We recently met entrepreneurs in Delhi and Hyderabad this week to assess opportunities for the MVP programme. We came back with a lot of learnings and are grateful to founders for wanting to partner with us.
Sharing some aspects across meetings which made them click:
The best founders translate their passion into an interactive discussion:
Passion and enthusiasm are contagious. Investors want to see that you truly believe in what you're building and that you're willing to put in the hard work to make it a success.
Concretizing Motivation:
While passion is essential, it's equally important to ground it in concrete reasons. Clearly articulate why you are pursuing this venture and why it matters to you. Connect your personal experiences, values, or a problem you've personally encountered that your business aims to solve. This personal connection will add depth and authenticity to your pitch.
Share Your 'Why':
Investors not only invest in the 'what' and 'how' of your business but also in the 'why
Communicating the Team's Strengths:
The above prologue should naturally extend into why this team is the best-placed to solve for this opportunity. Highlight the qualifications, expertise, and relevant experience of your team members. Emphasize how their skills complement each other and contribute to the success of your venture.
Anticipate Questions and Objections: During your investor meeting, it is important to anticipate questions and objections that investors may have. Anticipate these queries and prepare thoughtful, well-researched responses. Address potential objections upfront, highlighting your mitigation strategies and your ability to adapt to market challenges.
Additionally, it is beneficial to have data and evidence to support your claims and projections. This helps to build credibility and trust with potential investors.
Showcase Traction and Milestones:
Investors are more inclined to invest in ventures that have shown early signs of success or achieved significant milestones. Highlight any traction you have gained, such as customer acquisitions, partnerships, or revenue growth. The best way is to present a 2 -3 metrics which provide tangible evidence of your ability to execute your business plan and convince the investor that you are making progress towards your goals
Discover the power of bottoms-up market sizing for early-stage B2B SaaS founders in India. Learn how this fun and effective approach can help you understand your target market, optimize your marketing efforts, and drive growth for your startup.
Are you an early-stage B2B SaaS founder in India looking to supercharge your growth? Look no further than bottoms-up market sizing! It may sound quirky, but this approach is a game-changer when it comes to understanding your target market and fueling your marketing efforts. So, grab your calculators and let's dive in!
Wondering what bottoms-up market sizing is all about? It's simple! Instead of taking a top-down approach, you start from the bottom by analyzing individual users or customers and then aggregating their value to determine your market size. This fun and informal method allows you to identify and target specific customer segments based on their unique needs and preferences.
Why should early-stage B2B SaaS founders in India embrace bottoms-up market sizing? Here are a few exciting benefits:
Precision Targeting: Say goodbye to the spray-and-pray approach! By understanding the characteristics, pain points, and behaviours of your ideal customers, you can create detailed customer profiles and target your marketing efforts with laser-like precision.
Resource Optimization: With bottoms-up market sizing, you can allocate your limited resources more effectively. No more wasting time and money on marketing to the wrong audience. Instead, focus on the segments that hold the most promise for your business.
Ready to give bottoms-up market sizing a try? Here's a quick three-step guide to get you started:
Identify Your Ideal Customers: Conduct thorough market research and define your target customer profile. Understand their needs, preferences, and pain points. The more you know, the better you can tailor your marketing efforts.
☐ Conduct thorough market research to understand the characteristics, pain points, and behaviors of your ideal customers.
☐ Define specific criteria such as company size, industry, job roles, and geographic location to create detailed customer profiles.
☐ Consider using customer surveys, interviews, or existing customer data to gather insights for accurate profiling.
Determine Your Total Addressable Market (TAM): Estimate the total market demand for your product or service. Consider factors like market size, growth trends, and potential customer base. This will give you a bird's eye view of your market potential.
☐ Determine the overall market size and potential demand for your product or service.
☐ Analyze industry reports, market research data, and competitor analysis to gauge the market's scope and growth potential.
☐ Calculate the total number of potential customers or target companies that could benefit from your solution.
Calculate Your Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM): Break down your TAM into realistic segments that you can realistically reach and serve. This step helps you narrow down your focus and identify the specific customer groups you should prioritize.
☐ Identify the specific customer segments you can realistically reach and serve.
☐ Consider factors such as your marketing and sales capabilities, distribution channels, and market penetration potential.
☐ Estimate the percentage of the total addressable market that you can effectively target and convert into customers.
Bottoms-up market sizing is a fun and effective way for early-stage B2B SaaS founders in India to unlock their growth potential. By understanding your target market, optimizing your marketing efforts, and focusing on the right customer segments, you'll be on your way to scaling new heights. So, grab that calculator, start crunching the numbers, and get ready to take your startup to the next level!
Remember, the bottom's just the beginning. The sky's the limit!
Many people wonder why an IVF specialist has the right to win as an angel investor. And the truth is there are multiple reasons. For one thing, as an IVF specialist, I'm used to educating patients because we need to give them realistic expectations of what's going to happen in their IVF cycle. And as an angel investor, I think it's equally important to educate entrepreneurs as to what to expect during their startup journey, which is why we invest so much time in providing feedback when we engage. We spend a lot of time doing detailed due diligence, and many founders find this quite intrusive, time-consuming, and painful, but it’s a very helpful way of getting a detailed analysis of their startup. The truth can be quite bitter, but it's important to share this information so that entrepreneurs can make better decisions for themselves. When startups pitch to us ( provided they meet our investment thesis on www.malpaniventures.com), irrespective of whether we give them funding or not, we try to make sure they have realistic expectations of what the startup journey is going to be for them.
Because I'm an IVF specialist who runs my own private IVF clinic, I am an entrepreneur too, which is why I can be much more empathetic, because I understand the trials and tribulations that entrepreneurs go through. So this helps me to be a little bit kinder, especially when things aren’t going well.
As doctors, we are trained in being empathetic, kind, and compassionate towards our patients. This skill set is particularly useful when counselling entrepreneurs during difficult times or after startup failure. We can help them navigate the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship like we support IVF patients through their ups and downs.
It's important to remember that most IVF cycles and startups will fail, despite advanced technology, the best care, hard work, good intention, and high-quality embryos. As an IVF doctor who helps his patients deal regularly with the bitter reality of IVF failure, this experience enables me to be more supportive as an angel investor as well.
Lastly, I must mention the "magic sauce" - my wife, Dr Anjali Malpani. She is an exceptional IVF doctor who runs the clinic while I balance taking care of my patients with angel investing. This partnership allows me to excel both as an investor and a compassionate physician – truly a blessing in my life.
This is a guest post by Sreekar Kothamachu, founder at Nesa Medtech - an investee company of Malpani Ventures. We are grateful to Sreekar for sharing his learnings with us !
“Hiring!” is an extremely important aspect of an organisation’s growth. For a company its a process to find a candidate who fits in rightly to the company’s culture but also brings the required skill set for the company to grow and for a candidate with abundance of hope to find the right job with lots of learning opportunities to shape up their future.
In my experience heading a deep tech startup over the last few years and working with corporations for more than 12 years, the standard hiring procedure frequently produces results that are excessively skewed. When it comes to time and effort, this can sometimes be quite detrimental to a startup. A typical playbook followed for hiring by large corporates giants involves
· Written tests (for lesser than 5 Yrs)
· Technical Rounds (at least about 2 )
· HR Round and
· Manager/ Director Round.
Throughout the entire process, the team would scarcely have any opportunities to interact with one another for more than a couple of hours, and most crucially, in such a formal setting, it would be quite easy for them to try to outdo one another. The main emphasis throughout the entire process is on technical skills; the HR and managerial rounds are typically seen as a namesake. In my experience, I have hardly seen any candidates getting rejected in these rounds.
After hiring many candidates through the traditional process and working with them. Some of the best colleagues and contributors to the company were not the best technical skill but the ones with great ATTITUDE and basic technical skills.
At, Nesa has a very distinctive hiring procedure that has helped us choose the best individuals. Especially for the lateral hires. To begin with
· CEO Meet-up
· Technical Discussion
· Half a Day access to Office & Team Lunch.
· Core Team – Collective decisions
As a CEO I would be the first person to speak to them. An important aspect of this interaction is no technical questions at all and understanding the candidate's expectations. Most important is to give a perspective on the company, but not before. I simply evaluate ATTITUDE & EAGER to WIN aptitude. If all goes smoothly in this round, we'll conduct a technical meeting online to verify that everyone has the very minimum of knowledge.We next invite the applicant to our office for a series of discussions with the team responsible members, followed by a product demonstration, and an online evaluation test. Furthermore, lunch with the rest of the team will follow thereafter. As the CEO, I ultimately compile comments from the entire team and speak with the candidate to determine whether it's a YES or NO. By doing so we get to be more familiar with the candidate as the team would have spent time with them in both a formal and informal environment. More importantly, the candidate also understands the work culture of the company and also knows their prospective colleagues too. This entire process makes it easier for the company and also for the candidate to understand if both are good MATCH.
HOPE this helps in refining your hiring process to find the best MATCH for your team.
Learn why early preparation is crucial for founders before starting the fundraising process. Discover the benefits and strategies of preparing for funding 3-6 months in advance.
By preparing for funding in advance, B2B SaaS founders can strengthen their position and increase their chances of securing funding. They have the opportunity to address any weaknesses, refine their business strategy, and ensure their financial projections are accurate and compelling. This level of preparedness demonstrates professionalism and instils confidence in potential investors, making them more likely to commit capital to the business.
When founders prepare for funding ahead of time, they become well-versed in the key aspects of their business that are of interest to investors. They can confidently answer questions about their market opportunity, competitive advantage, revenue model, and growth plans. This level of investor readiness allows founders to engage in meaningful conversations with potential investors, showcasing their knowledge and passion for the business, and ultimately building trust and confidence in their ability to deliver on their promises.
Preparing for funding in advance enables founders to streamline the fundraising process. By having all necessary documentation, such as a comprehensive pitch deck, business plan, financial projections, and legal compliance in place, founders can quickly respond to investor inquiries and due diligence requests. This efficiency not only saves time but also creates a positive impression on investors, who appreciate a well-organized and professional approach to the fundraising process.
When founders are prepared for funding, they gain a stronger position during negotiations with potential investors. They have a clear understanding of the value of their business and can present a compelling case for the terms they seek. This preparation allows founders to negotiate from a position of strength, ensuring they secure a fair valuation, favourable terms, and the necessary resources to fuel their growth. Being well-prepared also demonstrates to investors that founders are serious about their business and have the confidence to advocate for its success.
Overall, preparing for funding in advance provides numerous benefits, including increased chances of securing funding, improved investor readiness and confidence, a streamlined fundraising process, and enhanced negotiation power. By investing time and effort into thorough preparation, founders can position themselves for successful fundraising and pave the way for long-term growth and success.