Venture Highway

People and purpose are two things I look for as I gain more professional experiences. My recent stint at Venture Highway as a Student Venture Partner left me with takeaways and learnings full of purpose along with people that I admired and enjoyed working with The program started with deal sourcing, wherein Siddhi my mentor, taught me how to analyse startups and build a structured point of view; as well as increase coverage across and within sectors. I was able to source 150+ startups while learning to build quality within my coverage I also worked with Somya, Tushar and Meenal on a portfolio project for Grip Invest. Interactions with the amazing folks at Grip: Nikhil, Ved and Medhavi were extremely informative, but what was even more memorable were the deck iterations on long gmeets and Akul’s relentless mentorship(Taiyaari jeet ki :p) helping us get better in developing useful insights on the alternative investments space. Some of the most thorough and precise feedback was given to us on our research by Aakanksha and I speak for all of us when I say every word of yours taught us a lot and helped us sharpen our work. The reason for most of my late nights and brain-wrecking moments was the incredibly steep learning curve while developing a thesis on AI Infrastructure under the steady guidance of Siddhant. Building a point of view on tech whilst having the right mix of ownership and nudging gave me truly the full VC experience. Somya Agrawal , Vinit, Stuti and Anchit were true siblings-in-arms as we waded through databases, reports, case studies and research to build frameworks to evaluate the Goliath of a sector that is AI Infrastructure. What truly separated the Venture Highway experience were the candid Ask-Me-Anything sessions set up for us with VH leadership-Priya and Rahul which gave me the opportunity to express my curiosity about the industry and what it’s like to lead a VC. Additionally, the AMA sessions with stalwart founders Pinak Dattaray, Arjun Vaidya and Bhavik Koladiya gave us a chance to ask extremely insightful and extremely candid questions, with the right mix of personal touch and industry expertise. PS: Arjun’s favourite quote is also mine now, will stick with it for life (: A huge thanks to the entire VH team for the effort to run the SVP program. A special thanks to Parth and Ishita for introducing me to it, definitely an experience to remember!

Reflecting on my incredible experience over the past two months as a Student Venture Partner at Venture Highway, I am immensely grateful for all I have learned from this opportunity. Immersing myself in the VC world in India has provided me with profound insights into an investor’s perspective. The program has been a comprehensive exploration of the VC journey, encompassing sourcing, thesis building, due diligence, and portfolio management. Siddhi Kasliwal has been a phenomenal mentor, sharing her extensive knowledge and passion for her work. Under her guidance, I learned the intricacies of scouting and evaluating startups, participating in around 10 founder calls, exposing me to new ideas and perspectives and deepening my understanding of different sectors. Additionally, working on thesis building with Siddhi was a highlight. We started from scratch on a sector, analyzed behavioural and regulatory shifts, and delved into large databases to derive insights on different sub-sectors to identify investment opportunities. I also had the opportunity to collaborate on a project for a VH portfolio company with Stuti and Shashank. We explored a new industry, conducted competitor benchmarking & customer interviews, and developed recommendations for the founders. Parth Chhaparwal was a fantastic mentor throughout this process, always available to address our doubts and provide guidance. With Parth, I also participated in fast-paced due diligence processes, conducting market sizing, customer dipsticks and thorough product reviews. This experience helped me understand the various aspects investors consider when evaluating a deal in a short period. The program included insightful AMA sessions with industry leaders and pioneers such as Rahul Garg, Arjun Vaidya, Pinak Dattaray, and Bhavik Koladiya. These sessions were engaging and educational, allowing us to ask questions and learn from these experts in a fun and candid manner. A special thanks to Akul Jindal, and Siddhant Dubey for their support and guidance throughout the internship, who always tried to ensure we learnt in the best way possible. Lastly, a huge shoutout to all my fellow SVPs who made these two months memorable and enriching. Thank you for this incredible opportunity!

How I spent the past 2 months? 🤔 Fresh out of my undergrad, exposing myself to the venture capital and Indian startup ecosystem, gaining a new spectacle to look at things around me and develop a completely new mindset! 🚀🚀 Venture Highway, through its Student Venture Program 4.0 provided me a platform to gain a sneak peek into the intricacies of the VC ecosystem. It has been an absolute pleasure to be a part of this prestigious program. Not so long ago my college senior, Vidushi reached out to me telling me about this program, and connected me to Akul Jindal, and the journey has been amazing each day from that point Despite being an intern, and being a complete fresher in terms of the VC world, I was allowed and encouraged to explore every facet of the industry. Be it sourcing startups and setting up calls, talking to founders, working on portfolio projects, helping build a thesis, and to top it all, a full independence in AMA sessions. I scouted around 147 startups across domains in a time of around 6 weeks, with improving my judgment and thought process behind analysing a startup. I also talked to 10 founders and tried to gain a better perspective about what they were building and getting a peak into their ideologies. Parth Chhaparwal, my mentor had been the best support and inspiration while I did all this. I also worked on a project for a VH Portfolio company alongside Vinit, Siddhika and Varad. Our mentor for the project Abishek Chopra, always helped us in every possible manner with all sorts of research and strategy building for the founders. Alongside Siddhika, and under the guidance of Siddhant Dubey we even helped build an article around the security concerns surrounding LLMs and some insights on protection against said threats One of the greatest asset had been the AMAs with esteemed leaders and pioneers in the industry like Rahul Garg, CFA, Pinak Dattaray, Bhavik Koladiya and Arjun Vaidya helped me learn about their journeys in a candid and engaging manner. And lastly, a huge shout out to the amazing cohort of my fellow 14 SVPs, who always helped me push more and always inspired me! #venturecapital #startup #investing #learning

“As a VC, your job is to empathize, not evaluate.” With takeaways like these, the past summer at Venture Highway has been the most enriching yet entertaining experience of my undergraduate years. In just two months, I’ve had the chance to gain a comprehensive understanding of the VC world, from sourcing and analyzing startups to due diligence and portfolio support. On a personal level, the SVP program has greatly improved my clarity of thought and storytelling ability. This summer has also been a time of meeting exceptional people in the startup ecosystem. Talking to stellar founders and investors like Pinak Dattaray, Bhavik Koladiya, and Rahul Garg, CFA provided eye-opening insights into the founder mindset. I'm extremely grateful to Siddhi Kasliwal for being such an approachable and patient mentor. Also, a big thank you to Akul Jindal, CFA and Parth Chhaparwal for curating this incredible experience, and to my 14 fellow SVPs for constantly keeping the enthusiasm and curiosity high. If you’re a startup enthusiast fresh out of college, it’s a no-brainer to apply for the SVP program. Also, here are some great book recommendations from the cohort: 1)Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby 2)VC: An American History by Tom Nicholas 3)Option B by Sheryl Sandberg