Align

Dear Founder #5: Managing growth pains – 8 alignment tools to manage complexity

Anyone who has worked at large organisations will know what organizational inertia feels like.  There was once this much-read corporate tome titled “Can elephants dance?” (written by the then CEO … Continue Reading

Not_all_revenues_are_created_equal#2

Dear Founder #4: not all revenues are created equal

[A note from 5 Oct 2019: “gross margins” and “sustainable revenues” has become talk of tech town this past week, and a big-name Silicon Valley VC has made a similar … Continue Reading

drawn-shooting-star-draw-571838-7268031

The Power of the Power Law, “super-stars”, and moving the returns curve “to the right”!

I finally get to jot down some of my thoughts here about the “power law”, and more specifically the “power of the power law” …. I. The phenomenon of superstars OK, … Continue Reading

Value_map_for_blog

Nuts and bolts #3: your financial model and your understanding of your business, your market and your customers, and your value drivers

Dear founder. This is a letter to all you founders who are preparing a financial model for your Series A or even Series B round. First, may I congratulate for … Continue Reading

freebirds

Great founding teams – a revisit

[An earlier version of this post was titled “Builders of the world, design and surf once in a while!”] As 2018 draws to a close, we reflect on how we … Continue Reading

Product_market_fit

Nuts and bolts #2: 9 delightful things about product-market fit

A lot of ink has been spilled on “product market fit” but we are still very often answering Qs about this and so we are going to jot down a … Continue Reading

Shadow_of_giants_edited

Being long on innovation – part 2: Thriving under the shadows of giants

[Addition on 24 Oct: adding a link to an a16z blog-post published not long after on the same topic highlighted in point 5 below, that selling in the early stages … Continue Reading

Storm

Dear Founder #3: building strong and weather-proof companies

We invest to support companies building for the long term and so we are very interested in founders who want to build long-lasting and strong companies irrespective of the state … Continue Reading

Search#3

The art and science of venture investing – #2: the search for great companies and great opportunities

Why is it so hard to find great opportunities?  Why are big success stories and sustained growth still so rare? What is the “formula” for improving our chance of backing … Continue Reading

Luck_skill_revised

The art and science of venture investing – #1: dealing with “hotness” and “coldness”, luck vs skill, intellectual honesty, and others

I’m recently back from a large tech conference where some participants were discussing the question whether AR, VR and AI is “too hot”? Should I pay any attention to what … Continue Reading