11 Podcasts with VCs Interested in Indian Startups

Indian entrepreneurs should listen to this set of podcasts to get into the minds of investors who offer invaluable insights.

Naren Gupta, Nexus Ventures – As a co-founder of a firm with an excellent track record of investing in the Silicon Valley – India corridor, but with a global market point of view, Naren shares his insights, nuggets, and interesting wisdom.

Ashish Gupta, Helion Ventures – Co-Founder of one of the key players in India’s venture capital eco-system, Ashish shares his valuable perspectives throughout this crisp and insightful conversation.

Sasha Mirchandani, Kae Capital – Managing Partner of this early stage venture fund, Sasha is also a co-founder of Mumbai Angels. He re-emphasizes that Indian VCs only invest in India-facing B-to-C ventures and global B-to-B startups. India-facing B-to-B is not a sector that gets any investment, with few exceptions. We discuss the lack of exits in India, as well as the missing late-stage funding for B-to-C ventures facing the Indian market. Those of you who are working out of India would do well to keep these key points in mind.

John Dougery, Inventus Capital – As Co-Founder and Managing Director of Inventus Capital, a fund that is one of the earliest players in the Silicon Valley – India corridor, John discusses his firm’s investment focus, as well as reviews the trends of the Indian market.

Anand Daniel, Accel Partners – This Partner discusses Accel India’s investment strategy at length.

Sandeep Singhal, Nexus Venture – Managing Director for this key player in the India-US startup corridor. The discussion spans trends in SaaS, Open Source, and the Indian venture capital market in general. If you are working in the technology startup sector with an interest in India, this is a discussion worth listening to.

Rehan Yar Khan, Orios Venture Partners – General Partner and an early investor in the Indian startup scene, Rehan’s core focus is on the Indian consumer opportunity, and that is what we focus on in this discussion.

Ashu Garg, Foundation Capital – As General Partner, Ashu outlines the top trends driving startups and venture capital from his firm’s perspective

Ashmeet Sidana, Engineering Capital – The Founder of this a seed-stage venture fund focusing on infrastructure technology, Ashmeet has a lot of insights to offer, and delivers one particular piece of wisdom that is close to my heart. He says, “Funding is like candy. Don’t eat too much candy. Whole wheat bread and proteins are customers and revenues. That’s what you should focus on.” Brilliant analogy, don’t you think?

Asheem Chandna, Greylock Ventures – This investor discusses the topic of funding fat startups, something Asheem has done routinely, one of the very few VCs still doing so.

Shomit Ghose, Onset Ventures – Partner and also veteran startup executive with multiple IPOs under his belt, Shomit highlights the fact that 70,000 ventures received angel funding in 2014, but the number of companies receiving venture funding remains constant year over year at about 1,000 per year. Focusing on building value is of paramount importance, so that you can validate and prove your value proposition.