Aug 20, 2019 · 24m · neon-show
50 Unicorns and 19 IPOs, Rajan Anandan from Peak XV on investing in CRED, Meesho, Groww & Mamaearth
0:00 / 0:00
▶ Watch on YouTube →
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of the 100x Entrepreneur podcast, veteran venture investor Rajan Anandan analyzes the macroeconomic tailwinds accelerating India's startup ecosystem and outlines the strategic principles for identifying 100x founders across SaaS, consumer internet, and deep-tech sectors.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Siddhartha holds 7.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Siddhartha as informed peer 3.9 Guest teaching 5.7 Guest disagreement 0.4 Siddhartha pushing back 0.0
speaking balance: gold is Siddhartha, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 21:10 Rajan playfully corrects host's timeline assumption
Rajan gently pushes back on the host's 30-year investing premise, clarifying that he has been investing since the early 1990s in the US and since 2006 in India.
Hardest push from Siddhartha ▶ 10:57 Host highlights unorganized e-rickshaws in mobilityThe host steers the mobility conversation by pointing out the overlooked 2 million unorganized e-rickshaw sector in India.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:24 Rajan contextualizes Indian SaaS history with ZohoRajan educates the host on the SaaS landscape by noting that bootstrapped Zoho was the true first unicorn before Freshworks.
Siddhartha holds their own ▶ 10:57 Host demonstrates market knowledge on e-rickshawsThe host brings specific industry statistics regarding the two-million unorganized e-rickshaw fleet to validate and extend Rajan's thesis on mass mobility.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Siddhartha as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Siddhartha pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Transformation of the Indian Startup Ecosystem | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | The host asks a broad foundational question about the evolving startup landscape. Rajan responds with a comprehensive breakdown of broadband adoption, B2B growth, and rapid unicorn creation timelines. | |
| The Evolution of Monetization and Digital Payments | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | The host inquires about monetization and SaaS unicorns, citing Freshworks. Rajan clarifies that Zoho was the true first unicorn and breaks down the India-to-US enterprise SaaS trajectory. | |
| Next-Gen E-Commerce and Urban Two-Wheeler Mobility | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | The host actively contributes domain knowledge regarding India's 2 million unorganized e-rickshaws. Rajan agrees and explains the economics underpinning two-wheeler and three-wheeler mobility. | |
| Spotlight on Unique Tech Solutions: GenRobotics, Nayan, and Clinikk | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | The host asks for top recent investments. Rajan playfully clarifies that he is excited about every investment before detailing deep tech and healthcare startups solving India-specific problems. | |
| Angel Investing Theses and Founder-First Philosophy | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | The host notes Rajan's track record of entering sectors early. Rajan outlines his thematic investing cycles, emphasizing that backing exceptional founders ultimately matters more than sector hype. | |
| Emerging Market Opportunities in EdTech, FinTech, and AgriTech | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | The host asks for focus areas for the upcoming year. Rajan delivers a detailed overview of major white spaces across EdTech, SME credit, HealthTech, and AgriTech. | |
| Anatomy of Mega-Hit Founders and Enduring Startups | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | The host prompts Rajan on traits of mega-hit founders. Rajan playfully corrects the host's timeline calculation of his investing career before elaborating on founder resilience, agility, and fundraising prowess. |
Statements from this episode (22)
Anandan: Over 400 million Indians spend 4 to 5 hours daily online
“Today we have, you know, north of four hundred million Indians that are Active every single day on the internet, and they're spending four or five hours a day, right?”
Anandan: India saw more B2B than B2C tech startups founded in 2018
“Actually, if you look at the data last year, there were more B to B tech companies founded than B to C tech companies in India, right?”
Anandan: India is on track to reach 100 unicorns by 2025
“And you know, they, we are very much on track, I think, to you know, have a hundred unicorns in India by twenty-twenty-five.”
Anandan: India has a $30 billion e-commerce market
“You know, you've got a thirty billion dollar e-commerce market.”
Anandan: UPI is the biggest boon to India's startup ecosystem
“UPI has been the biggest boon that's happened to the Indian startup ecosystem because now you have, you know over a hundred million Indians that actually transact online.”
Anandan: Byju's has 1.5 million paying users
“The fact that, you know, Baiju's has 1.5 million
paying users, right?”
Anandan: More than half of personal angel investments are in SaaS
“In fact, if you look at my angel portfolio, more than half, half my investments are actually in SaaS companies, right?”
Anandan predicts India will see its third SaaS unicorn in 2019
“This year we'll certainly see a third actually very soon you'll hear about a third
SaaS unicorn.”
Anandan predicts several Indian SaaS unicorns will emerge annually by 2022-2023
“We are probably, you know, we'll probably be at one a year for a few years, but then, you know, somewhere around, 20, 22, 23, we'll start seeing, you know, several SaaS unicorns every year, right?”
Anandan: Indian SaaS takes 7-10 years to hit $100M ARR
“I mean, I think you know, it still will take, you know, seven, eight, nine, 10 years to get to a hundred million net revenue, but you can get there, right?
And we are now seeing
companies actually prove that you can go from zero to one million ARR in less tha…”
Anandan: India e-commerce transacting base is under 20% of active users
“In a country where, you know, we have four hundred million plus, over four hundred million daily actives, only about seventy million Indians actually, ah, today transact now with e-commerce sites, right? So, ah, you know, it's still less than 20% of the active…”
Anandan: Four-wheeler ride-hailing is played out; the future is two-wheelers
“So my view is the four-wheeler game is, is pretty much played out, and that's why we're seeing sort of slowing growth on the four-wheeler side. So it's really going to be three-wheelers, two-wheelers, new kind of forms of vehicles, and so on and so forth. And …”
Anandan: India has 100 million two-wheeler owners
“India has a hundred million people that have two wheelers, right?”
Anandan: Nayan's first major client is the Dubai Police
“They're, ah, actually, interestingly, their first, ah, big client, it's a B to B business, right? B to B to C business, really, ah, is actually, ah, is in Dubai. So in fact, that whole team is now in Dubai. They, ah, working with the Dubai police.”
Anandan: Clinikk has reached 30,000 paying subscribers
“And you'd be surprised, they actually have a 30,000 30,000 paying subscribers today, and it's growing like crazy.”
Anandan: India will build hundreds of $100M SaaS companies
“My view is India is going to create thousands of SaaS companies. Obviously you know, quite a number of them will become very, very large, but we can build, you know, hundreds of companies that are worth a hundred million dollars each in the SaaS space.”
Anandan: Almost all 2019 Tiger Global investments are in SaaS
“Almost all of Tiger's investments have been in the SaaS space, which is quite interesting.”
Anandan: India could produce 10 edtech unicorns
“I think India could have 10 unicorns in the education space. Today we have one called Baiju's. I think we're gonna see many more companies in the education space, simply because there's a massive, massive need.”
Anandan: India has a $300 billion SME credit gap
“India has a three hundred billion dollar SME credit cap, right?”
Anandan: Dunzo was operating purely on WhatsApp when I first invested
“For instance, you know Dunzo, where I was the first investor you know, when I funded them, they were basically a WhatsApp. They were using WhatsApp to help people in Bangalore kind of get things around them, right? And now today, when you look at it, it's beco…”