The VCpreneur: Startups | Venture Capital | Entrepreneurship | Fundraising

In this episode, Arpit Maheshwari, Principal @Stellaris Venture Partners, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path leading up to Stellaris, the investment philosophy at Stellaris and the journey from Fund I to Fund II, stand-out attributes of select founders from Stellaris’ portfolio, scaling up as an investor and balancing mindshare between different sectors, managing relationships/conversations with startups that are unable to achieve venture scale and value add from investors. Stellaris is an early-stage sector-agnostic investment firm, currently investing from its second fund of $225mm. Since its inception in 2017, the firm has invested in 30+ startups across sectors like SaaS, financial services, B2B commerce, consumer brands, social commerce, education, electric vehicles, healthcare, and more. Some of its marquee portfolio startups include the likes of Whatfix, MamaEarth, Turno, Slintel, Limechat and Signzy among others.  Prior to Stellaris, Arpit ran Corporate Innovation for Arvind Limited, managed product and strategy for Cardekho.com’s used-cars business, and headed product management at iProf – an edtech start-up. An IIT-Delhi/IIM-Ahmedabad alum, Arpit started his career with a 3-year stint at BCG. You can connect with Arpit here on Linkedin / Twitter ---- Show notes – (01:45) Arpit’s path leading up to Stellaris Venture Partners (05:06) Stellaris - the investment philosophy and journey of the firm from Fund I to Fund II (14:06) Stand out attributes of select founders from Stellaris’ portfolio (21:27) Scaling up as an investor and balancing mindshare between different sectors   (30:04) Managing relationships/conversations with  startups that are unable to achieve venture scale (34:05) How has being an investor influenced Arpit over the years? (35:35) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like⁠ Spotify⁠ & ⁠Apple iTunes⁠). We would appreciate it if you could leave us a review on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple iTunes⁠. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on ⁠Linkedin⁠ & ⁠Twitter

In this episode, Vishesh Khurana, Co-Founder @Shiprocket, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path leading up to Shiprocket, macro tailwinds that shaped Shiprocket’s evolution and its current product stack, challenges faced when scaling up Shiprocket, empowering leaders and people management, Shiprocket’s inorganic growth playbook, fundraising journey and value add from investors. Shiprocket is a logistics enablement platform that offers SaaS solutions to online sellers and D2C brands for aggregating and choosing the best logistics partner to ship their e-commerce orders. Shiprocket is backed by some marquee investors like Lightrock, Temasek, Zomato, Bertelsmann, Moore Strategic Ventures, March Venture Capital, and Paypal among others. Till date, Shiprocket has made five acquisitions, including cargo shipping business Rocketbox, supply chain management solution Glaucus, marketing automation platform Wigzo, logistics aggregator Pickrr and Arvin Internet’s retail enablement business, Omuni.  You can connect with Vishesh here on Linkedin / Twitter ---- Show notes – (01:31) Vishesh’s path leading up to Shiprocket (02:59) Genesis of Shiprocket (06:23) Macro tailwinds that shaped Shiprocket’s evolution and its current product stack (13:06) Importance of building an alternate demand ecosystem to scale up an e-commerce business (14:57) Challenges faced when scaling up Shiprocket; Approach to partnerships and competition   (21:31) Empowering leaders and people management  (23:17) Shiprocket’s inorganic growth playbook (28:56) Fundraising journey and value add from investors (36:56) Shiprocket's expansion plans (38:28) How has being a founder influenced Vishesh over the years? (40:29) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like⁠ Spotify⁠ & ⁠Apple iTunes⁠). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Apple iTunes⁠. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on ⁠Linkedin⁠ & ⁠Twitter

In this episode, Anjali Bansal, Founding Partner @Avaana Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Avaana Capital, investing in process & product innovation, key headwinds & tailwinds in the current climate tech cycle, innovative sustainability startups from Avaana’s portfolio, the role of the board at early stages of a startup, importance of having a diverse board, how can founders draw maximum value from their board, and what to overindex on to build longevity in one’s career. Avaana is an early/growth stage fund that invests in technology and innovation-led start-ups catalysing climate solutions and sustainability. Some of its marquee portfolio startups include the likes of Terra.do, Farmart, Eeki Foods, Animall and Praman among others. Anjali has also invested in and mentored various successful start-ups including Delhivery, UrbanClap, Nykaa and Lenskart. Previously, Anjali has been the Non-Executive Chairperson of Dena Bank, appointed by the Govt. of India to steer the resolution of the stressed bank. Prior to that, Anjali was a Global Partner and Managing Director with TPG Growth PE. She also serves as an independent director on several leading boards including Tata Power, Bata, Kotak AMC, and Piramal Enterprises. Anjali is also a member of the Advisory Council for the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and serves on the CII National Committee on Corporate Governance. You can connect with her here on Linkedin ---- Show notes – (02:17) Anjali’s background & path leading up to Avaana Capital (06:37) Identifying the scale-up potential of startups (10:28) Investing in process & product innovation (14:30) Climate tech – Key headwinds & tailwinds in the current climate tech cycle (18:43) Cutting through the noise and staying focused when investing in a hot market/theme (21:37) Full-stack support that Avaana brings to startups (23:40) Innovative climate tech startups that are part of Avaana’s portfolio (26:02) Role of the board at early stages of a startup and how does that evolve as the startup matures in it’s lifecycle (30:08) Importance of having a diverse board and how to draw maximum value from your board (33:35) Reflecting on a multi-decadal career - What to overindex on to build longevity in one’s career? (35:25) Advice for first time GPs (38:04) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Vishesh Rajaram, Founder & Managing Partner @Speciale Invest, joins our host Digjay, to talk about Speciale Invest’s journey with fund I, added advantages of a larger fund II, whether climate tech is at its inflection point today, challenges faced by founders building in this space, Vishesh’s approach to building a thesis in frontier-tech, his portfolio construction strategy at Speciale Invest, overcoming valleys of death as a deep tech startup, and the promise of the Indian frontier-tech story. Speciale Invest is an early-stage investment firm that invests in deeptech startups - both hardware & software - across domains like Space tech, Robotics, micro-mobility, and clean energy transportation. The firm which recently launched a larger Fund II, has invested in ~25 startups so far. Some of its marquee portfolio startups include the likes of Agnikul, Utlraviolett, Cynlr, Rocketlane, Uravu Labs, Eka Care and Bluecopa among others. Vishesh started his venture capital journey with Venture East back in 2007. After spending almost a decade at Venture East, Vishesh founded Speciale Invest in 2016. Vishesh is a Chartered Accountant and an alum of the Indian School of Business. You can connect with him here on Linkedin / Twitter ---- Show notes – (02:06) Reflecting on Speciale Invest’s journey so far; The added advantages of a larger fund II (08:17) Is climate tech finally at its inflection point? (11:49) Areas within climate tech that Speciale Invest is keen to invest in (16:03) The challenge of building partnerships and securing access to material-intensive supply chains (20:07) What should founders over-index on, to solve these challenges? (22:33) Vishesh’s approach to building a thesis in frontier-tech; Importance of the outbound approach to finding stellar startups (27:49) Portfolio construction strategy; Investing along the S-curve (33:14) Overcoming valleys of death as a deep tech startup (37:44) The promise of the Indian frontier-tech story (40:01) How has being an investor influenced Vishesh over the years? ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Aditya Kulkarni (Co-founder & CEO, Stoa), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his past experience as an edtech entrepreneur, meeting his co-founder Raj and stumbling upon the idea of building Stoa, the value proposition of Stoa’s alternative MBA program, building community as a moat, fundraising philosophy at Stoa, leveraging investors in the 0 to 1 phase, the importance of aligning incentives of internal teams with the broader vision of the company as you scale the business, and more. Stoa School is building India’s alternative to a traditional MBA. The program helps students pick up skills in domains like Product, Marketing, Leadership, Finance, General Management and subsequently helps them find job opportunities within India’s growing startup ecosystem. Since inception, the startup has enrolled 700+ students across several cohorts and has become a sought after program for early-stage professionals looking to level up their career trajectory. Stoa is backed by marquee operators and investors like Udemy and Maven co-founder Gagan Biyani, Better Capital founder Vaibhav Domkundwar, Teachable co-founder Ankur Nagpal, NotBoring Media founder Packy McCormick, Dunce Capital investor John Danner and Zivame co-founder Richa Kar. An IIM-B and BITS Pilani alum, Aditya is a decadal edtech entrepreneur who has built and sold two startups (Learning Outcomes - acquired by Liga EduTech and BabyOnBoard - acquired by RoundGlass) in the past. You can connect with Aditya here on Linkedin / Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:59) Aditya’s background & past experience as an ed-tech founder (09:05) Meeting his co-founder Raj and stumbling upon the idea of building Stoa (16:38) The value proposition of the Stoa program (21:58) Building community as a moat (27:54) Fundraising philosophy at Stoa (33:34) Leveraging investors in the 0 to 1 phase (37:09) Setting up the ‘students-educators-jobs’ flywheel in action (41:14) Scaling up - Importance of aligning incentives of internal teams with the broader vision of the company (46:29) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platform of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Somesh Dash (General Partner, IVP), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to IVP, IVP’s stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and how has the firm managed to win the trust of marquee founders, the importance of mentorship in building a legacy venture firm, learnings from founders of Snapchat, Discord and Lyra Health, some of IVP’s anti-portfolio companies, the potential of the Indian startup ecosystem, the value of independent board members, learnings from fellow investors and more. IVP is a venture capital firm that invests in companies on the path to rapid growth. Since its inception in 1980, the firm has invested in 400+ companies with a stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and 25+ exits of >$1 billion. The firm has $8.7bn in total committed capital and has invested in marquee companies like Twitter, Coinbase, Brex, Slack, Discord, UiPath, Lyra Health, FTX, Harness among others. Somesh joined IVP in 2005 and focuses on growth investments in Enterprise Software, Consumer Internet, and Digital Health companies. He was recognized by The New York Times and CB Insights in 2019 as one of the top 100 venture capitalists. A Stanford and UC Berkeley alum, Somesh is also a board member of the US India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), Advisory Council at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and the Tech Interactive. You can connect with Somesh here on Linkedin / Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:50) Somesh’s background & path leading up to IVP (10:19) IVP’s thesis and past investments (14:33) The firm’s stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and how it has managed to win the trust of marquee founders (20:03) Importance of apprentice & mentorship in building a legacy venture firm (22:02) Learnings from founders of Snapchat, Discord and Lyra; Common thread that cuts across these outlier founders (30:00) Anti-portfolio at IVP and reflecting on missed opportunities (36:37) The promise & potential of the Indian startup ecosystem (42:31) The value add by independent board members, particularly those that have experienced difficult times in their own career (43:25) Learnings from fellow investors that are on boards of IVP’s portfolio startups (48:05) Importance of coaching and mental wellbeing (52:05) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Spotify or Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Mark Kahn (Managing Partner, Omnivore), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Omnivore, Omnivore’s investment thesis and evolution of the agritech opportunity in India, how and why India stands out compared to other global agritech markets, attributes of founders that are able to scale & raise follow-on rounds, the case against investing in solo-founder led startups, staying relevant as a venture investor, importance of finding a wedge as a first time VC and more. Founded in 2010, Omnivore invests in early-stage startups developing breakthrough technologies for agriculture, food, climate, and the rural economy. The firm recently announced the launch of its 3rd fund at $130mm. Omnivore was one of the first agri-focused VC funds from India, and has previously backed some stellar startups like DeHaat, Reshamandi, Stellapps, AgNext, Bijak, AGRIM, Eruvaka, Pixxel, and Animall among others. Prior to Omnivore, Mark led Strategy & Business Development at Godrej Agrovet, one of India’s foremost diversified agribusiness companies and worked at Syngenta and PFM early in his career. An HBS alum, Mark is also the Co-Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Task Force on Agri Startups and a member of the Governing Council of the Maharashtra State Innovation Society. You can connect with Mark here on Linkedin / Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:15) Mark’s background & path leading up to Omnivore (04:08) Omnivore’s investment thesis (11:27) Evolution of the agritech opportunity in India (13:31) Why India stands out compared to other global agritech markets? (19:21) Portcos that are building the foundation for the agritech ecosystem in India (24:36) Attributes of founders that are able to scale & raise follow-on rounds (26:41) The case against investing in solo-founder startups (30:39) Approach to deal flow and follow-on investments (32:56) Staying relevant as a venture investor across multiple cycles (35:52) Importance of finding a wedge as a first time VC (38:41) How has being a VC influenced Mark’s personality over the years? (39:18) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Pearl Agarwal (Founder & Managing Director, Eximius Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Eximius Ventures, the investment thesis & key focus areas at Eximius, the Web3 opportunity, marquee portfolio startups at Eximius, parallels between a founder and a first time venture capitalist, winning the trust of LPs & founders, building the foundation to scale up to a larger fund and more. Founded in 2020, Eximius is an early-stage micro-VC fund that invests in startups across sectors like fintech, healthtech, gaming & web3. The fund has already made investments in marquee startups like Eka.care, Jar, Stan, Kala Gato and Fego among others. Prior to Eximius, Pearl spent ~10 years across investment roles in the US and UK, facilitating multi-billion dollar mergers, helping companies raise capital, and more. You can connect with Pearl here on Linkedin / Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:32) Pearl’s background & path leading up to Eximius Ventures (07:52) Genesis of Eximius; Investment thesis & key focus areas (15:34) The Web3 opportunity (19:57) Marquee portfolio startups at Eximius (24:18) Raising a venture capital fund in the middle of a pandemic (32:17) Winning the trust of LPs & founders; dealflow strategy as a first time VC (37:07) Importance of having mentors & advisors for a fund manager (40:27) Building the foundation to scale up to a larger fund (45:00) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Pankaj Makkar (Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Bertelsmann, evolution of Bertelsmann’s India investment strategy and why now is a good time to accelerate investments in India, challenges faced in evaluating growth stage startups, mitigating the noise when investing in a ‘hot’ sector, Pankaj’s perspective on the exit landscape in India, mental models to identify stellar startups and more. Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), is a strategic investment arm of the global Bertelsmann Group which has invested more than $1bn in over 250 companies and funds. Established in 2012, BII is a sector agnostic early-to-growth stage fund that has invested in category-defining companies like Eruditus, Licious, Shiprocket, Pepperfry, AgroStar, Vymo among others. The firm also recently closed its new $500mm India fund. Prior to Bertelsmann, Pankaj worked with Mayasian conglomerate - The Usaha Tegas Group and invested in various sectors in India and South East Asia. Pankaj received his MBA from Harvard Business School and holds a B.Comm Hons. from Delhi University. You can connect with Pankaj here on Linkedin / Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:50) Pankaj’s background & path leading up to Bertelsmann India (03:48) Evolution of Bertelsmann’s India investment strategy (08:25) India bull case - Why now is a good time to accelerate investments in India? (14:07) Challenges faced in evaluating growth stage startups; Assessing binary & non-binary risks (20:11) Mitigating the noise & taking a measured approach when investing in a ‘hot’ sector (24:40) Processing signals from early stage investors (26:25) Portfolio construction strategy at Bertelsmann (30:15) Pankaj’s perspective on exits in India’s startup ecosystem (33:13) Mental models to identify stellar startups; Key outlier founders within Bertelsmann’s portfolio - Eriditus, Licious, Pepperfry, Shiprocket, Agrostar (37:02) How has being a VC influenced Pankaj’s personality over the years? (40:40) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Madhu Shalini Iyer (Partner, Rocketship VC), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Rocketship VC, genesis of Rocketship VC and its unique data-led approach to investing in startups, incorporating qualitative inputs from past deals to refine data algorithms, combining data with the human element to make the final investment decision, outlier founders from Rocketship’s portfolio, cross-geography learnings for founders given Rocketship’s global portfolio, how Madhu’s global experience has shaped her personality and more. Rocketship VC is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that uses machine learning and data science to identify & invest in startups around the world. The firm recently closed their 3rd fund at $125mm & has invested in 14 different countries in marquee startups like Khatabook, BukuWarung, Splitwise, Moglix, Apna, Sary, Yulu and more. Prior to Rocketship, Madhu was the Chief Data Officer at Gojek. She started the Singapore office and helped grow the business into a $1 billion unicorn. Prior to Gojek, Madhu was an operating partner at a $150 million private equity fund building startups across South East Asia. She was part of the founding team of Intuit’s Quickbooks Lending Platform where she helped grow the platform to $300 million and holds 3 patents in the areas of user data augmented algorithms for financial inclusion. You can connect with Madhu here on Linkedin ---- Show notes – (01:54) Madhu’s background & path leading up to Rocketship (06:54) Genesis of Rocketship VC (10:54) Unique data-led approach to investing in startups (14:59) Incorporating qualitative inputs from past deals to refine the data algorithms  (18:11) Combining data with the human element to make the final investment decision (24:19) Key deal breakers despite the data checking all the boxes (30:00) Reverse pitch to founders to win outbound deals (32:41) Identifying investment trends before they become mainstream (35:29) Outlier founders from Rocketship’s portfolio (38:24) Cross-geography learnings for founders given Rocketship’s global portfolio (43:14) How has Madhu’s global experience shaped her personality? (49:29) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Jatin Desai (Managing Partner, Inflexor Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Inflexor Ventures, the thesis and evolution of the fund, Jatin’s approach to evaluating & investing in deep tech startups, commercialization of deep tech startups, importance of having exit strategies as an investor, outlier founders from Inflexor’s portfolio, Jatin’s learning curve as a VC, deeptech themes that Inflexor is excited about, how being a venture capitalist has influenced Jatin’s personality over the years and more. Inflexor Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund that invests in startups leveraging deeptech & technology IP in areas like AI-ML, AR-VR, Big Data, Robotics, Cybersecurity, Blockchain and SpaceTech. The venture recently closed their new fund at $80mm & has invested in startups like Bellatrix Aerospace, PlayShifu, Atomberg, CloudSek, Kale Logistics among others. Prior to become a venture investor, Jatin was the CIO of Bank of America & DSP Merrill Lynch in India. Before joining the bank, Jatin spent several years in US, EMEA & India in various technology roles dealing with Wall Street banks and Fortune 500 companies. You can connect with him here on Linkedin. ---- Show notes – (01:47) Jatin’s background & his path leading up to Inflexor Ventures (04:09) The thesis and evolution of the fund (07:35) Jatin’s approach to evaluating & investing in deep tech startups (12:46) Overcoming valleys of death & commercialization of deep tech startups (24:02) Importance of having exit strategies as an investor (28:05) Outlier founders from Inflexor’s portfolio (30:17) Jatin’s learning curve as a VC (32:40) Deeptech themes/sectors that Inflexor is excited about (35:37) How has being a VC influenced Jatin’s personality over the years? (36:22) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Smita Deorah (Co-Founder & Co-CEO, LEAD), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to LEAD, the genesis phase and what led Smita to make LEAD her life’s work, how LEAD plans to radically improve the state of education in India by transforming schools, the growth playbook & key challenges faced when building a scalable B2B product/service, what should founders focus on when hiring the core team for a mission driven startup like LEAD, Smita’s fundraising experience, LEAD’s criteria to select their investors & value-add from each of them, how being an entrepreneur has influenced Smita’s personality over the years and more. Smita & Sumeet, founded LEAD in 2012 with a vision to make global-standard education accessible and affordable to students, especially in non-metro cities. LEAD integrates a world-class curriculum with technology that powers all stakeholders in a school environment. Today LEAD caters to 5000+ schools in 500+ cities across India. This school edtech unicorn startup, was bootstrapped through 2017 & has subsequently raised >$100mm in funding from marquee investors like Elevar Equity, Westbridge Capital & GSV Ventures. Prior to LEAD, Smita founded Sparsh, a non-profit that implemented a pre-school in a box solution in 16 pre-schools around Mumbai. Prior to that, Smita spent 9 years in Procter & Gamble Singapore and India as a leader in Finance, Treasury and Strategy. You can connect with her here on Linkedin or Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:45) Smita’s background & her path leading up to LEAD (07:15) What led Smita to start LEAD & make this her life’s work (10:30) The current state of India’s primary education system & how LEAD plans to radically improve the status quo (17:55) LEAD’s first principles approach of building a scalable B2B product; focus on the target audience, product design and measurable outcomes (23:25) The growth playbook; Key challenges faced when scaling up LEAD (34:58) What should one over index on when hiring the core team for a mission driven startup like LEAD? (39:15) Fundraising experience; LEAD’s criteria to select their investors (42:12) Value add from each institutional investor on the cap table - Elevar Equity, West Bridge Capital & GSV Ventures (47:15) How has being an entrepreneur influenced Smita’s personality over the years? (54:00) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Ben Mathias (Managing Partner, Vertex Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Vertex Ventures, history & thesis at Vertex, key defining moments in evolution of India’s startup ecosystem, why it is important for startups to focus on building capital efficient businesses, advice for first time VCs, nuances of investing in growth stage startups, adding value to founders beyond Series A rounds, outlier founders from the Vertex SEA portfolio & what differentiates them from the rest, how being a VC has influenced Ben’s personality over the years and more. Vertex Ventures is a global network of operator-investors who manage portfolios in the US, China, Israel, Southeast Asia & India. Vertex SEA & India has invested in more than 60 startups including 5 unicorns in their portfolio. Some of their marquee investments include startups like Grab, NIUM, FirstCry, Recko, CloudCherry, Active AI, Licious, and Kapiva among others. Prior to Vertex, Ben was a partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) where he launched their India presence. While at NEA, he led several investments in the Technology and Healthcare sectors. Prior to joining NEA, Ben had a successful software career in Silicon Valley where he held senior positions at E2open and i2 Technologies (acquired by JDA Software). You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:42) Ben’s background & path leading up to Vertex (04:36) About Vertex Ventures - thesis & history of the fund (11:02) Key moments in India’s evolution as a startup ecosystem (15:02) The current macro backdrop; Why is it important for startups to focus on building capital efficient businesses? (18:44) Advice for first time VCs (21:38) Nuances of investing in growth stage startups (24:41) What does ‘value add’ mean for founders at and beyond Series A funding? (29:27) Outlier founders from the Vertex portfolio; What differentiates these founders from the rest? (32:42) Internalizing that venture capital is a long game; Challenges faced as a VC (37:14) How being a VC has influenced Ben’s personality over the years? (38:17) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Mayank Banerjee (Co-Founder & CEO, Even Healthcare), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Even, choosing the right co-founders, the problem statement that Even is solving for, challenges faced in the 0 to 1 journey, attracting quality talent at the earliest stages of a startup, straddling between the short term & long term vision, the importance of understanding the VC perspective when fundraising as a founder and having a thesis about the kind of investors you’d like to have on your cap table. Founded in 2020, Even is a healthtech company that partners directly with top hospitals to provide completely cashless, quality healthcare to its members. The startup aims to rid India of out-of-pocket healthcare expenses and mitigate illnesses early on with appropriate medical interventions with its partner hospitals. Even is backed by marquee investors like Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund (led by Peter Thiel) and operator investors like Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, Cred CEO Kunal Shah, Zerodha Founder Nithin Kamath and DST Global partner Tom Stafford. Prior to Even, Mayank co-founded Compass News, an AI based journalism platform with offices in London and New York & later worked with Entrepreneur First in Bangalore. Mayank studied at the Oxford University where he was the President of the Oxford Union. You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter.  ----  Show notes –  (01:37) Mayank’s background & path leading up to Even  (05:20) Meeting his co-founders; What should one over-index on when choosing their co-founders?  (09:47) The genesis phase & the problem statement that Even is solving for  (17:07) Challenges faced in the 0 to 1 journey  (19:12) Attracting quality talent at the early stages of a startup  (20:49) North star metric for Even today  (22:09) Straddling between the short term & long term vision  (23:17) Fundraising experience at Even; Importance of understanding the VC perspective when fundraising as a founder  (26:37) Having a thesis about the kind of investors you want to have on your cap table  (29:20) Rapid fire and closing remarks  ----  If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Sanjay Nath (Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Blume Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Blume Ventures, the genesis of Blume to build an institutional seed stage fund, challenges faced as a first time fund manager, change in investment & hiring strategy with a growing fund size, the platform and community approach of supporting founders, building a strong VC brand, identifying founders that can build global companies from India, his learnings from a decadal career in VC and more. Founded in 2010, Blume is one of India's leading early-stage venture funds with more than $200 million in assets under management (AUM) across multiple funds & over 150 investments that includes startups like Unacademy, Yulu, Dunzo, Slice, ClassPlus, Ultrahuman, GreyOrange Robotics, Dataweave, Locus, Tricog, Lambdatest, Nektar.ai amongst others. Prior to Blume, Sanjay was based in the Silicon valley where he held consulting and management roles at Sun Microsystems, PwC and IBM Global Services. An alum of BITS Pilani and UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, Sanjay got his start in venture capital as an angel investor with Mumbai Angels where he invested in startups like InMobi, LittleEye Labs (acquired by Facebook) and others. You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter. ---- Show notes – (02:02) Sanjay’s background & path leading up to Blume (03:45) The genesis of Blume Ventures; Building an institutional fund to invest in seed stage startups (06:09) Challenges faced when launching Fund I (10:02) Change in investment & hiring strategy with a growing fund size (15:55) The platform and community approach of supporting founders (18:59) Building a strong brand as a VC firm (20:20) Sectors that are likely to be global offshoots from India (22:02) Key traits of founders that have the capability to build global companies from India (30:14) Learnings from a decadal career in VC (33:14) How has being a VC influenced Sanjay’s personality over the years? (36:42) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Mihir Gupta (Co-Founder & CEO, Teachmint), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Teachmint, surviving the 0 to 1 phase as first time founders, building a foundation to scale up rapidly and how to sustain momentum after scaling up, benefits & challenges of pursuing inorganic growth, finding a balance between core venture building & fundraising, aligning fundraising strategy with market dynamics, optimizing for 'conviction' & 'speed' of decision making when choosing your investors and more. Founded in 2020, Teachmint is an edtech-infrastructure startup that helps teachers and institutes create their own virtual classrooms and build direct relationships with students. The startup that is backed by marquee investors like Learn Capital, Rocketship.vc, Better Capital, Lightspeed India, Vulcan Capital among others, has scaled up rapidly in the past 2 years to become one the of the largest teaching platforms in the world. Prior to founding Teachmint, Mihir held leadership positions in startups like OYO and Open Financial. An IIT Bombay alum, Mihir spent the early years of his career as a consultant with McKinsey, working extensively in South East Asia and India. You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter. ---- Show notes – (02:16) Mihir’s background & path leading up to Teachmint; Bringing together the founding team (08:42) Surviving the 0 to 1 phase as first time founders (10:46) Building a foundation to scale up rapidly (14:19) What should founders focus on, to sustain momentum after scaling up? (17:09) Teachmint’s approach to attracting & retaining quality talent (20:43) Benefits & challenges of pursuing inorganic growth (27:22) Finding a balance between core venture building & fundraising (29:51) Aligning fundraising frequency & strategy with market dynamics (33:29) Optimizing for conviction & speed of decision making when choosing your investors; How to gauge conviction when talking to investors? (37:26) How has being a founder influenced his personality over the years? (38:30) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Shiv Sharma (VP International, Stocktwits), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Stocktwits, the reducing gap between startups from India & The Silicon Valley, making the switch from venture capital to the operating side, how Stocktwits is building the world’s largest social finance app, leveraging community to drive financial literacy, why now is the right time for the company to enter India, launching a product in a new market & importance of collaborating with local partners when doing so. Founded in 2008, Stocktwits is the world's leading social network and community of 6mm+ investors and traders. The company is now entering India on the back of its $30mm Series B funding led by Alameda Research Ventures along with participation from Times Bridge. Prior to Stocktwits, Shiv was a VC at Cisco Investments, backing Enterprise SaaS companies. An INSEAD Business School alum, Shiv is passionate about all things public market investing & investing education. You can connect with him here on Linkedin or Twitter. ---- Show notes – (01:32) Shiv’s background & path leading up to Stocktwits (03:34) The reducing gap between startups from India & Silicon Valley (07:02) The switch from venture capital to the operating side (10:02) Common mental models that can be applied to both private & public market investing (12:28) About Stocktwits; Why now is the right time for the company to enter India? (18:53) Leveraging community to drive financial literacy (23:02) Launching a product in a new market; Importance of collaborating with local partners (29:15) Vision for Stocktwits - Build the largest social finance platform in the world (32:11) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Jyotsna Krishnan (Managing Partner, Elevar Equity), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Elevar Equity, Elevar’s unique investing DNA, taking concentrated bets while investing at very early stages of a company, why ‘aspiration’ is the key emotion that founder’s should tap on when building for the underserved markets, building conviction as a ‘founding investor’, Elevar’s North-star metric as a VC fund, how being a VC has influenced Jyotsna’s personality over the years & more. Founded in 2006, Elevar Equity is a VC firm that invests in transformative and scalable ventures focused on underserved customers & low-income communities. Elevar has invested in 40+ companies across India and Latin America, which includes impact driving companies like Ujjivan, Samunnati, LEAD School, The Better India, InCred, Justo, Indifi amongst others. Prior to Elevar, Jyotsna was at HSBC and worked directly with the bank’s India leadership. An SP Jain alum, Jyotsna has over 16+ years of work experience spanning across banking, retail financial services and building businesses as an early-stage investor. You can connect with her here on Linkedin. ---- Show notes – (01:43) Jyotsna’s background & path leading up to Elevar Equity (06:01) Elevar’s DNA - Understanding the pulse of the underserved customer segment in emerging economies (08:50) Unique VC & PE crossover investment style - concentrated bets while investing at very early stages of a company (11:20) Why ‘aspiration’ is the key emotion that founder’s should think about when building for this segment (17:59) Available white spaces for founders to build trusted brands catering to the underserved markets (25:49) Building conviction as a ‘founding investor’ (31:11) North-star metric for a VC fund like Elevar (32:50) How being a VC has influenced Jyotsna’s personality over the years? (36:45) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Rohan Verma (Co-Founder & CEO, Breathe Well-being), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, making the switch from B2B to B2C, the key problem statement that Breathe Well-Being is trying to solve & it’s unique product positioning, key learnings from his entrepreneurship journey, achieving balance & focusing on mental wellness as a founder and the importance of nailing the quantum & timing of your fundraise. Breathe Well-Being is a digital therapeutics company that helps people prevent, manage and reverse chronic conditions using a community-first approach. The startup has built a clinically proven Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Programme which has seen rapid  adoption over the past couple of years & very high retention rates across all it’s cohorts. Breathe Well-Being is backed by marquee VCs like Accel, 3one4 Capital, General Catalyst as well as angel investors like Sandeep Singhal, Ashish Gupta, Stanford Angels among others. Prior to Breathe Well-being, Rohan ran an edtech startup before spending 3 years at McKinsey & Nomura. An alum of NTU Singapore, Rohan is a Crossfit Level 2 trainer & mindfulness coach. You can connect with him here on Linkedin. ---- Show notes – (01:45) Rohan’s background & path leading up to Breathe Well-Being (03:50) The switch from B2B to B2C (11:50) Problem statement & Breathe Well-Being’s unique product positioning (20:55) ‘No outcome, No pay’ policy for clients (26:13) Key learnings from Rohan’s entrepreneurship journey (28:38) Achieving balance & focusing on mental wellness as a founder (31:35) How to assess whether a company is ready to raise venture capital? (37:25) Managing back-to-back funding rounds; Importance of nailing the quantum & timing of your fundraise (39:15) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter

In this episode, Amit Gupta (Co-Founder & CEO, Yulu), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, the switch from mobile (InMobi) to mobility (Yulu), evolution of Yulu’s product over the past 5 years, leveraging public & private partnerships to build a strong foundation, what does it take to build a category-creating startup, learnings from previous ventures & the importance of playing the long game, fundraising experience at InMobi & Yulu and his angel investing playbook. Yulu is a micro-mobility platform powered by shared electric two-wheelers that aims to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in India. The startup is backed by marquee investors like Rocketship, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Blume Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Wavemaker, among others. Prior to Yulu, Amit co-founded a mobile adtech platform called InMobi which was one of the first unicorn startups of India. You can connect with him here on Twitter or Linkedin ---- Show notes – (02:42) Amit’s background & path leading up to Yulu (05:38) The switch from mobile (InMobi) to mobility (Yulu) (07:39) Evolution of Yulu’s product over the past 5 years; Impact of Covid-19 on Yulu’s journey (18:00) Leveraging public & private partnerships to build a strong foundation for a new category (23:05) What does it take to build a category-creating startup? (26:25) Learnings from previous ventures - ‘Playing the long game’ (29:41) Fundraising experience at InMobi & Yulu (33:26) Importance of choosing the right investors (38:21) Amit’s angel investing playbook (40:30) Rapid fire and closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any podcast platforms of your choice (like Spotify & Apple iTunes). We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This helps others discover the podcast organically. 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 here on Linkedin & Twitter