TOP REASONS INVESTORS REJECT STARTUPS! | Insights from Callapina Capital | #33

School friends turned co-founders of Calip Capital, an investment firm, share their journey. Their strategy emphasizes founder-friendly terms, community building, and leveraging their network. They discuss early-stage investing, India's startup boom, and the importance of strong founders, relationships, and calculated risk-taking. This segment focuses on the speakers' shared experiences in Accenture and their enduring friendship, highlighting the importance of strong relationships and the desire to collaborate on future projects. This segment explores the long-standing friendship and shared experiences of the two entrepreneurs, tracing their relationship back to school days and highlighting the pivotal moment when their professional paths converged in Kerala in 2012.This segment recounts the speakers' early entrepreneurial endeavors, including scrap sales and real estate ventures, emphasizing the challenges faced and the valuable lessons learned during this formative period. This segment discusses the influence of role models and networks, including V-Moan and the Cono network, and touches upon the speakers' early experiences in Bangalore and their contrasting work ethics.This segment highlights the speakers' diverse interests and how they balanced their passions (dancing, in one case) with their professional lives, showcasing their ability to pursue multiple goals simultaneously.This segment focuses on the speakers' calculated career risks, including pay cuts and unpaid internships, emphasizing the importance of learning and growth over immediate financial gain. This segment details one speaker's strategic unpaid internship in London, highlighting the networking opportunities and valuable connections gained through calculated risk-taking and leveraging resources.This segment describes the speakers' early entrepreneurial ventures, including a classifieds business, and the impact of early successes on their confidence and future endeavors. So 2012, Um, and I have, uh, the startup experience but another thing that I also did when I was Germany is getting into investment as a topic. So I I read I read a book basically this book called Rich Dad, which I think it opened a whole new world for me but he bought four houses. So class life filler. uh, against that book where where, uh, uh, don't own a house but you bought four houses. You backit story? Yeah, Sorry. It opened the whole new world for me. My parents are bankers, Right. My dad was in in bank. Mom was in SBA Manag savings. I know where they from because they grew up in a different world. Yeah. Right. Like I felt like there must be there. There must be another way to do this, right? I always used to feel like this is what I've been looking for, right? Like I just, you know, taking it and then I started reading about investments, about money, about how to think about money, principles of money, right? So was 2011, 12, 13, 14 time per. I was just reading a lot of books like crazy. So and the whole education about investments in books, um, is through books and listening to investors. So I follow the life of a lot of these. You know, one of my favorite investor is Charlie M more than Buffett Charlie actually thought process, but I'm working on my way. Um, but then that is also a thread that is in there in par. Now 2013. what happened is Friends Schools. close group of friends because we all basically lived, then grew up together on that campus And everybody is in different parts of the world. And what I felt was our group, the the, we had, I don't know if he had whatsapp, Facebook, that group used to come alive. [MUSIC] when it was not sustaining and Suain, we are not doing anything new. there's no new shared memories or new content being created. That was my insight. So then I said, I, I wrote to all these guys and said, why don't we do something together? And my objective was very simple just in order to rekindle my friendship with my close friends because I, I felt like in different time zones, everyone responded. So they said, and we basically started catching up. You know, so we, we kind of caught up. And then we went through a long list of things of what we could do investment in starts. Maybe it was because of my startup exposure, right? And has something that can because something that can be done on the side, which people find interesting. Robin Joseph, he's in Dubai. Very intentionally we wanted to do this. So we set set up a company in Kchen Con Ventures, LLP with the intention of investing in startups And this happened in 2013. So our time, obviously, I'm telling him what we are planning on as well. And coincidentally, he he's running some fundraising mandate for startups right? It is not that we know anything about investments or anything about startups or investing in startup. He just said, let's learn by doing about, I also believe like, I believe in manifestation as well. So probably meeting someone like Abi of K as our first ever pitch happened. deserves that spot. Yes. How was meeting Ab This segment focuses on Arjun, a founder known for his resourcefulness, clear communication, and effective negotiation skills, illustrating how these qualities contribute to success in the entrepreneurial world. The negotiation example shows a unique approach to valuation. This segment emphasizes the crucial role of active listening in successful investing, highlighting the speaker's ability to listen empathetically to founders' challenges and understand their journeys, showcasing a key quality of a successful investor. This segment focuses on the speaker's admiration for Abi, a founder known for his exceptional sales skills, resilience, and commitment to his company and shareholders, highlighting the importance of perseverance and integrity in entrepreneurship. This segment highlights the speaker's emphasis on contractual agreements as the foundation of investor-founder relationships, prioritizing adherence to contracts and aligning values with business dealings. The speaker stresses the importance of respecting contractual obligations and the consequences of breaches, emphasizing that their relationship with founders is solely defined by the contract. This segment details the growth of the speaker's investment group, starting from personal investments and expanding through informal networks and syndication. It describes the transition from a less organized approach to a more structured model, highlighting the challenges and learnings along the way, including the complexities of managing a large number of investors in a deal. This segment concludes with a discussion on the importance of balancing health, wealth, and relationships. The speakers share their personal perspectives on these aspects of life, emphasizing the significance of relationships and the importance of prioritizing health. They discuss their personal journeys in achieving this balance and the lessons learned along the way. This segment focuses on the added value provided to portfolio companies beyond financial investment. The speaker describes how they leverage their network to facilitate customer connections and introductions to other investors, emphasizing the strategic value of these connections and their impact on the overall success of the portfolio companies. This segment presents a specific investment case study, focusing on the investment in Zoko and the decision-making process. It illustrates the speaker's approach to evaluating startups, emphasizing the importance of founder-friendliness and quick decision-making based on initial impressions. The segment also touches upon the logistical challenges encountered with a large number of investors.This segment explores the speaker's motivations for investing in startups, emphasizing the desire to support Indian entrepreneurs and connect traditional family businesses with the startup ecosystem. It highlights the speaker's role in bridging the gap between established businesses and the startup world, facilitating investments and providing valuable connections. This segment focuses on the speaker's experience in the water sector and the growing investment opportunities in water technology. It explains the increasing importance of water conservation and efficiency due to global water scarcity, highlighting the role of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) factors in driving investment in this sector. The discussion includes examples of investments in water treatment solutions and innovative technologies like water extraction from air. This segment highlights the personal sacrifices made by the entrepreneurs, particularly the impact on their wives and families due to the demands of starting and growing a business. The speaker candidly discusses the challenges of relocating, the time commitment, and the strain on relationships, offering a realistic perspective on the personal costs of entrepreneurial success. This segment contrasts the investment styles of American and Indian investors. The speaker notes that American investors generally have more capital and a higher risk tolerance, while Indian investors may exhibit more empathy and a closer relationship with founders. The discussion also touches upon the evolving Indian investment landscape and its potential for future growth. This segment delves into a comparison between India's top 1% and the rest of the population, focusing on their work ethic, time management, and spending habits. The speaker dispels common stereotypes, emphasizing the diversity within the wealthy class and highlighting their focus, hard work, and efficient use of time.This segment presents a discussion on the key factors considered when making investment decisions. The speaker emphasizes the importance of a strong founding team, a large market opportunity, and the ability of the founders to adapt and pivot. The speaker ultimately prioritizes the founder's capabilities as the most crucial element for investment success. see what's happening. And, you know if I can be that person who can, uh, who's the memory keeper of India's entrepreneurship story through numbers objectively, Right. I mean, that could be interesting. You know, I mean, but to be honest, think about it. I'm I asked everyone, every one of my friends said, what stupidity, what are you doing? Your competition is the names that you said all the f-wordss, right? And ask him. Yeah, so but the immediate circle, my immediate F Oxford group, right? I asked them, what are you doing? And uh, uh, you this is towering thing. you can never, I told I no and I tell people that the reason why we could make some mark is because of ignorance. I had no idea how others doing. How are they creating revenue. I I just go there and see what will happen of I do consulting because we don't do we we are rich. business integrity has to be protected. Like crazy. right? So we don't do paid awards. We don't do paid interviews. Anybody has to enter the rich list has to be on merit over the last 12 years. Uh, that has been the the foundation for Horan. So which means the first three, four years, almost no revenue. Right. So consulting suppor. I'm very confident about my skills. I know that I I I can do things and make money with my intellect. So Hor is basically we uh, want to chronicle the story of India, be startups B wealth creators basically. Right. You know, 12 years back people were not really happy about saying, Oh, I'll tell you an example. Okay, you go to South Bombay. Okay. 12 years back. If you go to South Bombay streets, you will see novels of Charles Dickens Jeffrey Arer all that stuff Right now if you go to South Bombay, you will see books around Psychology of money biographies. How to get rich. Those kind of things Why because the youth are interested in creating wealth. So my thing is to make speaking about wealth creation mainstream in the country. Only if we do that only when the wealth creation is respected. Right. Just because you you just said, right, You started your first very smart way of creating wealth. And you said now I'm I I've created wealth. I mean, that's crazy. It's a really, really inspiring story. Right. And if you could, if belt creation uh, is a fantastic thing. And if you can say highlight the stories of transparent wealth creator that inspires far angle on a start Then I covered almost all the uh, the Phil, we have a philanthropy list. We have India's most valuable companies as our brand gets about two billion views in India across all the platforms together. Uh and uh yeah. And I I always say it is sometimes an ackowledgement when your peers put you in a list f I create list. So I was in the uh, two years back, I was in the fortunes for 40. They also have their own L. that's that's a that's a very interesting and I'm very surprised. So you need to tell the stories of and these stories need to be told. Espe for one of the most Rel him can relate to a lot of things, right? Relatability is one of the things we put out in the kind of content we put out page is fantastic. I i've been seeing your stuff what you're doing I think uh, you are democratizing these stories to more people so The Founding story of Horan The Founding story of Callapina India Key Takeaway Importance of a Strong Support System and Mindset for Entrepreneurs: Anas and Vinod did not have anyone to look up to or get advice from when they started their entrepreneurial journeys, as they were the first entrepreneurs in their families. Despite the initial struggles, they persevered and found their true calling, demonstrating the importance of having the right mindset and support system when starting a business. Role of Platforms Like Hurun India and Investment Firms Like Callapina in Supporting Indian Startups: Horan was founded by Anas with the aim of chronicling the stories of India's startups and wealth creators, with the goal of making wealth creation a more mainstream and respected topic. Calip, the investment firm co-founded by Anas and Vinod, was started with the intention of investing in Indian startups and connecting them with family offices and high-net-worth individuals who could provide funding and support. Calip's investment strategy focuses on finding strong founders, understanding the market potential, and adding value to the startups they invest in through their network and expertise, which is crucial for the growth of the Indian startup ecosystem.