|
Vic Kapur, Founder and Managing Member
|
|
College of Military Engineering (Elementary School) | Army Public School (Middle and High School) | Savitribai Phule Pune University (Undergraduate School) | Carnegie Mellon (Graduate School)
Work
I am a baby startup investor with an operating background in engineering and sales. I have sold products, intellectual property and services. A former client joked that my career moved from the bright world of engineering to the dark side of sales. And as if that move was not enough, I gravitated towards an even darker world of investing. My initial dream during high school was to go into civil service but talk about destiny.
I have been at startups with five exits and a high-growth public company. Startups exited at $19M, $55M, $190M, $250M and $1.2B. Acquirers were Capgemini (IGATE), Cisco Systems, Hitachi, Partners Group (Private Equity) and Qualcomm. And I also worked at a high-growth public company as the valuation grew from $25B to $100B+ in under seven years.
My first paying job was after my sophomore year in undergraduate engineering. I went door-to-door selling retail coupons to the local downtown merchants. And ended up earning the highest compensation among the field sales team. While it was a small amount, I invested it all in the long-term equity market and it grew well.
My first exposure to "asking" for money was in middle school. HelpAge International, a global non-profit for elders recognized my efforts for exceptional fundraising.
Developing complementary skills to formal education has given me immense benefits. And I work towards having friends with complementary skills, attributes and thinking. I am happy putting all my energies into becoming better at only one thing. And leaving the rest to family and friends.
(Formal) Education
I have a joint master’s degree in Information Networking from Carnegie Mellon. It is a joint degree program from three of Carnegie Mellon's top-rated schools. Tepper School of Business. School of Computer Science. And Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Carnegie Mellon won a competitive bid among dozen top universities for this program. Started in 1989 by Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), an R&D company after the AT&T breakup. Bellcore morphed into Telcordia Technologies which is now part of Ericsson. The initial focus of this program was mid-career individuals. Experienced practitioners in either programming, engineering or business. The program goal was to help understand all three.
My bachelor's degree is from Savitribai Phule Pune University (earlier, University of Poona). I studied Computer Engineering and graduated in First Class with Distinction.
I enjoy deep involvement in both schools. And have many investments in alumni founder startups and the university region. I have served on the alumni leadership council for my graduate program. During my undergraduate years, I was the Technical Editor of the college magazine. And also wrote for the local newspapers.
My entire pre-college schooling was in government schools. I played some competitive badminton during those days.
Life
My upbringing was in a low-middle-class Armed Forces background. Thanks to my parents, I have lived across fifteen states in two countries. Both I and my younger brother are also married within Armed Forces backgrounds.
Thanks to surviving 9/11, I inculcated a high appreciation for financial prudence. A lower-cost one-hop flight from Newark to San Francisco booked by my employer saved my life.
I get satisfaction from doing small bits in different communities. Helping people adopt and train dogs is one such fun activity for me.
Health
A few years back, I decided to take better care of my health. Mind, body and heart. A bunch of changes made became my habits.
To force my tiny brain to think and reduce screen time, I introduced paper into my daily life. And now I use paper every day for a bunch of things. To maintain my calendar. Taking meeting notes. Writing and sketching thoughts. Keeping to-do lists by category. Summarizing books and my general reading. And starter notes for learning new topics. Bit by bit, I plan to move more things to paper. I also use seven whiteboards and corkboards. And would like more of these to fill the remaining empty wall space in my home office.
From being a regular gym person, I made a switch to 100% natural movements. I enjoy climbing easy trees. Doing manual work around the home and yard. Taking cold showers. Exploring the wild. Primitive camping. Super basic foraging. Pure unadulterated nutrition. Doing intermittent fasting whenever I forget there is no need to hoard food in my tummy. My longest fasting duration was 45 days with one small meal for the first 22 days followed by 23 days of fluids.
And I follow a super simple recipe for the heart. Surrounding myself with good-hearted people. And eliminating pretty much all interactions with jerks.
As a fellow investor or founder, if you have any of these weird fantasies, please ping me. Doing hard stuff together is serious fun. And each of these areas could be a sizable startup!
Intent
I want to give you enough background information as a fellow investor, founder or partner. That way you can skip the need to comb social media. A page each on my investing philosophy and background, and done. This way we spend less time on the boring me. And enjoy the more interesting conversation about your startup or investment philosophy. An off-the-record talk between the two of us. And, sometimes, Clark joins in. Let's talk!
I am a baby startup investor with an operating background in engineering and sales. I have sold products, intellectual property and services. A former client joked that my career moved from the bright world of engineering to the dark side of sales. And as if that move was not enough, I gravitated towards an even darker world of investing. My initial dream during high school was to go into civil service but talk about destiny.
I have been at startups with five exits and a high-growth public company. Startups exited at $19M, $55M, $190M, $250M and $1.2B. Acquirers were Capgemini (IGATE), Cisco Systems, Hitachi, Partners Group (Private Equity) and Qualcomm. And I also worked at a high-growth public company as the valuation grew from $25B to $100B+ in under seven years.
My first paying job was after my sophomore year in undergraduate engineering. I went door-to-door selling retail coupons to the local downtown merchants. And ended up earning the highest compensation among the field sales team. While it was a small amount, I invested it all in the long-term equity market and it grew well.
My first exposure to "asking" for money was in middle school. HelpAge International, a global non-profit for elders recognized my efforts for exceptional fundraising.
Developing complementary skills to formal education has given me immense benefits. And I work towards having friends with complementary skills, attributes and thinking. I am happy putting all my energies into becoming better at only one thing. And leaving the rest to family and friends.
(Formal) Education
I have a joint master’s degree in Information Networking from Carnegie Mellon. It is a joint degree program from three of Carnegie Mellon's top-rated schools. Tepper School of Business. School of Computer Science. And Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Carnegie Mellon won a competitive bid among dozen top universities for this program. Started in 1989 by Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), an R&D company after the AT&T breakup. Bellcore morphed into Telcordia Technologies which is now part of Ericsson. The initial focus of this program was mid-career individuals. Experienced practitioners in either programming, engineering or business. The program goal was to help understand all three.
My bachelor's degree is from Savitribai Phule Pune University (earlier, University of Poona). I studied Computer Engineering and graduated in First Class with Distinction.
I enjoy deep involvement in both schools. And have many investments in alumni founder startups and the university region. I have served on the alumni leadership council for my graduate program. During my undergraduate years, I was the Technical Editor of the college magazine. And also wrote for the local newspapers.
My entire pre-college schooling was in government schools. I played some competitive badminton during those days.
Life
My upbringing was in a low-middle-class Armed Forces background. Thanks to my parents, I have lived across fifteen states in two countries. Both I and my younger brother are also married within Armed Forces backgrounds.
Thanks to surviving 9/11, I inculcated a high appreciation for financial prudence. A lower-cost one-hop flight from Newark to San Francisco booked by my employer saved my life.
I get satisfaction from doing small bits in different communities. Helping people adopt and train dogs is one such fun activity for me.
Health
A few years back, I decided to take better care of my health. Mind, body and heart. A bunch of changes made became my habits.
To force my tiny brain to think and reduce screen time, I introduced paper into my daily life. And now I use paper every day for a bunch of things. To maintain my calendar. Taking meeting notes. Writing and sketching thoughts. Keeping to-do lists by category. Summarizing books and my general reading. And starter notes for learning new topics. Bit by bit, I plan to move more things to paper. I also use seven whiteboards and corkboards. And would like more of these to fill the remaining empty wall space in my home office.
From being a regular gym person, I made a switch to 100% natural movements. I enjoy climbing easy trees. Doing manual work around the home and yard. Taking cold showers. Exploring the wild. Primitive camping. Super basic foraging. Pure unadulterated nutrition. Doing intermittent fasting whenever I forget there is no need to hoard food in my tummy. My longest fasting duration was 45 days with one small meal for the first 22 days followed by 23 days of fluids.
And I follow a super simple recipe for the heart. Surrounding myself with good-hearted people. And eliminating pretty much all interactions with jerks.
As a fellow investor or founder, if you have any of these weird fantasies, please ping me. Doing hard stuff together is serious fun. And each of these areas could be a sizable startup!
Intent
I want to give you enough background information as a fellow investor, founder or partner. That way you can skip the need to comb social media. A page each on my investing philosophy and background, and done. This way we spend less time on the boring me. And enjoy the more interesting conversation about your startup or investment philosophy. An off-the-record talk between the two of us. And, sometimes, Clark joins in. Let's talk!
|
Clark, VisionPassage Mascot
|
|
|
|
|
|
Adoption
Clark is a Jack Russell Terrier (JRT) with some Rat Terrier mix. Forever grateful for his adoption to the East Bay SPCA in Oakland. He is a rescue from the streets of East Oakland.
Life
Clark is a calm and friendly companion with a large vocabulary. He has high-endurance and enjoys challenges. He has completed a half-marathon, likes to climb over rocks and walks with ease over a fence. On nice weather days, he greets neighbors and dogs at the front porch without running outside.
Clark transformed my life and triggered lasting positive changes.
Vision
Clark sniffs around every place checking for dogs. His crazy vision is every home having a dog as a family member and all workplaces allowing dogs. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Dogs!
Clark is a Jack Russell Terrier (JRT) with some Rat Terrier mix. Forever grateful for his adoption to the East Bay SPCA in Oakland. He is a rescue from the streets of East Oakland.
Life
Clark is a calm and friendly companion with a large vocabulary. He has high-endurance and enjoys challenges. He has completed a half-marathon, likes to climb over rocks and walks with ease over a fence. On nice weather days, he greets neighbors and dogs at the front porch without running outside.
Clark transformed my life and triggered lasting positive changes.
Vision
Clark sniffs around every place checking for dogs. His crazy vision is every home having a dog as a family member and all workplaces allowing dogs. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Dogs!