in an emerging market? (31:15)How India stands out from other emerging markets (38:36)The future of India’s public markets (51:30)How investors can help shape India’s industries (58:38)Advice Kevin would give his younger self (1:07:00)Kevin’s biggest learnings from investing in India (1:10:43)Final thoughts (1:13:51)🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Arun Penmetsa is a Partner at Storm Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on Enterprise software companies. He invests primarily in SaaS, Security, and Digital Health startups. Before joining Storm, Arun held product and engineering roles at Oracle and Google, where he built enterprise software solutions at scale.Arun is deeply passionate about the intersection of healthcare and technology. In addition to investing in US-based startups, he actively advises several healthcare groups in India on technology and population health. His portfolio includes successful exits such as Airgap (acquired by Zscaler), Dasera (acquired by Netskope), Limbix (acquired by Big Health), MyAlly (acquired by Phenom), Rallyteam (acquired by Workday), Trustar (acquired by Splunk), and 4me (acquired by PSG).In today’s episode, we talk about his journey from building software at tech giants to backing category-defining startups across security and healthcare. Arun shares what he looks for in founders, lessons from his most successful exits, and why he believes healthcare is one of the most impactful sectors to invest in.Timestamps:* Trailer (00:00)* Introduction (01:26)* Arun's motivation behind getting into VC (03:41)* What goes into picking the right fund for pursuing VC as a career (08:58)* What it takes to become an investor (15:21)* Arun's personal style of being an investor (18:03)* How to find if you are a good fit for a company (21:36)* How does operator advisor advise portfolio companies at Storm Ventures (27:17)* How the best investors who have been operators mould their persona (32:38)* How Arun's personality has evolved as an investor (37:52)* Why communication is important in VC (41:01)* What the best performing portfolio companies at Storm Ventures did well (43:48)* Why founders should not hire for CV (47:57)How the education system has impacted the working culture (50:45)* Why public companies switch CEOs before going public (53:36)* What founders need to do before entering the US market (55:07)* Arun's advice for the younger generation (1:04:16)* Conclusion (1:05:18)🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

Rohan Nayak is the Co-founder & CEO of Pocket FM, a company redefining audio storytelling for the world.While we’ve recently been publishing video episodes, this one’s a throwback to pure audio. Rohan had to travel unexpectedly, but we didn’t want to miss the chance to capture his insights on building one of India's fastest-growing consumer tech companies.Pocket FM is making waves globally — having recently raised $103 million in Series D funding, bringing total funding to $196.5 million, with backing from Lightspeed, Tanglin Venture Partners, Goodwater Capital, and Naver. With $150 million+ in ARR and 57% QoQ growth, they’re showing that audio isn’t just alive — it’s thriving.In today's episode, Rohan shares how building from India creates efficient growth playbooks, the nuances of global GTM, and why the future of content might sound a lot more like audio than you think.⌛ Timestamps:Motivation behind starting a company (3:55)Why Rohan chose audio as a medium (5:20)Early reactions to Pocket FM’s vision (12:20)How audio is transforming short-form storytelling (22:10)Why audio has a higher creative bar than video (24:30)Localization and Pocket FM’s global expansion plan (25:40)The role of A/B testing in content development (32:25)How A/B testing works specifically for audio (37:20)Audio’s ability to transcend cultural boundaries (39:39)How Pocket FM finds breakout "blockbuster" shows (40:40)Why US-origin stories scale better globally (42:25)What content categories work—and which don’t (43:00)Top 3 learnings from going to market in the US (43:52)Mistakes Pocket FM made in their GTM journey (47:32)How culture shapes global go-to-market strategy (50:35)How Pocket FM is using AI to enhance storytelling (54:50)Rohan’s five-year vision for Pocket FM (1:01:35)Why AI will supercharge the next generation of creators (1:03:39)Personal lessons Rohan has learned as a founder (1:07:00)What keeps him grounded — the concept of "Basecamp" (1:11:15)🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠

Brij Bhasin is a longtime investor turned founder and the co-founder & CEO of Snow Mountain AI, a company focused on automating business processes in finance, compliance, and legal through AI.Before founding Snow Mountain, Brij was a General Partner at Rebright Partners, and earlier helped launch GSF Accelerator, one of India’s first and largest startup accelerators. He was also part of the early team at Little Eye Labs, which was acquired by Facebook in 2014, and has over a decade of experience building tech products across startups in India and the US.In this episode, Brij shares why he left a successful venture career to become a founder, the challenges of building an AI startup from India for global markets and how he’s navigating entrepreneurship after a long break. This conversation is a must-listen for VCs considering a shift to operating roles, and for founders building deep-tech or AI startups out of India.⌛ Timestamps Trailer (00:00)Brij's journey from 10 years of VC to a startup founder (01:48)What has Brij learnt being an investor for 10 years (04:24)How to build a startup in 2025 (Investor's POV) (05:53)Investor's definition of "velocity" and its importance (08:54)Medibuddy's case study (10:48)Importance of long-term view for a founder (13:43)PhonePe's case study (17:40)Monetary success, purpose, drive and teamwork (21:05)Difference between velocity and momentum (23:15)How do companies manage culture (29:41)Is quitting or pivoting bad? (35:25)What does it really mean to go from an investor to a founder? (48:58)Akash's strategic plan towards trademarking his company's logo (52:06)Thinking outside of the box (55:55)How easy it is to move from being an investor to a founder? (1:03:09)How difficult it is to raise capital as a founder who is a former investor? (1:07:40)What has Brij learnt about himself that surprised him yet transformed him? (1:11:41)Outro (1:15:56)🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠

Pramod is a Senior Principal at Blumberg Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in leading Seed and Series A rounds. The firm is based in Tel Aviv (Israel) and San Francisco.Before joining Blumberg Capital, Pramod was a Principal at 11.2 Capital, where he focused on investing in early-stage cybersecurity, data, dev-tools, and AI. He led seed rounds in Coalesce, Permiso, StrikeReady, Surf Security, MightyMeld, Leen, and Collinear AI.Previously, Pramod was Director of Corporate Strategy/Venture Capital at VMware, advising senior leadership on product, growth, and M&A while investing in startups such as JFrog (IPO), CloudEndure (acq. by AWS), Armis (acq. by Insight), GuardiCore (acq. by Akamai), Wavefront, VeloCloud (acq. by VMware), and Affirmed Networks (acq. by Microsoft).In today's episode, we discuss his journey from an operator to corporate venture capital and then to traditional venture capital, as well as investing in AI. This is a unique episode—you'll find very few VCs with a career trajectory like Pramod’s.⌛ Timestamps:Trailer + Intro (0:00)CVC vs. traditional VC: key similarities (3:45)How CVCs are structured & incentivized (6:39)The mandates & investment thesis of CVCs (12:45)Investing for today vs. the future (14:45)How CVCs make investment decisions (18:25)The role of a ‘sponsor’ in CVC investments (22:44)Why should early-stage startups take CVC money? (25:00)How CVCs add value to later-stage companies (30:25)Maximizing value from CVC investors (34:10)Transitioning from CVC to traditional VC (37:50)How Pramod has helped his portfolio startups (42:00)What investors look for in AI startups (49:00)Can founders be taught to sell better? (56:15)GTM strategies for selling to enterprises (59:45)Understanding enterprise customers as a founder (1:04:27)How investors can build a personal brand (like Pramod) (1:09:15)The “so what” philosophy for founders & investors (1:13:50)Advice to younger self (1:16:03)Why being 10x is attractive to investors (1:20:35)🎥 Subscribe to watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠

Anshu Bansal is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He co-founded Hyrecar, a peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace that allows anyone to rent their cars to Uber and Lyft drivers safely and reliably.In today’s episode, learn how a late-night Uber ride in 2014 sparked a groundbreaking business idea that would reshape the ride-sharing industry in the US. Anshu takes us through his incredible entrepreneurial journey—from his programming days at H&R Block and Amazon Prime Music to building the “Airbnb for ride-share cars.” Along the way, he faced direct competition from Uber, financial struggles that nearly led to bankruptcy, and even sold his own car to keep the company afloat. Against all odds, he turned things around and ultimately took the company public in a remarkable comeback story.Learn how they validated their concept by going undercover at Uber Driver Hubs, built their first MVP using just a spreadsheet that generated $9,000 in month one, and navigated crucial pivots when faced with competition from Uber itself.⌛ Timestamps:Introduction – The late-night Uber ride that sparked a billion-dollar idea (05:03)Early Career – From coding at Amazon & H&R Block to building startups (05:31)The Birth of Hyrecar – How one conversation turned into a game-changing business (06:31)Cracking the Business Model – How Anshu structured Hyrecar for success (08:43)Proving the Idea – The key steps that validated Hyrecar’s potential (13:13)Ignored by Uber – Why the ride-share giant didn’t see Hyrecar coming (16:25)Reinventing Car Ownership – How Hyrecar disrupted the ride-sharing ecosystem (18:36)Thriving in the Unknown – Why Anshu builds businesses in industries he knows little about (24:27)Lessons from Amazon & Microsoft – What big tech taught Anshu about scaling companies (26:53)Hiring in Startups vs. Big Tech – The biggest differences founders must understand (30:43)The Real Meaning of Entrepreneurship – What it truly takes to build a successful startup (32:43)Personal Struggles & Entrepreneurship – How life’s challenges shape founders (35:43)Finding the Right Co-Founder – The make-or-break decision for every startup (41:08)From Near Collapse to IPO – The incredible journey of Hyrecar’s turnaround (47:41)Building a VC Fund – Why Anshu launched his own investment firm (54:43)Jumping into Cybersecurity – What made Anshu bet on an entirely new industry (56:14)The Biggest Lessons as an Operator – What years of entrepreneurship have taught him (01:01:13)Advice to His Younger Self – The hard-earned wisdom every founder should hear (01:02:03)Support the podcast:🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠⁠Substack

Aquibur Rahman is the Co-founder and CEO of Mailmodo, an interactive email marketing software that helps marketers create app-like experiences in email by adding forms, shopping cart, calendar, NPS and other widgets. It helps companies collect feedback from their users, book meetings with prospects, recover abandon carts, generate leads, all within the the body of the email. The company is backed by Peak XV Partners (prev. known as Sequoia India), Y Combinator, BoldCap, Titan Capital & All In Capital.Aquib has been a marketer his entire career. Prior to founding Mailmodo, he headed marketing at Cleartax, a leading tax & investing platform, where he built and grew the practice from the ground up. And before that he had short but impactful stints at P&G, iProf Learning Solutions (I) Pvt. Ltd., and CarDekho.From a small village in Bihar to Super30, IIT Dhanbad, IIM Ahmedabad, and now the Silicon Valley, Aquib has come a long way and defied the odds at every step. Humble, soft-spoken, and incredibly knowledgeable, he brings deep insights into marketing, growth, and startup success.In today's episode, we dive deep into marketing strategies for founders and startups. Aquib shares actionable insights on why founders should position themselves as the face of their companies and how they can do it effectively, proven strategies for scaling market as a strong source of lead generation and brand building in the early stages, and a step-by-step playbook for executing founder-led marketing effectively.This is a MUST-watch episode for every founder and marketing person at startups⌛ Timestamps:Trailer (00:00)Introduction (01:16)Episode kick-off (03:33)How did Mailmodo land its first customer? (03:47)Proven strategies to acquire your first paying customer (05:36)How Mailmodo landed Razorpay as a customer (10:33)Why design partnerships & POCs should be paid (11:55)What is "build-in-public"? What's a good playbook for it? (13:56)What is Founder-Led Marketing & why it works (18:38)The key components of a strong Founder-Led Marketing strategy (20:32)Marketing strategies that helped Mailmodo scale (22:33)How to build partnerships with lesser-known brands (25:12)Is all marketing good marketing? (25:50)The dangers of overpromising & underdelivering (27:18)Examples of founders who nailed Founder-Led Marketing (29:53)When should founders start focusing on Founder-Led-Marketing? (32:15)How customer discovery leads to marketing success (34:03)The biggest mistakes founders make in marketing (40:50)Live Marketing Workshop: Aquib breaks down a real-world example (45:01)How AI is changing SEO: What founders need to know (48:33)SEO best practices for 2025 and beyond (55:13)How AI is reshaping email marketing (59:43)How should a brand think about email marketing today? (1:01:59)Why marketing is all about building relationships (1:06:03)If Mailmodo started today, what would Aquib do differently? (1:09:19)With infinite resources, how would Aquib scale marketing? (1:10:13)🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠⁠Twitter/X⁠⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠⁠Substack

Yousuf Khan is a Partner at Ridge Ventures, a seed and Series A stage venture fund investing in enterprise and B2B startups. With a deep understanding of startup growth and scaling challenges, Yousuf not only drives Ridge’s investment portfolio forward but also provides hands-on support to founders, offering guidance rooted in his extensive experience across leadership roles. He currently serves as a board director for Ridge-backed companies, including Archera, Cerby, Chisel Labs, Lightyear, Rafay, and Rewind.Before joining Ridge, Yousuf held several pivotal positions in leading technology companies. He was the first CIO of Automation Anywhere ($6.84 billion company), played a dual role as CIO and Vice President of Customer Success at AI-driven cloud platform Moveworks ($2.1 billion company), and served as CIO at two public companies, Pure Storage (PSTG) and Qualys (QLYS). His deep industry expertise also includes advisory roles with companies like Zoom, Productiv, and Material Security. In this episode, Yousuf shares his journey into venture capital, discussing key insights on building a career in VC, the importance of founder empathy, and the role of self-awareness and diversity in investing.He offers practical advice on how VCs can create information arbitrage, draw value from feedback cycles, and support founders through challenges at scale. The conversation also delves into best practices and strategies for enterprise software founders, covering topics like customer obsession, board meetings, and leadership at scale.⌛ Timestamps:Trailer (0:00)Introduction (1:40)Episode kick-off (3:44)Yousuf shares his experience in venture capital (4:26)Is venture capital for everyone? What should one expect? (5:20)Knowing your 'WHY' before starting a career in VC (7:13)How to become a venture capitalist (9:00)How VCs draw inferences from feedback cycles (11:44)Creating information arbitrage as a VC (14:41)The importance of diversity in a venture team (16:46)The role of founder empathy in investing (18:25)Authenticity: An underrated trait in founders (19:39)Why VCs should have self-awareness (22:07)Common problems founders face as they scale (25:07)Why very few CIOs become VCs (27:00)API to DPI: The journey of an investor (32:34)How to build a strong track record in venture (36:40)Speaking the talk vs. walking the walk (39:00)The importance of obsession in venture capital (41:06)Serendipity and opportunity in VC (43:01)Immigrant spirit, shared experiences, and gratitude in venture (47:37)How Yousuf handles failures or bad investments (59:06)Best practices for running board meetings (1:06:07)The science of creating a perfect board deck (1:08:10)How long it takes founders to master board meetings (1:10:35)Tips for founders on running their companies better (1:12:32)Why the technology industry is inherently imperfect (1:14:15)The importance of operating in "customer mode" (not just founder mode) (1:20:16)Advice for enterprise software founders (1:24:54)What’s ahead for 2025 (1:26:58)Advice Yousuf would give his younger self (1:30:10)🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain!🔗 SUBSCRIBE on ⁠YouTube⁠🎧 Follow us on ⁠Spotify⁠📸 Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠🐦 Follow us on ⁠Twitter/X⁠💼 Follow us on ⁠LinkedIn⁠🎵 Follow us on ⁠TikTok⁠💌 BTS content on ⁠Substack

We had the privilege of hosting Sriram Viswanathan, Founding Managing Partner of Celesta Capital. Based in San Francisco, Celesta Capital is a global, multi-stage venture capital firm managing $1.1 billion in assets. The firm specializes in cross-border investments between India and the United States, with a focus on deep-tech. Since its inception in 2013, Celesta Capital has invested in over 100 companies including those in space-tech, bio-tech, artificial intelligence, drug discovery, semi-conductors, cloud infrastructure, imaging, construction, diagnostics among others. Sriram Viswanathan has more than 30 years of technology business operations and venture capital experience. Prior to Celesta, Sriram was the founder of IndusAge Partners, a cross-border venture firm investing in companies in India-US corridor. Sriram spent nearly 20 years at Intel Corporation in various senior management roles, including VP of the Intel Architecture Group (IAG) and later as the VP of Intel Capital and General Manager of Intel’s Incubation and Innovation Group.In this episode, we explore Sriram’s journey, from his time at Intel during its peak, where he first delved into deep tech, to his unique experiences intersecting with Hollywood. We explore building a winning organizational culture, Sriram’s core values, and how Celesta Capital reflects the shared principles of its four partners. Sriram shares insights into Celesta’s investment thesis, rooted in the operational expertise of its team, and offers lessons on what makes a successful venture capitalist, from the importance of relationships and authenticity to navigating leadership changes. We discuss the immense opportunities in deep tech, particularly in India, the impact of geo-politics and regulation on investing, and strategies for attracting LPs to deep tech funds. With advice on choosing the right VC partner, building with an exit mindset, and running efficient board meetings, this conversation is packed with valuable takeaways for founders, investors, and anyone navigating the world of deep tech and venture capital.🎙️ Fun fact: Sriram also hosts @techsurge-deeptech podcast. Give it a listen!⌛ Timestamps: 1. Episode Trailer | 00:00 2. Guest Introduction | 01:23 3. Episode Kickoff | 04:12 4. The secret behind longevity at Intel | 05:24 5. Why Intel bet big on deep tech | 08:51 6. How Intel evaluated deep tech in the 90s | 11:13 7. Convincing Steven Spielberg to use Intel's InTru3D for Shrek | 13:13 8. Building a culture of longevity in organizations | 17:08 9. Laying the foundation for a career in venture investing | 19:57 10. Traits of a successful venture capitalist | 23:58 11. The tough decisions in VC: leadership changes | 30:04 12. Why VC is about people and relationships | 32:32 13. Choosing the right VC partner over a big-name fund | 36:15 14. “Elon doesn’t run SpaceX” | 37:40 15. How to run efficient board meetings | 39:08 16. Authenticity as a superpower | 40:14 17. Celesta Capital’s investment philosophy | 41:40 18. The three pillars of a VC fund and founding Celesta Capital | 45:00 19. Key investment criteria at Celesta | 50:10 20. “Venture capital sucks” | 53:28 21. Why deep tech is a major opportunity in India | 58:25 22. How geo-politics and regulation shape investing in India | 01:01:21 23. Why LPs are excited & going long on deep tech | 01:03:55 24. Balancing returns across markets with different maturities (India & the US) | 01:05:40 25. Attracting new LPs to deep tech | 01:07:46 26. Building deep tech with an exit mindset | 01:11:45 27. Lessons learned from venture investing | 01:13:28 28. Sriram’s decision-making framework | 01:16:22 29. Episode Outro | 01:20:16🎥 Subscribe to see watch more unfiltered, unscripted conversations that will inspire, educate, and entertain! 🔗 SUBSCRIBE on YouTube 🎧 Follow us on Spotify 📸 Follow us on Instagram 🐦 Follow us on Twitter/X 💼 Follow us on LinkedIn 🎵 Follow us on TikTok 💌 BTS content on Substack