Dhirendra Mahyavanshi is the Co-Founder of Turtlemint, an online insurance platform backed by Nexus Venture Partners, Peak XV, Jungle Ventures, GGV Capital, Blume Ventures among others. The company is on a mission to makes it easy to understand and buy insurance.

Before founding this company he held leadership positions at Quikr and ICICI Lombard. He holds an MBA degree from The IIM Calcutta.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (1:20)
2. Early exposure to entrepreneurship (2:16)
3. Influence of ICICI and Quikr roles on founding Turtlemint (5:15)
4. Startups in the 2010s: parallels and differences (8:50)
5. The inspiration behind starting Turtlemint (12:34)
6. The Indian insurance landscape in 2014 and VC sentiment (17:05)
7. Enhancing the insurance buying experience in India (21:20)
8. Insurance purchasing patterns across India’s diverse tiers (24:24)
9. The leadership journey at Turtlemint (28:25)
10. Mental models and decision-making frameworks (33:38)
11. Challenges in running Turtlemint (37:40)
12. Dhirendra's vision for Turtlemint’s future (40:01)
13. Influencing policy and regulation in India’s insurance sector (43:15)
14. Reflections on the entrepreneurial journey (47:47)

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Social links

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dhirendra on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dhirendra⁠⁠ on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠
   

Archana Jahagirdar is the founder and managing partner of Rukam Capital, to find out. Set up in 2019, the Delhi-based venture capital firm invests in early-stage consumer products and services companies with significant growth potential. The VC has funded as many as 20+ startups, including noted brands such as Go DESi, Sleepy Owl Coffee, Burger Singh, BECO, The Indus Valley, Curefoods and more.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Intro (1:25)
2. Why did Archana venture into investing in startups? (2:51)
3. The evolution of the Indian startup ecosystem (7:14)
4. Why are Rukum’s LPs excited about India and the fund? (14:04)
5. How do Indian LPs add value to portfolio companies? (17:50)
6. Key learnings from portfolio founders (22:08)
7. Essential practices for every founder (31:19)
8. Rukam Capital: Investment focus and thesis (41:15)

. . .

Social links

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Archana on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Archana⁠⁠ on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Navin Honagudi is the Managing Partner at Elev8 Venture Partners, an India-focused $200M Growth-stage fund. Elev8 focuses on Series B and C rounds of financing in hyper growth companies. He bring 18+ years of experience investing in early and growth stage technology firms and also held the positions of Co-founder and Partner at Kae Capital.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (1:48)
2. How Naveen entered venture capital (2:24)
3. Comparing entrepreneurs: 2000s vs. today (4:45)
4. Indian VC landscape & expected exits/returns in the 2000s (8:38)
5. What Elev8 looks for in founders (11:45)
6. Why India is exciting today (18:01)
7. Opportunities in offline to online transition in India (25:30)
8. Emerging sectors like faith-tech (28:15)
9. Next billion dollar opportunities: alcohol, sex-tech, betting, gaming (32:25)
10. Summarizing investment experiences: CVC, consumer VC, and growth-stage VC (37:25)
11. Investing in early-stage vs. growth-stage (42:15)
12. Advice Naveen would give his younger self (45:28)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Navin on Twitter⁠⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠Navin on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Kiran is the Principal at UTEC (Japan), a $550M deep-tech VC firm affiliated with The University of Tokyo. Since joining UTEC in 2018, Kiran has led investments of close to $25M in frontier science & deep-tech companies incl. Tricog, OPALai (SG/FinTech AI), Bugworks Research, and Agara.


Before joining UTEC, Kiran was the head of India/SEA Operations at Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support (DTVS) Japan. He has supported over 50 deep-tech Asian startups by connecting them with Japanese corporations and also worked closely with METI Japan, to lead a project called CEATEC IoT Acceleration for Asian startups. Prior to that, he co-founded a student-led social enterprise named 'Kriya'.

In 2020, Kiran was featured in the prestigious FORBES Asia 30 Under 30 list in the Finance & Venture Capital category.

In this episode we will cover:

1. Kiran’s thoughts on the VC landscape: Second half of 2020 vs Q1 2021

2. Why he chose venture capital as a career path?

3. What is deep-tech?

4. Misconceptions about deep-tech investing

5. What do you look for in a deep-tech founding team?

6. When does a deep-tech startup achieve PMF?

7. Learnings from his own investments and portfolio 

8. The role of the Govt. in growing deep-tech sciences 

9. Mental Models for evaluating and building startups

10. Exits in deep-tech

Empathy is going to become a key undertone of investing. Investors who have run companies and raised capital bring empathy that an investor coming from a consulting background just can’t. Founders are becoming smarter about who they raise capital from. On this panel, Siya Raj Purohit (General Partner, Pathway Ventures), Revant Bhate (CEO, Mosaic Wellness) and Utsav Somani (Partner, AngelList India & iSeed) discuss why some of the best investors in the future are going to be investor-operators.

The startup ecosystem in India remains robust and is rapidly growing. The Indian government introduced several regulatory programs to boost the Indian startup ecosystem. Flagship programs such as StartupIndia, Digital India and the Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee continue to improve the economic landscape for startups and investors. However, despite all this, India continues to remain in the shadows of Silicon Valley. On this panel, we discuss what it would take for India to break away from the shadows of the west and evolve into a mature VC ecosystem in the coming years.

Vinod Shankar is the Co-Founder and Partner at Java Capital, an investment syndicate investing in sectors such as healthtech, consumer internet, deep tech, SaaS and EdTech. Prior to founding Java Capital, Vinod was the Associate Vice President at Kalaari Capital and before that was the Head of Sales & Marketing at Just Books Inc.

In this episode we cover:

Why launch an investment fund in the middle of the pandemic? (1:57)

Challenges of raising a fund during the pandemic? (5:29)

Vinod’s journey into VC (11:23)

How do you do cold outreach to VCs (19:10)

Chief Hustle Officer –– what do you mean by that? (29:30)

Sourcing startups – Cold vs Direct (35:43)

Experience at Kalaari (39:09)

Experience which had the most impact on Vinod’s life (45:41)

Responsibilities that VCs bear on nurturing the ecosystem (54:30)

How do you encourage sustainable businesses within VC? (1:01:14)

Rapid fire (1:09:35)

Pratik Poddar is the Principal at Nexus Venture Partners.

As an entrepreneur turned VC, Pratik is excited about working alongside technology entrepreneurs to create an impact on the lives of millions of people in India. He is most passionate about consumer, community/content, education, e-commerce, financial services, and healthcare startups.

Prior to joining Nexus, Pratik spent three years working on his startups in social e-commerce and content marketing spaces where he experienced firsthand the challenges of building a company. Earlier, he worked as a quant analyst and algorithmic trader at Morgan Stanley, and private equity analyst at Blackstone. Pratik has a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Look back at 2020 (2:15)

2. Will VCs look at portfolio constructions differently post the pandemic? (4:50)

3. What signals is Pratik looking for from an investment deal? (6:12)

4. How should VCs protect themselves so as to not fall prey to bad deals? (9:01)

5. What does a Principal at a VC firm do? (11:47)

6. How does Pratik add value to startups (14:50)

7. Opportunities and challenges of bottoms-up investing (18:55)

8. How does operating experience help investors in VC? (23:05)

9. Products vs Platforms: How can founders of today think about converting products into platforms? (30:27)

10. What don’t founders realize about building for India? (39:49)

11. What don’t VCs understand about middle India? (46:05)

12. How does Nexus look at new sectors and what is their approach to investing? (51:16)

13. Rapid fire (55:25)

Adith Podhar is the Managing Partner at Gemba Capital, a fund which invests in angel rounds of tech firms focused on India consumption and cross-border SaaS.

Prior to Gemba, Adith has worked at Motilal Oswal PE fund in Mumbai, and spent time at ICICI as a Product Manager.

Follow Adith (@adithpodhar), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

1. Covid impact on investing (1:47)

2. How does Adith look back on 2020? (6:43)

3. What might the next 24 months look like? (11:47) 

4. Sectors within India that Adith is bullish on (14:26)

5. Adith’s background and journey into VC (18:00)

6. Learnings as a founder and how it’s helpful in VC today (21:11)

7. How have different investing experiences influenced Adith’s investor persona? (30:11)

8. How did Adith write his first check and what was the process behind it ?(34:18)

9. Gemba’s current investment thesis (38:29)

10. Raising money from domestic LPs (43:01)

11. Challenges of raising money from within India (45:41)

12. How does Gemba add value to startups? (48:37)

13. Portfolio support & time allocation (53:15) 

14. What does it take to be a good investor? (55:56)

15. How does Adith evaluate companies and founders of similar profiles (58:24)

16. Time spent on due diligence (1:00:13)

17.  Rapid fire (1:02:55)

Munish Randev is the Founder & CEO at Cervin Family Office. He brings in over 25 years of experience in investment management and family offices. He has advised over 80 families with over $3.2B in financial assets and has worked with many business families in structuring their family governance platforms. Well known in the Indian investment industry for his unique expertise and ethical standards he has been part of many family investment committees and family office boards.

Follow Munish (@MunishRandev), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Munish’s insights from the year that was 2020 (1:57)

2. Munish’s background and the key milestones that led to the founding of Cervin Family Office (6:17)

3. How have Family Offices evolved over the years in India (12:22)

4. Why are Family Offices attracted to investing in tech startups? (20:29)

5. Who is developing the thesis within Family Offices? (27:29)

6. What kind of returns do Family Offices expect from a) directly investing into startups and b) investing into VC funds as an LP (35:01)

7. Subtle nuances of managing a Family Offices and what must an external fund manager be aware of? (41:00)

8. Things LPs look out for when investing into a new fund manager? (51:34)

9. The average timelines and cycles that Family Offices undertake while reviewing fund managers (56:55)

10. Differences in approach between Cervin and other Family Offices (59:10)

11. Rapid fire (1:03:15)

Kris Gopalakrishnan is the co-founder and former CEO of Infosys, and currently serves as the chairman of Axilor Ventures, an early-stage seed fund based out of Bangalore. He is recognized as a global business and technology thought leader and was voted the top CEO (IT Services category) in Institutional Investor’s inaugural ranking of Asia’s Top Executives and selected as one of the winners of the second Asian Corporate Director Recognition Awards by Corporate Governance Asia in 2011. He also was selected to Thinkers 50, an elite list of global business thinkers, in 2009. He was elected President of India’s apex industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2013-14, and served as one of the co-chairs of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2014.

In January 2011, the Government of India awarded Kris Gopalakrishnan the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third-highest civilian honor.

Follow Kris Gopalakrishnan (@kris_sg), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. PLUC: India’s first mobile storytelling platform for meaningful stories by unfound mobile creators.

2. Pathway Ventures: A new VC fund focused on the human side of the future of work. They’re investing in companies that drive economic mobility through innovative models of earning, learning, and community building.

. . .

In this episode, we will cover:

1. What is Kris hoping accomplish as the first chairperson of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH)? (3:55)

2. What can founders today learn from the Infosys story? (7:50)

3. Building long-lasting, sustainable businesses in today’s world (14:09)

4. Guarding your investments as a VC (17:48)

5. How has the pandemic impacted Axilor Ventures (20:30)

6. When and why did Kris decide to start a fund? (25:03)

7. What has surprised Kris the most about the venture ecosystem (28:13)

8. How much pressure was on the Axilor team to deliver exceptional results given their stellar reputation (31:25)

9. How much has Kris’ risk appetite changed from his days as operator to now as a vc 32:34)

10. What risk is Kris willing to take? What is he not? (35:26)

11. Insights from Axilor’s portfolio construction (38:43)

12. What are the core economics of venture capital that all entrepreneurs need to understand? (44:00)

13. How do you build a ‘successful’ business without venture funding (47:14)

14. What can India’s policy makers do to support and grow the momentum within the startup ecosystem (50:35)

15. Are SPACs one way of retaining businesses in India? (56:24)

16. Rapid fire (59:00)

Rahul Chandra is the Co-founder and Managing Partner at Arkam Ventures, an early-stage fund partnering aimed at Middle India –– the 400 million people just below the top of the pyramid. He was one of the earliest tech VCs in India, starting in 1998 as part of the team at Walden International's India-focused fund. He later moved to Palo Alto to invest in Silicon Valley start-ups. In 2005, he co-founded Helion Ventures and relocated to India. At Helion, he invested more than $100M in 15 companies, a list that includes Equitas (IPO), Spandana (IPO), Shubham Housing, UnitedLex, Toppr, Railyatri, MoEngage and Seclore.

He is also the author of "The Moonshot Game - Adventures of an Indian VC", a book that captures his experience of investing in India from 2006 to 2016.

Follow Rahul Chandra (@rahulchandra77), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. Qshala: Qshala is a curiosity platform consisting of live online courses designed to foster life-skills & curiosity in children. The Quriosity curriculum helps your child develop critical thinking, improve communication skills, and enhance their ability to learnIt’s a one-stop-shop for all the skills you wish you were taught at school.

2. Clergo: Clergo makes it effortless to start a discussion around a topic, eliminating the need for ad-hoc and unplanned meetings to discuss something specific.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

1. How COVID has impacted Rahul and Arkam Ventures (3:51)

2. What’s changed in the diligence process (6:57)

3. Has covid impacted deal flow and investments? (10:13)

4. LP Concerns: Institutional LPs vs new-age entrepreneur LPs (14:53)

5. Rahul’s motivation to be a VC and starting a second fund (17:13)

6. LP mentality in 2005 vs LP mentality in 2020 (25:00)

7. Why Rahul believes India is promising market for LPs (32:51)

8. Is Middle India today the India of 2005/06 that Helion first began investing into (34:40)

9. Biggest misconception of middle India from an LPs and founder perspective (43:57)

10. How does the macro-economic trends affect the middle India opportunity? (49:06)

11. Rahul’s thoughts on the movement to bridge the gender gap within middle India (54:35)

12. How can manufacturing sector amplify middle India’s potential at scale like China? (59:51)

13. How much of a say does the VC community have in policy ma

Venk Krishnan is the founder of NuWare and NuVentures. NuVentures is an early stage venture fund based out of Bangalore which has backed companies such as MuSigma, BigBasket, Acko, Pocket Aces, Thrillophilia among others.

Follow Venk Krishnan (@krishnanVenk), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and the podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. BurnCal: India's First AI based home fitness trainer that can see and guide user to provide real time feedback on their pose and reps.

2. Q-Blocks: A distributed computing company building affordable supercomputers for high performance computing applications like ML model training, Running simulations, big data analytics or creating the next deep fake.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

1. Covid related (0:47)

2. Operator VC (6:35)

3. How does being a VC help being an entrepreneur?(12:39)

4. Road to Venture Capital (17:50)

5. The MuSigma deal (26:12)

6. How did Venk get clarity on setting up a fund (30:20)

7. Thesis at NuVentures (34:30)

8. Diverse portfolio development from an LP perspective (39:25)

9. Angel investing vs syndicate/VC investing (47:40)

10. Rapid fire (56: 25)

Sanket Shah is the Founder of invideo, an AI-powered video creation platform for creators, boasting over 25 million users worldwide. As a trusted leader in the industry, InVideo serves customers in 190 countries and has raised over $52 million from investors including Tiger Global, Peak 15, RTP Global, Titan Capital, and Hummingbird Ventures. Prior to InVideo, Sanket founded MassBlurb, which was acquired by Mobikon in 2016.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (2:00)
2. How to discover your superpowers? (2:50)
3. Why did Sanket decide to be an entrepreneur? (3:40)
4. How did growing up in an entrepreneurial family influence Sanket's decision to become a founder himself? (7:20)
5. How did the idea for invideo come into being? (13:03)
6. Early days of invideo (18:18)
7. Serving the anti-power user (23:20)
8. How does invideo ensure stickiness with its product (32:37)
9. Fostering a culture of multifaceted thinking within the organization (37:25)
10. Sanket’s view on hiring, culture and leadership within the company (42:55)
11. Internalizing as a founder (58:20)
12. Reflecting back on the journey and advising a younger self (1:02:25)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠⁠Sanket on Twitter⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Sanket on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Rohit Goyal is the Manager Partner at Windrose Capital, a Pune based early stage VC firm investing in India’s fast-transforming economy. He has entrepreneurial experience in Manufacturing & Technology and has set-up companies in & outside India, with people from China, Sri Lanka, UK & Germany.

He holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Electronics & Tele-Com.) & Masters in Management (Finance & Entrepreneurship) from CASS Business School, City University, London. 

. . .

The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. Indistractable: Indistractable is a suite of productivity apps to help you fight digital distraction, starting with a minimalist launcher.

2. Bima Garage: Bima is focused on making insurance easy for everyone in India, with a focus on hassle-free claims management service.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

1. Last eight months at Windrose Capital (2:39)

2. Conversations with existing LPs and potential LPs during COVID (5:37)

3. Evolution of the thesis at Windrose? (19:43)

4. Rohit’s background and journey into VC (24:34)

5. Why Windrose chose Pune to be their HQ? (32:07)

6. Does the location of the fund really matter? (37:05)

7. How does a young fund manager convince LPs to invest in the firm? (39:15)

8. How did Rohit shortlist his LP candidates? (43:40)

9. What does ‘contextual fit’ really mean and represent at Windrose Capital? (47:33)

10. Determining market velocity and mapping the future of Indian VC (56:05)

11. Rapid fire (1:03:55)

Srikanth Sundararajan is the General partner at VenturEast, an India focused fund that helps tech startups looking to go global from India across segments like education, health, financial services, agritech, and Enterprise SaaS. Srikanth has 25+ years of international experience in the software product and services having worked at HP, Informix in the US, and was part of the executive leadership team at HCL, the world wide CTO at Cognizant and the COO at Persistent through its successful IPO. In the US he had also successfully founded his own startup, Pretzel Logic Software Inc., which was acquired by BEA spinoff WebGain. BEA was later acquired by Oracle. He was also part of the founding team at IDS, which was also acquired.

He is also a visiting faculty of computer science at IIT Bhubaneswar and has taught at several US universities. He also serves on national committees on technical education, an initiative of MHRD, Government of India. He was also a member of the tech committee for the Government of India initiative on indirect taxes (Customs and Excise).

He holds a B Tech degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and a MS/PhD in Computer and Information Sciences from University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. He has several publications and is the holder of patents, jointly with HP.

. . .

The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. Foodwalas: Foodwallas is a Gourmet food delivery startup that lets mom and pop stores to reach a big, national audience.

2. Elo App: A vernacular audio streaming app for you to consume content if your preferred language.

. . .

In this week’s episode we will cover:

1. Learnings through investing during the pandemic (3:29)

2. Srikanth’s background (8:20)

3. What aspect of Srikanth’s past is most valuable to him today as a VC (11:17)

4. What made Srikanth join VenturEast? (21:02)

5. Investment thesis at VenturEast (24:32)

6. Disruption: Incumbents vs new entrants (34:05)

7. Is legacy software dying? (41:29)

8. Differences in investing in different tiers in India (47:45)

9. Srikanth’s preference: startups from tier 2/3 markets or those targeting tier 2/3 markets (54:25)

10. India and its deep tech ambitions (56:53)

11. Rapid fire (59:15)

Sasha Mirchandani is Managing Director and Founder of Kae Capital and Co-founder Mumbai Angels. Previously, he was at Blue Run Ventures as Managing Director for the India operations. Before joining Blue Run Ventures he was CEO and Founder of Imercius Technologies. Earlier he was at Mirc Electronics (Onida) where he was Head of Corporate Affairs and new business.

Follow Sasha on Twitter (@sashamirchi), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc).

. . .

The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. Aisle: Aisle is a dating app for Indians around the world

2. Sarva: India’s largest and only Yoga based wellness ecosystem

. . .

In this week’s episode, we will cover:

1. Impact of COVID personally and professionally (3:30)

2. Learnings during COVID as an investor (6:55)

3. LP sentiment and concerns (10:58)

4. Sasha’s background (15:50)

5. How did Mumbai Angels come into being? (20:05)

6. When should an angel think about raising institutional capital for his/her fund? (24:55)

7. Mistakes angels make during investing (26:31)

8. Sasha’s thesis during the early days on angel investing (28:00)

9. Evolution of investment thesis at Kae Capital across funds (29:45)

10. How do you decentralize venture capital in India to allow for more investors to enter the market (35:42)

11. Rapid fire (39:50)

Utsav Somani is a Partner at AngelList India and General Partner at iSeed (a seed-stage fund looking to bridge successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and Indian founders in the search of money as well as the expertise and knowledge of scaling up a startup).

Follow Utsav (@somani_utsav), host Akash (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. Flatheads: Flatheads is an all-day casual sneakers designed for work wear and optimized for 14-hour comfort.

2. MoveABox: MoveABox is Bangalore-based startup helping people to vacate and relocate their homes in a personalized manner.

. . .

In today’s episode we will cover:

1. Micro VC –– overcrowded with competition or not? (7:50)

2. Recap of VC landscape during COVID (17:08)

3. Raising a fund during the months of the lockdown (21:18)

4. Takeaways from raising a fund (22:56)

5. Utsav’s background (24:14)

6. What is Micro VC and how does Utsav see it within the Indian context (27:11)

7. Why is there a rise in Micro VC funds across India? (29:48)

8. Is Micro VC more riskier? (35:13)

9. What is the value proposition of a Micro VC (37:16)

10. How does an emerging fund manager attract good deal flow? (41:54)

11. Trend –– LPs turning GPs (48:13)

12. Dissection of Utsav’s tweet on the disconnect between macro trends (51:14)

13. Rapid fire (52:02)

Rutvik Doshi is the General Partner at Inventus Capital India, early stage Venture Capital firm that invests in Pre Series A and Series A. Rutvik has participated in India’s fast emerging internet ecosystem since 2007, first with Google where he launched several products including Voice Search, Google Mobile App, SMS Channels and managed Google News globally, and most recently as the CEO of ecommerce startup Taggle in Bangalore. Before Google he spent 6 years in the US building internet management software for CA Technologies. Rutvik holds a B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur and an MBA from INSEAD, France.

Follow Rutvik (@rutvik), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. Project PIF: Project Pay-It-Forward is a cloud-based mentorship platform for graduate admissions

2. Podium: Podium is a platform that brings people closer to have virtual conversations around social issues.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

. . . (Part 1) . . .

1. Impact of COVID on fund dynamics and larger macro economic trends (5:24)

2. How did LP’s react to the pandemic (7:44)

3: Investment strategy during Covid and plans for the future (13:11)

4. How did Inventus India Capital build rapport with founders during the pandemic, in the absence of F2F meetings? (18:38)

5. Rutvik’s background and sequence of events leading up to Inventus (19:58)

6. Evolution of VC in India (28:06)

7. Investment thesis at Inventus (32:21)

8. Importance of forging strong relationships with other VC firms in India (37:17)

. . . (Part 2) . . .

9. Raising domestic capital –– Has India reached a point of comfort to invest in VC as an asset class? (42:51)

10. Why is it better to have Indian investors than global? (44:44)

11. What should emerging fund managers be prepared for when they speak to potential LP candidates? (49:02)

12. How many calls do VC’s have with potential LPs (53:53)

13. How do the Partners split fundraising responsibilities (55:53)

14. When will see a change in venture investing to bring more profitability? (1:00:09)

15. Lobbying in India (1:02:41)

16. Raising money from foreign investors or Indian? (1:05:42)

17. Rapid fire (1:08:05)

Vinay Bansal is the CEO at Inflection Point Ventures, an early stage angel investing platform. He is a finance professional and turnaround specialist with 20+ years of experience across Fortune 50 companies, private equity & startups. Last, he was Senior Advisor at TPG Global and before that CFO & CIO at Wildcraft India. He is a Chartered Accountant by qualification and spent the first 14 years of his career in leadership positions across Financial Management and Manufacturing / Supply-chain sourcing functions at GE and Hindustan Unilever.

Follow host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

The Desi Startups of the Week:

1. Fire.Fly: Fire.Fly is a Bangalore-based learning & development startup focusing on teaching the values of creativity & compassion through online & offline workshops and experiences.

2. Leher App: Leher App is a social network built around video discussions that connects people around their interests and passions.

. . .

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Vinay Intro (2:43)

2. Covid impact –– Macro-level and portfolio-level (3:43)

3. Why has IPV been active when other VC firms have been conservative in their approach during covid (6:48)

4. Will companies getting funded now continue to see similar success post-covid? (11:21)

5. How can startups leverage the pandemic to create moats (16:21)

6. Vinay’s background (20:07)

7. Challenges of being an agnostic firm (28:58)

8. Time management for GPs (33:16)

9. What is CXO genie and how’s that unique to IPV (35:57)

10. How to measure success of a mentor-driven program? (41:29)

11. Measuring portfolio returns and communication with LPs (46:27)

12. Best practices for LP communication (52:20)

13. Rapid fire (55:13)

Melissa Frakman is the founder & managing partner of Emphasis Ventures (EMVC), a venture capital fund investing in early-stage fintech startups in India. She brings 15 years of experience participating in India’s digital revolution to bridge worlds for entrepreneurs and companies. Named on the “Global Fintech PowerList” by Innovate Finance, Melissa has led early stage investments in asia, supported new market strategy, and built partnerships worth over $1 billion for 15 of the Fortune 100 companies.

Follow Melissa (@melissafrakman), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

The Desi Startup of the Week:

Piggy: Piggy is a next generation mutual fund investment app that simplifies investments.

. . .

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Sectors within FinTech that have stood out during the pandemic (4:12)

2. Melissa’s journey so far (5:46)

3. Why does Melissa think India has a more robust and advanced FinTech ecosystem than other markets (10:48)

4. FinTech: Bundling vs Unbundling (14:00)

5. FinTech investment trends and risks associated with investing in the space (17:04)

6. The FinTech opportunity: Urban, Middle and Rural India (19:43)

7. FinTech challenges within rural India (24:05)

8. Educating the masses: Is it the role of the govt. or startups? (25:53)

9. Innovation with UPI (28:15)

10. Assessing FinTech startups (31:16)

11. Traditional financial institutions: opportunity or threat? (35:37)

12. How does EMVC add value to their portfolio (37:58)

13. Rapid fire (40:23)

14. Ways to get in touch with Melissa (48:20)

Pankaj Jain is an angel investor and Ex-Partner at 500 Startups, a California-based seed fund and accelerator program. Pankaj focuses on investing in early stage startups across India, United States, and South Asia and has led investments in over fifty companies.

Pankaj spent over 12 years in the Financial industry at firms such as JP Morgan, Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM) and GlobeOp Financial Services in various operational roles including enterprise mortgage risk management, application development, market data infrastructure, trade management, pricing infrastructure and customer service areas.

In 2007, Pankaj’s adventures in India began, where he started a company building an on-demand, employment marketplace for the under-served. In 2008, Pankaj became a co-founder of the HeadStart Network Foundation and the led the efforts in Delhi. In late 2010, he began setting up Startup Weekend in India.

Follow Pankaj (@pjain), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash), and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter. Pankaj also runs a YouTube channel on investing titled Invest Steam.

. . .

The Desi Startups Of The Week:

1. Oropocket: Oropocket is an investment platform allowing you to invest in precious metals and digital assets.

2. Basis: India's only platform focussed on the holistic financial wellness of the urban Indian woman.

. . .

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Intro (3:51)

2. The new normal (6:15)

3. Impact of the pandemic on VC investments (8:56)

4. Pankaj’s journey into venture capital and investing (19:45)

5. Which period in his professional career does Pankaj consider the most crucial (40:26)

6. Differences between angel investing and venture investing (51:21)

7. How influential can an angel be (54:14)

8. How do angels add value (59:41)

9. How can VCs and angels work together? (1:07:23)

10. Angel investing in India vs angel investing in the US (1:12:11)

11. Founder evolution from Pankaj’s experience in all these years on investing (1:17:54)

12. How do angels measure success? (1:33:10)

13. Intangible returns for angels (1:36:53)

14. Why did Pankaj decide to run an angel syndicate rather than starting a VC fund? (1:40:08)

15. Rapid fire (1:45:52)

Ankur Warikoo is an angel investor, entrepreneur, mentor and public speaker. He co-founded Nearbuy.com in 2015, where he served as the CEO from 2015-2019. Ankur was previously the CEO of Groupon India + APAC, MD of at Rocket Internet India, Co-founder at Accentium Web, and a management consultant at A.T. Kearney. He also holds an MBA degree from The Indian School of Business, an MS Physics from Michigan State University and a BS from Hindu College, Delhi University. Ankur has 1M+ followers across social media is known to share videos where he often talks about entrepreneurship, leadership and is known to inspire the youth.

Follow Ankur (@Warikoo), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

In this episode, we will cover:

1. How has Ankur dealt with the COVID period? (3:39)

2. What does Ankur make of the pandemic –– an inflection point or an uphill battle to restore economies? (5:54)

3. How does he feel about industries hard hit due to COVID? (8:45)

4. Ankur’s story and how it unfolded (11:50)

5. When and how did Ankur take to angel investing (15:13)

6. What made Ankur buyback Groupon India’s business and put ‘everything’ on the line? (17:15)

7. How difficult was it to champion the move to buy back Groupon India? (19:53)

8. What is Ankur’s relationship with risk and is there a personality to his investments? (23:53)

9. Why does Ankur say he’s a bad investor? (27:21)

10. What was Ankur’s (angel) investment thesis? (31:22)

11. How much of Ankur’s personality will you see in his investments? (37:38)

12. Where does Ankur source his deals from? (39:35)

13. What does Ankur’s diligence process look like? (42:12)

14. How long does Ankur take to make an investment decision? (44:40)

15. Underrated and overrated qualities in founders today (45:48)

16. How important is it for founders to sell their story and how can do they so effectively? (48:51)

17. Because Ankur is a very public figure and vocal across social, does he feel people find him intimidating to speak with? And if so, how does he make them feel at ease? (52:57)

18. Rapid fire (55:24)

Shruti Gandhi is the founder and General Partner of Array Ventures a data-driven venture capital firm. Six of her portfolio companies have exited to companies such as Apple, Paypal, and Samsung with 10x returns. Shruti spun Array Ventures out of True Ventures. She is also an adjunct professor in the CS department at Columbia University, featured on Business Insider, BBC, Forbes, VentureBeat, and USAToday, and host of the Array podcast.

She also has an MBA from the University of Chicago and engineering in CS at Columbia University.

. . .

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Why venture capital instead of angel investing

2. Process of setting up a VC fund in the US

3. How is Array VC structured

4. Challenges that come with being a single GP Fund

5. How has enterprise investing evolved in the last few years

6. How do you evaluate moats within startups that work at the intersection of the AI, ML and data?

7. How does Shruti define AI and ML

8. What kind of benchmarks should enterprise startups hit in order to be attractive for subsequent round of investors

9. Why is data not really a moat?

10. How does Array’s network of C-level executives drive value to portfolio startups?

11. Investment opportunities within ML

12. Rapid fire

Ashok is the Co-founder and CEO of IDfy, an online fraud detection and identity platform that provides background verification services to banks and financial institutions. He started his career in semi-conductors, building high-speed network processors. His MBA degree took him away from Engineering and into the world of Business Strategy. He worked with British Telecom in London for 5 years before deciding that his heart lay in creating value grounds-up. 

The company has raised over $54M from IndiaMart, KB Investment, Blume Ventures, Elev8 Venture Partners among many others.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (2:00)
2. Was entrepreneurship part of Ashok’s career plan (3:04)
3. Early influence of entrepreneurship (4:40)
4. Learnings from building (13:50)
5. What does entrepreneurship teach you about failure and setbacks (25:00)
6. Struggling with mental health as founders (30:00)
7. Evolving as a founder: Doer to enabler (39:45)
8. Building a ‘change culture’ (44:01)
9. Impact of entrepreneurship on personal life (51:35)
10. Advice to self and other founders (54:29)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠⁠Ashok on Twitter⁠⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Ashok on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Chinnu Senthilkumar is the General Partner and CTO at Exfinity Venture Partners, an Enterprise Tech focused VC fund with an emphasis on startups in the US-India corridor.

Prior to Exfinity, Chinnu held Senior Executive roles at Intel, SanDisk and Texas Instruments, both in the US and India. In the capacity of SanDisk’s Country Head, Chinnu spearheaded SanDisk (now part of Western Digital) India operations in the areas of R&D, Operations and IT outsourcing. Chinnu is an innovator from a young age and received "National Technology award" from President of India at the age of 21. He has received his Masters from University of Utah, Salt Lake City, US and B.E. from College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai.

You may follow Chinnu (@chinnusenthil1), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Current VC landscape in India (2:27)

2. Chinnu’s background (12:04)

3. Consumer vs Enterprise startups (16:10)

4. Investment strategy and criteria at Exfinity (22:00)

5. Dissecting deals won or lost i.e. using post mortem to analyze fund performance and strategy (27:38)

6. Corporate VC vs traditional VC (31:01)

7. The role of a GP and how they raise funds (34:04)

8. Time allocation as a GP (40:04)

9. Raising funds –– which is the toughest, the first or the subsequent ones? (44:05)

10. LP communications –– best practices with existing investors and how to handle conversations with potential LPs (45:55)

11. GP commitment and benchmarks (53:23)

12. Rapid fire (56:42)

Anup Jain is the managing partner at Orios Venture Partners, a VC firm investing in B2B and B2C startups with offices in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. Anup leads their FMCG and Retail investments and has over 20 years of experience of building brands across countries and categories.

Follow Anup (@AnupOrios), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and the podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

1. Covid impact on Orios and the VC industry (1:15)

2. Anup’s background (23:28)

3. FMCG & Retail investment in India (32:30)

4. FMCG investments: contrarian or not? (43:45)

5. What do investors look for in FMCG startups? (48:41)

6. Subscription vs non-subscription vs Digitally Native Vertical Brand (DNVB)? (54:10)

7. Will Orios invest in a brand that doesn’t have an online presence? (1:00:01)

8. How do you scale businesses with moats such as data, distribution and personalization (1:16:55)

9. Rapid fire (1:08:58)

Sushma Kaushik is a Partner at Aavishkaar Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm currently deploying out of its 6th fund and has close to half a billion dollars in AUM. She has over 18 years of diverse experience in the field of early stage investing, small business incubation and consulting across sectors.

She is an engineering graduate from RVCE, Bangalore and has an MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Follow Sushma Kaushik (@sushmakaushik1), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and the podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

In this episode you will learn:

1. Sushma’s background (3:58)

2. What Sushma loves about her job as a Partner (6:21)

3. What does a Partner do at a VC firm? (7:20)

4. First check written by Sushma (9:55)

5. How do you convince fellow Partners to invest in an under-performing sector and justify the investment? (12:06)

6. Learnings from investing (13:36)

7. Aavishkaar Capital and their thesis (15:45)

8. Challenges within the Impact Investment space (21:15)

9. Should seed-stage investors also consider growth-stage investments? (24:34)

10. How do you measure impact? (26:47)

11. How often do investors track the metrics? (29:54)

12. What is corporate governance for startups? (32:35)

13. What is the relationship between investors, board members and executive leadership within a startup and who calls the shots once investors’ share in the business exceeds the founders? (41: 32)

14. How do we solve for diversity within venture capital? (44:38)

15. Rapid fire (49:00)

Piyush Puri leads the Brand Capital International team in Silicon Valley as Vice President of BWI, the strategic investment arm of The Times Group – India’s largest multimedia conglomerate. Before leading Brand Capital’s US office, Piyush was an investment banker in Mumbai, India focusing on investments in the energy, ancillaries, and the environment spaces. Piyush received his degree in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), has an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur, and a Master’s Degree in Psychology of Leadership from Penn State University.

Follow Piyush (@Piyushpuri13), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

1. Piyush’s background (2:59)

2. How does Brand Capital International help startups tap into the Indian market? (5:56)

3. What do startups get wrong when they think about the India opportunity? (9:36)

4. How does BCI approach investments? (12:17)

5. What do non-Indian startups offer than incumbents don’t? (14:28)

6. What’s the best outcome for non-Indian startups entering India? (18:42)

7. How does BCI measure success of their portfolio companies? (19:45)

8. How do portfolio startups measure the impact of BCI? (21:06)

9. When’s the right time to think about global expansion (23:36)

10. Is having ‘feet on street’ important when startups go global? (26:00)

11. Internal reporting and accountability with respect to investments (27:59)

12. How has the pandemic affected BCI and their co-investors during the lockdown? (30:35)

13. BCI Portfolio: Does higher valuation (by non-Indian VCs) deter future investments from Indian VCs? (33:47)

14. Rapid fire (38:20)

Rohan Malhotra is the co-founder and Managing Partner at Good Capital, a Delhi-based early stage fund which takes a bottom-up approach to problem-solving and values first-principles thinking. Prior to Good Capital, he co-founded Investopad, a seed-stage technology incubator that focused on ventures that were centered on solving India-centric problems.

You may follow Rohan (@r0hanmalhotra), host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) and our podcast (@thedesi_vc) on Twitter.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

1. Intro (1:50)

2. How did the name ‘Good Capital’ come about (3:54)

3. What was the motivation in starting Investopad and then Good Capital (8:10)

4. How do two young people in their 20s start a fund without prior experience in building companies or managing funds (14:01)

5. How Investopad’s success became the foundation for Good Capital (16:38)

6. Fundraising challenges for young first-time fund managers and alignment with LPs (19:27)

7. Good Capital: Investing thesis (21:12)

8. How does a deal like Meesho come along? (22:58)

9. What is a ‘first-close’ from a fund-raising perspective? (33:07)

10. How long does it take to close the complete fund-raise for a fund? (34:55)

11. Portfolio construction at Good Capital (38:22)

12. Rapid fire (40:42)

Vinod Murali is Managing Partner and Co-founder of Alteria Capital. Vinod has 15+ years of experience spanning Venture Debt, Mezzanine Capital & Structured finance, Corporate Banking and Branding. Prior to Alteria, he spent time as the Deputy CEO at InnoVen Capital India (prev. known as SVB India Finance), and before that, at Citigroup as part of the Corporate and Investment Banking Group where he managed large Corporate relationships across Auto, Healthcare and Consumer industries.

Follow Vinod (@vinodmur) and host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) on Twitter.

. . .

Glossary of terms:

1. Venture debt: Venture debt is a form of debt financing for venture equity-backed companies that lack the assets or cash flow for traditional debt financing, or that want greater flexibility. It is a form of “risk capital” that is less costly than equity when structured appropriately.

2. Burn: Amount of monthly cash that a company spends

. . .

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Vinod Murali’s background and the birth of Alteria Capital (03:28)

2. Reason behind Silicon Valley Bank’s exit from India (11:20)

3. History of venture debt in India (14:44)

4. Reasons venture debt doesn’t sit well with traditional banking institutions (22:25)

5. Parallels between venture debt and equity financing (29:05)

6. How are debts structured? (33:27)

7. What are debts repaid? What is the typical interest rate? (36:00)

8. How are warrants / dilution structured? (38:01)

9. Debt arrangements that have gone well and those that haven’t and why? (40:38)

10. Why don’t debt financiers usually take board seats? (44:28)

11. Are personal guarantees eligible in a venture debt scenario? (48:00)

12. How does a deal like Dunzo come along? (49:44)

13. Rapid fire (52:36)

Alex Lazarow is the Investment Director at Cathay Innovation. Prior to joining Cathay Innovation, Alex was a Principal at Omidyar Network, a global philanthropic investment firm. While at Omidyar, he focused on investments in the global FinTech and financial inclusion space across the U.S., Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

He is also an adjunct professor specializing in impact investment and entrepreneurship at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He is a Kauffman Fellow, CFA Charterholder, and a Stephen M. Kellen Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.Comm from the University of Manitoba.

Follow Alex (@Alex_Lazarow) and host, Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) on Twitter.

. . .

Glossary of terms:

1. Network Effects: Network Effects is a phenomenon whereby increased numbers of people or participants improve the value of a good or service.

2. Impacting Investing: Impact investing refers to investments made into companies, organizations and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return

3. Blitzscaling: It's the science and art of rapidly building out a company to serve a large and usually global market, with the goal of becoming the first mover at scale; an accelerated path to the stage in a startup's life-cycle where the most value is created.

. . .

In this episode we will learn:

1. Alex Lazarow’s background (3:20)

2. Why did Alex decide to write ‘Out-Innovate’? (7:00)

3. What are ‘Frontier Ecosystems’? (9:34)

4. Similarities between emerging markets around the world and emerging markets within the US such as mid-West (11:53)

5. Learnings from speaking to Indian entrepreneurs about ‘sustainable’ growth (14:38)

6. Misconceptions about Blitzscaling (18:22)

7. Challenges in building global companies (22:04)

8. How should entrepreneurs think about the global opportunity and get it right? (25:15)

9. Bottlenecks in building sustainable businesses (28:10)

10. Is real innovation taking place outside the Silicon Valley? (31:16)

11. Misconceptions Alex had about emerging markets before writing his book (33:40)

12. How has Alex changed through his experience of writing the book? (35:15)

13. Rapid fire (38:10)

Pankaj Makkar is the Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments, a strategic investment arm of Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA in India, focusing on investments in the digital, education, media and services sectors. He’s spent his career at Astro, Univision and has been at Bertelsmann for the last decade. He holds a B.Comm Hons. from Delhi University and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bertelsmann India Investments has several startups in its portfolio including Licious, Saavn, Pepperfry, and Quikr.

Follow Pankaj (@_pankajmakkar) and host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) on Twitter.

. . .

Glossary of terms:

1. Growth stage: Growth stage investment firms invest in well-run, growing businesses with proven business models and solid management teams looking to continue driving the business. Series B and beyond rounds are usually termed as ‘growth stage’.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

1. Pankaj Makkar’s background: (00:19)

2. COVID-19 impact and the current state of work: (1:26)

3. How has venture evolved in the last decade: (3:02)

4. In this new normal, what are the learning from market perspective and VC Opportunities: (6:07)

5. What is nature of conversations right now with portfolio companies: (8:17)

6. Thoughts on sectoral thesis for post COVID world: (9:16)

7. Evolution and current view of India VC market: (12:21)

8. Why is it hard to multiply fund returns: (14:56)

9. How do you do diligence for portofolio companies: (17:52)

10. What diligence data points and methodology: (18:18)

11. For companies already invested in, how do you mitiagte risk: (21:25)

12. Investing in growth stage companies for consumer vs enterprise technology companies (25:10)

13. Bertselmann’s Fund-of-Fund (FoF) strategy for investing in other funds: (26:48)

14. EdTech and the constant disruption in the space: (34:29)

15. Rapid-Fire - (40:48)

Ankita Vashistha is the Founder and Managing Partner at Saha Fund, a fund that invests in early stage tech-startups run by women entrepreneurs. Ankita comes with a background finance having spent time working in venture capital and private equity before co-founding Saha Fund along with her partner, Usha Amin.

Follow Saha Fund (@sahafund) and host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) on Twitter.

. . .

In this episode we will cover:

1. Ankita’s background

2. Covid-impact on the venture industry

3. What is Saha Fund and what’s special about it?

4. Why diversity in investing matters in today’s context?

5. How can VCs accommodate more diversity when it comes to investing in India?

6. Challenges in fundraising as a fund manager for a women entrepreneurship venture fund

7. What can Indian VCs learn from success of Nyaka, CashKaro, Rivigo

8. Sectors that Saha Fund focuses on

Ishpreet Singh Gandhi is the Founder and Managing Partner at Stride Ventures, a venture-debt fund focused on lending to growth-stage startups with investments in companies such as Bira and Stellapps. He brings 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 lending business across Fintech, Consumer, Logistics and Agritech space. He has completed his Post Graduation from Delhi University (Delhi School of Economics) and Bachelors in Commerce from Delhi University.

Glossary of Terms:

1. Venture Debt: Venture debt is a form of debt financing for venture equity-backed companies that lack the assets or cash flow for traditional debt financing, or that want greater flexibility. A complement to equity financing, venture debt is generally structured as a three-year term loan (or series of loans), with warrants for company stock. Overall, venture debt is a form of “risk capital” that is less costly than equity when structured appropriately.

2. Covenant: Debt covenants are restrictions that lenders (creditors, debt holders, investors) put on lending agreements to limit the actions of the borrower (debtor). In other words, debt covenants are agreements between a company and its lenders that the company will operate within certain rules set by the lenders.

In this episode we will cover:

1. Ishpreet’s background and entry into venture capital

2. What are the differences between equity-based financing and debt-based financing?

3. What kind of startups qualify for venture debt

4. In spite of being founder friendly, why isn’t debt financing more popular than it should be

5. What steps is Stride Ventures taking to make debt financing mainstream?

6. How important is the cap table while evaluating a startup during debt financing?

7. When should a startup think about venture debt?

8. How does venture debt economics work?

9. How much should a startup at Series A raise in debt financing

10. Is venture debt for everyone? Are there downsides to it?

Rajiv Srivatsa is a Partner at Antler India, one of the most active early-stage venture capital firms. Prior to Antler, he co-founded Urban Ladder, an omni-channel furniture and decor retailer started in 2012. The company raised over $100M from SAIF Partners, Kalaari, Steadview, Peak XV Partners, Trifecta Capital and Ratan Tata. In November 2020, the company was acquired by Reliance Retail.

Prior to Urban Ladder, he served as a Senior Product Manager with Yahoo, and before that at Infosys. He is an alumnus of IIT-Madras and IIM-Bangalore.

. . .

Episode Notes:

1. How did it all start for Rajiv (2:02)
2. When and why did Rajiv decide to start Urban Ladder (5:50)
3. Where does Rajiv’s love for consumer products come from (12:10)
4. How did idea of selling home decor / furniture originate (14:41)
5. How did Urban Ladder look at culture internally and build a great one at scale (28:45)
6. How has Rajiv’s leadership evolved over the years (34:12)
7. How and why did Rajiv decide to enter venture capital (42:35)
8. What does Rajiv enjoy the most - being an operator, founder or investor (55:10)
9. Rajiv’s advice to anyone on a break looking for a framework on how to develop a career plan (57:35)

. . .

Social Links:

1. Follow ⁠Rajiv on Twitter⁠
2. Follow ⁠⁠Rajiv on LinkedIn⁠⁠
3. Follow ⁠⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠⁠
4. Follow ⁠⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠⁠
5. Follow ⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Ritu Verma is one of the co-founders at Ankur Capital. She is passionate about bringing innovation from lab to the market and did that for a decade across corporates such as Unilever and Philips. She has also worked globally investing in IP-led renewable technologies. She has a PhD in physics from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from INSEAD.

You can follow Ritu (@rituverma01) and host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) on Twitter.

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Glossary of terms:

1. Impact Investing: Impact investing refers to investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return.

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In this episode we will cover:

1. Ritu’s journey from Academia to Venture Capital

2. The definition of impact investing according to Ritu

3. The bottlenecks within impact investing

4. The misconceptions about impact investing

5. The trends within impact investing

6. Ankur Capital’s investment thesis – today and going forward

7. Fund-raising for an impact focused fund

8. How an impact fund tracks and measures ‘impact’

9. Portfolio construction strategy at Ankur Capital

10. Advice to investors and startups in the impact space

Bhaskar is the Founder and Managing Partner at Unicorn India Ventures. In the past decade, Bhaskar has established himself as a well-regarded early stage investor and advisor, especially in the UK and India. He has held senior corporate positions with Times of India, Zee Telefilms and Altavista UK.

In 2000, he started his first entrepreneurial venture, Recreate Solutions, a company within the digital media realm and backed by Insight Partners. After scaling the business, he sold the business to a US Systems Integrator. He has since been an investor in a number of technology and media early stage business through his propriety fund, Heath Ventures, and has invested his proprietary funds in more than half a dozen start-ups in UK and India.

Follow Bhaskar (@Bhaskar_MLondon) and host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) on Twitter.

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In this episode we will cover:

1. Bhaskar’s background and motivation to enter the VC world

2. Evolution of venture as an asset class in India

3. Development of investment thesis

4. Portfolio construction and best practices

5. How founders can ‘protect’ their equity during fund-raising

6. Unicorn’s time allocation strategy wrt their portfolio

7. Role of a VC as a board member

8. Due diligence required on the part of the founder(s) while choosing investors

9. If there’s any such thing as ‘raising too much money’?

10. Strategies for founders if they are not able meet fund-raising targets

Mark Kahn is the Managing Partner at Omnivore, a venture capital firm which funds entrepreneurs building the future of agriculture and food systems. Mark co-founded Omnivore in 2010 with Jinesh Shah, ex-CFO at Nexus Venture Partners. Previously, Mark was the Executive Vice President (Strategy & Business Development) at Godrej Agrovet, and also had stints at Syngenta and PFM. He earned a BA (Honors) from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar.

You can follow Mark Kahn (@agri_technology) and host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) on Twitter.

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Glossary of terms:

1. Upstream investments – Upstream investments refer to infusion of capital into businesses that utilize material inputs needed for production e.g. seed, fertilizers, machinery etc.

2. Downstream investments – Downstream investments refers to the infusion of capital into businesses where products get produced and distributed. e.g. e-commerce, grocery stores, logistics etc.

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In this episode, we will cover:

1. Mark’s venture into agri-business

2. The broad definition of agri-tech and what it encompasses

3. Evolution of agri-tech as sector

4. Omnivore’s thesis for India

5. Upstream vs downstream investments in agri-tech

6. Sectors and geographies within agri-tech in India

7. Metrics Omnivore pays close attention to while evaluating for investment

8. Concepts of sustainability and how it correlates to success of the Indian agri-industry

9. Challenges within agri-tech and for agri-tech startups

10. The global opportunity for Indian agri-tech startups

Abhishek Prasad is the Managing Partner at Cornerstone Venture Partners (CSVP), an early-stage fund focused on backing startups that are ‘technology enablers’ in India and abroad. A few of the companies within their portfolio include Intelligence Node, Wizgo, Credit Nirvana and Smart Ship.

Abhishek is an IIM-B alumnus, committee member at NASSCOM and has previously spearheaded the Investment team at GenNext Ventures Fund (part of Reliance Industries Ltd.)

Follow both, Abhishek Prasad (@abhishek_csvp) and host, Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash) on Twitter.

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Glossary of terms:

1. NPA: NPA or Non-Performing Assets is defined as a credit facility in respect of which the interest and/or installment of principal has remained 'past due' for a specified period of time. In simple terms, an asset is tagged as non-performing when it ceases to generate income for the lender.

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In this episode we will learn about:

1. Abhishek’s experience investing as a CVC and then now as a traditional VC fund

2. India’s value proposition to investors

3. Qualities in a startup/founding team that attracts CSVP

4. How involved an investor should be in an early stage startup

5. Areas where CSVP makes investments in

6. What is impact scaling and why is that the thesis for success at CSVP

7. False positives and false negatives with respect to investing in technology startups

8. What customer diligence is all about

Sajith Pai is the Director at Blume Venture. Sajith is a long-time media executive turned VC. At Blume, Sajith supports investments in media, edtech and e-commerce, while simultaneously helping Blume building a research and knowledge platform. Before Blume, Sajith worked at The Times of India Group, across roles in strategy, business development and marketing.

Sajith has an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, and a BA in Economics from Chowgule College, Goa.

You can follow him on Twitter (@sajithpai) and read his blogs on Indian VC on Medium (@sajithpai). You can also follow host Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash).

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Glossary of terms:

1. PMF: Product Market Fit or PMF is the degree to which a product satisfies a strong market demand

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In this episode we will cover:

1. Why Sajith calls himself ‘the accidental VC’

2. The opportunities and challenges within the different tiers in India

3. Product Market Fit in the context of different markets and businesses in India

4. Why Indian founders lack the storytelling capability

5. Network Effects for founders (e.g. how to get in touch with top VCs)

6. How can startup founders stand out / create a brand for themselves?

7. That one lie that VCs tell founders

Rama Bethmangalkar is the Director at Qualcomm Ventures. He joined Qualcomm with 17 years of experience spanning technology investing, R&D and product management. Previously, he was Principal at Ventureast, a premier VC firm in India. His current interests include enterprise software, IoT, and machine learning among the emerging technologies.

Prior to venture capital, Rama was with Sun Microsystems in Silicon Valley for close to 7 years, initially as a systems programmer and later as a senior product manager. Rama holds an MBA from Cornell University, M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Rhode Island, and B.Engg in Computer Science from University of Mysore, India.

Follow Rama on Twitter (@Ramab323) and while you’re at it you can also follow our host, Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash).

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In this episode we cover:

1. What corporate venture capital (CVC) is?

2. How does corporate venture capital differ from traditional venture capital?

3. What is the value proposition of a corporate venture capital?

4. What is the investment thesis of Qualcomm

Ventures India?

5. The thought process behind portfolio construction from a CVC perspective

6. Challenges that corporate venture capital presents in general and in a country like India

7. What are metrics CVCs look out for while investing in companies

Karan Mohla is Executive Director and Head of Consumer Media & Technology sector at Chiratae Ventures where he heads the sector focus and strategy on Consumer Media & Technology investments. He has been investing in Indian companies since 2009 and has over 15 years of experience in the technology industry across India and the US.

Prior to Chiratae Ventures, Karan worked with QVT Finance LP, a US based hedge fund and was a founding member of their Asia-Pacific practice. He earlier worked in the technology banking group at Jefferies & Company (formerly Broadview International) in Silicon Valley, where he advised several technology companies in Internet, Mobile and Enterprise Software on capital raising, M&A as well as strategic partnerships.

About Chiratae Ventures: Chiratae Ventures, formerly known as IDG Ventures was founded in 2006 by Sudhir Sethi and T.C. Meenakshisundaram, and has so far backed 76 companies including Flipkart, Myntra, FirstCry, XpressBees, Newgen, Lenskart, Manthan, NestAway, PolicyBazaar, and Yatra, among others. The firm rebranded itself in 2018 to signify its focus on staying agile and sharp, like a ‘Chiratae’, or leopard, in the ever changing startup ecosystem.

You can follow Karan on Twitter (@KaranMohla) and while you’re at it you can also follow our host, Akash Bhat (@bhatvakash)

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In this episode, we cover:

1. Covid-19 Impact on Investments and Venture Capital

2. Karan’s Background and Journey in VC

3. Evolution of Venture as an Asset Class in India

4. Exit Scenarios for VCs in India

5. Evolution of Business Models in India

6. Shift from Ad-based Model to Subscription-based Model

7. Rise of Digital Media Marketplaces in India

8. Purchasing Trends in Consumer Markets – Media, e-Commerce, Finance

9. Learnings from within Chiratae Ventures’ Portfolio

10. Where is the Next Big Innovation in Consumer Market going to come from?

Dheeraj Jain is the Founder and Managing Partner at Redcliffe Capital, an investment firm focusing on innovative, technology businesses in global markets. Dheeraj has invested in over 32 startups including PeeSafe, LifCare, The Man Company, Drivezy, Coho, Coutloot and Qdesq, among others. He’s also had some notable exits along the way, namely Innov8, Burger Singh & Supr Daily.

You can follow host Akash Bhat on Twitter (@bhatvakash) and visit us at thedesivc.com to know us better.

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In this episode, we cover:

1. How Dheeraj’s journey in Venture Capital began

2. What special situation investment firm is?

3. How venture capital has evolved as an asset class in India

4. How Dheeraj builds his investment thesis

5. What Redcliffe Capital looks for in the founding team during investment

6. Consumer market in India and why Dheeraj is bullish about it

7. How Redcliffe Capital thinks about false positives/false negatives during an investment

8. Reasons why investors fall in love with startups in the consumer sector

9. Possible exit scenarios for consumer brands – what it could look like, what might be the cycles and when can VCs expect brands to give them returns

10. Redcliffe Capital’s Investment timeline – from first conversation to transfer of funds

Shwetank Verma is the co-founder of Leo Capital, a venture capital fund investing in companies inIndiaand South East Asia. Recent investments include CoLearn (edtech), WayForward (mental health), CoverGenius (Insurtech) and IndiaGold (Digital Gold). Leo Capital is backed by institutional investorsfrom Singapore and Silicon Valley.

Prior to Leo Capital, he led Open Innovation for MetLife Asia and was a part of the senior management team of LumenLab, MetLife's innovation consultancy. At LumenLab, he advised MetLife country CEOs andsenior leaders on growth, startup collaboration, culture change and new product development.

Prior to joining MetLife, he was a serial entrepreneur in healthcare and education in India. He serves asInnovation Adviser to the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Singapore Management University.

He is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales and holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Nottingham (UK), where he was a Foreignand Commonwealth Office scholar.

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Episode Notes:

1. State of the industry in 2024 
2. How does Shwetank define a good investor?
3. Takeaways from working with portfolio founders
4. Vision for India the next 5 years
5. Examples of building from India for the world from a category-creation play
6. Best investor persona: Operator vs Pure investor?
7. How did Leo build its internal thesis?
8. Why did Shwetank become an investor?
9. What does Shwetank like and dislike about investing?
10. How has Shwetank evolved as an investor?
11. Insights from working with Leo’s porticos
12. Advice Shwetank would give his younger self

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Social Links:

1. Follow Shwetank on Twitter
2. Follow ⁠Shwetank on LinkedIn⁠
3. Follow ⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠
4. Follow ⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠
5. Follow Akash Bhat on LinkedIn
   

Prayank Swaroop is a Partner at Accel, and joined the firm in 2011.

He focuses on cybersecurity, developer tools, marketplaces, and SaaS investments. Some of the investments led by him are - Aavenir, Bizongo, Maverix, OnsiteGo, Securden, Slintel, Skeps, and Zetwerk.

Prior to Accel, he worked at Adobe and Standard Chartered Bank in India and Singapore. He held positions across engineering, product marketing, pre-sales, and product management.

He has an integrated master's degree in Mathematics and Computing from IIT Delhi and an MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

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Episode Notes:

1. What made Prayank take a bet on venture as a career path (3:38)
2. Naivety in venture capital (7:10)
3. Where is venture as of October 2023, post the global slow down (9:50) 
4. Sectors that have shown massive potential in spite of it being a dull year in terms of venture activity (18:18)
5. Insights gained by Prayank over the course of his ten years of investment experience (22:15)
6. How to evaluate people as an investor (27:38)
7. How would Prayank rebuild his career as an investor if given a chance to restart (38:37)
8. Advice to founders (48:15)

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Social Links:

1. Follow Prayank on Twitter
2. Follow ⁠Prayank on LinkedIn⁠
3. Follow ⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠
4. Follow ⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠
5. Follow ⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Priya Saiprasad is a General Partner at Touring Capital, a fund investing in enterprise-focused AI powered global startups. She co-founded Touring after 13 years in venture capital, M&A and enterprise technology.

She was most recently a Partner at SoftBank Vision Fund, where she led investments into category-defining software companies including Pixis, Vendr, Observe.ai, CommerceIQ, Sendoso and Skedulo.

Previously, Priya was at Mayfield Fund focused on early-growth investments, and a founding member of M12 (Microsoft’s Venture Fund), where she led investments in Go1, Workboard, PandaDoc, Element AI (acquired by ServiceNow), and Bonsai (acquired by Microsoft). Prior to that, she was a Deal Lead in Square’s M&A team leading acquisitions at the intersection of software and machine learning.

Priya was recognized by Forbes in 2018 as part of their 30 under 30 in Venture Capital list. She is actively involved with All Raise, Neythri, and several prominent Women in Tech associations. Priya holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

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Episode Notes:

1. How did Priya end up in venture (2:36)
2. What about venture surprised Priya the most (6:00)
3. Insecurities as/of an investor (11:25)
4. Learnings as an investor when investments haven’t really worked out (17:02)
5. How can one acquire the skills to assist founders, even if they haven't personally experienced those challenges? (25:05)
6. Investing is personal: Do investors derive guidance from aspects of their life when making investment decisions? (29:35)
7. How does competition drive investors (34:52)
8. Prestige and perception in venture (41:30)
9. Advice Priya would give her younger self (47:20)

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Social Links:

• Follow ⁠Priya on Twitter⁠
• Follow ⁠Priya on LinkedIn⁠
• Follow ⁠The Desi VC on LinkedIn⁠
• Follow ⁠Akash Bhat on Twitter⁠
• Follow ⁠Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Rohit Bansal is the Co-founder Snapdeal, one of the largest online marketplaces in India. The company has raised over $1.7B from eBay, Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital, BlackRock, Temasek Holdings and SoftBank. He is also the Co-Founder of Titan Capital, which has invested in companies such as Mamaearth, Dealshare, OLA, RazorPay and OfBusiness. He an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

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Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (2:00)
2. What motivated Rohit to become an entrepreneur (2:57)
3. Why is entrepreneurship on the rise in India (10:30)
4. How did Rohit get into investing (14:30)
5. How did and does Rohit deal with tough moments in life (19:26)
6. How do founders continue to stay motivated over the years (27:58)
7. What frameworks does Rohit deploy to navigate tough situations in life (31:39)
8. Why it’s important for founders to look after themselves (36:20)
9. Looking back at his career what is Rohit the most proud of? (41:15)
10. What is Rohit dedicating the next 5-10 years of his life towards (45:45)
11. What advice would Rohit give his younger self? (52:02)

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Social Links:

1. Follow Rohit on Twitter
2. Follow Rohit on LinkedIn
3. Follow The Desi VC on LinkedIn
4. Follow Akash Bhat on Twitter
5. Follow Akash Bhat on LinkedIn

Shubham Goel is the Co-foudner and Co-CEO of Affinity, a relationship intelligence platform for dealmakers. The company has raised over $120M in funding from Menlo Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Pear VC and Advance Venture Partners. Prior to Affinity, Shubham completed his BS in Computer Science at Stanford University.

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Episode notes:

1. What made Shubham pick entrepreneurship (2:00)
2. Propensity of risk increasing as the company grows (6:08)
3. The journey until the ah-ha moment (10:06)
4. The aha-moment (17:00)
5. Unlocking the operator and leader persona as a founder (25:15)
6. Getting the most out of your teams as a leader (31:10)
7. Things that have surprised Shubham in the company building journey (37:15)
8. What would Shubham do differently if he were to build Affinity from scratch today? (43:54)

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Social links:

• Follow Shubham on Twitter
• Follow The Desi VC Podcast on Twitter
• Follow Akash Bhat on Twitter

Sumeet Mehta is the co-founder and CEO of LEAD, an edtech company helping digitize and transform affordable private schools to better serve students from middle and low-income groups of families. Before co-founding LEAD, Sumeet was Chief Executive Officer at Zee Learn (2007-2012). He transformed the institution from a pre-school franchise company to an education company with a presence in pre-schools and K-10 schools, and science activity and animation classes. Prior to that, Sumeet spent eight years at Procter & Gamble Singapore, where he was involved in in brand management, leading businesses in Australia, Southeast Asia, and India. Sumeet is an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad and PEC Chandigarh.

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Episode Notes:

1. Introduction (1:40)
2. How and why did Sumeet co-found LEAD? (3:08)
3. How do you 'figure out' your mission as a founder? (8:18)
4. Do founders take time to introspect about their personal growth? If they do, how frequently do they engage in this practice, and what methods do they employ? (14:23)
5. How can a founder effectively address and manage their insecurities while continually learning and growing in their role? (19:20)
6. What has Sumeet learned about himself over the course of his entrepreneurial journey (24:00)
7. The toughest part of building a company (28:36)
8. Working with your significant other as a co-founder (32:08)
9. Non-negotiables as a founder (34:50)

Fostering a culture of long-term thinking among employees (39:02)

10. Advice Sumeet would offer his younger self (41:11)

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Social links:

• Follow Sumeet on Twitter
• Follow LEAD on LinkedIn
• Follow The Desi VC Podcast on Twitter
• Follow Akash Bhat on Twitter
• Follow Akash Bhat on Instagram