You get to see non-linear growth in extraordinary innovations, which can solve significant human challenges at scale. Also, you learn great life lessons over a longer period due to extreme emotions are in play which bring paramount outcomes.

2. Describe your workday and leisure day, how does it look like.

Workdays are mostly split between building deal pipeline, portfolio management, deepening industry connects and a bit of fund-related work.

Leisure day gets spent by either doing nothing or taking a bike-trip to weekend gateway spots.

3. What is your view on the future of India as a market?

India

is at the cusp of becoming a solid powerhouse for technological (especially internet) innovations (we have seen this in Fintech – UPI, Lending and now fintech-infra). We have prudent tech talent, are building scalable business models and now founders have also started to think big to target the global markets aggressively. We just have to take this mindset to BHARAT people, who are working or building locally.

4. Help describe your investment thesis and ideas you would like to back.

Unitus Ventures is an early-stage VC funding. We back startups primarily between Seed to Series A stages. The sector focus is agnostic, but over past decade we have focused more on Fintech, Edtech, Jobtech, SaaS & B2B Distribution.

5. What are your 5 key learnings from your experience as a venture investor.

1. It’s founders who are all-in in their businesses, we are just supporting them to achieve their business ambitions (financially and strategically). Be empathetic with them (at all times).

2. Founder-fit is the most critical aspect while taking an investment decision (can the founders pull-this off over next 10 years?). Market-sizing is important, but India is a growing country, all sectors will see significant penetration opportunity over next 10-15 years. For me, understanding regulatory compliances is more critical than performing analysis on market-sizing, for Indian context (Eg. – recent changes in Prepaid card regulations changed business models of few fintech players overnight).

3. Building long-term relationships with founders, fellow VCs, lawyer, bankers is very important.

4. Borrowed conviction doesn’t work well – you have to build independent conviction on founders, business model and market. 

5. Keep sector focus relatively helps.

6. Mention top 5 consumer/industry/technology trends in India and globally.

1. Cross-border business models in fintech, distribution and SaaS.

2. Emergence of D2C brands in different consumer verticals.

3. Deep-tech (building from BHARAT)

4. Climate-tech (adoption of EVs at scale in India)

5. VC funds trend – more domestic capital from HNIs and Family Offices coming in VC funds.

7. Top 5 advice you would give to startup founder.

1.    Think at scale. With technology, the realms of mass penetration, in relatively shorter timeframe, are strong.

2. Go all-in. One idea, one business, one focus. Going all-around always proves to be a bad idea.

3. Balance out emotions. You will experience high adrenaline rushes as well as high turbulent times over your course of business building. Balancing out emotions help in keep focus aligned and taking failures as part of the journey.

4. Think long-term. Business building at scale, even with VC capital, takes atleast 10 years. Think business impact at scale over 20-40 years than thinking of valuation over next 2-3 years.

5. Be empathetic. You will manage large teams, interact with customers frequently, present to investors regularly. Its important not to lose soft human touch while communicating things.

8. How do you support your portfolio companies?

We work with our portfolio companies on various aspects which include Business Growth, Major Pivots, Fundraising (Equity + Debt). We keep regular interactions with the founders, also twice a month, we like to be very hands-on with the founders.

9. When you started your career what were your ambitions?

I started my career in late 2020. I joined Boon Capital, a boutique tech Investment Banking firm, very early-on in its journey and worked there for 2 years. Then I joined KNAV to setup its tech I-banking office in Bangalore. And now I am with Unitus, joined them recently.

I always wanted to get into Equity Research roles in boutique firms who track capital markets. But destiny had brought me into tech Investment Banking and then into Venture Investing. 

10. Books or Blogs you would like to recommend entrepreneurs.

Books – Zero to One, Elon Musk Biography book, Shoe Dog, The Black Swan

Blogs – The Collaborative Fund blogs, Y-Combinator blogs