The Startup Velocity Question: What Hinders Acceleration in VC Funded Companies?

I have been running 1Mby1M since 2010. I find myself saying to entrepreneurs ad nauseam that VCs want to invest in startups that can go from zero to $100 million in revenue in 5 to 7 years.

Startups that do not have what it takes to achieve velocity should not be venture funded.

Experienced VCs, over time, have developed heuristics to gauge what constitutes a high growth venture investment thesis. 

The Startup Velocity Question: Joining Forces Through M&A

Let’s look further at the issue of solid companies that have achieved $10M, $20M, $50M in revenue, close to breakeven, but not necessarily growing at an exponential pace. 

One commonly used strategy is to combine two companies in a related space to achieve growth and rationalize expenses.

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The Startup Velocity Question: Linear vs. Exponential Growth

Since this series was published, I have had many conversations with friends in the industry who have added to the issues on the table.

In particular, one that caught my attention is the issue of solid companies that have achieved $10M, $20M, $50M in revenue, close to breakeven, but not necessarily growing at an exponential pace. In some instances, market shifts have caused revenues to flatten or even decline.

576th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Sramana Mitra, India’s Prospects in the Age of AI

This talk on India’s Prospects in the Age of AI was given in November 2023.

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590th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Sramana Mitra, The Future of Capitalism

When I gave this talk in 2016, I spoke on the Future of Capitalism. I discussed how mass-scale automation engineered by Artificial Intelligence stands to render human beings useless. With nothing to do. With no mechanism to earn a livelihood. The Economic impact of AI on society was my primary concern. My general conclusion was that we need Universal Basic Income – a form of economic redistribution – to keep society from spinning out of control. This conclusion is now, by and large, an accepted remedy in a world that is about to go through extensive automation. However, it is likely to take a couple of decades to fully infiltrate society. So we’re not quite going to a post-work world immediately.

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Man and Superman: India’s Prospects in the Age of AI (Part 1)

(Sramana Mitra discusses India’s Prospects in the Age of AI at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture in Kolkata, India on November 3, 2023)

It’s a real pleasure for me to return to this forum after four years. Thank you very much, Maharaj, for having me again and again. History is evolving rather quickly at the moment.

Looking for 1Mby1M Ambassadors to Scale Our Work Globally

Friends,

Many of you have responded to our collaboration requests on LinkedIn.

Many of you have reached out to us independently, wanting to add value to the work we do in developing the tech entrepreneurship pipeline around the world.

We are now much better equipped to harness your desire to contribute in a concrete way.

Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: The Help We Need

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

No, we don’t need money.

We need you to look around in your sphere of influence and find entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs and facilitate their learning.

We need you to guide them to increase their odds of a successful entrepreneurial journey by investing their TIME in a rigorous learning process that is firmly rooted in Bootstrapping. 

Not Blitzscaling. Bootstrapping.

Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: A Word From Tagore

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

If you understand the language, listen to this in its Bengali original.

Here’s my English Translation of the poem for those who do not understand the language:

Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: Excess is NOT a Requirement for Success

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

Let me finish this series with a bit of personal philosophy.

Excess doesn’t always breed happiness.

It often generates arrogance, hubris, jealousy, and a host of unappetizing side effects.

Keeping your feet on the ground, preserving social awareness, a sense of responsibility towards a set of goals bigger than yourself, nurturing healthy, warm relationships – these are the true drivers of happiness.

Startup Ecosystem in Kolkata: The Importance of English

Join us on Thursday, July 20, at 8:30 p.m. IST / 8 a.m. PDT for a special roundtable program: Brainstorming on Eastern India Startup Development. Come share your perspective, sign up to Speak and we will accommodate as many as possible with a few minutes to talk, register here. In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here.

India’s success in the global technology firmament has been driven very significantly by the country’s prowess in English.