Podcasts about sequoia india

I sat down with GV Ravishankar the Managing Director at Peak XV (previously Sequoia India) to discus the state of growth stage investing given the current macro environment. The team at Peak XV are managing US$10bn in assets. GV walks us through Peak XV's investment strategy with a focus on MENA, what he looks for in target companies, the importance of founders as the startup matures, advice to founders in his portfolio companies as they weather the global downturn, and parallels between India, South East Asia and the MENA region.Please spend 7min to fill out the podcast listener survey: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1 This episode is supported by Capital.com, an award winning global investment platform. To start trading today, visit https://capital.com

I sat down with GV Ravishankar the Managing Director at Peak XV (previously Sequoia India) to discus the state of growth stage investing given the current macro environment. The team at Peak XV are managing US$10bn in assets. GV walks us through Peak XV's investment strategy with a focus on MENA, what he looks for in target companies, the importance of founders as the startup matures, advice to founders in his portfolio companies as they weather the global downturn, and parallels between India, South East Asia and the MENA region. Please spend 7min to fill out the podcast listener survey: https://33s6g1ujw6w.typeform.com/to/KeVEuZe1  This episode is supported by Capital.com, an award winning global investment platform. To start trading today, visit https://capital.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode we take a quick look at edtech funding, from a report published by Tracxn. But first, a few headlines.  Headlines Telecom operators in India want internet companies to compensate them for using their telecom networks, a recommendation they've made to the local regulatory body, echoing a viewpoint that is gaining some momentum in other parts of the world, TechCrunch reports. Pentathlon Ventures, an early-stage B2B SaaS-focused venture capital firm, has announced the launch of its second fund with a target corpus of Rs 450 Crore. The fund aims to invest in 25 B2B SaaS start-ups, the VC firm said in a press release. One thing today Now, after all the problems BYJU's has faced, it might not surprise you that India's edtech startups haven't done very well this year, by way of funding, even though they were among the top three most funded geographies in this space, worldwide, in the first seven months or so of 2023, according to Tracxn, a leading provider of private markets intelligence in India. India's ed-tech startups sector has experienced a declining trend in funding, similar to its global counterparts, according to Tracxn's latest Feed-Geo report on the ed-tech startups landscape in India. Most of the funding into Indian ed-tech startups in 2023 so far was secured in the second quarter of the calendar year. Companies raised funding worth $713 million in Q2 2023, accounting for 73.43 percent of the total funding raised this year. This is also an increase of 37 percent compared with the same period last year.  That said, total funding into the Indian ed-tech space plunged 48 percent to $971 million in 2023 between Jan. 1 and Aug. 7, the period for which Tracxn has compiled data for its report. edtech startups had raised $1.87 billion in the same period in 2022. The 2023 YTD funding is also 50 percent lower than the money the sector raised in the same period in 2021, according to Tracxn. The number of funding rounds in 2023 fell 77 percent and 82 percent compared with the same periods in 2022 and 2021 respectively. Late-stage investments worth $879 million have been recorded in 2023 so far, contributing to more than 90 percent of the total funding, which is also a drop of 23 percent compared with $1.14 billion raised in the same period in 2022 and a drop of 39 percent from $1.44 billion raised in the same period in 2021. Early-stage investments worth $75.7 million were recorded in 2023 YTD, an 88 percent drop from $618 million raised in the same period last year and an 82 percent drop compared with $414 million raised in the same period in 2021. Edtech startups raised $15.7 million through seed-stage rounds in 2023 between Jan. 1 and Aug. 7, a drop of 85 percent from $105 million raised in the same period in 2022 and an 83 percent drop from the same period in 2021. No new Unicorns have so far emerged in this sector this year, as against two in the same period last year. 2023 saw seven acquisitions, a 70 percent decline compared with 23 acquisitions in the same period in 2022 and 19 acquisitions in the same period in 2021. Among Indian cities, Bengaluru, far and away, takes the lead in terms of total funds raised till date, followed by Mumbai and Gurgaon. edtech startups in Bangalore have raised a total of over $8 billion as of Aug. 7, 2023, followed by Mumbai ($2.5 billion) and Gurgaon ($497 million). In the last two years, We Founder Circle, Peak XV Partners, formerly Sequoia India, and MMPL Trust, were the most active investors in this space. We Founder Circle, IPV, and LetsVenture were the top seed investors, while Peak XV Partners, Better Capital, and AngelList were the top early-stage investors. MMPL Trust, WestBridge Capital, and The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative were the top late-stage investors.

In this episode, we host Rohit M A, Managing Partner of PeerCapital and Co-Founder of Cloudnine Hospitals. Rohit M A is one of the OGs of the Indian Startup ecosystem, having Co-Founded Cloudnine Hospitals in 2006 and transforming maternity care. He is one of the few new age founders to have gone through institutional building, raising large scale capital from the likes of Matrix, Peak XV (previously Sequoia India), Temasek and the likes. Recently, he moved on from his active role at Cloudnine to start his own institutional fund - PeerCapital to invest in early stage founders. Through this detailed conversation, we uncover a bunch of learnings from Rohit's 17 year long journey of being a part of the ecosystem. His experience of having built an institution at scale and starting one now is very unique in many ways. Tune in for a phenomenal experience. LinkedIn Profile of Rohit M A - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohitoncloud9/ LinkedIn Profile of Jivraj - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ 00:00 - Introduction 01:45 - Founders turned Investors 05:16 - Why Founders turned Investors win? 07:47 - Founders knowing too much as an Investor 09:30 - How has Healthcare evolved? 18:47 - Tech Enabled Service Business Layers 25:24 - How to align objectives in Healthcare? 33:18 - Angel Investing Excellence 41:30 - What has changed in Angel Investing? 48:25 - Why the Investing Journey? 53:19 - The PeerCapital Story 57:58 - Right to Win for a new Fund 1:02:01 - Value Systems for Rohit 1:04:45 - Proof Points for Outlier Founders 1:07:39 - How do Founders define Rohit as an Investor? 1:10:30 - How do you manage to do the boring bits of your company? 1:14:10 - Learnings from the Journey! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

All the cool kids are filling out the Equity listener survey. We want to hear from you!It was a hectic week, with little in the way of the traditional Summer Slowdown making itself known. So, here's what Alex and Mary Ann covered with some help from our dear friend Jacquie Melinek:WWDC in a nutshell: In case you missed it, Apple had a big event this week. On tap were the usual run of software updates, and improved computers in both laptop and desktop format. And, you know, that other thing.Affirm partners with Amazon (again): This is not Affirm's first tie-up with Amazon, but investors are pretty excited that the pair of companies are once again linking arms. As we continue to wait for mega-unicorn Klarna's IPO — more notes here — we are keeping our ears close the BNPL ground.Cava's IPO continues to delight Alex: What has an IPO coming up and has this little podcast in a tizzy? Yep, it's Cava, the fast-casual chain that, thanks to a dollop or two of venture capital money, we get to cover!All things SEC and Crypto: The SEC broke into its hammer closet so that it could go play whack-a-mole this week with crypto exchanges both foreign and domestic.Sequoia does to itself what regulators want to do to Google: What has three parts and is now competing with itself? Sequoia. Think of it like an inverse Google, if you will.How real estate will affect the climate crisis: It turns out that construction is not so good for the planet. And with a commercial real estate crisis brewing, can we add one to one and get five?Next week, Equity is on vacation! We're taking a breather before launching into another massive run of shows, but we'll be back before you know it. For episode transcripts and more, head toEquity's Simplecast website.Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us onApple Podcasts,Overcast,Spotifyand all the casts. TechCrunch also has agreat show on crypto, ashow that interviews founders, one thatdetails how our stories come together and more!

Netflix is betting on merchandising. It partnered with the non-alcoholic beer brand Athletic Brewing to introduce limited-edition co-branded brews. It also collaborated with Lacoste on a fashion collection.In today's episode, we are also talking about Sequoia Capital's three-way split. This break up resulted in Sequoia China, now called HongShan, and Sequoia India, now rebranded as Peak XV Partners. All three will now operate as separate entities, with independent partnerships. Tune in to The Signal Daily for more!The Signal Daily is produced in association with IVM.The episode was written, researched and produced by Manaswini and Chaarmikha Edited by Venkat Ananth and Soumya GuptaMastered and mixed by Manas and NirvaanYou can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android, iOS or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at https://ivmpodcasts.com/. Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. Follow the show across platforms: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts,  Amazon Prime Music.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we are joined by GV Ravishankar, managing director of Sequoia India. India's venture capital sector has matured in recent decades. The country now boasts over 100 unicorns. So what can we learn from the ambitious founders driving India towards superpower status? Subscribe to THINKpod here

Launching a new software product and successfully driving user adoption and retention is a challenge for many startups. According to sales engagement platform Vymo's co-founder and CEO Yamini Bhat, the secret is to ‘go live' quickly and show users their return on investment. On this episode of Moonshot, we take a peek into Vymo's playbook to learn about some of the key product and sales design choices the startup's team made to attract and retain users across large enterprise customers.Show Notes:The problem statement thesis: “Sellers hate any tool that is given to them.” [6:30]Use the challenger sales approach to build credibility [11:33]Narrow your focus: Look for indicators to hone in on a specific market [18:29]Take a DIY approach and allow for the customization of your product [22:39]Adapt to different cultures when launching your product internationally [30:04]“Why not the US?: Weighing up which market to break into first [36:38]Communicate the magic of your product and ‘go live' quickly [39:24]

OUTLINE: 0:00 Sequoia Capital India introduction 0:49 Intro to Shailesh Lakhani and Prachi Pawar 3:29 Type of investments and founders they seek 4:36 Surge pre-Series A program 5:30 Specific opportunities and trends in India 9:04 Gaming opportunity in India 13:51 Specific gaming investment opportunities they seek 14:59 Why did Sequoia India invest in Lila Games? 16:30 Current investment environment, macro factors 19:19 Advice to founders based on current trends 21:10 Outlook on Web3 22:51 Advice to founders who would pitch Sequoia India SUBSCRIBE TO GAMEMAKERS: - Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/34hfOtv - Spotify Podcast: https://spoti.fi/3Cpyq7i - Newsletter: https://gamemakers.substack.com/ - Don't miss an episode on Youtube:    / gamemakersstudio  

"If you are deciding everything, then you are limited by your own speed". That's a belief Groww co-founder and CEO, Lalit Keshre, keeps front and center as he and his co-founders scale the investment platform. Keshre believes that by having a decentralized structure, team members are empowered to make quicker decisions around products. On this episode of Moonshot, we chat with Lalit Keshre and Ashish Agrawal, Managing Director at Sequoia India, about key design choices Groww made to take on a market with strong incumbents.Show Notes:Financial services is a basic human need [01:16]When engineering and finance converge [05:20]Set up a decentralized structure and empower your teams to make quicker decisions [14:03]Taking a pull-driven approach to building an investment platform [18:12]Bake customer-centricity into every product decision [ 21:44]Don't sell, educate instead [23:43]Pursue long-term success over short-term gains [26:04]Attract talent by offering purpose, autonomy, and growth [28:16]Trust in your own convictions [30:35]

Healthtech startup RedBrick AI has raised $4.6 million in a funding round led by Sequoia India and Southeast Asia's Surge as it plans to expand the market for its medical imagery annotations solution.

Healthtech startup RedBrick AI has raised $4.6 million in a funding round led by Sequoia India and Southeast Asia's Surge as it plans to expand the market for its medical imagery annotations solution.

Thomas Edison once said that Genius is prolonged patience. I am patient enough to be sure. Today on The One Percent Project, I am speaking to Anand Jain. He is the Co-founder of CleverTap. CleverTap is the world's leading customer engagement and retention platform, valued at USD 775M and backed by Sequoia India, Tiger Global and others. In this fascinating conversation, Anand talks about how curiosity and constant tinkering of an average student from a humble background have led him to build multiple successful businesses, the value of thinking in first principles, how understanding the customer is selling, and much more.Some Key Highlights:Learning Framework: There is a certain joy in figuring out things on your own from first principles. A learning framework is- Do it as long as it doesn't kill you, then come back and look at what you've learned and can you have a compounding effect on what you've learnt?Founders: Technical founders typically start from the problem statement as opposed to non-technical founders, who start from the market opportunity or the competitors in the space.Teams: Your competitors will change, markets will change, and products will evolve. It's the people who will decide whether you win or lose.In this conversation, he talks about:00:00 Intro01:52 Early life: One bedroom rented house, an average student to co-founder of Clevertap. How do you reflect on it?12:52 How is understanding the customer- selling?16:18 What is your learning framework- How do you indulge in learning something new?19:03 Technical founders - how has the experience been?22:54 How do you differentiate yourself?28:25 Being a product-first company- what does that mean?32:58 Building for a niche/ focus group Vs for everyone?36:02 What do you think about building a team?39:16 Key learnings from Moments of Truth?41:29 Views on Elon Musk?Links:Anand JainMoments of Truth

Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines.We hope that you are in good form this Friday, alive, well, and ready to rock. We certainly were. And in a change of pace, as our dear Mary Ann was off this week, the excellent Anita Ramaswamy joined Natasha Mascarenhas and Alex Wilhelm on the mics. (Theresa, as per usual, held down the production front!)What did we merry three get into? The following:Quick Hits: Launch House is shaking up its legal team as it sifts through what is left of its reputation; Sequoia India is still making big edtech bets; and BeReal is wealthy and, in our view, pretty cool. But does it have the staying power it will need?Twitter layoffs: When we prepped for the show, it seemed that massive Twitter layoffs could impact up to 75% of the company's staff. Since then, the figure has come down some. How much? That's not clear, but what is is the fact that Twitter's new chapter is supposed to begin, and soon.King Apple: The multi-front war attacking Apple's massive, and pervasive demand that it gets 30% of all transaction value on the App Store continues to rack up detractors. This time? NFT and other crypto fans. China: We closed on a brief riff on Chinese startups!We are back Monday for a spooky episode!Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday and Wednesday, and at 6 a.m. PT on Fridays, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders, one that details how our stories come together, and more!

Gaurav Hinduja is the Co-founder and Managing Director of axio (previously known as Capital Float), an online platform that provides working capital finance to SMEs in India. It offers flexible, short-term loans that can be used to purchase inventory, service new orders or optimize cash cycles. The company has raised over $200M till date from Sequoia India, Elevation Capital, Amazon, Ribbit Capital and PE firm Lightrock among other investors.Gaurav brings deep operating experience in India with detailed knowledge of complex supply chains. Prior to axio, he ran operations for Gokaldas Exports, India's largest apparel manufacturer employing 40,000 people with $250 million in revenues. As COO, he had complete P&L responsibility for a major business line and led the implementation of lean manufacturing across company units. In today's episode, we talk about the journey of the unknown, something many founders go through especially when they start business in domain they've had little or no prior experience in.Episode notes: 1. What inspired Gaurav to pursue entrepreneurship? (3:35)2. Do founders really plan ahead when they build businesses? (6:37)3. Why Gaurav and his co-founder, Sashank Rishyasringa decide to start axio? (8:18)4. What inspired Gaurav to pursue an idea in a field in which they had no prior experience? (11:08)5. Impact of Silicon Valley exposure in Gaurav's entrepreneurial journey (15:52)6. Early days of company formation and customer interactions (18:43)7. When did Gaurav transition from a doer to an enabler in the company-building process? (26:44)8. The significance and impact of early-stage investors (30:37)9. Creating moats as the company expands (33:30)10. How do you gain customers in a competitive market? (37:35)11. How does Gaurav make decisions, and what is his decision-making framework? (44:30)12. What has Gaurav learned about himself during all his years of being in business (50:33). . . Social links:axio on Twitter: https://twitter.com/add_axioGaurav Hinduja on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gdhindujaPodcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedesi_vcAkash Bhat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bhatvakashPodcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedesivcAkash Bhat on Instagram: https://instagram.com/bhatvakash

India's manufacturing sector, which contributes 18% of the country's GDP, is on the cusp of change. This highly labor intensive sector, which is plagued with logistical and technical issues, is undergoing a transformation as workers upskill and companies start to digitize their processes to improve efficiency. In 2018, Amrit Acharya, Srinath Ramakkrushnan, Vishal Chaudhary, and Rahul Sharma launched Zetwerk, a B2B manufacturing network that offers companies manufacturing solutions across a wide variety of products. On this episode of Moonshot, we speak with Amrit Acharya, Co-Founder and CEO of Zetwerk and Shailesh Lakhani, Managing Director at Sequoia India, about how the startup is taking a bold bet to bring a centuries-old industry into the digital age.Show Notes: Fall in love with unsolved problems (5:40)“We built exactly what you wanted.”: The challenges of selling software in India (9:40)The answer to how you pivot your startup lies in user behavior (11:15)Taking on a centuries-old industry (16:28)Finding opportunity in adversity (20:24)Taking a software approach to building hardware (among other things) (23:39)Running an international business without an overseas footprint (27:30)“Done is better than perfect.” (29:30)Showcasing India's manufacturing potential (33:28)Paying it forward with Zetwerk Build (34:34)

In 2017, a group of hackers in India figured out a way to get the best prices on cryptocurrencies at any point in time by aggregating data from all the crypto exchanges. That was the origin of CoinSwitch, a startup with a mission to ‘make money equal for all'. The platform gained traction, went through a few pivots and soon became one of India's largest cryptocurrency trading apps. On this episode of Moonshot, we chat with CoinSwitch co-founder and CEO Ashish Singhal and Sequoia India Managing Director Shailesh Lakhani about how the startup is taking crypto to the masses by differentiating itself from its competitors, educating users, and tracking user gains to improve their product.Show Notes:Start by solving a problem that you've encountered (1:36)If mom can use it: The CoinSwitch differentiator [06:03]Build user confidence: Educate them on how to use your product (9:10)Go-to-Market strategy: Web3 vs Web2 (12:11)Bear markets make you work harder for your users (14:52)Track user gains to improve your product (17:23)Be frugal, be focused (20:08)Know that there's a right time for your idea (23:05)Give yourself two chances at success (28:15)

Infosys is setting up four more delivery centres in India's tier-2 cities to allow staff to work closer to their hometowns, and tap a wider talent base, Economic Times reports, citing Krishnamurthy Shankar, the IT services company's head of human resources. Sequoia raises its largest India fund yet. And Spotify adds a voice AI team and tech via an acquisition. Notes: Infosys is setting up four more delivery centres in India's tier-2 cities to allow staff to work closer to their hometowns, and tap a wider talent base, Economic Times reports, citing Krishnamurthy Shankar, the IT services company's head of human resources. These centres will be 1000-seaters and will be ready by the end of the next fiscal quarter, Shankar told ET. The company, which has nearly 40 percent of its staff as women, is particularly focusing on getting women to come back, Shankar told ET, after many left during the Covid-19 pandemic. Sequoia India and Sequoia Southeast Asia have collectively raised $2.85 billion across a set of funds, including India venture and growth funds and an $850 million Southeast Asian fund — Sequoia's first dedicated fund for the region, the venture capital firm said in a blog post. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Sequoia as a global firm, 16 years in India, and 10 in Southeast Asia. The region's startup ecosystem has grown rapidly in the last decade, thanks to the acceleration of digital adoption and rising consumer incomes. Last year, India emerged as the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, after the US and China. Southeast Asia, meanwhile, is on track to becoming a $1 trillion digital economy by 2030, the VC firm notes in its blog post. Spotify is acquiring Sonantic, the UK-based voice AI company behind the tech that simulated actor Val Kilmer's voice in the Hollywood blockbuster Top Gun Maverick, TechCrunch reports. “We're really excited about the potential to bring Sonantic's AI voice technology onto the Spotify platform and create new experiences for our users,” Ziad Sultan, Spotify's Vice President of Personalisation, said in a blogpost. “This integration will enable us to engage users in a new and even more personalised way,” Ziad added. At Spotify, we've identified several potential opportunities for text-to-speech capabilities across our platform, and we believe that over the long term, high-quality voice will be important to growing our share of listening. For example, this voice technology could allow us to give context to users about upcoming recommendations when they aren't looking at their screens, the company said in the blog post. And here's the Val Kilmer connection. In real life, the actor is unable to speak as he did in the past as a result of throat cancer. Therefore, for the Top Gun sequel, in which he reprised his role as a foil (and now friend) to Tom Cruise, his condition, and the simulated voice Sonantic created, were both written into the plot of the film, TechCrunch explains. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds

Swati Khanna is the VP of Human Capital at Sequoia India where she plays a vital role in supporting portfolio startups in attracting and retaining top talent required to build the country's next big unicorns. Prior to joining Sequoia, Swati founded Meyrahkee, a talent advisory firm focussed on helping companies with talent solutions, and spent four years at Accel as a Talent Partner, helping Accel's portfolio companies from inception through the growth stage. Swati has a solid reputation for being a top talent recruiter and was recognized as one of India's Top 40 Social Recruiters in 2017.In this episode, we will cover:1. Human capital in the context of the venture 2. Thinking about talent acquisition at various growth cycles of a startup 3. State of the industry right now with respect to talent acquisition 4. How should founders position themselves and their startups to attract the best talent 5. How to develop culture within a startup 6. How does Sequoia help young founders attract top talent 7. Talent management 8. Addressing diversity in today's climate 9. What is the day to day of a VP of a Human capital 10. Advice to fund managers who are building out or looking to build human capital 11. How does Sequoia look at human capital with a 5-year lens 12. Productizing human capital

Doug Leone has led Sequoia Capital for over 25 years, overseeing the firm's international expansion. Throughout his time at Sequoia, Doug formed partnerships with companies like Nubank, Medallia, ServiceNow and Wiz. He's seen thousands of pitches and worked with hundreds of founders as they grow and scale their startups. On this episode of Moonshot, Doug chats with Sequoia India Managing Director Rajan Anandan about some of the insights he's gained over the past two decades working with startups, common pitfalls founders should look out for, and what it takes to build a truly enduring company. The conversation took place during an AMA at Surge – our rapid scale-up program for early-stage startups.Show Notes:Sequoia's culture - Spiky people with a “We, not I” mindset [7:05]Architect your company, not just your product [14:18]Fail fast: Why flops are better than slogs [18:06]The gross margin line doesn't lie [24:53]Servant leadership starts with you [30:34]The number one reason companies fail [33:06]Focus on solving a singular problem [37:58]

For product-led growth companies (PLG), the perennial question is: how do we get non-paying customers to subscribe?

Instant noodles may not be the first thing that comes to mind when we think of healthy food, but Indonesian startup Lemonilo is disrupting the country's consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry by offering a healthier version of Indonesia's favourite instant meal. The company is building relationships with communities to educate them on the importance of healthy living, while leveraging technology to get healthy snacks into the hands of consumers quickly. On this episode of Moonshot, Lemonilo's Co-Founder and CTO Johannes Ardiant chats with Rohit Agarwal, a principal at Sequoia India and Southeast Asia about the need to take a community-first approach when building a consumer brand,  how Lemonilo is getting its products to market quickly, and why startup founders should pick the right problem before focusing on a solution. Show Notes:Offer a new solution to an old problem (04:05)Pick the right problem and validate it (6:45)Don't forget what it takes to build your MVP (10:58)Lemonilo's growth strategy: Leverage communities and remain agile (18:18)Grow brand loyalty by listening to your customers (20:58)Leverage tech to shorten your supply chain (23:45)Get your product to market quickly (28:40)Bring tech and communities together to create social impact (31:05)Not all problems can be solved by technology (34:45)Ask the right questions (38:25)

Indonesia's food delivery sector is a crowded space - dominated by industry giants and an increasing number of startups all vying for a slice of the pie. It's also an industry that's rapidly growing, with more cloud kitchens opening across the country to cater to young, tech-savvy Indonesians looking for a variety of food options to be delivered right to their doorstep. Hangry, a fast-growing cloud kitchen startup that launched in 2019, is feeding this demand by offering international cuisines, along with local favourites, to appeal to an increasingly global-minded target market. On this episode of Moonshot, we speak with the co-founder and CEO of Hangry, Abraham Viktor, and Sequoia India and Southeast Asia's Aakash Kapoor to discover how the startup is taking on industry giants, riding the K-pop trend, and creating a winning recipe for cloud-kitchens (and hungry customers) in Indonesia. Show Notes:A tasty way to take on industry giants (2:07)Appeal to different palates with a wide variety of flavours (4:15)Taste and iterate: The Moon Chicken recipe for success (9:40)How the Hangry Academy sets outlet staff up for success (13:18)Count Your Chickens: Deciding on quantities with the help of technology (14:25)Be quick to respond to customer complaints (16:06)Entice your customers by nailing the basics and riding trends (18:25)Customer complaints for breakfast: Team Hangry's morning ritual (20:20)The key ingredients of building a brand (21:50)

Welcome to #57 episode of The Startup Operator Roundup. Today we have Roshan Cariappa and Gunjan Saha discussing - 1. Three new unicorns this week: Xpressbees, ElasticRun, Livspace 2. Sachin Bansal's NAvi to go IPO 3. Companies selected for automotive PLI scheme 4. Sequoia India's record funding 5. Acquisitions and fundings and more! Rishi Agrawal Episode Links: Spotify: https://cutt.ly/RishiSpotify Apple: https://cutt.ly/RishiApple Google: https://cutt.ly/RishiGoogle Anchor: https://cutt.ly/RishiAnchor YouTube: https://youtu.be/g8nlkb1FV-0 Click here to get regular updates on WhatsApp: https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 Hit the like button if enjoyed this roundup, and do not forget to share among your operator friends! Listen to our interviews and conversations with investors, operators, and founders on your favourite podcast platforms. #startups #unicorns #technology #roundup #podcast #news --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

The quest to find safe, toxin-free, natural skincare for their baby led Varun and Ghazal Alagh to launch Mamaearth - Asia's first MADE SAFE® certified brand of skin and body care products. In just four short years, the startup has disrupted India's FMCG space by leveraging tech and innovation to help millennial consumers make natural, eco-friendly choices for their bodies. On this episode of Moonshot, Mamaearth's Varun Alagh chats with Sequoia India Managing Director, Ishaan Mittal about the strengths of building a startup with your spouse, crafting a purpose-based brand through nano-marketing, and how founders can perfect their brand through purpose, quality, and consistency. Show NotesA personal mission behind personal care products (1:50)Using the three Ps framework to bring your brand purpose to life (5:30)It's much easier to live with failure than to live with regret (13:15)The bedrock of a great founding team is trust (14:38)The benefit of starting a conversation with potential consumers (18:10)Be paranoid about quality (24:25)Disrupting FMCG incumbents with data and tech (25:32)Use your brand playbook to take on other markets (30:14)Perfecting your brand through purpose, quality and consistency (40:25)

Indonesian coffee chain, Kopi Kenangan, serves affordable brews made with local ingredients and recipes. The company, which employs a ‘Grab & Go' model, delivers most orders through its app, making it a convenient alternative to traditional coffee houses. In this episode of Moonshot, Kopi Kenangan Co-Founder, Edward Tirtanata talks to Sequoia India & Southeast Asia Principal, Rohit Agarwal about how he's building a well-loved brand with authentic Indonesian flavours, a deep understanding of what customers want, and staying true to his brand's DNA. Show NotesKopi Kenangan's sweet start (01:31)How a ‘One Cup, One Customer' approach and leveraging technology helped Kopi Kenangan weather the pandemic (07:09)Growing brand equity with great service and coffee (12:48)Stay true to your DNA to build brand love and recognition (16:24)Commitment to your customers is hard for copycats to replicate (21:32)Differentiate yourself based on your strengths (24:14)Creating new brands and verticals to achieve compounding distribution (26:54)Think big, start small, fail fast (30:45)Build and lead from your heart (33:00)

Prukalpa Sankar is on a quest to help ‘the humans of data' do more. In 2019, she and Varun Banka launched Atlan, a powerful collaboration platform that helps teams made up of different people, jobs, and tools, work together to translate vast amounts of data into actionable insights. The two developed the idea for Atlan at their prior company, SocialCops, a data-for-good startup that partnered with the World Bank, and helped build India's national data platform. In this episode of Moonshot, Prukulpa talks with Anandamoy Roychowdhary, a Principal at Sequoia India, about how her first-hand experience as a ‘human of data' shaped the data leader she's become today, the importance of making tough design choices early in your startup's journey, and how empathy has been Atlan's greatest competitive advantage in its mission to build a global SaaS brand and become the icon on the desktop for every data team. Show NotesBuilding a collaborative workspace for ‘the humans of data' (01:23)Unifying data teams on a single platform (04:44) How empathy can be a huge competitive advantage (07:27)Leveraging data to build personal conviction (11:09)Driving impact through founder-market fit (18:50)Having the conviction to choose long-term goals over short-term wins (23:50)Rallying your team towards your mission with clear, effective communication (25:56)Focus on problems that are most likely to make you fail long-term (30:09)Building a global SaaS brand out of India (34:37)Driving decisions with conviction (41:17)

“Early on, we decided that we will play the high-risk high-reward game. We will not be a ‘good company'. Either it has to be a great company or it has to be a failure.” Unacademy, which is on a mission to democratize access to quality and affordable education in India, has helped over 10,000 educators reach more than 50 million learners since it was founded in 2015. Their subscriber base has grown by more than five times in the last year alone. On this episode of Moonshot, Gaurav Munjal, Co-Founder and CEO of Unacademy, talks with Shailendra Singh, Managing Director at Sequoia India, about building and scaling iconic products, creating a culture of experimentation, and the role that ‘Founder's DNA' plays in a startup's trajectory. The conversation took place during an AMA at Surge – our rapid scale-up program for early-stage startups. Show NotesHow crucial pivots define the trajectory of the company (6:08)Deciding early to be great, not good, and aligning the team to that goal (11:27)Have enough runway to create a culture of experimentation (13:40)Build or acquire autonomous teams to drive product innovation (18:19)Create iconic products by setting iconic goals (22:20)Build a strong brand as a long term moat (29:07)Improving your game through continuous learning and growth (31:48)Be relentless in the quest for mentors (41:09)Managing relationships with your board (47:16)How confrontation can build trust and transparency (54:14)

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Vikram Chopra, Co-Founder & CEO of Cars24. Cars24 is India's largest used-car selling marketplace, marching towards becoming becoming the largest Auto Company of India. Valued at ~1.85 Bn Dollars, Cars24 has expanded its mission internationally making forays into Australia, UAE and other countries and has further started exploring the buy-side. Cars24 is an incredible testament to what a driven team can achieve. Their story is the epitome of entrepreneurial excellence for all future builders, and they are only just getting started! Through the episode we discuss - 1. (01:55) : Decoding Vikram's early career choices! From IIT-B to McKinsey to Sequoia India to Wharton & dropping in 6 months to Starting Up! 2. (06:03) : Shunning the noise & focusing on one's own choices 3. (08:01) : Recognising the need to go after large markets + managing ambition! 4. (10:43) : Tackling Supply-Side problems with FabFurnish & Cars24 5. (13:01) : Establishing a two-sided marketplace in a nascent industry! ~ The founding 0-1 journey of Cars24 6. (18:37) : Transforming the experience of selling cars ~ curating customer delight 7. (22:51) : Understanding the operational nuance of running a used-car selling marketplace 8. (26:19) : What goes into Operational Brilliance? ~ Automating Early!! 9. (28:21) : Focus on Branding ~ Retaining recall in the mind of the Consumer ~ Evaluating RoI 10. (31:37) : Taking Cars24 international ~ Making bold choices! 11. (35:30) : Building a Happy Place ~ Org + Team Curation for Cars24 12. (39:50) : Prioritisation and Decision making for Vikram ~ striving to achieve lesser decisions 13. (43:03) : The importance of "Thinking" as a Founder 14. (45:41) : Dealing with Challenges ~ Embracing Vulnerability 15. (50:29) : The larger mission & vision for Cars24 16. (53:29) : Conclusion Hope you liked the 73rd Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Building the largest Auto Company of India! That was it from this Episode, thanks again for tuning in! :) If you liked the episode, do share with your friends or drop us a quick review! Also, do follow us on social media to stay updated with all new episodes: Twitter: https://twitter.com/isv_podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indian-silicon-valley-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiansiliconvalleypodcast/ Gallery of all Episodes: https://airtable.com/shrTOFf1z5UT0q9p8 I am Jivraj, the host and if you have anything you would like to share with me, feel free to reach out via: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jivrajsinghsachar/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jivraj_sachar Or, you can directly reach out to me via WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/Indian_Silicon_Valley_Podcast You can also subscribe to the YouTube Channel of the Podcast : https://www.youtube.com/c/IndianSiliconValley/ "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

Stevensang, who grew up working in his parents' shop, founded GudangAda in 2019 to connect wholesalers directly to a variety of merchants, ranging from large retail chains to independent ‘mom-and-pop stores', or warungs. The startup has quickly become one of the country's largest online business-to-business marketplaces. In this episode of Moonshot, Stevensang talks with Sequoia India & SEA Managing Director Abheek Anand about how he drew on more than two decades of experience in leadership roles in Indonesia's FMCG industry to assess the market size and industry structure - and design a business model that empowers wholesalers and retailers alike. Show NotesDigitizing Indonesia's FMCG supply chain (1:18)Evaluating the market size, industry structure and opportunity in Indonesia's FMCG supply chain (6:35)Choosing to empower instead of disrupt the industry (9:14)How GudangAda hacked distribution (12:00)Securing supply by building relationships and trust with wholesalers (13:52)Building out GudangAda's team in the early days (16:57)What aspiring founders can learn from GudangAda's journey (22:29)Tips on assessing industry structure and designing your business model (27:46)

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Ashish Singhal, Founder & CEO of CoinSwitch Kuber. CoinSwitch Kuber is India's leading cryptocurrency startup. Valued at $1.9Bn, it is backed by some of the largest venture investors across the globe, including the likes of Sequoia India, Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global Management, Coinbase Ventures, Paradigm and it's latest round marks Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)'s first investment in India. Through the Episode we discuss the following: 1. (2:22) : The Hacker Mindset! ~ The What, Why & How of inculcating it as a Founder!! 2. (05:05) : Founding Story of CoinSwitch & Disrupting the Crypto Ecosystem in the Country 3. (08:20) : The Building Blocks & Pillars of CoinSwitch 4. (12:43) : Role of Market Education when building a Category Creating Company 5. (16:36) : What Optimal Messaging for the Consumer really means? 6. (17:58) : Crossing 10Mn+ Users on a Crypto Exchange in

Freshworks, which just listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, has become the poster child for Indian SaaS startups that want to build global businesses. Mohit Bhatnagar, Managing Director at Sequoia India, talks with Freshworks co-founder and CEO Girish Mathrubootham about the early design choices on product, pricing and positioning that made the company so successful. The conversation took place in July 2021 during an AMA at Surge, our rapid scale-up program for early-stage startups. Show Notes Everything begins with framing the customer problem well (2:19)Dreaming in increments to create a wedge (4:36)Sharpening product differentiation to support outbound sales (6:16)Using pricing as a weapon, and landing the first set of customers (10:33)How churn is a killer in product-led growth (13:05)Building a global company with its soul in Chennai (15:23)Increasing your standard of giving (18:45)Feeling like an Indian athlete that has a chance to run at the Olympics (21:45)

Shweta Rajpal Kohli is Chief Public Policy Officer, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia. She advises the fund's Indian and Southeast Asian portfolio companies on regulatory risks and engages policymakers on matters related to India's startup ecosystem. Prior to joining Sequoia, Shweta was the head of public policy for India and South Asia at Uber, and then at Salesforce, following a two-decade career as a leading business journalist and TV news anchor. With 2021 projected to see a record of around USD 20 billion invested in Indian startups, Shweta and Rexon discussed the tremendous opportunities in India's innovation ecosystem, including in the FinTech, EdTech, and enterprise tech sectors. They also weighed the regulatory challenges surrounding data localization and overseas listing for Indian startups, and Shweta offered advice for CEOs of multinational tech companies as they navigate India's evolving policy environment.

Shweta Rajpal Kohli is Chief Public Policy Officer, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia. She advises the fund's Indian and Southeast Asian portfolio companies on regulatory risks and engages policymakers on matters related to India's startup ecosystem. Prior to joining Sequoia, Shweta was the head of public policy for India and South Asia at Uber, and then at Salesforce, following a two-decade career as a leading business journalist and TV news anchor. With 2021 projected to see a record of around USD 20 billion invested in Indian startups, Shweta and Rexon discussed the tremendous opportunities in India's innovation ecosystem, including in the FinTech, EdTech, and enterprise tech sectors. They also weighed the regulatory challenges surrounding data localization and overseas listing for Indian startups, and Shweta offered advice for CEOs of multinational tech companies as they navigate India's evolving policy environment.

Shweta Rajpal Kohli is Chief Public Policy Officer, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia. She advises the fund's Indian and Southeast Asian portfolio companies on regulatory risks and engages policymakers on matters related to India's startup ecosystem. Prior to joining Sequoia, Shweta was the head of public policy for India and South Asia at Uber, and then at Salesforce, following a two-decade career as a leading business journalist and TV news anchor. With 2021 projected to see a record of around USD 20 billion invested in Indian startups, Shweta and Rexon discussed the tremendous opportunities in India's innovation ecosystem, including in the FinTech, EdTech, and enterprise tech sectors. They also weighed the regulatory challenges surrounding data localization and overseas listing for Indian startups, and Shweta offered advice for CEOs of multinational tech companies as they navigate India's evolving policy environment.

Shweta Rajpal Kohli is Chief Public Policy Officer, Sequoia India and Southeast Asia. She advises the fund's Indian and Southeast Asian portfolio companies on regulatory risks and engages policymakers on matters related to India's startup ecosystem. Prior to joining Sequoia, Shweta was the head of public policy for India and South Asia at Uber, and then at Salesforce, following a two-decade career as a leading business journalist and TV news anchor. With 2021 projected to see a record of around USD 20 billion invested in Indian startups, Shweta and Rexon discussed the tremendous opportunities in India's innovation ecosystem, including in the FinTech, EdTech, and enterprise tech sectors. They also weighed the regulatory challenges surrounding data localization and overseas listing for Indian startups, and Shweta offered advice for CEOs of multinational tech companies as they navigate India's evolving policy environment.

Raja Ganapathy is the Founding Partner at Spring Marketing Capital, a skin-in-the-game marketing capital firm with investments in companies such as Byju, CureFit, WakeFit, Practo, 1mg among several others.Raja has worked with founders for most of his working life of 24+ years. First with Ogilvy and Brand David, where he worked with founders including Muruga of Bharat Matrimony and Siddhartha Lal of Royal Enfield. His defining stint was with Sequoia India, where as CMO, Raja worked with founders from different stages – Byju Raveendran (Byju's Learning App), Vikram Chopra (CARS24), Amrish and Jitendra (Citrus Pay), Virendra Gupta (Daily Hunt), Jaydeep Burman (Faaso's), Kunal Shah (Freecharge), Sameer Maheshwari (Healthkart), Amit Kumat (Prataap Snacks), Alan and Nami (Truecaller).The founders he worked with at Sequoia brought a variety of diverse opportunities and challenges to the table and helped Raja decide what he wanted to do with the rest of his life – work closely with founders and founding teams. His raison d'être is to look at business challenges through the lens of marketing with a skin-in-the-game, long term approach to help build the brands of tomorrow. And that's exactly what he seeks to do at Spring. Raja is an eternal optimist and believes strongly that creativity and entrepreneurship can change the world. He is thrilled that Spring has an opportunity to work with founders who hate the status quo, believe in positive impact and are never satisfied with the pastIn this episode we will cover:1. Insights from the pandemic (3:14)2. How did fundraising differ during the first fund vs the second, which was set largely during the pandemic months (7:00)3. Selecting LPs: What is the right strategy as a fund manager (13:51)4. What's motivating Spring's LPs to join them beyond return of capital? (18:01)5. How did Spring's thesis come into being? (25:41)6. Challenges that come with Spring's thesis (32:10)7. Where are founders in their ‘brand journey' when they come in contact with Spring? (41:28)8. What don't founders understand about branding? (46:40)9. How and why are celebrities thinking about venture capital? (50:55)10. Why aren't Indian celebrities more impact / value driven? (53:10)

Ajey is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded several startups over the course of his 25 year career and is currently an operating partner at Sequoia. In this episode he spoke about his journey so far, balancing speed versus quality and more in his interview with Roshan Cariappa and Augustus D'Souza. Key highlights: 00:00 Introduction 02:07 Ajey's Journey So far 07:13 High level challenges 16:45 Principles for build v/s buy 23:24 How does visibility factor into the Build v/s Buy decision 26:47 Balancing quality and speed 31:09 Refactoring and technical debt 35:07 Microservices vs Monoliths 40:39 Advice on hiring CTOs 43:43 Downsides of Job Hopping 46:18 Prioritising and building hiring skillset 51:22 Key skills to transition to an Engineering Leader 53:42 What makes a great engineer? 57:00 Closing Remarks ------------------------------------- Connect with Ajey: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajeygore/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AjeyGore ------------------------------------- Connect with Us: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startupoperator ​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message

In this episode, we speak with Sunil Thomas, the CEO and cofounder of CleverTap, which is the leading customer engagement and retention platform that helps brands maximize user lifetime value. Consumer brands around the world representing over 8,000 apps—including Vodafone, Star, Sony, Discovery, Fandango LATAM, Carousell, and Gojek—trust CleverTap to help them improve user engagement and retention thereby growing long term revenue. CleverTap is backed by leading venture capital firms including Sequoia India, Tiger Global Management, Accel, and Recruit Holdings, and operates out of San Francisco, Seattle, London, Singapore, and Mumbai. We chat with Sunil about how CleverTap is helping companies optimize the mobile experience for its users as well as his experience building the company. We hope you enjoy the show.

Zenyum, a startup that wants to make cosmetic dentistry more affordable, announced today it has raised a $40 million Series B. This includes $25 million from L Catterton, a private equity firm focused on consumer brands.

Zenyum, a startup that wants to make cosmetic dentistry more affordable, announced today it has raised a $40 million Series B. This includes $25 million from L Catterton, a private equity firm focused on consumer brands.

EP54: {Ashish Singhal, Co-Founder of CoinSwitch} Hi Stars! Apologies for the sporadic episodes and the long gap between the last episode! Hope you and your family are safe and well during this crazy time. Go get vaccinated, please don't wait. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — → Go Subscribe to the Newsletter via stars.substack.com so that you can receive future podcast releases delivered to your inbox! → Full episode of the podcast is available on my YouTube Channel — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Founded by 3 friends Govind, Vimal & Ashish, friends from NSIT in 2017, CoinSwitch is now backed by bluechip fin-tech investors like Ribbit Capital, Paradigm and Sequoia India, raising $15 million in their Series A round. In April 2021, they raised another $25 million ( ₹181 crore) from Tiger Global - valuing Coinswitch at more than $500 million. Buoyed by the massive interest amongst Indians for cryptocurrencies, the platform has witnessed 350% growth in its user base since January this year. The most actively transacting age group on the platform is between 25-35 and the platform is witnessing a huge demand from Tier 2 and 3 cities. Investors from Tier 2 and 3 towns account for as much as 54% of Coinswitch's user base. Do spread the word! - V { Twitter @varunvummidi }

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Whatfix is in active talks to raise $80-90 million as a part of its Series D round, led by SoftBank Vision Fund II, at a valuation of $500-550 million.The talks with US-based Whatfix come a year after the startup raised $32 million as a part of its Series C round led by Sequoia Capital India. Existing investors, including Sequoia India, are expected to participate in the round, said the people mentioned above.Druva, a data-protection startup that counts US space agency NASA and drugmaker Pfizer among its customers, has received $147 million investment as it rapidly scales in response to accelerated demand for its platform. The fundraise was led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a global investment group, The round has increased the Pune and California-based company's valuation above $2 billion. The financing round also included participation from existing investors Viking Global Investors and Atreides Management.Virdee, an Austin, Texas-based SaaS company delivering digital check-in and virtual concierge services to the hospitality and commercial real estate industries, received a strategic financing from SaaS investors, bringing total seed funding to $4M. Backers included Silverton Partners, LiveOak Venture Partners, and DJR Advisors.As online identity management grows in importance, Mastercard swooped in and bought identity verification company Ekata for $850 million. Mastercard certainly sees the rapid digital transformation that is happening in online commerce, a move that was accelerated by COVID. It's a transformation that once started isn't likely to change back to the old ways of doing business, even when we get past the pandemic.Atlassian today announced that it has acquired Brisbane, Australia-based ThinkTilt, the company behind the popular Jira-centric no-code/low-code form builder ProForma. The two companies did not disclose the price of the acquisition. The acquisition is meant to help strengthen Jira Service Management, Atlassian's version of Jira that focuses on IT service management (ITSM). 

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Raja Ganapathy, Founding Partner of Spring Marketing Capital. Spring Marketing Capital is a skin-in-the-game marketing capital firm, working towards building stellar brands some of which include - BYJUs, Epigamia, Practo, Cure Fit, and others. One of the most spectacularly creative firms, Spring is creating a category of its own, disrupting the ecosystem in the country. Check them out at - https://springmarketingcapital.com/ Raja Ganapathy, is a tremendously insightful and valuable individual, who has had a variety of diverse experiences throughout his career. From Ogilvy to Deutsche Bank to Sequoia India and finally, Spring. Through the Episode we discuss the following: 1. (3:20) : The Golden Circle of Marketing for Startups 2. (8:58) : All about Spring Marketing Capital! 3. (14:25) : Raja's journey & thought process 4. (19:12) : How VC is changing & Is capital just a Commodity? 5. (24:20) : What is Brand Building & Why is it Important? 6. (33:08) : The Role of Founders in Brand Building 7. (37:13) : Is every company a Content Company? 8. (42:28) : The art of asking the Right Questions in Marketing 9. (46:42) : The Conundrum of Organic Traction & measuring Marketing 10. (51:31) : Building Marketing Teams & Hiring a CMO 11. (53:23) : The Fund-Founder Fit for Spring 12. (57:36) : The secret to Spring's performance 13. (60:05) : Raja as a Leader & the Role of Articulating Well 14. (65:46) : Parting Lessons (Surround yourself with Giants & practicing Humility) 15. (68:40) : Summary Here is the 35th Episode of the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast - Marketing 101! If you are further curious, here are a couple of interesting reads & listens by Raja - 1. Mistakes while hiring a CMO 2. Raja on the VCpreneur Podcast Thank you all for tuning into this Episode! We're available on Instagram & Twitter. Feel free to drop in your feedback! Subscribe to our WhatsApp Newsletter! I, Jivraj, am reachable on LinkedIn & Twitter! "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

In this Episode, I (@Jivraj Singh Sachar) speak with Ajey Gore, Operating Partner at Sequoia India. Ajey Gore is a technical expert, but he fundamentally understands and explains the importance of people through this wonderful conversation. Ajey has insane experience in working at startups, and scaling them to great heights. He has been at ThoughtWorks early on his career, then started up two companies, and finally spent time at GOJEK for almost 5 years as the group CTO, before joining Sequoia India, where he is currently an Operating Partner in the domain of technology. Through the Episode we explore the following: 1. (3:46) - Analysing the Tech Bedrock from Ajey's lens 2. (8:23) - What drives Ajey's decisions 3. (16:51) - Hiring and Building Teams 4. (24:58) - From Embracing Culture to Enabling Culture 5. (33:01) - Why should you optimise for Processes? 6. (39:56) - Lessons for Scale (a) Putting a Checklists to everything (NOT implementation lists) (b) Root Cause Analysis for Everything (c) Templates for Everything 7. (46:21) - What does Ajey look for in People? (Curiosity - Empathy - Passion) 8. (51:19) - The Secret to Ajey's Growth! 9. (55:58) - Parting thoughts - A beautiful Optimisation framework (Time - Health - People) 10. (60:20) - Summary Ajey raises some key questions through the episode. What drives you? What makes you who you are? What are you thankful for? These are extremely wonderful and insightful questions to ponder upon. I loved the episode, and I hope you did too! Feel free to reach out to me for any further feedback if required. We're available on Instagram & Twitter. Feel free to drop in your feedback! Subscribe to our WhatsApp Newsletter! I, Jivraj, am reachable on LinkedIn & Twitter! P.S: Here are a couple of interviews of Ajey, which I found mindblowing! 1. Ajey on Culture - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTNZ5-Q2gl4 2. Ajey on the GOJEK journey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut7xG3LeVy0 "If you never try, you never know" Stay Tuned, Keep Building.

In this episode, Raja Ganapathy, Founding Partner @Spring Marketing Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path to venture capital, the gap in the marketing ecosystem and how Spring Marketing Capital aims to plug that using their skin-in-the-game model, importance of articulating the founder's vision & how it impacts product roadmap, the brand as well as the culture of a startup, his experience working as a CMO at Sequoia India & how new age VC firms can build a strong brand to attract founders. Raja has worked with founders for most of his working life of 24+ years - first with Ogilvy & Brand David, and later as CMO with Sequoia India, before starting Spring Marketing Capital with his co-founders Arun Iyer & Vineet Gupta. Through his career, Raja has partnered with some well-known brands like Byju's, CARS24, Cred, Daily Hunt, Wakefit, Epigamia, among others. You can connect with him here on Linkedin/Twitter ---- Show notes: (01:42) Raja's background & path to venture capital (04:02) The big gap in the marketing ecosystem; The ‘skin in the game' model at Spring Marketing Capital (08:32) How Spring Marketing differs from typical ad agencies? (12:08) Raising funds from LPs; Thesis & investment model (16:57) Working with founders to define the core value proposition of their product/service (22:48) Importance of clearly articulating the founder's vision & how it helps in defining the culture of a startup (26:49) When should founders spend on marketing? (31:57) CMO experience at Sequoia (36:26) Building a strong VC brand like Sequoia, a16z (40:02) Rapid fire & closing remarks ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes, Google Podcasts. We would appreciate if you could leave us a review on Apple iTunes. This will help others discover the podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin/Twitter

In this episode, Anirudh Pandita, Founder @Pocket Aces, joins our host Digjay, to talk about the art & science of building products in the content space, the data-driven approach to cracking distribution, the value in adopting a beginner's mindset to come up with disruptive innovation & the importance of building a strong team culture as you scale your startup Pocket Aces is a new-age, socially-distributed, digital entertainment company, making highly engaging content for the millennial audience. The company operates multiple content brands including FilterCopy (short videos), Dice Media (multi-episode web series), Gobble (lifestyle videos), Jambo (young-adult animation shorts) and Nutshell (infotainment videos), as well as Loco (game streaming and e-sports app) with 500million+ monthly views across these platforms. The company is backed by prominent investors like Sequoia India, DSP Group and 3one4 Capital. Anirudh, along with co-founders Ashwin Suresh and Aditi Shrivastava, has won several 40 under 40 awards from the likes of Fortune, Social Samosa, IMPACT and BWDisrupt in 2019. Prior to founding Pocket Aces, Anirudh was at Valo Group LLC, a value-oriented hedge fund, based in Philadelphia. Anirudh is a Wharton alum, a Liverpool FC fan, massive cricket buff, and a film fanatic. You can connect with him here on Twitter/Linkedin ---- If you liked our episode, you can subscribe to our podcast on any of the major podcasting platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and Google Podcasts. Please leave us a review on Apple iTunes to help others discover this podcast. You can visit thevcpreneur.com and follow us on Twitter @thevcpreneur_ & Instagram @thevcpreneur for more episodes and interesting insights on the startup ecosystem. You can also follow our host Digjay on Linkedin & Twitter ---- Show notes – 1. (01:33) Anirudh's unconventional journey - Leaving behind his career in Private Equity/Hedge Fund to start a digital content & entertainment business 2. (10:45) The art & science of building products & achieving product-market fit in the content space 3. (12:17) The 0 to 1 journey; Testing hypothesis & launching products using a quick to market, inexpensive fail fast approach 4. (14:43) Cracking distribution - by taking into account different use cases of your product & by understanding consumer needs 5. (17:25) Importance of building a strong team culture as you scale your startup 6. (22:48) Using a beginner's mindset to disrupt a specific market; Fundraising challenges 7. (28:55) How investors can add value beyond providing the funding dollars? 8. (31:38) Rapid fire and closing remarks

Unacademy founders Roman Saini, Gaurav Munjal and Hemesh Singh Bangalore-based Unacademy will add more educators to its online learning platform, which claims to be India's largest, after closing a $21 million Series C. The funding comes from Sequoia India, SAIF Partners and Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Blume Ventures (all four firms are returning from Unacademy's Series B last year).