We often hear VCs saying location doesn't matter for startups. But if that's true, why don't we see more VC firms based in states like Madhya Pradesh?
How many venture capital firms can you name in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, or Jharkhand?
The numbers are disappointingly low and this disparity creates a significant disconnect.
While we preach that great ideas can come from anywhere, the capital and networks essential to nurture these ideas remain overwhelmingly concentrated in a few metro cities.
But things are changing and I recently witnessed this firsthand at an exceptional event in Gwalior organized by Fluid Ventures.
It brought together some of the most innovative thinkers and leaders in India's startup community, all under one roof.
The event was not just another startup gathering. It’s a reminder that innovation isn't limited to big cities. It's happening right here in smaller towns as well.
Experiencing this in my hometown hits me very differently.
It's one thing to read about change, but to experience it is entirely different. And I'm grateful I could contribute as a speaker, host, founder, and even gifting partner through Amrutam .
A huge thanks to the support and encouragement of Shmt. Priyadarshini Raje Scindia at the Gwalior Palace. It wouldn’t have come to life without your vision to make Gwalior grow and prosper.
A special thank you to Amit Singal and Rakhee Singal for spearheading this initiative in our city. For thinking about start-up ecosystems and building them in Tier 2 cities.
Let’s continue to work towards a more inclusive startup ecosystem across all of India.
Our first-ever "Anybody Can AI Socials - Product Manager Edition" was a blast! We brought together brilliant minds from across industries, all eager to infuse AI magic into their products. The room buzzed with interactive discussions, groundbreaking ideas, and the shared excitement of shaping the future of tech.
From AI newbies to seasoned PMs, everyone left inspired and armed with practical knowledge to revolutionize their workflows. Who knew learning about AI could be this fun?
Missed out? Don't worry - this is just the beginning! Stay tuned for more Anybody Can AI Socials. Because in this AI revolution, everybody's invited to the party! 🎉🤖
All organisations aspire for customer-centricity as a culture but Amazon embraces it in everything that they do from A to Z.
Recently finished reading "Working Backwards" - a book written by former Amazon executives Colin Bryar and Bill Carr that offers insights, stories and secrets from inside Amazon. One of the frameworks that I got quite intrigued by was Amazon's unique approach to product development and innovation, known as "working backwards."
At its core, "working backwards" involves starting with the customer and working backwards to create the product. Instead of beginning with an idea and hoping customers will like it, Amazon reverses the process:
1. They imagine the finished product from the customer's perspective 2. Draft an internal press release announcing the product 3. Rigorously scrutinize and refine the concept 4. Only then begin development
This approach ensures that every product or service is truly customer-centric from inception. Sure, Amazon has had product failures but this forces teams to clearly articulate the customer benefit before investing significant resources and thus, saving time and money.
What impresses me most about this method is how it aligns entire organizations around customer needs rather than internal goals or competitor actions. It's a powerful reminder that in business, starting with the end user in mind can lead to breakthrough innovations.
Reflecting on the incredible journey of our 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 this past year, I am beyond thrilled to announce that we have achieved a phenomenal 𝟭𝟬𝘅 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵. This milestone is a testament to our unwavering commitment to our vision and mission.
At Univia , we have always aimed for excellence, and this achievement signifies that we are not just on the right path but also moving at top speed. Our team’s relentless dedication, innovative strategies, and customer-centric approach have driven us to this remarkable success. As we continue to push boundaries and break new ground, I am confident that this is just the beginning. Here’s to achieving greater heights together!
Excited to share that we have received a funding grant of $70,000 USD from Climate Policy Initiative! This support will significantly bolster our mission to transform our cities into Net Zero Cities. With our innovative Urban Photovoltaic solutions, we are empowering city corporations to achieve their solar goals without dedicating additional land resources.
Moreover, our Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) solutions are designed to help millions of people living in high-rise buildings adopt solar energy, even without rooftop access.
Together, we are paving the way for a sustainable and green future, ensuring clean energy is accessible to all. Let’s work towards a brighter, cleaner world!
I haven’t been in touch with Silicon Valley SFO in the last decade, primarily because I had nothing to do. Or rather, I got caught up in long bootstrapping cashflow woes.
Then I was building everything for India. To become 2nd largest player in event experience & entertainment ticketing in India. Up to 2015.
In US:
Yes, much later, I did win big customers like TiE, Harvard business school entrepreneur network and a bunch of others to serve ExplaraX, but, with hundreds of fantastic friends and colleagues, I could never 10x from my network, that is changing definitely now in 2024 and then 2025 onwards, thanks to AI initiatives we are sketching Foundership - Web3 & AI Accelerator VC
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting and engaging with incredible minds at the eChai Ventures Ahmedabad event at IIMA Ventures.
As a speaker, I had the opportunity to share my journey of building Cargar, diving into how and why we’re tackling the EV charging problem the way we are. We also explored the life of an entrepreneur, from day zero to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Looking ahead to 2030, I envision standing in the same place, among the same brilliant individuals, and thanking them for switching to green mobility and thanking them for using Cargar services. The future of green mobility is bright, and together, we’re driving the change.
I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Jatin Chaudhary for founding eChai Ventures and for the incredible work he’s doing. eChai has become a platform that amplifies voices, motivates individuals, and helps many make better career decisions. The impact of this initiative is truly inspiring, and I’m excited to see how it will continue to empower and guide people in their journeys.
As a part of B2B Yatra, we're looking to screen our documentary to thousands of colleges in India!
The Goal? To inspire students in colleges across India to either build, or join B2B Startups as Interns, Full Timers.
And, here comes Anto, the super energetic soul - One of the few meetings I've had in quite some time where you lose the track of time! :)
Anto built Under 25 Universe for the last 11 years, to empower and celebrate hundreds of thousands of young people by giving them a voice and a space to connect, learn, and grow.
Under25 has it's wings spread across 4000 colleges in India, and aspires to be the largest platform for students where they can freely express themselves, connect with like-minded peers, and pursue their passions. Crazy!
MR Rangaswami Thanks for the connect, you're a rockstar! ❤️
🦄 Thank you for joining us in the eChai Ventures Product Growth meetup at Urban Vault Headquarters in HSR, Bengaluru! 🚀
Glimpses -
Aditya Agrawal is a product leader at Cuemath. He left no stone unturned to remind all of us in the room about our math marks and tuition classes from school days! There are over 4,000 tutors on the platform, largely women who consider Cuemath to be a source of income and identity. He believes that the two most important deliverables for a product manager are the value to the customer and the viability to the business. He recommends reading 'Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value' by Melissa Perri. Shout out to Amal Mishra for the warm welcome extended to his college senior 😊
Ashish Singh is not just a product leader at Paytm, he is also certified to climb the Mount Everest! He shared titbits from his days at Swiggy sprinkled with buzzwords like customer lifetime value, churn score, priority support and the icing on the cake - customer satisfaction score which witnessed a massive jump during his tenure. He believes that 70% of product management is identifying the right problem and knowing when to solve it. His go-to book recommendations include 'The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact' by Chip Heath, and 'Principles: Life and Work' by Ray Dalio.
Madhurita M. is a product leader at Meesho, a board games enthusiast, F1 fan and a globe trotter who has been to 35+ countries! She shared insights from building her favourite products and activating people on return. She believes it's important to understand your customer really well at the n-th level. The skill to ask the right questions to know what they truly want is critical. This will ensure that the need for iterations and pivots drastically reduces. Whether you are looking to break in to product or get better at it, what gets you anywhere is curiosity! Go through apps from start to finish. Think through why someone would add these features and how that impacts your experience.
Sameer Mandge is a product leader at GoKwik. Recalling his days from Amazon, he says when Amazon launched in India, the default check out option was COD. They went through a journey of introducing changes for the new users and the existing users to eventually reduce COD. While Cash On Delivery is a growth lever, they aimed at reducing it owing to higher return to origin, frequency of purchase and more reasons. Return To Origin is an important step as it adds to merchant cost and operations to bring the undelivered orders back. He believes that customer keeps evolving and so do their needs. It's important to do your customer research well and put a clear persona to your user. He recommends reading 'The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business' by Charles Duhigg and 'The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you' by Rob Fitzpatrick.
At the eChai Ventures AI Day with GUSEC, one of the panellists, Chirag Patel, Chief Strategy Officer of Rysun Labs, emphasized the critical importance of embracing AI. He remarked, "In the future, there will only be two types of companies: those that embrace and adopt AI, and those that are shut down."
This resonates with the recent survey titled "Labour force perception about AI: A study on Indian white collar workers" done by Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad faculties & industry experts. It was released last day.
The survey reveals fascinating insights into AI adoption in India across industries like education, IT, manufacturing, and healthcare. • 𝟨𝟢% 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘈𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝟧𝟥% 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. • 𝟩𝟢% 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘐 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝟨𝟨% 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘈𝘐 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘛 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝟥𝟤% 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘐 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢.
With AI making inroads across sectors, India’s AI market is expected to grow from $4.2 billion in 2023 to $8.3 billion by 2025. While AI adoption is rapid, caution is advised as the workforce gears up to upskill and adapt.
It’s clear—AI is transforming industries and creating both challenges and opportunities. Continuous learning and upskilling will be crucial to harnessing the potential of this AI-driven future.
Professionally, I have been using AI tools and it has enhanced my productivity and also helped in do mundane jobs while giving me extra time for creativity and complex problem-solving.
However, there can't be any replacement for Human Intelligence or maybe it is wishful thinking. Only AI can tell 😀.
Would love to hear your opinion & insights on this.
It was an absolute pleasure to meet you, Allan Koltin. I've been following your incredible journey since the start of my career in the US accounting industry, and your insights have always been invaluable to me. Truly humbled by your humility and generosity in taking the time to share your wisdom. Thank you for the great conversation—I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn from one of the best in the field!
As we are working on product development at Binary Infura. I always had questions related to "Selling the product before or while building it". I was fortunate to have the opportunity to discuss this with Panelists. Luckily panelists are also tech product founders and so, they shared valuable insights from their journey.
eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner, helping them expand market reach, drive revenue growth, amplify brand visibility, and strengthen hiring efforts.
eChai Ventures is a global startup network connecting entrepreneurs through local meetups in 20+ cities worldwide, enabling cross-border collaborations via startup panels, demo days, cricket, and pickleball leagues.
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