The Neon Show

Dhruv worked with ABN AMRO and McKinsey & Company in Investment Management & Strategy roles in the early days of his career. He stepped into the VC ecosystem in India by eventually joining Helion Ventures in 2008.At Helion Ventures he was part of investing in companies like Ezetap, Azure Power, and MoEngage among others.Later when in 2015, Sistema (Russian conglomerate) decided to set up a Venture Fund in India, Dhruv joined Sistema Asia Capital in order to bring the best practices and 8 years of experience on board with him.Some of Sistema Asia Capital’s current Portfolio includes - Licious, Lendingkart, Netmeds & Faasos among others.In this podcast, Dhruv shares his experience of investing in mid-stage growth startups across various sectors in India’s Startup Ecosystem. Notes - 00:57 - His Journey from working at ABN & McKinsey to joining Venture Capital04:30 - Experience of working with Helion Ventures07:56 - Joining Sistema Asia Capital - Building the foundations of a VC firm10:15 - Sistema’s background & establishment in India14:34 - Executing Exit from Qwikcilver (Acquired by Pine Labs)19:44 - Investing in Faasos - reaching $1 billion valuation25:30 - Impact on fintech portfolio companies during Covid-19 lockdown - Lendingkart & Kissht31:26 - HealthifyMe’s transition from human-centric model to AI-based model33:30 - Netmeds offering a full-stack model & growing scalable margins37:04 - Sectors at which Sistema is bullish in 2020-21 - Edtech, Healthcare, & Agritech

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Ganesh began his career working in Strategy & Acquisition at Infosys in the San Francisco Bay area. He founded his first startup - Travelguru (later acquired by Travelocity) while he was pursuing his MBA from Harvard Business School.In 2006, he began his journey as a VC with Greylock Partners. In 2014, he Co-Founded Quona Capital, which is a Fintech-focused VC firm, making investments across Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa.A few of its successful exits include - IndiaMart (went IPO) & Coins.ph (acquired by Gojek).Some of its current Portfolio includes - ZestMoney, Fisdom, & Neogrowth among others.In this podcast, Ganesh shares his experience of investing in emerging markets and fintech-businesses with robust teams. Notes - 00:54 - His Journey from working at Infosys to Co-founding Quona Capital04:39 - Quona Capital: Countries of operations, Cheque-size & Ideology07:58 - Starting Travelguru while pursuing MBA at Harvard Business School14:07 - Investing in teams who respect & fear lending18:17 - Exit from IndiaMart - Most Successful Digital IPO22:30 - Exit from Coins.ph - Acquired by Gojek28:08 - Managing investments across multiple countries and diverse markets34:02 - Fundamentals driving rapid growth in Indian startups in Quona’s portfolio36:23 - Rise of Neobanks in India

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With over 14+ years of experience in investing, Sushma has been acknowledged for “40 under 40 - Alternate Investment Professionals” in India.Currently, at Aavishkaar, she majorly looks after Fintech & Microfinance.Aavishkaar is also well-known for being one of the few VC firms in India, well known for its Impact Investing Thesis. Some of its portfolio companies are - Chqbook, Agrostar, and Soulfull among others.In this podcast, Sushma shares her experience of investing in high-growth socially responsible startups. Notes - 01:10 - Her Journey from real estate equity background to joining Aavishkaar03:08 - How does Aavishkaar differentiate itself from other funds in terms of thesis - Impact Investing06:36 - Is impact-investing successful in giving justified returns to LPs?08:55 - Investing in socially responsible businesses - Micro-finance & Agritech13:42 - Investing in Chqbook - Making credit cards & short-term loans accessible19:23 - Diversification in investments between early-stage & growth-stage companies22:25 - Significant evaluation around Exit-thesis at the time of new investments28:33 - What does the Indian startup ecosystem requires to mature similarly to Silicon-valley?30:48 - Gender Diversity in the VC & Startup Ecosystem in India

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Anand has worked with some top companies in SaaS & Product roles - Yahoo, Airtel, Snapdeal, Freecharge, Facebook & currently at Five9.Since 2014 he has been an Angel Investor in over 50+ companies, some of the popular one’s being - Yulu, Khatabook, and MoEngage among others.In this podcast, Anand shares his experience of building consumer-friendly products & becoming a successful Angel Investor. Notes - 01:10 - Journey of one of the best product thinkers in the country - Entrepreneur in SaaS (2001-2008), Multiple Product Leadership Roles across few of the best companies in the world 2008 - Present (Airtel, Snapdeal, Facebook, Five9) and now an investor in startups 2016-Present (Rupeek, Khatabook and 48 other companies) 03:16 - Joining Five9 after Facebook04:09 - Leading acquisition of Whendu and Virtual Observer06:55 - Five9’s future plans with over $400 million ARR and becoming a Decacorn soon09:42 - Working in India with Airtel, Snapdeal & Freecharge (from 2013-16)13:12 - 50+ portfolio companies as an Angel Investor - Khatabook, MoEngage, Innov8 etc.16:56 - Investing in Rupeek - Building a customer-friendly product in a market with very low NPS19:32 - Investing in Nobroker - Solving rental issues on consumers21:16 - Investing in MoEngage - Solving the user engagement marketing needs with SaaS23:00 - Exits from Fynd & Innov8 - More of a founder & team bet, than a market bet!28:37 - Failures Startups face - Cash burn without Product-market fit & Lack of team chemistry36:50 - Covid-19 crisis - Not just conserving cash but creating solutions to tackle it38:16 - Working & learning with Marissa Mayer (Yahoo), Mark Zuckerberg & Sheryl Sandberg (Facebook), Gopal Vittal (Bharti Airtel)44:15 - “The tools that people continue to pay for during a crisis are the ones which grow in the long run.”51:02 - His first principle of being an Investor -“You are not the Hero of the story, the founder is!” - Just be founder friendly53:01 - His second principle of being an Investor - ”You make your money with the success, but you make your reputation with the failures.” - Being with founders during their bad times54:30 - His third principle of being an Investor - Not to exit from a company, as soon as it breaks-out56:10 - In India would it make sense for Angel investors to Exit-early at a good valuation?

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Anup worked with some top of the line consumer brands like - Bata, Yum! Restaurants International (Pizza Hut), Whirpool, and P&G among others for over 20 years of his career.In 2015 he started his own family office through which he mentored and Angel Invested in several startups over the next 2 years.In 2017 he joined Orios Venture Partners, where he currently focuses on retail, fintech, healthTech, edTech and D2C brands.Some popular startups in its portfolio - PharmEasy, Zostel, MoneyOnClick, CountryDelight, Gully Network, BeatO among others.In this podcast, Anup shares his experience of identifying top-quality founders and how their portfolio companies are combating with the lockdown due to Covid-19. Notes - 00:42 - Working at Consumer Brands to joining Orios Venture Partners05:11 - Thesis behind investing in Portfolio companies - Multiple pain points, Founders & Team with quality execution experience08:06 - Investing in BeatO - Personal assistant for managing Diabetes09:10 - Investing in MoneyOnClick - Personal loan for salaried professionals09:52 - Investing in Gully Network Retail11:58 - What are their portfolio companies doing to survive through Covid-19?16:08 - Exploring new investments vs re-investment in existing portfolio companies18:15 - Helping out Portfolio companies with - Extending runway & Optimising operations19:25 - Is it a suitable situation to consider an M&A?21:45 - PharmEasy being the crown-jewel of Orios Venture Partners26:12 - Sectoral outlook for potential tailwinds during Covid-19

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During her early career, Ritu worked in Product Development at Unilever and later in Marketing Strategy at Philips. In 2013 she Co-founded Ankur Capital with Rema SubramanianAnkur Capital has so far majorly invested in Agritech & Healthcare sector, some of its portfolio companies - Health Sutra, Cropin & Niramai among others.In this podcast, Ritu shares her experience of investing in Agritech & Healthcare space in India, and her vision going forward. Notes - 00:42 - Her Journey from a Physicist to the VC ecosystem06:50 - Thesis behind investing in Cropin & Niramai10:21 - Concentration of Portfolio towards Agritech & Health-tech11:20 - Future of Agritech in India by emerging startups21:36 - Training farmers for adopting Agritech solutions23:20 - Deployment of Fund II in 2020 & 2021 (at Pre-Series A & Series A rounds)25:07 - Recent successful exit from Carmel Organics and others in the pipeline (next 6-8 months)27:40 - Is it difficult for women to mark a place as VC?35:07 - Thesis behind investing in Jiny

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Deepak’s investment journey started with him joining Intel Capital in early 2000, where he spent 14 years managing global investments, mergers & acquisitions. In 2015, he started Equitycrest, which identified and worked with early-stage startups and assisted them in engaging with investors to realize their funding needs.After gaining over 17 years of investing experience and managing acquisitions, in 2017 he founded WEH Ventures.Some popular startups in its portfolio - Trell, Pratilipi, and smallcase among others.In this podcast, Deepak shares his experience of investing during the 2000 & 2008 crash and what he expects now. Notes - 00:43 - Joining Intel Capital & starting WEH Ventures03:05 - Successful exits from Telecom, Consumer Internet startups05:07 - Working at Intel Capital & understanding fundamentals of Venture capital06:57 - Investing during previous downturns of 2000 & 200809:27 - Investing in Pratilipi - Crucial to India’s vast vernacular landscape13:08 - Investing in smallcase - Simplifying investing in Stocks by creating thematic bundles16:31 - Overall approach to finding & adding portfolio companies18:45 - Advice for Startups in tailwind sector - Being semi-aggressive20:15 - Advice for Startups in badly hit sectors - Cut down cost & preserve your runway22:22 - Distinct qualities of entrepreneurs who survive & thrive during such crisis 28:06 - Impact of Covid-19 on upcoming investments (Series A & Series B) in 2020 & early-2021

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Pankaj joined Bertelsmann New York in 2009 and later started Bertelsmann Corporate Services India Pvt. Ltd and Bertelsmann India Investments. Bertelsmann India Investments has several popular startups in its portfolio - Licious, Pepperfry, and Quikr among others.In this podcast, Pankaj shares his opinions on how startups can optimize spendings and become more cash efficient in the long run. Notes - 00:40 - Joining Bertelsmann in New York & starting Bertelsmann Corporate Services India02:33 - Thesis behind the diverse portfolio of Bertelsmann India Investments07:02 - Exit from Saavn which is now JioSaavn11:02 - What change can startups expect in consumer behaviour post Covid-19?14:45 - Biggest value addition which Bertelsmann brings to its portfolio companies20:20 - Average ticket size & ideal phase for making an investment at BII21:12 - Personal habits and hobbies which he attributes to his success23:35 - Ability to see far & deep and implementing future prospects within the business26:30 - Investing companies which raise minimum capital and are able to build great businesses28:58 - Identifying companies with high profit margins(Treebo as an example)29:59 - Advice to entrepreneurs to sail through Covid-19 crisis

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Coming from a Tech-background Mekin spent his early career at Yahoo, Ugenie, Lulu.com, and Flipkart.Since 2016, he has also been an Angel Investor investor and exited a few startups such as - UrbanClap, Vaahan, Tapchief, Quizziz & mGaadi.In 2017 he started Udhyam, it focuses on nurturing and guiding students to become future entrepreneurs at the school level. In 2018, he parallelly started Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship, referred to as GAME. As the name suggests, it aims to create 10M entrepreneurs (50% of women), who will create 50M jobs by 2030.In this podcast, Mekin shares his opinions regarding the current situation of MSMEs and how Udhyam & GAME are moving towards their goals amid Covid-19 crisis. Notes - 00:48 - Joining Flipkart and founding Udhyam02:52 - How does Udhyam stimulates and encourages young entrepreneurs?04:34 - How was GAME founded and what problem does it solve?06:14 - Enabling entrepreneurs who run a small business and employ 5-20 people12:53 - How are MSMEs affected by Covid-19?18:21 - Behavioural changes after the crisis20:45 - Opportunities which might emerge from the current scenario27:30 - How is Udhyam leveraging the current lockdown?36:02 - Advice to entrepreneurs to navigate through this crisis

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#100xEntrepreneur #Podcast with Sanjay Nath, Managing Partner at Blume VenturesIt seems as if Silicon Valley has been a consistent choice during the early career phase for several Indian VCs! Sanjay isn’t an exception as well. After spending his early years in Silicon Valley, in 2006 he came back to India and became an active member of Mumbai Angels.Finally, after 4 years of being an Angel Investor, he cofounded Blume Ventures in 2010. So far Blume Ventures have announced funds of a combined value of $150M with over 192 Portfolio Companies.Some of its Portfolio Companies are - Dunzo, LBB, Cashify, and Unacademy.In this podcast, Sanjay shares his opinions on Indian startup ecosystem navigating through Covid-19 crisis. Notes - 00:44 - From Joining Mumbai Angels to Co-founding Blume Ventures03:40 - Backing Naveen Tiwari, InMobi during 2008 Crash07:35 - How do you test the founders in good vs bad times?12:02 - How has Covid-19 affected Mobility & SaaS Startups?15:30 - Advice to founders to navigate through these tough times16:30 - Startups contributing to building the Future of Work21:53 - Change in Investment Thesis from 2011 (Super-Angel Fund) to 2020 (Fund-III)24:31 - Post Covid-19 Scenario for Non-Consumer Startups (SaaS, Deep Tech, Enterprise)29:55 - Survival of best companies being self-sufficient32:05 - How to evaluate & implement cost-saving strategies?40:10 - Considering and dealing with possibilities of mergers & acquisitions

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