Businesses Are Invested Through Investor's Perspective: Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Stride Ventures

With an opening address by Dr Anurag Batra, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, BW Buinessworld and exchange4media Group, the 40 Under 40, in its third year, was inaugurated on October 23, 2019. Dr Batra talked about the process of selection which was as honest and transparent as it could be. He emphasised that the event is not just about start-ups founder award but how well a person is leading. He also highlighted that the awardees also have one-fourth of the women entrepreneurs. 

The first session titled "Funding Session for Start-ups" consisted few founders of investment companies including Mr Ishpreet Singh Gandhi, Founder & Managing Partner, Stride Ventures; Mr Ankur Bansal, Executive Director, BlackSoil Capital; Mr Sanjay Kadaveru, Founder & President Action For India. The session was moderated by Mr Sunil Kumar, President, exchange4media Group. 

The discussion commenced with a general subject on the specific traits Venture Capitalists (VCs) look for in people to invest in them. Gandhi informed that as a VC himself he specifically looks for real perspective on execution of a project or an idea. Bansal added that he looks for real unit economics along with some substantial business being done by a person. On the other hand, Kadaveru said that if a person is getting customers to buy the product then its the company. A start-up should be able to solve the problem primarily. 

While discussing the different shades of interaction with people looking for investment, Gandhi informed that its a mutual conversation. However, business ideas require a lot of disruption. On this Kadaveru said that the key is the impact a start-up is providing. For Bansal, it is the face of the start-up, the founder who matters the most because if he knows the know-how about his work from top to bottom then the business idea can be delivered automatically. 

Lastly, while discussing the hottest thing in the coming months and years, Gandhi informed that the upcoming trending subject could be the seasoned entrepreneurs bringing in a vintage experience to the forefront. Kadaveru said that their organisation firmly supports start-ups in the areas of agritech, edutech and health tech which have opened diverse areas of solutions to the problems. However, Bansal with a varied opinion said that its the demand of the product driving the market is the most trending that's going to attract VCs and of course the idea of disruption will prevail.

The session ended on the note that businesses should be invested from the investors perspective which plays a key role in the whole process of investment.