Link to podcast. Link to transcript (organised by me). 27th September 2023
Sajith: Fascinating glimpse into an unusually-designed venture firm, structured like a company more than a fund, and one that is designed to look at sourcing and support not like the traditional venture fund, but more via analysing datasets and extracting signals from them, to both find (source), and then mind (support) these companies. Think Bridgewater but …
Link to podcast page, with audio + rough transcript. Link to transcript (organised by me; not finely edited). 22nd December 2023.
Sajith: Fun, fascinating episode giving a glimpse of one of the most unusual and inspiring GP (General Partner) journeys, immigrating near penniless from Iran to Germany to USA, and then moving from a rug salesman to starting a leading preseed / seed fund in Pear Ventures. The anecdote …
Link to podcast page and audio. Link to transcript (organised by me; not finely edited). 9th January 2024.
Sajith Pai: 776 is a differentiated VC fund in that it approaches venture from the perspective of a tech company, building and deploying tools that are usually found more in the portfolio companies of VCs than VC funds themselves. They have a platform they call Cerebro, which is the operating software …
A question I get asked all the time, in emails or social DMs or in person sometimes, is about how to break into VC or Venture Capital. After all it is seen as a desirable, glamorous job (this isn’t strictly true), and given the few slots, intense demand, and limited public information (though this is changing fast, especially if you know where to look), aspiring candidates do not have too …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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+ …
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) …
15 September 2023 | Link to podcast episode
Really candid episode where a founder Liz Zalman, and her investor Jerry Neumann discuss the challenges of being a startup founder, fundraising and venture capital from their distinct perspectives, as a founder and as a VC. Liz doesnt hold anything back, talking abt her investors who dont get into the nitty gritties with her, or dont really come prepared to board meetings, …