Vision
I have perpetual and deep frustration with the way most things function around us. This draws me to founders who are solving meaningful problems. Well-crafted solutions with high usefulness that achieve significant adoption make me happy. And if you can build an impactful company out of it, that is orgasmic!
“If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” ~ Steve Jobs
Passage
Learning. Methods. Relationships. And yes, a loyal friendship.
Founders can make good use of these resources from me to build their startups. I have gained these as a result of two contributing foundations:
The aggregation of these experiences and relationships compounds your company building via:
My focus is on enabling with the belief that the founders and their teams create the ultimate value. Everyone else who gets associated must have done some karma!
"Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." ~ Thomas Edison
Investing
My sole criterion for investing is answering this question in my head: "Will this happen?" And I use psychology as the underlying basis for helping me arrive at the answer.
Conventional investing parameters carry lower relevance for me. From an outsider's perspective, I invest agnostic to stage, location, industry and technology.
When I first started investing, I tried using Excel. There seemed to be no end to the list of parameters I could add for evaluation. And this level of pre-defined detail and structure confined my thinking. So I ditched it in favor of a different method. Now, I use loose-leaf paper, wooden pencils, and pens, along with some whiteboarding.
I put serious and continuous effort to broaden and deepen my knowledge. This helps me reduce decision-making time for investing. And becoming a better resource for the ever dynamic company building process.
Stage
Pretty early to pretty late! I invest from the idea stage till IPO.
My current investments are in funding rounds ranging from under a million to $100+ million.
Been through parts of this journey of company building many times. Founders can leverage my painful learnings to reduce their pain. It almost seems the best always seek pain as they go along.
Location
Increasing founder leverage has led to decoupling of startup and investor locations. Founders are choosing their startup location based on their roots, networks and preferences.
I have believed in dispersion for long. And followed this tenet in my investing from the very beginning. My first investment was 2,500+ miles away. As I write this, around 70% of my investments are outside the San Francisco Bay Area. And the average distance between my work and investments is 1,775 miles.
This approach has worked out well, and I continue to seek founders near and far.
Industry
I invest across all industries in technology and non-technology startups. My classification lens focuses on the human ecosystem impact versus segmenting by industry. A positive change in our work, home, personal, financial, social, cultural or civic life.
Technology
I invest agnostic to technology. I have invested in software, hardware, semiconductor, physical products and services.
New approaches to technology and human creativity excite me a lot! I could park myself in a makeshift maker lab. And experiment and hack all the time. Over time, I have realized that life itself is the best maker lab. And we should do continuous experimentation to create better things and experiences.
Good startup outcomes are simple but not easy. Vision gets realized through the Passage of monomaniacal execution. Let's get together to build!
I have perpetual and deep frustration with the way most things function around us. This draws me to founders who are solving meaningful problems. Well-crafted solutions with high usefulness that achieve significant adoption make me happy. And if you can build an impactful company out of it, that is orgasmic!
“If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” ~ Steve Jobs
Passage
Learning. Methods. Relationships. And yes, a loyal friendship.
Founders can make good use of these resources from me to build their startups. I have gained these as a result of two contributing foundations:
- My experience as an operator through five exits and a high-growth public company.
- And building a helpful community of good-hearted people. These include fellow investors, founders, and many usual and unusual suspects.
The aggregation of these experiences and relationships compounds your company building via:
- Contextual Help
- Targeted Advocacy
- Operational Rigor
- Hiring Talent
- Customer Acquisition
- Raising Money
- Potential Exits
My focus is on enabling with the belief that the founders and their teams create the ultimate value. Everyone else who gets associated must have done some karma!
"Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." ~ Thomas Edison
Investing
My sole criterion for investing is answering this question in my head: "Will this happen?" And I use psychology as the underlying basis for helping me arrive at the answer.
Conventional investing parameters carry lower relevance for me. From an outsider's perspective, I invest agnostic to stage, location, industry and technology.
When I first started investing, I tried using Excel. There seemed to be no end to the list of parameters I could add for evaluation. And this level of pre-defined detail and structure confined my thinking. So I ditched it in favor of a different method. Now, I use loose-leaf paper, wooden pencils, and pens, along with some whiteboarding.
I put serious and continuous effort to broaden and deepen my knowledge. This helps me reduce decision-making time for investing. And becoming a better resource for the ever dynamic company building process.
Stage
Pretty early to pretty late! I invest from the idea stage till IPO.
My current investments are in funding rounds ranging from under a million to $100+ million.
Been through parts of this journey of company building many times. Founders can leverage my painful learnings to reduce their pain. It almost seems the best always seek pain as they go along.
Location
Increasing founder leverage has led to decoupling of startup and investor locations. Founders are choosing their startup location based on their roots, networks and preferences.
I have believed in dispersion for long. And followed this tenet in my investing from the very beginning. My first investment was 2,500+ miles away. As I write this, around 70% of my investments are outside the San Francisco Bay Area. And the average distance between my work and investments is 1,775 miles.
This approach has worked out well, and I continue to seek founders near and far.
Industry
I invest across all industries in technology and non-technology startups. My classification lens focuses on the human ecosystem impact versus segmenting by industry. A positive change in our work, home, personal, financial, social, cultural or civic life.
Technology
I invest agnostic to technology. I have invested in software, hardware, semiconductor, physical products and services.
New approaches to technology and human creativity excite me a lot! I could park myself in a makeshift maker lab. And experiment and hack all the time. Over time, I have realized that life itself is the best maker lab. And we should do continuous experimentation to create better things and experiences.
Good startup outcomes are simple but not easy. Vision gets realized through the Passage of monomaniacal execution. Let's get together to build!