Startup Project

#13 First Cheque Ventures: Ali Jamal on Angel Investing | Startup Project by Nataraj

Sun, 20 Feb 2022 19:21:12 +0000

In this Episode of Startup project, Nataraj talked to Ali Jamal, Founder of First Cheque Ventures.

Prior to starting First Cheque Ventures, Ali was at companies like RockYou, Agoda & Rappi in growth and marketing roles.

Full conversation includes:

Career in Growth and data analytics
Early Angel investing
Transition from Angel Investing to founding first cheque ventures
YC MFN clause
Strategy behind the growth of First Cheque Ventures
Building unique deal flow
Investing in LATAM, Asia & Africa

Follow Harvey on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mralijamal/ and learn more about First Cheque Ventures here.

Nataraj is an engineer at Azure, partner at NVC & hosts thestartupproject.io podcast. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam & stay up to date here.

#12 Harvey Multani: Founder RUV Alliance & Miami100 DAO | Startup Project by Nataraj

Sat, 05 Feb 2022 18:57:21 +0000

In this Episode of Startup project, Nataraj talked to Harvey Multani, Founder of RUV Alliance & Miami100 DAO.

Prior to starting RUV Alliance, Harvey was an early employee at Coinbase and Plaid working in business development and GTM Strategies.

Full conversation includes:

The origins of RUV Alliance
Goals as an investor community
Macro factors that helped RUV Alliance
Dynamics with other SPVs
AngelList's reaction to RUV Alliance
Who funds RUV Alliance?
Miami100 DAO
Where is the leverage for individuals today?

Follow Harvey on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/harvey-multani-95b591208/ and learn more about RUV Alliance here .

Nataraj is an engineer at Azure, partner at planbcapital.co & hosts thestartupproject.io podcast. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam & stay up to date here.

#11 Richard White: Founder of Fathom.Video (YC W21) & Uservoice | Startup Project by Nataraj

Sun, 23 Jan 2022 18:46:01 +0000

In this Episode of Startup project, Nataraj talked to Richrad White, Founder of Fathom.VIdeo. It is one of the companies invested by Zoom Apps Fund.

Prior to starting Fathom.Video, Richard was CEO & Founder of Uservoice.com (Product feedback for B2B SaaS)/

Full conversation includes:

Journey of Uservoice
Insights that led to starting Fathom.Video
Why repeat founders look at having more investors on cap table than less?
Optimization for Angels and New funds on cap table
Taking investment from Zoom Fund
How to think about B2B marketplaces like Zoom Apps

Follow Richard on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rrwhite/ and learn more about Fathom here . Go to https://fathom.video/pod to skip the waiting list and try fathom.video.

Nataraj is an engineer at Azure, partner at planbcapital.co & hosts thestartupproject.io podcast. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam & stay up to date here.

#10 Luba Lesiva: Founder of palumni.vc investing in Palantir Alumni | Startup Project by Nataraj

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 00:21:43 +0000

In this Episode of Startup project, Nataraj talked to Luba Lesiva, Founder of palumni.vc

Prior to starting palumni.vc she was head of investor relations for Palantir and had a career in investing at Sovereign Wealth Funds and was an investment banker at various Wall Street firms.

We talked about:

Origin story of palumni.vc
Investing in Palantir Alumni
Challenges & growth tactics in creating and growing an Alumni Syndicate
Leveraging communities to create value

Follow Luba on Twitter at https://twitter.com/loobah_l and learn more about palumni.vc here .

Nataraj is an engineer at Azure, partner at planbcapital.co & hosts thestartupproject.io podcast. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam & stay up to date here.

#9 Eric Satz: Founder of Alto IRA | Startup Project by Nataraj

Mon, 15 Nov 2021 19:35:06 +0000

In this Episode of Startup project, Nataraj talked to Eric Satz, Founder & CEO of Alto IRA.

Prior to his role as founder and CEO of Alto, Eric worked in investment banking at DLJ/Credit Suisse and co-founded several companies, including: Currenex, an FX trading solution sold to State Street for more than $550M; Plumgood Food, and; Tennessee Community Ventures, a VC firm

We talked about:

- The problems that led to creation of Alto IRA
Advantages of using Alto IRA
Working with partners like Coinbase, Angellist & Republic
Diversification of investments
Fundraising via Equity Crowdfunding
Peter Thiel's 401k strategy

Follow Eric on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ericsatz and learn more about Alto IRA here.

Nataraj is an engineer at Azure, partner at planbcapital.co & hosts thestartupproject.io podcast. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam and stay up to date at https://www.getrevue.co/profile/bmb/members

#8 Sajid Rahman: Founder of My Asia VC, Investor in 1000+ Startups with 40+ Exits | Startup Project by Nataraj

Sat, 25 Sep 2021 22:40:45 +0000

In this Episode of Startup project, Nataraj talked to Sajid Rahman, Founder of My Asia VC.

Sajid is an operator-investor who invested in 1000+ Startups with 40+ Exits. He is the founder of myasiavc.com and his portfolio companies span all geographical regions including North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latam.

We talked about:

Transition from Banking to Angel Investing
Solving the cold start problem
Best way to start leading investments in 2021
Graduating from a syndicate to fund
Thought process behind Investing in different stages
Thesis for the new late stage fund
Why he thinks startup investing is not risky
Decisions making style
Trends he is looking forward in next couple of years.

Follow Sajid on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SajidRepublic and learn more about My Asia VC at myasiavc.com

#7 Martin Tobias: Founder of Incisive.vc | Startup Project by Nataraj

Sat, 07 Aug 2021 21:20:37 +0000

In this Episode of Startup project, Nataraj talked to Martin Tobias, Founder of Incisive Ventures.

Martin is a serial entrepreneur, investor in 100+ deals as an angel, also the Founder of a leading Angel network, Element8. He is also 3x CEO, and has raised over $500M (including two IPOs).

We talked about:

First Angel Investment
Meta Themes
Capital Efficiency in North America vs India
Looking at valuations with the lens of notional capital
What led to his investment in DocuSign at a time when electronic signatures were not legal.
Story behind starting Incisive in the middle of a pandemic

Follow Martin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MartinGTobias and learn more about Incisive at Incisive.vc

Follow Nataraj on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam and stay up to date at thestartupproject.io

#6 Vipul Agrawal: Founder of Unlu.io | Startup Project by Nataraj

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 01:50:43 +0000

This is a special episode. I have known Vipul for over 6 months now. With in just couple of conversations I have come to realize that he is one of the most interesting founders I have come across.

In this episode we talked about:

Vipul's journey prior to starting unlu.io & building Rutogo & CricnWin.
Making money using Internet
The concept of Fandom vs Respect
How his experience working with influencers in cricket and co-producing movies is helping him build Unlu?
How does the journey of making an Unlu Class happen, from concept to production?
How does Unlu convince the like of Ruskin Bond & Manoj Bajpayee come and teach their craft on Unlu?
Market size of Indian Influencer economy
what's next after Unlu Shoutouts & Unlu class?
What are the moats that are separating Unlu from the competition?
Thesis behind Angel investing and the experience of seeing exits like Fitso (aq by Zomato)

Follow Vipul on Twitter at https://twitter.com/iamvipulagrawal and learn more about Unlu at unlu.io

Follow Nataraj on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam and stay up to date at thestartupproject.io

#5 Ani Mohan: Founder & General Manager at GameSnacks (Google Area 120) | Startup Project by Nataraj

Sat, 22 May 2021 00:20:13 +0000

In Episode 5 of The Startup Project (thestartupproject.io) Nataraj talked to Ani Mohan who is the founder and General Manager of Gamesnacks (gamesnacks.com), a web based game platform incubated inside Google's Area 120.

The conversation included the following topics:

Start of the Gamesnacks and all the previous versions of it
Incubation of projects inside google area 120
How a decision to Pivot to Gamesnacks was made?
Embedding as a distribution Strategy
Value chain of Gaming Ecosystem & Future trends in gaming

Follow Ani on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ani_c_mohan and learn more about Gamesnacks at gamesnacks.com

Follow Nataraj on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam and stay up to date at thestartupproject.io

#4 Manik Mehta: Founder of Omnify, a global SaaS platform for small and medium service business | Startup Project by Nataraj

Sun, 11 Apr 2021 23:50:53 +0000

Manik is the Co-Founder of Omnify (getomnify.com), a global SaaS platform for small and medium service business. Previously he was also the co-founder of LinkMySport.

We talked about:

Service Ecommerce
Pivoting multiple times to find product market fit
Scrapping and restarting to figure the right customers in right geography
Giving back time to customers
Getting through the rollercoaster of pandemic when 90% of your customers are outside India
Vision of Omnify

Follow Manik on Twitter at https://twitter.com/manik_me and learn more about omnify at getomnify.com

Follow Nataraj on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam and stay up to date at thestartupproject.io

#3 Vikas Malpani: Co-Founder of Leher & Ex-Cofounder of Commonfloor.com | Startup Project by Nataraj

Thu, 11 Mar 2021 20:15:07 +0000

Vikas is the Co-Founder of Leher (Leher.app), a live discussion platform. Previously he was also the co-founder of Commonfloor.com which was acquired by Quikr.

We talked about:

Growth of Leher in last 6 months
Monetization Models
Content moderation
The Clubhouse Effect
From Commonfloor to Leher, how has the Indian Startup ecosystem changed?

Follow Vikas on Twitter at https://twitter.com/vikasmalpani and learn more about Leher at Leher.App

Follow Nataraj on Twitter at https://twitter.com/natarajsindam and stay up to date at thestartupproject.io

#2 Pankaj Jain: COO Workomo & Investor | Startup Project by Nataraj

Sun, 14 Feb 2021 06:21:08 +0000

Pankaj Jain is currently COO of Workomo. He has worn multiple hats in his journey from being a founder, operator & investor. He is also an advisor to Angel List India's The Collective Fund.

We talked about

Creating communities like Startup weekend & now Indian startup club on clubhouse (https://indianstartup.club/)
Working at TLabs (Times Internet's Accelerator)
Different Accelerator models in India
Leading 500 Startup's India Strategy
Evolution of Food Startups in India
Jio Effect in India
Advising for Angel List India's The Collective Fund
Perspective on AL Syndicates
Indian companies registering outside India
2020 is it a crisis/bubble/opportunity
Being chief operating officer at Workomo

Follow Pankaj on Twitter (https://twitter.com/pjain) and learn more about Workomo at https://workomo.com

Find more about Nataraj on Twitter https://twitter.com/natarajsindam

More information at thestartupproject.io

#1 Pranay Gupta: Cofounder of 91Springboard & Angel Investor | Startup Project by Nataraj

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 08:15:36 +0000

Pranay is the co-founder of 91 Springboard (91springboard.com), one of India's successful co-working space companies.

We talked about:

Interesting origin story of 91Springboard
Evolution and scaling of 91Springboard
The business model of co-working space company
How 91Springboard became on of the best startup incubators and received "Best emerging Technology Incubator 2016" award from president of India
His recent foray to Angel Investing and setting up a syndicate
Goa as a startup destination

You can follow Pranay on Twitter (https://twitter.com/PranayG) and learn more about 91Springboard here (91springboard.com)

More information of all other episodes are at thestartupproject.io and you can find more about Nataraj on Twitter @natarajsindam.