AMA- 15 yrs exp across consulting, VC & Growth stage company. Now a founder
As in title
Really impressive creds :)
What got you excited in the first place to go into VC/startups?
Also have the founders/VCs in the ecosystem changed in 'type' from what they were like 5-10 years ago?
I joined early stage after working for a few years in management consulting. The itch was to really learn how to build from 0 to 1, and met an incredible founder while I was exploring. VC happened subsequently naturally, as a lot of VCs prefer folks with startup experience
The environment has become really supportive for folks to start, hence have started seeing a lot of fence sitters now jumping to start on their own.
Which sector did you end up building in? Fav sectors of a VC?
Framework that helped you in deciding between investing vs building?
There are VCs supporting almost every sector, so it's not prudent to think of building looking at what VCs would invest in.
As an investor, you cover wider but with limited depth. As a founder, you go really deep. These are non overlapping skill-sets. However, being an ex-vc helps you raise better and being a founder helps you evaluate companies better as a vc :)
Really cool to see this!
I’m a VC (although still early, I’m an Associate)
I constantly question between staying within VC (given there are good financial outcomes) and building (potentially larger outcomes, but lower probability)
How did you evaluate this dilemma personally?
Wasn't a dilemma at all. Being an operator earlier, I always liked the action and control one gets being a founder.
Can you share more about your journey: education background, what was your first role and how and when did you decide to start something of your own? This will help to ask more pointed questions. Thanks for doing this.
Engineering & MBA from tier 1 Indian colleges. Never thought I would start on my own, but working for long in a growth stage company & VC gave me a lot of confidence. Decided to start in 2021 after finding a great co-founder.
Hey Elix, Have a lot of questions. Would really appreciate it if you could give time and answer all of them.
- Why did you choose management consulting?
- What skills are needed to be kickass at it?
- I am in tech, want to explore consulting and VC. I don't have an MBA. How do I go about it?
- If you could explain VC to a 5 Yr old but in 4-5 lines, what would it be?
- Do you feel there's peace in consulting/VC?
- I had a short tech stint pre-mba. Even after 2 years at MBA, didn't know what I really wanted (banking internship was N eye opener that it sucks, didn't like marketing). Management consulting seemed great in terms of figuring out and overall exposure
- Excellent analytical skills, communication and proactiveness. Find options to do global projects, they add a very different layer to overall exposure and experience.
- Will need to understand your profile a little more. It's a slightly closed group to get into, with similar minded individuals and folks look at people like them to hire.
- VC: A financial institution where rich folks trust you with their money, assuming you would use your wisdom to generate handsome returns for them, by identifying and investing in the latest trends and backing great founders
- Consulting is stressful and requires you to be on your toes all the time (always serving the client). It's a constant treadmill, better done early in the career. VC is relatively relaxed, often comes with entitlement as people are trying to raise from you and does offer peace.
Thank you so much! Can we expand more on 3 though? Let me know what you want to know about my Profile, happy to divulge info