Best Pankaj Patel Podcasts (2024)

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EP#69 Arpit Maheshwari – Investment philosophy at Stellaris, balancing mindshare when investing in different sectors and managing relationships with startups that are unable to achieve venture scale 40:43

1+ y ago40:43

40:43

In this episode, Arpit Maheshwari, Principal @Stellaris Venture Partners, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path leading up to Stellaris, the investment philosophy at Stellaris and the journey from Fund I to Fund II, stand-out attributes of select founders from Stellaris’ portfolio, scaling up as an investor and balancing mind…

1
EP#68 Vishesh Khurana – Building Shiprocket to enable e-commerce in India, the scale up journey and approach to inorganic growth 43:52

1+ y ago43:52

43:52

In this episode, Vishesh Khurana, Co-Founder @Shiprocket, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path leading up to Shiprocket, macro tailwinds that shaped Shiprocket’s evolution and its current product stack, challenges faced when scaling up Shiprocket, empowering leaders and people management, Shiprocket’s inorganic growth playbo…

1
EP#67 Anjali Bansal – Investing in climate and sustainability, the importance of having a strong board and building longevity as an investor 43:36

2y ago43:36

43:36

In this episode, Anjali Bansal, Founding Partner @Avaana Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Avaana Capital, investing in process & product innovation, key headwinds & tailwinds in the current climate tech cycle, innovative sustainability startups from Avaana’s portfolio, the role of the board at early stages of a s…

1
EP#66 Vishesh Rajaram – Opportunities & challenges in climate-tech and unpacking the iterative process to master deep-tech investing 42:47

2y ago42:47

42:47

In this episode, Vishesh Rajaram, Founder & Managing Partner @Speciale Invest, joins our host Digjay, to talk about Speciale Invest’s journey with fund I, added advantages of a larger fund II, whether climate tech is at its inflection point today, challenges faced by founders building in this space, Vishesh’s approach to building a thesis in fronti…

1
EP#65 Aditya Kulkarni – Building Stoa: India’s alternative to a traditional MBA, leveraging early-stage investors and scaling a profitable edtech business 51:50

2y ago51:50

51:50

In this episode, Aditya Kulkarni (Co-founder & CEO, Stoa), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his past experience as an edtech entrepreneur, meeting his co-founder Raj and stumbling upon the idea of building Stoa, the value proposition of Stoa’s alternative MBA program, building community as a moat, fundraising philosophy at Stoa, leveraging inve…

1
EP#64 Somesh Dash – Growth investing at IVP, earning the trust of marquee founders and the value of mentorship in venture 58:12

2y ago58:12

58:12

In this episode, Somesh Dash (General Partner, IVP), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to IVP, IVP’s stellar track record of 130+ IPOs and how has the firm managed to win the trust of marquee founders, the importance of mentorship in building a legacy venture firm, learnings from founders of Snapchat, Discord and Lyra Health,…

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EP#63 Mark Kahn – Investing in startups building for the rural economy, identifying founders that scale and staying relevant as a venture investor 44:38

2y ago44:38

44:38

In this episode, Mark Kahn (Managing Partner, Omnivore), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Omnivore, Omnivore’s investment thesis and evolution of the agritech opportunity in India, how and why India stands out compared to other global agritech markets, attributes of founders that are able to scale & raise follow-on rounds…

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EP#62 Pearl Agarwal – Building Eximius Ventures, the Web3 opportunity & parallels between a founder and a first time fund manager 48:22

2y ago48:22

48:22

In this episode, Pearl Agarwal (Founder & Managing Director, Eximius Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Eximius Ventures, the investment thesis & key focus areas at Eximius, the Web3 opportunity, marquee portfolio startups at Eximius, parallels between a founder and a first time venture capitalist, winning the tr…

1
EP#61 Pankaj Makkar – The bull case for India, mental models to identify stellar startups and Bertelsmann’s India investment playbook 46:01

2y ago46:01

46:01

In this episode, Pankaj Makkar (Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Bertelsmann, evolution of Bertelsmann’s India investment strategy and why now is a good time to accelerate investments in India, challenges faced in evaluating growth stage startups, mitigating the noise whe…

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EP#60 Madhu Shalini Iyer – Leveraging data science to invest in startups and the global investment perspective at Rocketship VC 54:31

2+ y ago54:31

54:31

In this episode, Madhu Shalini Iyer (Partner, Rocketship VC), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Rocketship VC, genesis of Rocketship VC and its unique data-led approach to investing in startups, incorporating qualitative inputs from past deals to refine data algorithms, combining data with the human element to make the fin…

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EP#59 Jatin Desai – Backing outlier founders and investing in deep-tech/IP creating startups 42:42

2+ y ago42:42

42:42

In this episode, Jatin Desai (Managing Partner, Inflexor Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Inflexor Ventures, the thesis and evolution of the fund, Jatin’s approach to evaluating & investing in deep tech startups, commercialization of deep tech startups, importance of having exit strategies as an investor, outli…

1
EP#58 Smita Deorah – Democratizing quality education in India, the growth playbook at LEAD & selecting the right investors for your startup 1:02:55

2+ y ago1:02:55

1:02:55

In this episode, Smita Deorah (Co-Founder & Co-CEO, LEAD), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to LEAD, the genesis phase and what led Smita to make LEAD her life’s work, how LEAD plans to radically improve the state of education in India by transforming schools, the growth playbook & key challenges faced when building a scalab…

1
EP#57 Ben Mathias – Investing in growth stage startups, value add beyond Series A and why founders should focus on building capital efficient businesses 43:21

2+ y ago43:21

43:21

In this episode, Ben Mathias (Managing Partner, Vertex Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Vertex Ventures, history & thesis at Vertex, key defining moments in evolution of India’s startup ecosystem, why it is important for startups to focus on building capital efficient businesses, advice for first time VCs, nuan…

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EP#56 Mayank Banerjee – Building Even Healthcare, choosing the right co-founders and understanding the investor perspective when fundraising as a founder 33:37

2+ y ago33:37

33:37

In this episode, Mayank Banerjee (Co-Founder & CEO, Even Healthcare), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Even, choosing the right co-founders, the problem statement that Even is solving for, challenges faced in the 0 to 1 journey, attracting quality talent at the earliest stages of a startup, straddling between the short te…

1
EP#55 Sanjay Nath – The journey from a fund manager to a firm manager, the platform approach of supporting founders and building an enduring VC brand 45:25

2+ y ago45:25

45:25

In this episode, Sanjay Nath (Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Blume Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Blume Ventures, the genesis of Blume to build an institutional seed stage fund, challenges faced as a first time fund manager, change in investment & hiring strategy with a growing fund size, the platform and com…

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EP#54 Mihir Gupta – Building Teachmint, leveraging inorganic growth to scale up and lessons from fundraising 43:14

2+ y ago43:14

43:14

In this episode, Mihir Gupta (Co-Founder & CEO, Teachmint), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Teachmint, surviving the 0 to 1 phase as first time founders, building a foundation to scale up rapidly and how to sustain momentum after scaling up, benefits & challenges of pursuing inorganic growth, finding a balance between co…

1
EP#53 Shiv Sharma – Building Stocktwits in India, pioneering social finance & cracking a new market with an established product 37:30

2+ y ago37:30

37:30

In this episode, Shiv Sharma (VP International, Stocktwits), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to Stocktwits, the reducing gap between startups from India & The Silicon Valley, making the switch from venture capital to the operating side, how Stocktwits is building the world’s largest social finance app, leveraging community …

1
EP#52 Jyotsna Krishnan – Building conviction as a ‘founding investor’, Elevar’s unique investing DNA and backing entrepreneurs that build for the underserved markets 41:17

2+ y ago41:17

41:17

In this episode, Jyotsna Krishnan (Managing Partner, Elevar Equity), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to Elevar Equity, Elevar’s unique investing DNA, taking concentrated bets while investing at very early stages of a company, why ‘aspiration’ is the key emotion that founder’s should tap on when building for the underserved …

1
EP#51 Rohan Verma – Building Breathe Well-Being, re-inventing chronic care with a community-first approach and nailing the timing of your fundraise 46:03

3y ago46:03

46:03

In this episode, Rohan Verma (Co-Founder & CEO, Breathe Well-being), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, making the switch from B2B to B2C, the key problem statement that Breathe Well-Being is trying to solve & it’s unique product positioning, key learnings from his entrepreneurship journey, achieving balan…

1
EP#50 Amit Gupta – Playing the long game and building category creating startups like InMobi & Yulu 44:31

3y ago44:31

44:31

In this episode, Amit Gupta (Co-Founder & CEO, Yulu), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, the switch from mobile (InMobi) to mobility (Yulu), evolution of Yulu’s product over the past 5 years, leveraging public & private partnerships to build a strong foundation, what does it take to build a category-creati…

1
EP#49 Rajan Bajaj – Building Slice, re-inventing payments & the pursuit of building a quality consumer product for India 38:06

3y ago38:06

38:06

In this episode, Rajan Bajaj (Founder & CEO, Slice), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, the problem statement & need for a product like Slice today, pivots made since founding the company in 2016, how Slice differentiates itself - both on the product & distribution front, the fundraising challenges faced d…

1
EP#48 Ritu Verma – Seeding startups that are building for the next billion, challenges faced as a GP and the importance of collaboration in venture capital 40:33

3y ago40:33

40:33

In this episode, Ritu Verma (Co-founder & Managing Partner, Ankur Capital), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to venture capital, thesis & vision at Ankur Capital, learnings from past investments in Agritech & Healthtech, common blind spots faced by founders in the 0-1 phase, Learnings from Fund I, challenges faced as a GP, c…

1
EP#47 Arjun Vaidya – Building Dr. Vaidya’s, overcoming self-doubt as a founder and his approach to fundraising & exits 38:23

3y ago38:23

38:23

In this episode, Arjun Vaidya (Venture Lead India, Verlinvest; Ex-CEO, Dr. Vaidya’s), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship & venture capital, his inspiration behind starting an Ayurveda brand, initial challenges, pivots & overcoming self-doubt as a founder, brand positioning & differentiation, learnings from …

1
EP#46 Ashish Dave – Evaluating seed vs growth stage startups, the learning-unlearning cycle in VC and balancing between due diligence & speed of decision making 42:29

3y ago42:29

42:29

In this episode, Ashish Dave (CEO @Mirae Asset Venture Investments, India), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to venture capital, setting up Mirae’s India Venture arm, due diligence missteps by VCs when optimizing for speed, sharing cross-learnings from other geographies with portfolio companies, evaluating seed & growth stag…

1
EP#45 Aprameya Radhakrishna – Building the vernacular ecosystem for Bharat, lessons on fundraising & identifying the right sounding board as a founder 36:21

3y ago36:21

36:21

In this episode, Aprameya Radhakrishna (Co-founder @Koo, Vokal & TaxiForSure), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to entrepreneurship, founding TFS & exiting to Ola, founding Vokal & Koo to build the vernacular ecosystem for India, identifying people that can act as a sounding board, retaining talent, fundraising lessons & mor…

1
EP#44 Anurag Ramdasan – The venture capital learning curve, supporting founders in their follow-on fundraise and establishing a strong VC brand 38:36

3y ago38:36

38:36

In this episode, Anurag Ramdasan (Partner@ 3one4 Capital), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to 3one4 capital, overcoming the venture capital learning curve & key skill sets required to break into VC, the decision making process at 3one4, learnings from anti-portfolio startups, supporting startups in their follow-on fundraise…

1
EP#43 Shruti Gandhi – Investing in enterprise tech startups, the operator VC perspective & differentiating oneself as an emerging VC 24:02

3y ago24:02

24:02

In this episode, Shruti Gandhi (Founder & Managing Partner @Array Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path leading up to venture capital, the evolution of Array’s enterprise tech thesis, how engaging with potential customers can help early stage startups to validate their product & help VCs to support their investment decision, what…

1
EP#42 Anubhav Jain – Building Rupifi, learnings from Seed to Series A and why speed matters at early stage startups 48:10

3+ y ago48:10

48:10

In this episode, Anubhav Jain (Co-founder & CEO@ Rupifi), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading up to founding Rupifi, the recent positives & challenges faced by the SMEs, what is embedded finance & it's use cases, Rupifi’s embedded cash-flow based lending model, importance of speed at early stage startups, what founders should opti…

1
EP#41 Sushma Kaushik – Investing in the Bharat opportunity, DNA of impact entrepreneurs & the evolving exit landscape for impact funds 43:29

3+ y ago43:29

43:29

In this episode, Sushma Kaushik (Partner @ Aavishkaar Capital), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path to VC, the genesis of Aavishkaar Capital & it’s key portfolio startups, the evolution of the fund’s thesis across 4 funds, unlocking of the massive Bharat opportunity, the DNA of impact entrepreneurs, the evolving exit landscape for impact …

1
EP#40 Pankaj Mitra – Decoding corporate VC, Cisco’s symbiotic relationship with portfolio startups & collaborating with traditional VC funds 39:53

3+ y ago39:53

39:53

In this episode, Pankaj Mitra (Director & India Head @Cisco Investments), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to corporate VC, Cisco’s mandate in India, the symbiotic relationship with its portfolio companies, learnings from other enterprise tech ecosystems like US & Israel, difference between Corporate & traditional VC and how Cisco coll…

1
EP#39 Manish Singhal – Evaluating & backing disruptive ideas, challenges of raising a VC fund and the bull case for deeptech in India 37:51

3+ y ago37:51

37:51

In this episode, Manish Singhal (Founding Partner @Pi Ventures), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to venture capital, thesis for Pi Ventures & key portfolio startups, framework for evaluating disruptive ideas, fund allocation strategy as an early stage VC, learnings from his failed attempts to raise a venture fund, role of LPs in diffe…

1
EP#38 Shruti Kapoor – Building Wingman, unpacking B2B sales and scaling up as an entrepreneur 34:42

3+ y ago34:42

34:42

In this episode, Shruti Kapoor (Co-founder & CEO @Wingman), joins our host Digjay, to talk about her path to entrepreneurship, building Wingman, winning your first 5 customers at a B2B startup, scaling up as an entrepreneur, the Y-Combinator experience & what founders should optimize for when fundraising for their startup. Wingman is a Y-Combinator…

1
EP#37 Abhishek Goyal – The VC to founder journey, entrepreneurship lessons from the VC experience & investing in Flipkart 34:25

3+ y ago34:25

34:25

In this episode, Abhihshek Goyal, Co-founder @Tracxn & Serial Angel Investor, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his exciting journey as an entrepreneur, VC & an angel investor, learnings from his previous startups & scaling his latest venture – Tracxn, how being a VC & an angel investor influences his operating style as an entrepreneur, Abhishek…

1
EP#36 Anshuman Bapna – The massive cleantech opportunity, building a strong culture at a remote-first startup and managing pivots & exits as a founder 44:18

3+ y ago44:18

44:18

In this episode, Anshuman Bapna, Founder @Terra, joins our host Digjay, to talk about the ‘why’ & ‘how’ behind his latest venture - Terra, investor trends & the massive opportunity in clean tech, building a strong culture at a remote first startup, managing pivots & how should a founder think about exits. Terra is an online climate school which is …

1
EP#35 Sanjay Swamy – Identifying category creating startups, adding value as an operator VC & finding investor-founder fit 38:22

3+ y ago38:22

38:22

In this episode, Sanjay Swamy, Managing Partner @Prime Venture Partners (Prime), joins our host Digjay, to talk about his journey as an entrepreneur & now as a VC, the genesis story & investment philosophy at Prime, adding value as an operator VC, finding investor-founder fit, identifying & backing category creating startups and the VC-founder rela…

1
EP#34 Rahul Mathur – The ‘build in public’ approach for startups, challenges faced by a first time founder and the Insurtech landscape in India 43:02

3+ y ago43:02

43:02

In this episode, Rahul Mathur, Founder & CEO @BimapPe, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background & path leading upto BimaPe, the current insurtech landscape in India, striking a balance between founder vision & customer feedback, challenges faced as a first time founder, key advantages of ‘building in public’, fundraising at a pre-product…

1
EP#33 Anirudh Damani – The micro-VC investment model, cap table discipline by founders & learnings from investing in 85+ startups 40:45

3+ y ago40:45

40:45

In this episode, Anirudh Damani, Managing Partner @Artha Venture Fund, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to VC, investing in startups through his family office before starting his own fund, benefits & mechanics behind managing a micro VC fund, Artha’s investment thesis, fund allocation & deal sourcing strategies, and how founders can ke…

1
EP#32 Vindhya C – Unpacking product management, building ‘customer-centric’ products & founder-product manager dynamics 42:02

3+ y ago42:02

42:02

In this episode, Vindhya C, Founder @OnThatJob / Product @Pexels, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her experience as a product consultant with early stage startups, the typical lifecycle of a product & how modern no-code creator tools are changing that, building ‘customer-centric’ products, common missteps by founders at the MVP & product-marke…

1
EP#31 Dhimant Parekh – Building The Better India, the shift from content to commerce & the role of community in establishing a strong brand 36:29

3+ y ago36:29

36:29

In this episode, Dhimant Parekh, Founder & CEO @The Better India, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his journey building Asia’s largest content platform for impact, his learnings from the 0-1 phase, importance of developing deep customer relationships, leveraging community to build a strong consumer brand & his fundraising experience at The Bett…

1
EP#30 Prasanna K – Understanding SaaS fundamentals, building Upekkha & accelerating growth for SaaS startups 39:24

3+ y ago39:24

39:24

In this episode, Prasanna K, Founding Partner @Upekkha Catalyst, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path leading upto Upekkha, the fundamentals of a SaaS business, validating the need for your product, acquiring your first 50 customers & retaining them, what is value SaaS & how Upekkha is helping founders scale their SaaS business & more. Upe…

1
EP#29 Rajiv Srivatsa – Co-building startups at Antler India, the Urban Ladder experience & unpacking the fundraising lifecycle of a startup 48:20

4y ago48:20

48:20

In this episode, Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner @Antler India & Co-founder @Urban Ladder, joins our host Digjay, to talk about the Antler India program, building & scaling Urban Ladder, raising funds from Mr. Ratan Tata, difference in fundraising approach between 0-1 & 1-10 stage, managing stakeholders expectations & overcoming valleys of death as a found…

1
EP#28 Raja Ganapathy – The ‘skin-in-the-game’ marketing model, partnering with founder-led companies & building a strong VC brand 46:57

4y ago46:57

46:57

In this episode, Raja Ganapathy, Founding Partner @Spring Marketing Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his background and path to venture capital, the gap in the marketing ecosystem and how Spring Marketing Capital aims to plug that using their skin-in-the-game model, importance of articulating the founder’s vision & how it impacts produ…

1
EP#27 Vaibhav Domkundwar – Building leverage as a founder, simplifying decision making for investors & bootstrapping vs fundraising 42:33

4y ago42:33

42:33

In this episode, Vaibhav Domkundwar, Founder & CEO @Better Capital, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his path to angel investing, learnings as a 2x entrepreneur, about Better Capital, evaluating founders at early-stage startups, bootstrapping vs fundraising, building leverage as a founder & how to build your brand as a first-time angel investor…

1
EP#26 Vinay Bansal – Democratizing angel investing & growing with startups 33:04

4y ago33:04

33:04

In this episode, Vinay Bansal, Co-founder & CEO @Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), joins our host Digjay, to talk about the genesis of IPV, building a trust based platform for both founders & investors, funding startups from Seed to Series A/B and how IPV operates like an angel network while helping founders like VCs & PEs do. Vinay is a finance pro…

1
EP#25 Karthik Venkateswaran – Building Jumbotail, scaling a marketplace model & hiring for values 40:40

4y ago40:40

40:40

In this episode, Karthik Venkateswaran, Co-founder & CEO @Jumbotail, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his journey from serving in the Indian army to founding his own startup, the challenges of scaling a marketplace model, hiring employees based on the company’s core values, advantage of going deep in one market before scaling to other geographi…

1
EP#24 Sasha Mirchandani – Angel investing to venture capital, learnings from missed investment opportunities & building a legacy VC fund 27:11

4y ago27:11

27:11

In this episode, Sasha Mirchandani, Founder & Managing Partner @Kae Capital & Co-founder @Mumbai Angels, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his learnings from investing in startups over the last 2 decades – from being an angel investor in early 2000s to starting his own VC fund in 2012, how Kae Capital leverages it’s LPs to add value to their por…

1
EP#23 Vishesh Rajaram – Backing mission-oriented founders & investing in disruptive tech startups 33:54

4y ago33:54

33:54

In this episode, Vishesh Rajaram, Founder & Managing Partner @Speciale Invest, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his learnings as a venture capitalist (VC) – at Venture East earlier and now at Speciale Invest, backing early-stage startups in disruptive technology domains like Space-tech, micro-mobility, clean energy & robotics, how deep-tech sta…

1
EP#22 Priya Mohan – Lessons from an entrepreneur turned VC, key considerations when evaluating an exit and importance of maintaining mental wellbeing for VCs & founders 37:15

4y ago37:15

37:15

In this episode, Priya Mohan, Startup Sensei @Venture Highway, joins our host Digjay, to talk about her learnings as an entrepreneur and a VC, selling to Byju’s, evaluating exit opportunities, choosing the right VCs, embracing vulnerability and the importance of maintaining mental wellbeing for VCs and founders. Venture Highway is an early-stage VC…

1
EP#21 Bhaskar Majumdar – The value of GPs with complementary skill sets, learnings from investing in startups from different geographies & the art of identifying exit opportunities 35:38

4y ago35:38

35:38

In this episode, Bhaskar Majumdar, Founder & Managing Partner @Unicorn India Ventures, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his experience as an entrepreneur & and an investor, challenges faced by first time VCs, importance of having complementary skillsets among General Partners, overcoming long feedback cycles and being agile as a VC fund and the…

1
EP#20 Utsav Somani – The AngelList India journey, advantage of having good angel investors on your cap table & starting a micro fund to bridge the gap between India & the Silicon Valley 31:13

4y ago31:13

31:13

In this episode, Utsav Somani, Partner @AngelList India & @iSeed, joins our host Digjay, to talk about his exciting journey & vision at AngelList India, the asymmetric upside from writing good cold emails, advantage of having angel investors on your cap table along with institutional VC funds, and starting his own micro fund iSeed, to bridge the ga…

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