VC with 5+ yrs of exp - AMA

There’s very few who have continued to stay humble

I’ll leave my own fund out of this - but the following people have good cred:

1. Shekhar Kirani - Accel
2. Manish Khetarpal - Waterbridge
3. Samir Sood - Venture Highway
4. Rajan Anandan - Sequoia

Have heard great things about Shekhar and Rajan from all corners. Not hard so much about the other two. Need to read more

1. Meeting with new founders, speaking with portfolio founders and some expert calls / org building

2. Lean market is 8 hrs, active deal days can tax you up to 12-16 hrs - it’s about getting shit done

3. I like talking to people, VC is a sales job and I like to think I’m okay at it :)

4. It’s not so much time that goes into it, anymore, everything is in place - much harder for the junior folks

5. There’s evidence of success in both, but I think builders should continue as builders, builders as VCs are not as effective

Holy shit. 12-16 hour days. I’ve never worked 10+ hours in my life maybe :( respect 🫡

I would recommend you don’t - get your grounding in consulting/startup/IB before breaking in, you’ll be grateful for the training you get there and will have a better career start in VC

Is it okay if you invest in a startup once that ends up getting 7x valued more than what you invested by notable investors for follow-up rounds; learn tricks of the trade and then get into it? What are the chances of lending a good job and package at well reputed funds if you're a tier 2 college dropout?

Intend to continue as a VC, don’t have the stomach to startup as yet :)

It’s much much harder than what I would bargain for at this time in life

How old are you?

I would like to say none - but it would be very self-serving :)

I am sure all VCs think no investments they made are driven just by market sentiments, but you are playing in a field where valuations are getting spiked - now at a fund level, individual first check valuations do not end up making a large dent if it’s a unicorn so it’s fair

I think valuation wise everyone paid premiums in the bull market, but it can still all work out

Unless you did that Pre-IPO - then you might be in for getting royally screwed

50 LPA fixed + variable

A large portion of potential earnings is tied as part of the firm’s profits, think of it as ESOPs that vests over 4 yrs

So that money is received after the completion of the fund, which is 10-12 yrs :)

Success of portfolio founders is the difference between being a millionaire and being a billionaire as a VC

Didn't quite catch the last line?

It’s already the storm imo - let us see where things go from here :)

https://youtu.be/bm5RyUax2OM

We have someone internally responsible for overseeing all investment numbers beyond the investment team itself - they give us an objective view of everything as such and flag these

A good mental exercise is when your portfolio company posts good numbers - just ask how are they driving it, what levers are working - something clicks there

I wish they had an option to pick better jury members - would have loved to see Sanjiv Bikhchandani, Binny Bansal, Vijay Shekhar Sharma

The current jury I think will get there, but some more mileages is needed

Also, the other problem I have is with re: romanticism of entrepreneurship, I think a lot of people are starting up without understanding what it means to start up and build a large business

They read Inc42 articles, watch Shark Tank, read success stories, listen to podcasts and then think okay this is why I will be a unicorn - hard work done 😓

Hahaha - depends on the target market, very unlikely for India alone

Also don’t know much about the founders as well - but giving them the benefit of doubt

If this is a India++ product, would invest