Shubham cofounded Affinity along with his Stanford collegemate (and roommate), Ray Zhou, in ‘15 when they were still students. Since then they have built it into a ‘late eight figures’ ($ m) revenue business in the crowded CRM category. They have a strong foothold in the investor community, or indeed any sector where relationships are the key source of revenue. In our convo, Shubham speaks about Affinity hit product market …
Sajith Pai
About Sajith Pai
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Podcast Notes + Excerpts: Charlie Munger on the Colossus podcast w John Collison
Link to podcast + transcript | 5 December 2023
Enjoyable rambling podcast covering a range of Charlie Munger’s interests including architecture, politics, why having more kids at a younger age makes you happier, and of course finance and business models.
A few themes which stood out to me with my thoughts on them, and excerpts from the podcast episode below.
Good returns in a good way
It is not easy …
PMF Convo #15 – Ranjeet Singh, Pratilipi
Ranjeet is one of the more interesting figures in Indian startup twitter. I have, for long, enjoyed his tweets and thoughts on the challenges and learnings from building a content platform in India, Pratilipi; one that paved the way for a wave of vernacular language apps to inspire and follow and expand the market. Hence, I was excited to get him aboard for a PMF Convo. And he didn’t disappoint. …
Podcast Notes & Excerpts: Peter Attia on Colossus w Patrick O’Shaugnessy
Link to podcast + transcript.
Sajith: Peter Attia is a well-known longevity and wellness guru; has a popular podcast The Drive, covering these topics. Recently, he published Outlive, a how to book giving advice on living to 100+ years. The podcast gives you a quick overview of his thinking and perspectives on this topic. Some excellent advice here that can be readily implemented including 1) the importance of primary …
Why CM2+ Matters for Startups
The term ‘CM2+’ (pronounced CM2 positive) is frequently used in startup conversations, but often its true meaning and significance are misunderstood or not apparent. In this note I explain it significance and why becoming CM2+ is a key goal that early stage startups should strive for, and why it is integrally linked with getting to PMF (product-market fit).
In the essay I have used CM2+ as a shorthand for ‘CM2 …
PMF Convo #14 – Vinay Hiremath, Loom
Vinay Hiremath is the first tech leader I have had a chance to interview through all these episodes of PMF Convo. Vinay and I were connected by Jai Relan, an impressive young builder / hustler who is presently an Associate at The Council Fund. Now, I have always been curious as to how tech looks at PMF (product-market fit), and this talk did help in getting that perspective. Now, …
Podcast Transcript: Mike Maples, Floodgate Ventures, on Kauffman Podcast w Code Cubitt
1 June 2022 | Link to podcast episode.
Sajith: I have always found Mike Maples’s views interesting. He is a provocative thinker, and backed by a terrific track record. So that makes his views always worth a listen. As was this podcast episode. A few thoughts stood out to me – a) success in the first five years helps a lot in your career as VC. I cant but …
Podcast Transcript: Elizabeth ‘Beezer’ Clarkson on 20VC w Harry Stebbings
18 October 2023 | Link to podcast
Beezer is one of the few LPs who shares her thoughts publicly on social media. She continues in much the same vein here, sharing her perspectives in an entertaining chat with Harry Stebbings, on how LPs view the venture market post the end of the go-go years of ’20 and ’21. What I found interesting in Beezer’s comments: a) funds that returned 3x+ …
Podcast: Sarah Paine on The Lunar Society Podcast w Dwarkesh Patel
Sarah Paine is a Professor of History and Strategy at the US Naval War College, as well as the author of several acclaimed books on Military History. This was an extraordinary podcast. Grateful to Dwarkesh Patel for reading Prof Sarah Paine’s books and interviewing her. Riveting exposition of military strategy or specifically grand strategy by Prof Paine, Grand Strategy is the coordination of all instruments of national power incl economic …
Reflections on Completing Five Years in Venture Capital
In this essay, I reflect on my past five years in venture, my learnings and evolution. My evolution, of course, echoes the evolution of the Indian venture and startup landscape too, and cannot be seen in isolation. So we will take a deeper look at the Indian startup and venture landscape too. In addition, we will try and cover a few questions I (and perhaps other venture capitalists or VCs) …