Kashish Singhal

Someone from a Tier 1 Indian VC told me a couple of weeks ago that their 10-year-old fund has a total paper return (illiquid) of ~3x. That happens to be exactly the same return as the Sensex over the past decade.* And an ETF tracking the Sensex is liquid, marked to market daily, and has lower costs. VC funds raised mega-funds of $200M+ on the India story during 2010 to 2020. Most of them are now unable to deliver the promised returns to their investors, which are usually 4-6x on the total sum invested. Contrast this with disciplined domestic funds like Blume and Sauce who did not succumb to the temptation of raising mega-funds to earn more management fees - even as they grew more successful. It’s easier to return funds when they are smaller—but you have to be willing to accept lower salaries and management fees as VCs. Blume’s founder Karthik illustrates this perfectly with a graph of his salary over time below. :) * Another metric to measure returns is IRR which takes into account when the money was actually invested investments. VCs don’t take all the committed money from LPs upfront; rather it’s in installments over time.

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The New Capitalism Just Created 500 Crorepatis And it's not what Marx or Adam Smith imagined... Swiggy turned 500+ employees into crorepatis overnight. But I think this is bigger than that. This is Capitalism 2.0 emerging: The Old Way: → Capital owned by few → Workers just earn wages → Wealth stays at the top The New Reality: → Employees become owners → Value flows to creators → Wealth spreads through merit Look at this transformation: • Zomato: $1B in ESOP pool at listing • Airbnb: 900+ millionaires • Amazon: Employee wealth exceeding nations Yes, I know - this isn't everyone's reality. Most companies aren't there yet. Many workers still struggle daily. But this is why it matters: It shows what's possible: When companies think long-term When value is shared fairly When merit drives wealth This isn't socialism. This isn't traditional capitalism. This is Participatory Capitalism: Where growth benefits everyone involved. The reality? We're in transition: → Some companies lead → Many will follow → Others will resist But every economic revolution started somewhere. And this one's already showing results.

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1.5 years since trading the American dream to build in India. Sharing 9 of my biggest learnings from 2024 as an entrepreneur. 👇 1/9. Thinking long-term and people-first approach. Scaled Gush to almost $1.5m ARR in 12 months from launch - as we grow, I realize the importance of long-term thinking, processes & people - it is all about how you influence and motivate them to dream and learn with you - customers - employees - investors It is all about people and long-term thinking. 2/9. All publicity is good publicity. I went viral for a Indo-US comparison thread - 7M views and it was picked up by national dailies. Got showered with love and hate. Some called it brave, others called it bs. The same words but such different reactions! In the end all publicity is good publicity - gave us over $300k ARR in sales & crazy brand visibility :) 3/9. More to life than logic. I did what all fin-fluencers ask you not to - Bought a new house in Bengaluru. Home purchase still feels like a debt trap. But f*ck it! There’s more to life than logic - It attracts so much social gratification from family and creates a deep-seated sense of social security. 4/9. Learnt how to raise larger VC rounds. Spoke with 50 VCs for our seed round 10 rejected without a call  25 first calls  15 did deeper diligence  6 went to IC  signed a term-sheet with 1 of them. 3 lessons: - Founder brand on linkedin is not considered a GTM channnel. - Business model change is a hard story to sell. - What VCs tweet or blog about might be very different from how they actually invest. 5/9. Data and anecdotal evidence can indicate completely opposite things. Had 2 huge cash burn spikes - reducing our runway by a lot. Everything looks perfect on spreadsheets until you start executing. Building tight processes now - for spending control and making sure money comes in on time. Small leaks sink big ships, and boy did we learn that! 6/9. Sometimes instant gratification helps. Got a new car this year. Never thought I'd care much about what I drive, but that upgrade feeling is real. 2 hours in Bengaluru traffic feels a lot more manageable now. Sure, the new car excitement fades, but those small comforts add up when you have to deal with the chaos daily. 7/9. Growing into an organization. Watched Gush maturing into a team of 200 folks (30 full-time + 170 contracted). Learning that 3 things are getting harder:  - Being as close to customers as we were on day-1 - Being as rapidly iterative as we were on day-1 - Having no blind spots in the organization 8/9. Health is your biggest asset. Got myself a personal trainer and what a difference! Used to think fitness was just about counting calories and hitting those 10k steps. Energy levels are through the roof and I'm learning there's so much more to it. 9/9. Building a solid social fabric around is key. Rekindled many old, long-lost friendships after moving back to India, had a straight impact on stress levels.

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*Most Plum Jobs in AI: Aren't what most people expect*  One of our US investors, is hiring for his company in India - I was catching up with him. We ended up discussing: the most sought-after AI roles aren’t what people expect. Only high paying complex jobs are likely to survive. Rest Kavya . - AI Intern built by Vaayu - AI for Finance & Sales can do by herself. (Or her cousins can do) In 2024, *Management & AI Consulting* have proven the most profitable, and this trend is likely to continue into 2025.  ### *Top AI Roles with Highest Pay, Equity - Quite a big upside, and Impact*   1. AI Management Consulting: Helping CXOs drive strategic transformations, setting organizational goals & budgets.   2. Subsidiary Setup Leadership: Establishing new entities in India or abroad.   3. AI Consulting for CXOs: Engaging senior leadership on complex AI projects & transformation. (Not just gyan - needs to convince, go out, engage)   4. CXO/CIO/CMO/Partner Strategy Roles: Planning long-term AI investments and board-level proposals.   5. Procurement & Fulfillment: Identifying partners and executing AI solutions.   6. Ecosystem Builders: Connecting startups, enterprises, and government bodies.  ### *Medium-Impact Roles: High Pay, Limited Upside, Minimal or no equity*   1. Product Managers: Translating abstract ideas into actionable execution with medium to low resources.   2. AI Sales/Pre-Sales: Selling market-disrupting AI solutions.   3. AI Researchers: Niche & few but limited opportunities.   4. P&L Leaders (MD/SVP): Managing resources and achieving targets given abstract goals. 5. Super Coders: Writing business-savvy, impactful code very quick with minimal guidance & hazy changing requirements. ### *Basic Salary Roles: Moderate Pay, Limited Growth *   1. Coders/Tech Leads using AI tools.   2. Sales/Marketing supported by AI.   3. Project Managers/Scrum Masters.   4. Operational roles dependent on structured instructions.  ### *High-Risk Roles: Limited Future Potential*   1. Coordinators with no strategic input.   2. Coders/Sales avoiding AI adoption.   3. People managers lacking strategic involvement.   4. Basic tasks without deep customer or business understanding.   5. People indecisive about impacts about AI If you are in top 1/2 categories or are trying to break through into it - Please DM Kavya ., Achal Mehra or myself for partnership. Also All Bharat AI Association - a community of AI startups offers a gateway to the top two categories.* Volunteer to gain hands-on experience and develop a self-starter mindset, working with zero instructions. #ai #career #partnership

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Can technical founders become effective CEOs? Srinath Sridhar knew he needed to step out of his comfort zone when he founded Regie.ai four years ago. Now he and cofounder Matt Millen have raised more than $20 million and landed on G2’s list of fastest-growing software products of 2024. My full conversation with Sri is in the comments.

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The State government of Delhi is thinking about cloud seeding to make it rain, but there’s only a 30-40% chance it will work. Delhi needs long-term fixes for pollution, not quick hacks like this. Plus, Delhi’s busy skies ( Air traffic) make it harder to pull off. The state government is blaming the central government for failing to create artificial rain, trying to distract from its own 10 years of failure in tackling the pollution crisis.

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Startups don't need 'big brains' - they need 'big hearts.' Hearts that can withstand the breathtaking ride, hearts that have experienced the noise and emerged bolder. A Harvard MBA or a stint at Google might look great, but what doesn't mean someone knows how to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. Well, I don't know which one I fall into but I am the one who can roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. Real entrepreneurship is chaotic. And requires more than just big brains and a polished resume. It needs grit. #career #entrepreneurship #Coaching #Leadership #Linkedin ♻️ Reshare if you found this helpful. If you’re stuck somewhere and need personalised coaching, book a call with me at https://lnkd.in/ggxZjxtQ

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India’s AI and SaaS sectors are booming, with SaaS revenue set to exceed $50 billion ARR by 2030 and 60% of SaaS companies now AI-enabled. This makes India a global hotspot for innovation and growth. Add to this the fact that AI spending in India is expected to hit $6 billion in the next 3 years. We are thrilled to announce Stykite's partnership with PayU and Razorpay, enabling businesses to scale faster in India through both Standard Integrations and Merchant of Record. These partnerships are key to simplifying payments and unlocking growth for AI and SaaS companies in one of the world's fastest-growing tech hubs. 🚀 https://stykite.com/ https://lnkd.in/g9R7p-kR #payments #subscriptionbilling #ai #merchantofrecord #saas

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Indian venture market has exploded. Someone reported that there are 800+ funds/networks/syndicates/ accelerators active in Indian venture market now. Not sure, if that number is correct but if you are an early stage tech founder on your fundraise journey, chances are, you would meet hundreds of people. While majority of the fund houses are doing incredible work and shaping the ecosystem. There are certain kinds of investors you need to identify & avoid to save time and stay focused: Sharing from my personal experience, top 5 such cohorts to avoid and the takeaways for the founders: 1. Data collectors: At early stage, you don't have historical data to present. Your projections are just that, Projections. I wasted one whole week discussing with a prospective angel investor on why the CLTV to CAC ratio is x, and not y. Takeaway: Discuss high level strategic numbers only without going into the details. None of the projections would be accurate anyway when rubber hits the road. 2. Document collectors: Met few folks, who would watch from the fences and ask for n number of documents, data rooms, statements without sharing the purpose of the ask or even revealing their investment intent. Takeaway: It is supposed to be a bi-directional conversation. Say 'no' often, till the time, an official relationship is established. 3. Valuer (! investor): At early stage, valuation is a function of multiple parameters, the opportunity itself, the team, or anything else except steady cash flows, because you don't have much. I wasted another week with a prospective investor trying to justify valuation, had to shut down that conversation, after both of us started quoting Aswath Damodaran and his valuation principles. Takeaway: Too much content on the internet for both parties anyway. Shouldn't be a bone of contention at early stages. 4. Facilitators posing as investors: Met numerous people, who would go to any lengths to pose themselves as serious investors, even buying paid media articles. Only to reveal at the last: The success fee. Takeaway: Avoid facilitators until Series A 5. Brokers posing as market makers: People posing as market makers sharing tons of gyaan on LinkedIn but are actually deal brokers looking to make quick %. Personal experience: Two rounds of conversation happened and then out of blue, they added a third party in the mail trail, someone who facilitates mergers & acquisitions. There wasn't even a single instance in the past conversations where we indicated any such intent. Takeaway: Avoid name & shame in public but at least share within founder communities. #venture #fundraise #startups #investing

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F&O trading is similar to tobacco products and all Trading platforms and algo trading firms are behaving like tobacco companies. 91% of people make losses, even amongst people who make profits - a great percentage is less than 10K, almost 50% transaction cost for profit making. Who are the winners here - Algorithms (yes algorithms make the most money), Trading platforms(it seems there are like a million trading platforms. PS: I have little to no knowledge about F&O or trading in general. Don't mean to offend anyone but only calling it out because I feel a poor country like ours cannot have such things. Some scary messages I have read or heard in recent times - An influencer suggesting - Everything is on the chart, you do not even need to know what company is or what does it do . A trading platform suggesting - We have tools which can increase the chance of you making profit(yes this is scary - can you guarantee the increase or call out in what cases it works and when it doesn't). I got worried recently when I heard a conversation of college kids at a cafe - they were boasting about F&O trading. About how this is the path to success. I noticed they convinced two others in the group to get an account and start trading (mind you not investing but trading). The only good message in their conversation was - life is all about taking risks, worst case we will learn something out of it. I hope government and regulators take some steps to either stop it or at least put some limits and checks. At least work towards stopping passive effects like regulate influencers , fact check things, raise more awareness. I seriously do not know what is the way ahead but definitely something which is showing worrisome signs for a poor country like ours. My analysis on why it is similar to tobacco products:

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Over the past two years, I’ve reached out to over a thousand VCs across India and the US. About a hundred responded, and of those, I actually spoke to maybe half. The rest? Crickets. Most times, it feels like pitching into a black hole—no follow-ups, no clear rejections, and a whole lot of "we’ll circle back." As a 22-year-old founder trying to build a deep-tech company from a small village in India, the struggle feels unreal. Warm intros are rare, and cold emails are... well, mostly ignored. I applied to A Junior VC recently and for the very first time, I felt seen and felt my time was being valued—not just as a founder with a pitch but as a person with a purpose. They replied in one day. One. Day. We luckily made it to the Round 2 and the questions asked in that round weren’t just about numbers but about the vision and the why behind what I’m building. It’s such a rare thing in this space to feel genuinely understood, and honestly, it left me a little stunned to see such a brilliant funnel. This isn’t a promotional post. It’s just a genuine shoutout to Aviral for setting the bar so high. I'm hoping more VCs take a page from your playbook.

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Just updated the setting to display most recent posts by default on my LinkedIn feed. Things got interesting and posts with low or no likes have started showing up. https://lnkd.in/dJhGygMz

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"You need to be a warrior irrespective of where you belong." Be it a corporate giant or a small startup, the mindset must be the same—a warrior. if you’re in a startup, then you’ve got to be a Warrior Pro Max. and that is your choice But whats in for you? Much of learning in so short time. So, break free from the comfort zone—because comfort is the silent killer and don't change yourself for where you currently belong Be a warrior in your story. #business #startup #team #employee

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"Ye maine theek toh kiya na....?" Every founder’s toughest battle? Self-doubt. As a founder I go through a series of doubts often: "Did I push the team too hard today?" "Did we make the right call on hiring or layoffs?" "Could I have handled that better?" I feel self-doubt keeps me in check and also keeps me sane! To every founder: you’re not alone in this. Keep building, keep learning. What are your thoughts around this? #startup #doubts #entrepreneurship

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There's a real sense of the boy who called wolf in Google's cookie deprecation saga–after so many false alarms, the wolf might just be strolling up to the sheep pen licking his lips in plain sight... While most of the industry have reverted to BAU, the CMA appear to be moving at a pace towards getting this thing done and dusted. The headline news not gaining too many headlines from their latest report, is that they want to resolve all outstanding issues by end of the year. All the buzz over the past 5 years around cookies being whacked, and now we're reaching the penultimate season 8 blockbuster finale, and it appears no one seems to be particularly fussed. Help me out here adtech/ media people, am I missing something? I'll say it again, as this cookie thing has the habit of causing eyes to instantly glaze over - they plan to resolve all outstanding concerns with Google by the end of the year, on both the sandbox and consent pop-up. And as a reminder to what happened in previous seasons, the main barrier preventing cookie deprecation as far as I'm aware was the CMA.... so logic holds we should see a major announcement around this from Google soon. That's our guess anyway given the sandbox team appear to be pressing on full steam ahead. Brands and agencies if you're not testing Protected Audience API in the sandbox, you should be–it's an entirely new programmatic ecosystem and could soon be the only game in town. Paapi can help with that! The Google consent-pop up wolf is creeping up on the cookie sheep, media village folk. You have been warned! https://lnkd.in/e_Se6YBk

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“Show me the incentive, and I'll show you the outcome.” VCs will advise you on where to incorporate your startup, but beware of their own incentives in this. It is almost impossible for an Indian AIF-structured VC fund to invest in a US-domiciled corporation. Such VCs will invariably advise you to incorporate in India; otherwise, they can't invest. There are some real reasons to consider domiciling in India including better public market multiples if you decide to IPO, lower revenue threshold required to exit, and selling based on where your customers are (e.g. if you sell to the domestic defence industry, you should domicile in India).  Similarly, many US funds will not invest in Indian startups unless you incorporate in the US—YC being the most notable example. Again, there are several reasons you should consider domiciling in the US, including a deeper pool of capital (especially for certain industries like climate tech and deep tech), aligning with where your customers are (e.g., if you are a SaaS startup selling to US businesses), and stronger IP protections. Bottom line: Make sure you domicile based on what is most appropriate for your startup, not what is best for the VC!

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MER vs. ROAS If you are confused, this post is for you 👇 I see many folks in e-commerce use these 2 metrics interchangeably. Some have labelled ROAS as MER (e.g. aMER). And this is not exactly correct because those 2 metrics serve different purposes. MER = Marketing Effectiveness Ratio = (Direct Marketing + Indirect Marketing) / Net Revenue -> measured in % (e.g. 15%) ROAS = Return on Ad Spend = Net Revenue / Direct Marketing -> measured in X (e.g. 3.5x) Do you see the fundamental distinction? MER % measures effectiveness of ALL marketing efforts, both direct (paid ads, affiliate, etc.) and indirect (creative production, events, photoshoots). ROAS (mislabelled as MER = Marketing EFFICIENCY Ratio) measures efficiency of direct marketing efforts at various levels across various channels. MER is a finance metric. ROAS / aMER is a marketing metric. They don’t and shouldn’t mean the same. Use them in the right context to align other team members. And if you choose to label ROAS as aMER, make sure to clarify that to your finance person ;) P.S. if you want to better understand and action your numbers, join my Slack channel where I post content like this. Link in the comments 👇 P.S.S. I’ve launched a new cost-effective Fractional CFO service that helps brands better understand and action their numbers. Link in the comments 👇 #ecommerce #founders #roas

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