In this episode, Abhay Havaldar shares his story and experiences related to:
- Starting his IT career with a role in testing software and going on to play other roles of marketing support and sales
- Product management and support with a dealing room package
- Always willing to experiment and joining a venture capital firm – Draper International
- Early stage investing, General Atlantic, India – and a boutique investment firm
- Why he got into IT
- How he positions an IT solution to a prospective client
- His experience of product management, explained in today’s terminology, as Software as a Service
- His experience with developing software solutions under a contract and the benefit of listening skills to add context to contracts
- The power users wield in product led growth models
- His starting out being a venture capitalist as a partner directly with the legendary Bill Draper
- His approach of investing in the plan first, than the market opportunity that is forecast
- The importance of evaluating all risks and being humble
- His thoughts on scaling startups and the Powerlocker model adopted by his form
- His views on reviews by investors in the context of fundraising and context of goals
- How he approaches theme based investing
- His approach to learning from others
- Being wrong is a great time to learn
- His experience and perspectives on the social sector
- The importance of being comfortable with storytelling, particularly for entrepreneurs
Experienced Board Member with a demonstrated history of working in the venture capital and private equity industry. Skilled in Corporate Finance, Venture Capital, Investment Banking, Strategy. Strong business development professional with a MSc (Sloan Fellow) focused in Business Administration and Management, General from London Business School.
Excellent! Very valuable information!! Enjoyed thoroughly.