Podcast · ~44 min

VC Wisdom: Nansi & Siddhartha on Investing, Fundraising, and Growth

The Neon Show (Nansi Mishra & Siddhartha Ahluwalia) · The Neon Show Free Intermediate India

Two Indian founders turned investors on what they actually weigh when funding early founders, including resilience and non-consensus conviction. It is grounded in the Indian market, so the signals map to what you will face raising here. Useful for the 'why you' Indian investors probe.

  • Indian investors weigh resilience and past failure heavily.
  • Non-consensus conviction can matter more than following the trend.
  • Founder quality outranks market timing at the earliest stage.

It answers 2 questions

  1. I keep hearing 'why you' matters to investors. What are they actually looking for when they ask it?
  2. How do I write a cold email to an investor without sounding desperate?

Read with it

  1. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
  2. The most quoted essay on the mechanics of fundraising, distilled from YC Demo Day advice. It reframes fundraising as a sales... paulgraham.com Article · 45 min read How to Raise Money Paul Graham
  3. A modern, tactical fundraising and pitch playbook aggregating advice from top operators and investors. Strong on how to build... Lenny's Newsletter Article · 25 min read A Playbook for Fundraising (and building your pitch) Lenny Rachitsky
  4. First Round Review turns storytelling from a buzzword into concrete pitch structure, drawing on a former Pixar CTO's approach.... First Round Review Article · 20 min read Take Your Fundraising Pitch from Mediocre to Memorable with Storytelling First Round Review
  5. A YC partner who has read thousands of applications tells you plainly what separates the founders who get in from the ones who... YC Startup Library Essay · Long-form essay / talk How to Apply and Succeed at Y Combinator Dalton Caldwell
  6. Video · ~35 min How to Pitch Your Startup Kevin Hale
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →