UVC

In this episode you will learn:

• How does access to credit impact low income countries like India?
• Why does Sheel insist on a minimum ownership of 10%?
• What are the reasons for Sheel's reluctance to invest in startups that need to raise a lot of funds?
• Are both first-time founders and second-time founders equally willing to accept the valuations offered by Better Tomorrow Ventures?
• Under what circumstances would Sheel stop supporting one of his portfolio startups?
• What kinds of fintech startups are poised for success in this decade?
• Do all neo banks face challenges with customer trust and what factors are preventing them from competing with traditional banks?
• What are Sheel's plans for scaling Better Tomorrow Ventures in the coming years?

About

Sheel Mohnot is a Co-Founder & Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures, a seed-focused venture capital firm that invests in transformative fintech companies founded by exceptional individuals across the world. With its second set of funds amounting to approximately $225M, Better Tomorrow Ventures is dedicated to investing in innovative ideas that can revolutionize the fintech industry. Sheel's exclusive focus on fintech investment dates back to 2015, following a couple of successful FinTech exits. Sheel has also co-founded the podcast "The Pitch," which was acquired by Gimlet Media / Spotify and attracts around 100k weekly listeners. Additionally, Sheel has co-founded Thistle, a food company that serves tens of thousands of customers every week.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com

In this episode you will learn:

• Why does Capria Ventures act as both a VC fund and a fund of funds, and what benefits does this approach offer?
• What is the "state of the art venture capital innovation" that Capria Ventures brings?
• How does Capria Ventures nurture its partnerships with fund managers across different regions?
• What are some of the challenges that founders from the global south face and how different are they to the global north?
• According to Dave, what is the most common mistake made by founders or founding teams?
• Why is the "spray and pray" investment strategy unsustainable, according to Dave?
• Why does Capria Ventures focus on the global south, and is it possible for this region to achieve the same level of wealth as the global north over time?

About

Dave Richards is Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Capria Ventures. 

Dave is an experienced entrepreneur, operating executive, and venture capital investor. He co-founded Capria Ventures in 2012 and has since made 60+ investments in early- and early-growth tech startups across the Global South -- India, SE Asia, Latin America, and Africa. 

Previously, Dave led Unitus Group, a leading early venture catalyst and capital investor in microfinance in the Global South. He has also held business operating leadership roles with RealNetworks, Sybase, and Symantec managing large global teams and building multiple zero to $100M technology-led businesses in digital media, databases, and business productivity tools. Dave received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com

In this episode you will learn:

• After building multiple successful startups, why did Sergey get into VC?
• What is the fund strategy at Flint Capital?
• Is it a good strategy for startups to target the single biggest enterprise market in the world - the US? 
• Based on Sergey’s experience, what are some of the mistakes that startups make while trying to expand into the US market?
• How does he add value to his portfolio startups?
• How does Sergey assess startups, especially at the very early stages?
• What does Sergey think about the cybersecurity industry, since Flint Capital has invested in a bunch of cybersec startups?
• What are Sergey’s thoughts on OpenAI?
• Is the future of tech exciting, considering the recent layoffs at big companies?

About
Sergey Gribov is an experienced technology entrepreneur and investor, currently serving as a Partner at Flint Capital, an early-stage venture fund with a global focus on investing in startups across Israel, the USA, and Europe. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Sergey has been involved in many successful startups as a founder or top manager in the U.S. and Israel. Notably, he was part of the founding team at Vivox and served as the Director of R&D and Operations. Sergey has a diverse background in various IT sectors including software development, cybersecurity, digital health, and fintech. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Beer-Sheva University, and has also studied Computer Science at the University of Ben Gurion (Israel). In addition to his professional accomplishments, Sergey is also a licensed pilot and Bareboat IYT Skipper. Currently, he serves as an investor and board member at companies such as Socure, Cyolo, Sensi.ai, XRHealth, and others.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com

In this episode you will learn:

• What are some of the success stories, challenges, and crisis that Karl faced while building multiple startups, and how did he navigate them?
• According to Karl, why should a VC think like an entrepreneur, and how can this approach benefit startups?
• Does Karl believe that prior experience as an entrepreneur is ideal for someone looking to become a VC, and why?
• How is M13's propulsion platform different from the platform model of other VC funds, and how does it help startups?
• Why is it important for VCs to support their portfolio companies when there are leading indicators of a crisis?
• Why is building trust with founders important for a VC to ensure that they are taken seriously and not create friction?
• What is M13's investment thesis, and why do they prefer to back startups that are building infrastructure layers?
• What are some common mistakes made by the teams and founders of infrastructure layer startups, and how can they be avoided?
• What does Karl mean when he says, "The value I seek can only be realized at scale," and what kind of startups is he looking for?
• How should startups strategize their fundraising and operations during an economic downturn like the one we are experiencing now?

About

As DigitalOcean's COO, Karl built the business from first product to >500 employees & $250M ARR over six years and prepared it for its eventual IPO (NYSE: DOCN). Having previously managed and exited two startups over a 20 year operating career, Karl is now M13’s managing partner and oversees its day-to-day operations.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com

In this Fundraise episode, I speak with Tim Flannery, CEO at Passthrough on their Series A fundraise. Tim shares the problem Passthrough is trying to solve, his larger vision for the company, the progress they’ve made so far and how he sees Passthrough positioned among its competitors in the market. Tim also explains why he chose to work with Positive Sum, the fund that backed Passthrough during the seed round and led their Series A round. He also offers insight into the difficulty of the series A funding round.

2 interesting things that they did while fundraising was:

• Used a memo instead of the usual pitch deck 
• Included ‘why you should not invest’ information in the memo

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com

In this episode you will learn:

• Elizabeth shares the story of how she got into entrepreneurship and subsequently a VC
• What is the fund strategy of Hustle fund?
• According to Elizabeth, why is the speed of execution so important for the success of a startup?
• Having made more than 700 investments in startups, how does Elizabeth rate herself as a VC? What does it take for a VC to get into the top 1% echelon?
• What are some of the processes that Hustle Fund has in place to make investments and portfolio support faster and efficient?
• How does she manage her time as a VC?
• How can founders manage their risk during tough times like we are experiencing now?
• What does Elizabeth mean when she says that startups are a ‘multi-turn game’?
• Why do customer acquisition costs (CAC) almost always go up for a startup?

About

Elizabeth Yin is a co-founder and General Partner at Hustle Fund, a pre-seed fund for software entrepreneurs. Previously, Elizabeth was a partner at 500 Startups where she invested in seed-stage companies and ran the Mountain View accelerator. In a prior life, Elizabeth co-founded and ran an adtech company called LaunchBit (acq 2014). Elizabeth has a BSEE from Stanford and an MBA from MIT Sloan.

Elizabeth has reviewed over 20k startup pitches from around the world in the last few years and has helped numerous portfolio founders raise hundreds of millions of dollars. Her work and writing on startup fundraising have been featured in numerous publications including TechCrunch, Forbes, Huffington Post, BetaKit, and more.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com

In this episode you will learn:

• Why James became a VC despite having an opinion that it was a bad idea?
• How does Creative Ventures evaluate startups and why do they study the market they invest in deeply before looking at tech solutions for it?
• Why James doesn’t invest in startups with R&D risk and also talk about the strict protocols they have in place to make investments?
• Why startups who don’t share information about their tech or product is a sign of a really bad one?
• Does investing in more diverse founders outside of the elite networks that get most of the venture potentially offer better venture returns?
• What challenges are faced by healthcare startups in aligning the different stakeholders to ensure a successful GTM strategy?
• How even the end of the Ukraine war is not going to end the global food shortage and the challenges faced in agriculture to improve productivity

About

James Wang is a General Partner at Creative Ventures, an early-stage VC focusing on healthcare, agriculture, and industrial technologies, and a co-founder of Lioness Health. Previously, he was on the core investment team at Bridgewater Associates, founded a non-profit consulting firm specializing in microfinance, and did a stint at Google X's Makani project.

James holds an MBA from UC Berkeley where he was a Jack Larson Fellow in Entrepreneurship, a BA with Honors from Dartmouth, and an MS in Computer Science at Georgia Tech. He also holds a Data Science Specialization from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed the course track for a Ph.D. Designated Emphasis in Computational Sciences and Engineering at UC Berkeley.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com

In this episode you will learn:

• What is a term sheet and why does it exist?
• What are the key sections of a term sheet? 
• Why is the term sheet less like a legal document and more like a commercial document?
• Do you need a lawyer to negotiate the term sheets that VCs offer startups when they’re raising a fund?
• What are exclusivity rights, voting rights, governing laws, and information rights in a term sheet?
• What do the terms liquidation preference, anti-dilution, break-free, and preemptive mean?
• Can VCs back out of a term sheet?
• What should be the mindset of a founder while negotiating a term sheet?
• How should a promoter conduct negotiation if he receives multiple term sheets?
• What are some of the red flags that a founder should look out for in this process?
• Why is full ratchet anti-dilution a red flag?
• What are non-standard protective rights?

About
Siddharth Mody is a Senior Partner at Desai and Diwanji. With 18 years of rich experience advising on transactions, general corporate law, and disputes, and regularly commended for his pragmatism and responsiveness, Siddharth has served both large and mid-sized funds as well as early-stage and emerging companies in the tech sector and conventional sectors.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com

In this episode you will learn:

• According to Amra, should everyone start a business at least once in their career?
• What is Accelerating Asia? What are 3 services that they offer the startup ecosystem?
• Why was sustainability always a priority for Accelerating Asia right from the start?
• Why does Accelerating Asia focus on investing in startups that are between the MVP stage and the product-market fit stage?
• Is building a venture-backed startup the best way to create impact? What is one other alternative?
• Why is Amra bullish on Bangladesh and Bangladeshi startups?

About

Amra Naidoo is Co-Founder and General Partner at Accelerating Asia, an award-winning VC, and startup accelerator that scouts and propels the best founders in the region and invests up to US$250k in pre-Series A startups.

For close to a decade, Amra has spearheaded high-impact partnerships and programs, including the award-winning UN Women global social entrepreneurship program, Project Inspire, and was a key contributor to muru-D’s startup selections, including investing in Shop Up.

She's the Southeast Asia Lead for Impact Capital and the Outgoing Curator for the Global Shapers Singapore Hub, a World Economic Forum initiative. She's also the host of the Doing Good Podcast.

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com

In this episode you will learn:

• How did Puiyan break into the VC industry despite having an engineering background?
• According to Puiyan, should a startup founder engage with a big corporation as their initial customer or should he/she go after the SMB & Mid-Market segment?
• What are the core values of Vertex Ventures?
• What does it take to raise a Series A?
• How do Vertex Ventures assess Series A startups? How do they go about evaluating the founding team?
• Does it make sense for startups to raise as much funds as possible in series A? What are some downsides of doing this? 
• The creator economy is on a boom, but at the same time, there are very few creators creating sustainable businesses. Will the creator economy expand, and sustain at the same time?
• What are the opportunities that Puiyan sees in the creator economy?
• What is climate tech and how do VCs look at it?

About
Puiyan Leung serves as Partner, Investment in Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and focuses on opportunities in Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Pui Yan was an Investment Director at Singtel Innov8, the CVC arm of Singtel.  Prior to that, she assumed a range of operating roles, including Business Development, Product Marketing, and Strategy. Pui Yan is a Kauffman Fellow and graduated with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering Degree from the National University of Singapore.

 

🔗 Follow us:

🏠Website : https://understandingvc.com/

🤝🏻LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/understanding-vc/

🎧 Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/1q7DxW3FEyP7EhH8m0VvAD

🍎 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/understanding-vc/id1551524895

 

💌 Connect with Rahul: 

🤝🏻 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulthayyalamkandy/

📩 Email : [email protected]

🐣 Twitter : https://twitter.com/rahul0720

 

📍 About: 

Understanding VC is a podcast that provides founders with the knowledge and resources they need to understand venture capital. Our goal is to create the best and most comprehensive resource on venture capital on the internet, so that founders can make informed decisions about their businesses and secure the funding they need to succeed.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.uvcmedia.com