There exists a core framework that I have been using for years before making an investment decision – relying on what I call the three T’s and the M – Team, Technology, Traction and Market. But it’s the nuance around […]
venture capital
The Big Picture – In Conversation with Iron Pillar Network Member – Sandeep Johri – Part 2
In continuation of “The Big Picture” series of Iron Pillar conversations, here is part 2 of my conversation with Sandeep Johri, CEO of Tricentis. In this version, he peels the onion and opines on the overall evolution of tech entrepreneurship, especially in an emerging […]
The Big Picture – In Conversation with Iron Pillar Network Member – Sandeep Johri – Part 1
In this instalment of Iron Pillar’s “The Big Picture” set of conversations, I spoke with Sandeep Johri, a successful serial entrepreneur, technology executive and now CEO of Tricentis, a leading automated software testing startup. In Part I of my two-part conversation with Sandeep, […]
The Big Picture – In Conversation with Iron Pillar Network Member – Kartik Hosanagar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpGy61rRWK8
It takes a village – Announcing the Iron Pillar Network (IPN)
There is an old saying – ”it takes a village to raise a child”. I would argue that the same is true for startups. The entrepreneurial journey is often a long and treacherous one. Eventual success or failure of a […]
Jolly’s Volley – The Journey of Iron Pillar’s Top Up Fund
It was late 2019. Anand, Ashok and I were brainstorming about the next steps in our journey at Iron Pillar. We had closed our maiden fund with $90M in commitments in mid 2018. The Fund was fully committed to eight […]
Hindsight will indeed be “2020”
The number 2020 will be etched in our collective memories for the rest of our lives, and probably will be talked about for decades, if not generations. Hindsight will indeed be “2020” as the ultimate benchmark for everything temporal, going […]
2019: The year India truly arrived!
At the tail end of another trip to India, I am sitting at the Mumbai airport as I write this, trying to coalesce and summarize in my mind the learnings from various interactions over the past six days, across three […]
What’s luck got to do with it?
Years ago, my wife ran a couple of restaurants in the Bay Area. While the endeavors were intellectually stimulating and truly “character building”, they were financially suboptimal (to put it mildly). There were several lessons learned as we picked up […]
Democratization and Consumerization – Two trends that are catalyzing enterepreneurship in India
I recently spent an afternoon speaking with senior executives at Pearson, the leading education software company. The key topic of discussion was “education of the future, and future of education”. The conversation was part of a much broader exercise by […]