Hope in the time of Covid-19 Notes from the startup world As an early stage investor, my world is largely surrounded by startups. Many of these businesses serve as barometers for what is happening in the larger economy. Last few weeks have not been easy for anyone. Even for those…

For an industry that takes pride in being ultra-modern and always focused on what’s next, the VC industry’s vocabulary is quite industrial. Words like pivot, platforms and portfolio are quite common. But nothing is more industrial than the most used term — pipeline. And pipeline, especially early stage, has been…

THE 7 MYTHS ABOUT ACCELERATOR PROGRAMS IN INDIA Running the largest accelerator program in the country, we get not only hundreds of startup applications but equally high number of questions from founders. The questions make three things clear, 1. The founders carry several notions about accelerator programs (most of them unflattering…

(This article concludes a two-part series on Axilor’s Summer 2017 accelerator batch. Applications for its Winter 2017 batch is open currently) About a 100 days back, I wrote to share our excitement from inducting the largest accelerator cohort in India comprising 20 startups. The graduation day saw some amazing startups…

Last week we inducted our new accelerator batch. This is our fifth batch and we have run four such batches in the last two years. Nothing remarkable except that the recently inducted Summer ’17 batch of 20 startups is the single largest accelerator cohort ever run in India. I have…

Modelling what already works well is a good way to learn. In that spirit, I am sharing 5 observations on presentations from the recent Techsparks 2015 event where I saw the top 10 startups present. I have not been a big believer in the 3 minute pitch sessions. Much to…

Each one of us working with start-ups has a role to play; we need to display the same discipline we demand of our start-ups India is witnessing an unprecedented growth in entrepreneurship. It has emerged as the third largest entrepreneurial hub in the world for tech start-ups. On LetsVenture, one…

Repetitive work is normally boring. But, it comes with other benefits. With a little attention, one can infer patterns. And patterns are useful as one can figure out commonalities. Spending time with young entrepreneurs and listening to their ideas, especially in their very early stages, is always exciting. …

Whither the big data on Indian startup story? Despite being the third-largest startup nation in the world, there is no credible systemic data in India on either founders or investors. Whatever little information is available is largely restricted to funding. In the absence of this data, entrepreneurs often end up…