How To Ace The Funding Interview

The eminent panellists discussed the important elements, like business plan, team, belief in an idea, how to project oneself, how much to ask, to keep in mind for a funding interview They also shared their journey to success.

Aditi Balbir explained the two broad type of interviews, she said, "You can be asked about your idea, target market & the people involved in the business model or about your growth capital where you'll just have to talk in numbers and show the investor that how you can be the next unicorn in the market."

Anvita Dekhane pointed out there are teams who have good ideas but not right execution or business plans. "In terms of executions, it is always driven by the team. It is all about making a mediocre or an okay idea with excellent execution and doing it the right way to build the right company," she said. 

The panellists further shared the amount of funds raised by them. Out of them, one of the panellist, Soumya Kant raised the point, "It's not important to know how much funds we raised but to know why we were able to raise the funds".

"It's about your journey and what you are doing & building. If you can sell that story and back it up with right numbers, there are investors who will believe in it and support you," said Rashi Gulati Menda. 

Furthermore, Swati Bharava shared her journey of turning her idea to a million-worth company.

Anu Sehgal explained the 'PCM' of a business model, stating that the idea incultation is Physics, the experience and qualification of founders along with the technology partner is Chemistry and the utilization of money is Mathematics.

She also talked about the importance of social media and how it impacts the business model if not treated well.

Kanika Tekriwal pointed out that the 'long term patience capital' is missing nowadays. She further told an important lesson which she learned, "It is not investors but the team to build the business".

The panellists, speaking at the Women Entrepreneurship Summit & Awards 2019 held by BW Businessworld, included Aditi Balbir, Founder & CEO, V Resorts, Anu Sehgal, Founder, Digitalmill, Anvita Dekhane, Chief of Staff, BabyChakra, Kanika Tekriwal, Founder, JetSetGo, Rashi Gulati Menda, CEO, Zapyle, Soumya Kant, Founding Member, Clovia, Swati Bhargava, Co-Founder, CashKaro. The session was chaired by Durga Das, Managing Director Das Star Ventures.