Harshita Srivastava

Indian venture market has exploded. Someone reported that there are 800+ funds/networks/syndicates/ accelerators active in Indian venture market now. Not sure, if that number is correct but if you are an early stage tech founder on your fundraise journey, chances are, you would meet hundreds of people. While majority of the fund houses are doing incredible work and shaping the ecosystem. There are certain kinds of investors you need to identify & avoid to save time and stay focused: Sharing from my personal experience, top 5 such cohorts to avoid and the takeaways for the founders: 1. Data collectors: At early stage, you don't have historical data to present. Your projections are just that, Projections. I wasted one whole week discussing with a prospective angel investor on why the CLTV to CAC ratio is x, and not y. Takeaway: Discuss high level strategic numbers only without going into the details. None of the projections would be accurate anyway when rubber hits the road. 2. Document collectors: Met few folks, who would watch from the fences and ask for n number of documents, data rooms, statements without sharing the purpose of the ask or even revealing their investment intent. Takeaway: It is supposed to be a bi-directional conversation. Say 'no' often, till the time, an official relationship is established. 3. Valuer (! investor): At early stage, valuation is a function of multiple parameters, the opportunity itself, the team, or anything else except steady cash flows, because you don't have much. I wasted another week with a prospective investor trying to justify valuation, had to shut down that conversation, after both of us started quoting Aswath Damodaran and his valuation principles. Takeaway: Too much content on the internet for both parties anyway. Shouldn't be a bone of contention at early stages. 4. Facilitators posing as investors: Met numerous people, who would go to any lengths to pose themselves as serious investors, even buying paid media articles. Only to reveal at the last: The success fee. Takeaway: Avoid facilitators until Series A 5. Brokers posing as market makers: People posing as market makers sharing tons of gyaan on LinkedIn but are actually deal brokers looking to make quick %. Personal experience: Two rounds of conversation happened and then out of blue, they added a third party in the mail trail, someone who facilitates mergers & acquisitions. There wasn't even a single instance in the past conversations where we indicated any such intent. Takeaway: Avoid name & shame in public but at least share within founder communities. #venture #fundraise #startups #investing

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Who would invest in founders who have wasted $50M? Koo, an Indian microblogging platform, recently shut shop after raising $50M in capital. Everyone has their views on why Koo failed. IMO, the biggest reason behind its failure was a lack of PMF (Product Market Fit). Koo spent much money on marketing and didn’t build a product people wanted. It kept harping on nationalism, a Twitter for Indians, made in #India. This approach failed. However, this doesn’t mean Koo’s founders aren’t smart or intelligent. I wrote in an earlier post that we shouldn’t be surprised if Koo’s founders raise fresh capital for a new startup. To many of us, this might seem grossly unfair. Millions of smart, hardworking founders are struggling to raise capital while investors are backing failed founders who have wasted millions of dollars. How is that fair? It confirms the widely held belief that the #venturecapital industry is broken and corrupt where a few people with the right connections get all the capital while others don’t see a dime. It shows that the VC industry is a closed group, a cabal where who you know matters more than anything. While these are just complaints, most people who criticise VCs don’t understand how startup investing works. VCs welcome failures. They embrace them because they know failures are inevitable. When VCs invest in 20 #startups, they know 15 will fail. The goal is to invest in startups that can give them a 100x return. Failures are part of the game. They are unavoidable. The aim is to back founders who can build such 100x return companies. Hence, failures are not looked down upon in the VC industry. It’s similar to the American culture where society appreciates the people who take risks, and it easily accepts personal bankruptcies that result from this risk-taking approach. There’s no taboo in failing in the USA and the VC industry. I’m sure Koo’s founders have learnt from their mistakes. It’s an expensive mistake and not everyone is so lucky to have this luxury to spend $50M on their education. ;) However, most VCs will back Koo’s #founders because these founders know how to raise capital and they know how to not build and scale tech companies. Their past failures have improved their chances of future success. In the VC industry, Failure is Good.

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Building a Consumer Apps in India - Series 3 The below graph shows a breakdown of number of Android app releases on Google Play - launched and unpublished both! This shows the market trend of people building and takings apps seriously. Till about 2021 there was a significant increase in app count. There is a downward curve in effect from 2021, the reason being, Google's Policy Changes and post Covid, laptop penetration increased! And funny enough, it took an even deeper dip in 2024. It is the best time to build apps especially in India. What else do you infer?? Checkout snoodify (dot) com! #consumerapp #consumer #consumertech #snoodify

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While going through the YC S24 batch, I couldn’t resist making my own list of top picks. These are based on what gets me excited—industry potential, founder-market fit, team chemistry, and that compelling founder story. If your favorite isn’t here, don’t take it personally. Every company in the batch is phenomenal. But hey, I can’t put all 254 on my list! So yeah—here’s my top 10 picks for YC S24 batch (in no particular order): • Blaze (YC S24) by Faiyam Rahman, Luc Succes, and Igor Zagnieński - Global venmo for cross border payments. • Cartage by Abdul Basharat, Harman Sahota and Josh Lampen - Your end-to-end logistics partner that delivers beyond freight - speed, transparency, and peace of mind shippers count on. • Modus by Lin Ling and Amar K. - Unlock revenue per employee with AI powered headcount management. • Decisional AI (YC S24) by Sai Neeraj Kanuri, Adit S. and Dhruv Tandon - AI Agent that helps Financial Professionals do deep thoughtful financial work. • Merlin AI (YC S24) by Kumar Siddhartha, Ayantika Dey , and Sneha Kumari - the AI-powered ERP for construction. • Dimely (YC S24) by David Pang and Peter S. - An AI copilot built to automate your manual billing workflows. It understands your business and is as accessible as sending an email. • Offstream by Varsha Ramesh Walsh and Zach Janicki - Streamline compliance for your carbon project. • Fazeshift (YC S24) by Caitlin Leksana and Timmy Galvin - Automating invoicing & accounts receivable. • Terra by Lev Glushkovskii and Dylan McFarland - A new world of furniture procurement. • @Modern Realty by Raffi Isanians and @Raymond Xu - Your AI real estate agent. • LedgerUp (YC S24) by Joseph Johnson and Bailey Spell - Your first and only finance hire. • Manaflow (YC S24) by Austin Wang, Wesley Tjangnaka, and Laurence Chen - Automate repetitive white-collar work that fits in tables with AI.

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From Swiggy to Zomato: VC Exits Hit $4.06 Billion—Is This Sustainable? Now we understand why everyone’s rushing to list their startups—because VCs are eyeing hefty exits. In 2024, VCs scored a massive $4.06 billion in exits, primarily from the IPO market. Key Exits in 2024 • Swiggy: $750M from IPO • FirstCry.com (BrainBees Solutions Ltd.):$227M • Zomato: $909M • Policybazaar.com (PB Fintech): $291M Year-wise VC Exits - 2020: 7 deals, $113M - 2021: 18 deals, $3.3B - 2022: 13 deals, $1.5B - 2023: 32 deals, $2.06B - 2024: 44 deals, $4.06B VCs are the real 'sharks', making massive profits by offloading shares to the public through IPOs. But who’s really winning in startup exits? The founder? The VC? The retail investors? Looking at the current wave, it’s clear—VCs are the real winners. But here's the flip side: while VCs are cashing in on their early exits, it’s also important to remember the crucial role they’ve played in scaling and funding these companies. Without their backing, these companies might never have seen the light of an IPO. Retail investors, though they may not always see quick wins, help fuel market liquidity and contribute to the longer-term growth of these businesses. They sustain these ventures even beyond the exit event. So, are VCs merely playing a funding game, or are they shaping the long-term future of startups? (follow - Aradhya Varyani) P.S. VC firms know the game—get in early, exit through IPO, and enjoy the rewards. But are they true architects of success, or just out for the payout? #VentureCapital #Investments #Startups #MarketTrends #IPO #VCExits Elevation Capital | Goldman Sachs | Norwest Venture Partners | Accel | DST Global | Alpha Wave Global | Hillhouse Capital Group | Tencent | Harmony Partners | Barons Capital Partners | Naspers Ventures BV | Alibaba Group | Temasek | TPG | SoftBank Investment Advisers

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Portfolio for 2050 I am building a new portfolio from scratch. I will allocate mostly in India specific index funds, select midcap, smallcap and maybe 2-3 startups ( if I can find good ones, never easy unfortunately ...). I would like to create the portfolio in say 5 years. By 2050 I would like to grow > 50x. When we create portfolios from scratch we would like fresh ideas. Anyone with suggestions? Thank you Arnab #investor #portfolio #equities #capitalmarket #stocks #nifty #sensex

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Like any first time founder, I used to think my edge is: → A ₹10,000 Cr market with 25% YoY growth → "Next-gen" app with world-class UI → Distribution strategy & systems → No dominant competetion But here's what actually matters: -> Ex-employer becomes your first enterprise client -> That side-project generating ₹2L MRR silently -> Family support & stable income at home -> Genuine industry connections Figure out the basics first and keep building. PS: If you're working on something meaningful, let's connect!

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🤔 A BFCM Reality Check: Why We Pivoted With BFCM in full swing, here's a story that feels relevant: Like many founders, we started with big dreams - building yet another Shopify alternative for India. The opportunity seemed clear as day. Then we launched a simple Shopify app as a side experiment. What happened next changed everything. Here's what hit us: Merchants weren't looking to abandon Shopify. They just wanted better tools to run their stores. So we adapted. Instead of competing with Shopify, we're now building apps that make merchants' lives easier - from India to the world. Sometimes the smartest move isn't starting from scratch - it's making existing things work better. #BFCM2024 #ShopifyPartners #StartupLife P.S. Good luck to everyone hustling through BFCM! 💪

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There are 247 startups in the YC S24 batch. You’re probably not going to meet them all. So how can you find the best ones? I look at every single startup, meet around 10-20% of them, and invest in perhaps one. Here’s how I do it… YC produces a wonderful tool: the YC Startup Directory. It contains details on every single YC company, from Airbnb to the latest batch. Here’s how I use it to find great new startups: 1. Choose the current batch (S24 is the current one) 2. Sort by “Launch Date” instead of “Default.” Then, I can see each new startup as its product launches.  3. Look at each page, see what looks interesting. What’s novel? What’s new? 4. Contact the founders. Their LinkedIn is on the right hand side of the page. 5. Set up meetings. The directory page is a great way to prep for these meetings. It’s almost like a mini-deal memo. Investors love to complain about YC. “Wahhh, the valuations are too high, I want my mommy!” Boo hoo. They sorted through thousands of companies and picked the best ones. Then they funded them and gave them the best coaching on the planet. The deal is friggin’ gift wrapped for you. And you want that at a $8M post? What do you think of YC? More below, including how to tell which YC companies are the strongest in the batch... #startups #venturecapital https://lnkd.in/dQkFxs37

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{New pod 🎤} "𝐆𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 0-𝐭𝐨-1 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐔𝐒-𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐯 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩" This episode is an in-depth discussion of going 0-to-1 as a US-India dev tool startup. We cover everything from how to identify market gaps, ways to think about dev tools MVPs, leveraging the India developer market to build global products, comparing various GTM channels like Hacker News, GitHub, Reddit, LinkedIn & open-source communities, learnings from shuttling between the US and India and finally, harnessing the power of open-source. Joining me for this discussion is Pranay Prateek, co-founder of SigNoz, an open-source observability platform that is native to OpenTelemetry and provides logs, traces, and metrics in a single pane of glass. He has been a developer in the past, worked in product roles in companies like Microsoft, and is a champion of open-source. TIME STAMPS: (00:47) Introduction to Observability (04:50) Identifying market gaps in dev tools (07:43) Leveraging the India developer market to build global dev tools (12:44) Acquiring the first set of US design partners as a US-India dev tool startup (17:34) Scoping out dev tools MVPs (28:36) GTM models for open-source dev tool startups (41:34) Learnings from shuttling between the US and India as a dev tools founder (49:41) Is YC relevant and helpful for US-India dev tool founders? (54:48) Harnessing the power of open-source in a dev tools startup YouTube - https://lnkd.in/g98wXYcT Spotify - https://lnkd.in/gH9Vkxq9 Apple Podcasts - https://lnkd.in/gbc8je-j An Operator's Blog - https://lnkd.in/gEaf5sX3

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my thoughts on this: i think lightspeed's report was dumb because while the facts and numbers they pulled were true and great to know, their conclusion slide (slide 2 or 3) showed that ultimately they don't actually believe in the region's potential. it concluded "SEA companies should be regional since day 1" instead of "global since day 1". they simply overfit to the past decade's data, and have a subconscious inferiority complex that prevents them from believing any SEA founder/company can do better than the past decade's SEA unicorns and become a *globally* important startup with great unit economics. they forgot that VC is about what is possible first and foremost, then what is probable. that's how you benefit from the power law. lightspeed report is all about probability. so disheartening to see it, and more disheartening to see gojek cofounder signing off on it. the bitter truth: the SEA tech startups that are unicorns mostly rushed to copy US or Chinese unicorns within months of the US/Chinese companies' breakout days, without doing the first principle thinking on "does this create $X in value in SEA and can we capture Y% of X and do X and Y, 2 independent variables, look attractive?" in other words, first gen SEA tech unicorn are built by founders who are great doers but not great thinkers. Travis Kalanick of Uber is a great think and a great doer. pardon me but the founders of Grab/Gojek were just doers. im sure they are capable thinkers, but they haven't applied it yet to creating anything massively valuable and original from the ground up. sad but true. the Lightspeed report looks at this truth and concludes SEA will fail to ever have thinker/doers, because it failed to have billion dollar thinker/doers in the past decade. i think this will further push away the talent that is indeed billion dollar thinker/doer but just needs an environment that doesn't doubt it every day. for the record, i absolutely believe it's possible to build a global tech giant from SEA today. it does not defy the laws of physics. to say this is impossible is to say nobody here will ever be great enough. the truth is, people who think that are the ones who are not great enough.

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The New Capitalism Just Created 500 Crorepatis And it's not what Marx or Adam Smith imagined... Swiggy turned 500+ employees into crorepatis overnight. But I think this is bigger than that. This is Capitalism 2.0 emerging: The Old Way: → Capital owned by few → Workers just earn wages → Wealth stays at the top The New Reality: → Employees become owners → Value flows to creators → Wealth spreads through merit Look at this transformation: • Zomato: $1B in ESOP pool at listing • Airbnb: 900+ millionaires • Amazon: Employee wealth exceeding nations Yes, I know - this isn't everyone's reality. Most companies aren't there yet. Many workers still struggle daily. But this is why it matters: It shows what's possible: When companies think long-term When value is shared fairly When merit drives wealth This isn't socialism. This isn't traditional capitalism. This is Participatory Capitalism: Where growth benefits everyone involved. The reality? We're in transition: → Some companies lead → Many will follow → Others will resist But every economic revolution started somewhere. And this one's already showing results.

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How do people see founders from IIT? 1. Raises investment People: "It's easy to raise money when you are from IIT" 2. Burns money People: "Investors should look beyond IIT's founders. Founders from non-IIT/IIM backgrounds would better utilise the money." 3. Build a successful company/unicorn People: "Valuation is still high. It won't sustain and will fail" 4. Shuts down after raising money People: "I told you it won't work" Meanwhile, Founders, the real ones, don't care whether they are from IIT/IIM. They keep building, keep pushing, and keep changing the world. ******* Follow Shubham Bansal for unfiltered life stories and learnings.

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Never work in Stealth Mode for a Startup Idea. Very risky. This is the time that the idea needs a lot of Validation, Understanding Use Cases, Market Insights, Understanding Competition, Adoption challenges, Market Sizing. More prospects/customers in this phase needs to be met. Asking all the right & tough questions. The Foundations of Problem Validation & Value Proposition needs to be clear here. Working in Stealth Mode cuts you off from these inputs. We have worked with 100+ MedTech/Healthcare startups over the last 3 years. Impact : ✅ Some startups pivoted after they worked with us in GTM Readiness. ✅ Few founders even went back to their Corporate jobs realising the problem they were solving was wrong & didn't see a path to PMF. ✅ Few changed their Pricing and Business Model and entered the Market. Explore GTM Readiness Services. Enter the form in the comments section for a discussion.

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If you doubted the rise of India as a powerhouse, Pine Labs, a significant fintech player, is now relocating its headquarters from Singapore to India following approval from a Singapore court. This strategic shift mirrors other successful Indian startups like PhonePe, Razorpay, and Groww, embracing the trend of ‘reverse flipping’. The move signifies growing confidence in the Indian market and its potential. Key factors enabling this move include: - Favorable economic policies - Growing domestic market - Increasing investor confidence - Greater certainty of an exit at a higher valuation - Ease of accessing capital - Regulatory changes - Maturing capital markets - Cost-effective listing process All great signs for India! #India #Fintech #PineLabs #Startups #BusinessGrowth

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Here’s a heavy problem for Indian businesses: Stripe isn’t available in India. 💔 For companies looking to scale globally, this generates a lot of questions. So, we decided to answer them in one-go. Introducing our first blog: ‘Alternatives to Stripe for Indian Businesses.’ 🌍💸 A no-nonsense guide to the payment platforms that can help Indian businesses go global without missing a beat. 🚀 If you’d like to understand this in depth or discuss how xPay can help your business, let’s get on a call! Link in comments 👇

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Top News of the Week in Indian Startup Ecosystem: 1. The week saw the first mega funding deal materialise for an Indian startup in the form of healthtech unicorn Innovaccer’s $275 Mn Series F fundraise. 2. On the back of this, healthtech emerged as the most funded startup sector this week. Besides Innovaccer, BrainSinghtAI and Zoplar also raised $5 Mn and $3.4 Mn this week. 3. Fintech, cleantech and ecommerce all saw three funding deals materialise this week, leading to fresh capital infusion of $48.9 Mn, $14.2 Mn and $13.3 Mn respectively. 4.  After months of speculations, Ritesh Agarwal increased his stake in his startup OYO with a capital infusion of $65 Mn via his venture capital firm Redsprig Innovation Partners. This funding round made travel tech the second most funded sector this week. 5. This week’s most active investor was VC firm Alteria Capital, investing in BrainSightAI’s $5 Mn pre-Series A funding round and Pratilipi’s $1.2 Mn funding round. 6. Eyewear major Lenskart is said to have initiated talks with bankers for a $1 Bn IPO that could value it in the range of $7 Bn to $8 Bn. Its IPO could hit the Indian bourses toward the end of the next financial year. Read the full post on link below Stay up do that with the Indian startup ecosystem on Medial.

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#eveningupdate 🚀 Latest buzz, right here! 📢 1. QSR-startup Boba Bhai raises Rs 30 crore in series A funding https://lnkd.in/gnaXavew 2. Indian startups raised over $459 million from Jan 06 to Jan 11, 2025; Innovaccer tops the list https://lnkd.in/gBucREGv 3. Fintech firm Scapia in talks to raise Rs 340 crore in fresh funding from Peak XV Partners, others https://lnkd.in/gtyr22-3 4. Ather Energy’s Upcoming IPO Set To Be Valued At $2.4 Billion https://lnkd.in/gQaVePs2 5. NCLAT Clears Indiabulls Real Estate and Embassy Group Merger, Creating a Pan-India Real Estate Player https://lnkd.in/gn2Gyw9v With the recent liquidity event, Affluense AI (https://www.affluense.in/) offers: > In-depth insights on liquidity events. > Beneficiary data for stronger connections. > Circle of Influence for faster outreach. Comment "profile" for a sample link. #finance, #technology, #fintech, #business, #innovation, #management, #digitalmarketing, #entrepreneurship, #markets, #startups

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Someone from a Tier 1 Indian VC told me a couple of weeks ago that their 10-year-old fund has a total paper return (illiquid) of ~3x. That happens to be exactly the same return as the Sensex over the past decade.* And an ETF tracking the Sensex is liquid, marked to market daily, and has lower costs. VC funds raised mega-funds of $200M+ on the India story during 2010 to 2020. Most of them are now unable to deliver the promised returns to their investors, which are usually 4-6x on the total sum invested. Contrast this with disciplined domestic funds like Blume and Sauce who did not succumb to the temptation of raising mega-funds to earn more management fees - even as they grew more successful. It’s easier to return funds when they are smaller—but you have to be willing to accept lower salaries and management fees as VCs. Blume’s founder Karthik illustrates this perfectly with a graph of his salary over time below. :) * Another metric to measure returns is IRR which takes into account when the money was actually invested investments. VCs don’t take all the committed money from LPs upfront; rather it’s in installments over time.

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