Oct 26, 2020 · 1h 8m · neon-show
Jishnu Bhattacharjee, Managing Director, Nexus VP on the success recipe of Druva and Postman
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In this episode of the Hundred X Entrepreneur Podcast, Nexus Venture Partners Managing Director Jishnu Bhattacharjee discusses the evolution of India's cross-border enterprise SaaS ecosystem, unpacking the investment theses, product-led growth mechanics, and governance principles behind category-defining unicorns like Postman and Druva.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
Siddhartha as informed peer 2.8 Guest teaching 1.8 Guest disagreement 0.3 Siddhartha pushing back 0.3
speaking balance: gold is Siddhartha, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 55:43 Jishnu firmly rejects driving companies by ARR or GMV
Jishnu forcefully dismisses conventional metric management, asserting that focusing on ARR leads to harmful, suboptimal decisions just like managing consumer startups strictly by GMV.
Hardest push from Siddhartha ▶ 55:04 Host pushes back on ARR importanceHost directly challenges Jishnu's assertion that ARR is merely secondary, emphasizing that the market and follow-on venture capital investors fundamentally evaluate and reward companies on ARR.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 17:13 Jishnu corrects host on portfolio IPO milestonesWhen the host implies that several portfolio companies have already achieved IPOs, Jishnu immediately corrects him, clarifying that only acquisitions have occurred so far and IPOs remain the next stage.
Siddhartha holds their own ▶ 55:04 Host insists on market reality of ARR multiplesThe host demonstrates venture capital domain knowledge by challenging the guest on how downstream markets price companies, reminding him that external investors prioritize ARR metrics above internal engagement scores.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Siddhartha as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Siddhartha pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jishnu's Serendipitous Journey from Engineering to Venture Capital | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jishnu shares his personal trajectory from engineering PhD student to founding engineer and entering venture capital. The host asks open questions and adds conversational anecdotes. | |
| Establishing Nexus VP's Cross-Border Enterprise SaaS Thesis | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Jishnu articulates Nexus VP's founding thesis of viewing India as a hybrid of China and Israel while rejecting IT services. The host listens receptively as Jishnu details early investments like Gluster. | |
| Discovering Postman and the Power of Developer-First Startups | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | The host asks about identifying Postman's spark and references portfolio IPOs. Jishnu gently clarifies that portfolio IPOs are upcoming rather than completed before recounting Postman's grassroots adoption. | |
| Product-Led Growth and Organic Developer Monetization at Postman | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Jishnu delivers an in-depth breakdown of self-serve product design versus go-to-market motions using Druva and Postman as case studies. The host acts as an attentive interviewer. | |
| Scaling API Ecosystems and Product Qualified Lead Funnels | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Host inquires how adoption scales without initial sales teams and asks about core operational metrics. Jishnu explains the mechanics of Product Qualified Leads (PQL) and converting non-coders into API users. | |
| Network Effects in Enterprise Software and Valuation Fundamentals | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | The host questions the valuation mechanics behind Postman compared to standard revenue multiples. Jishnu explains network effects in enterprise software and testing for a company's billion-dollar revenue potential. | |
| Founder Mindset Expansion and Leading Versus Lagging Metrics | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | The host pushes back on Jishnu's deemphasis of ARR by pointing out that follow-on investors and external markets heavily reward ARR. Jishnu counters that managing strictly by ARR leads to suboptimal strategic decisions. | |
| The Next Generation of Indian SaaS and Product Leadership | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Host shares specific praise from the Observe.ai founder regarding Jishnu's hands-on venture mentorship. Jishnu expands on combining global product leadership with Indian operational efficiency. |
Statements from this episode (20)
Nexus VP's first investment DimDim was a precursor to Zoom
“The first investment that Nexus made was in early in a company called DimDim, which would have been Zoom. Like, if you look at it was exactly Zoom, Zoom prior to Zoom. The idea was, you know, Webex and others didn't have the experience, and this gentleman out …”
Nexus VP decided early to avoid investing in IT services companies
“So that's why one thing we decided is that we are not going to invest in any IT services company, which was a very different kind of step and decision compared to any other fund in India at the time, any other fund.”
24 venture firms passed on Gluster before Nexus VP invested
“I remember, 24 VCs passed, saying that, you know, I mean, you are smoking, you know, nobody can build storage and software and all that, and we thought totally opposite, and Naren and I invested in the company. That was my first investment, VC investment.”
Several Indian tech startups will IPO by late 2022
“I think, you know, you will see several companies, several IPOs for companies being built out of India in the coming, you know, let's say, 12 to 24 months.”
Nexus VP invested a $1M seed in Postman pre-incorporation
“We did the first, very first investment when it happened, it was just a seed. In fact, the company was not even incorporated, if I'm not mistaken. Then they, we put in some seed money. They came in to our office, we're in Bangalore, where they started working …”
Bhattacharjee: Nexus VP invests in pre-PowerPoint stage startups
“The underlying commonality and the spark that we look for is product first thinking. Like it doesn't mean that somebody we have even invested in companies which are in PowerPoint or sometimes even pre PowerPoint. So it's not that somebody has to have a product…”
Druva had users in 26 countries with minimal revenue at investment
“Jaspreet and Milind, they had this product, which was actually being used, like their bookings was very less, like, you know, revenue was probably hardly five or something like that, or even less. But the product was being used in 26 countries.”
Software products should deliver tangible user value within 30 minutes
“I think our philosophy is that every product should be self-serve in a way that, you know, if somebody gets, gets handed the product, they should be able to get value of the product in like out of the product in like next 30 minutes. So, so there shouldn't be …”
Nexus VP was Postman's sole investor through its 2015 Series A
“20 14 we invested that seed money and that we rolled it into 2015 end of 2015 we led our series a and we are the only investor till that time”
Bhattacharjee: Postman reached over 12 million users
“Like, when we invested, it was like, you know, tens of thousands of users. At this point, as we talk about, it's twelve million plus users.”
Nexus VP claims Postman's customer acquisition cost is zero
“Like, I mean, our CAC is zero customer acquisition cost is zero.”
Postman still holds almost 100% of its $200M funding in bank
“I mean, total in the company, we raised maybe 200 odd million. Almost hundred percent of the money is still in the bank.”
Nexus VP predicted in 2020 that Druva would IPO by 2022
“Dhruva has grown, grown very big and hopefully like, you know, incoming Coming year or two, we can take the company public.”
Postman hosted over 250 million APIs on its platform in 2020
“Postman is becoming the, like at this point, currently we have like two, fifty million plus APIs in Postman platform.”
Bhattacharjee claims Postman brought consumer-grade network effects to enterprise software
“See, I think this is the first time probably any company in the world I know of has brought in this concept of network effects into enterprise software.”
Postman grows 3x profitably and generates cash without growth spend
“And of course, like, you know, I mean, the company is growing without spending any money. I mean, you know, I don't know very many companies which grows like, you know, three X profitably. You know, without, without like kind of, you know, generating cash rath…”
Nexus VP evaluates if every prospective investment can reach $1B revenue
“We force ourselves to that, you know, if we are investing in a company, is there an opportunity to build a billion dollar revenue company?”
For startups like Postman, ARR is a lagging indicator
“I definitely think that for most of the companies like Postman for us, ARR is a lagging indicator. Like we, among all the metrics that drives the company, I will definitely say that in, in most cases, it's not the ARR, which is the main goal.”
Winning Indian SaaS blends global product leadership with local operational efficiency
“My view is that what I would love to see over the coming decade is the nice blend of the two where you are coming up with that kind of global product leadership capability as you are building kind of product first companies and marry that up, like build your e…”