lystn

Naren is probably one of the earliest VCs in India’s startup ecosystem. He co-founded Nexus Venture Partners in 2006. He has also been mentoring early-stage entrepreneurs and supporting them since 1990.With investments in over 200+ companies in India and the US, Nexus Venture Partners have some of the most notable startups in their portfolio - Postman, Rapido, and Unacademy among others.In this podcast, Naren shares his experience of investing in early-stage product startups for over three decades.Notes - 01:16 - His journey from moving to the US being an IIT Gold Medalist 02:10 - Lessons from his first venture - Integrated Systems Inc.05:45 - Starting Nexus Venture Partners and deciding upon sectors it won’t invest14:25 - Building a cross border teams18:50 - Uniqueness among entrepreneurs and growth journey of portfolio companies24:52 - Being an early-stage investor and also being consistent through the follow-up rounds29:25 - What are the metrics of success upon which early-stage founders and VCs should focus?35:13 - At what stage do things like - go-to-market, building stronger organization a sales, become a part of board-meeting discussions?