This is a transcript of an AMA I did on 7 May ‘25, for the SeedToScale team (part of Accel India, runs seedtoscale.com). It was themed around unpacking the Indus Valley Report 2025 but it did go beyond the same. I have edited it mildly to make it more readable. If you see SPW, remember it stands for Sajith Pai’s Words. I have used SPW wherever I have added …
The best VCs are long, preloaded, context windows for their founders
I thought the following passage from Victor Lazarte, Benchmark’s newest partner (on the Venture Unlocked podcast) was fascinating.
…“So you’re not going to come in and like, just have this crazy insight. So the way we add value is, like, every week you’re doing, frankly, like, part of it is this boring work that other people could do. Like you’re closing candidates, having conversations with this candidate, explaining to
Interleavings: Notes & thoughts on recent reads, 25 May ’25
What I read and found interesting of late. The title ‘Interleavings’ comes from publishing. Interleaved books are those sold with blank pages inserted between printed pages so as to facilitate note-taking. This was a common practice in the 16th and 17th century, but has disappeared now. Thus my term ‘Interleavings’ for my notes and thoughts on the digital texts I enjoyed reading. Here are my interleavings from the recent past.…
The Four Routes to Starting Up
In my role as an early stage VC, I often get asked by aspiring founders for my reactions to, and feedback on, their startup ideas. This article is borne out of the learnings from those interactions, and is written to be helpful to any aspiring founder, who is figuring out their startup idea.
For founders who are in the process of honing in on their startup idea, it is worth …
Interleavings: Notes and thoughts on recent reads, 27 April ’25
In publishing, interleaved books are those sold with blank pages inserted between printed pages so as to facilitate note-taking. This was a common practice in the 16th and 17th century, but has disappeared now. Thus my term ‘Interleavings’ for my notes and thoughts on the digital texts I enjoyed reading.
Here are my interleavings from the recent past.
Interleavings: Notes & thoughts on recent reads, 13 April ’25
In publishing, interleaved books are those sold with blank pages inserted between printed pages so as to facilitate note-taking. They were a common practice in the 16th and 17th century. Here is how an interleaved book with notes by the reader (source) looked like –
Thus my term ‘Interleavings’ for my notes and thoughts on the digital texts I enjoyed reading.
Here are my interleavings from the recent …
Reflections on completing 10 years in Delhi
I recently completed 10 years in Delhi, India’s capital city. Well, strictly speaking, I have lived the last decade in Noida, a satellite city of Delhi, part of the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR), and tightly integrated with Delhi, and so this will do. Neither me, nor my wife, have roots or relations in Delhi or the wider region. So what am I doing here in Delhi?
Well, we moved …
Book Highlights & Notes: ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’ by Will Guidara
Finally got to this. Enjoyable breezy read covering the inner workings of running an elite restaurant in New York City, its evolution and rise to top-tier status from its previously middling rank, through a philosophy of giving equal status to service alongside food, and especially through elevating service to outrageous over the top levels through an approach the author terms as ‘unreasonable hospitality’.
What stood out to me was the …
What I Read and Enjoyed Lately: 23 March 2025
Podcasts
1/ Chris Pedregal, founder + CEO at Granola on the Colossus’ Invest Like The Best podcast w Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Link to podcast. Link to podcast excerpts i found interesting.
Some of you may recall that Chris wrote a terrific piece a few months back on how founders should think about building AI products. This podcast is in much the same vein though I found it somewhat less useful …
Book Excerpts & Thoughts: ‘Richer, Wiser, Happier’ by William Green
Finally wrapped up a slow read of Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green. Enjoyable book taking a close look at the investing approaches of public market long-only investors such as Mohnish Pabrai, Joel Greenblatt, Howard Marks, Bill Miller, Nick & Zak of Nomad, Charlie Munger and a few lesser known (at least to me) ones such as Tom Gayner, Matthew McLennan, Laura Geritz, Joel Tillinghast etc.
Interesting how their philosophies …