venture “Haven’t wasted money outside customer segment” “We spent lesser capital and achieved higher valuations. Investors appreciated it. You need to be transparent about what you are building, your problems and why your numbers are growing." By Nevin John
venture “Never dictated what content should be” “People referred to our Hindi memes as chillar content. My point was if India’s massive youth demographic is consuming it, why should we want to put our own sense and not give what people want?” By Arnav Das Sharma
venture “Choose your investor just like you choose your spouse” “Picking an investor and board member is as important as picking your co-founder. Never be enamoured by the brand of an investor, be concerned about the person who will be on board.” By V. Keshavdev
venture “The struggle was to find the right product & market mix" “Almost 94% of product sales in India happen through mom-and-pop stores. But small store owners have major sourcing and supply chain problems. We felt catering to their needs is a huge opportunity. By Anup Jayaram
venture Open raises $100 million led by Temasek The SME-focused neobanking platform’s total fund tally now stands at about $135 million. By fortuneindia.com
venture “Ensured our platform was the fastest even on a slow network” “Core is to make it easy for consumers to use the platform. We made the onboarding process for companies fairly easy. It was completely digital.” By Arnav Das Sharma
venture “Kept growing the core business” “Always focus on core elements such as users, engagement, technology and monetisation. Let the metrics and outcomes speak for themselves, recognition and valuation will follow.” By Vijayalakshmi Sridhar
venture “Built a massive network among retailers” “The quality of your product will always be the best indicator of the company. As long as the quality is great, the product will sell easily.” By Anup Jayaram
venture “Since the business needs a lot of cash, the idea was to conserve as much cash as we could” “We were also picky about investors — we were looking for people who had a long-term view on the sector.” By Anup Jayaram
venture “Did not remote-control the business” “Marketing technology varies with countries. In India, if we don’t speak to students, they don’t enroll. Latin America is predominantly on WhatsApp; the U.S. uses FB Messenger widely.” By Vijayalakshmi Sridhar