Opinion
Rajaram: Agnikul is the Indian equivalent of SpaceX
“Of course, within the fund, one of our other favorite companies is is Agnikul, which is in, you know, in my mind, sort of the SpaceX equivalent for the Indian markets and the current situation.”
Opinion
Rajaram: Software and industrial hardware are 1.5x to 2x more capital efficient than consumer
“And one of the draws towards doing software and industrial hardware is that we generally think that the capital efficiency is one and a half to two times more than the consumer startups.”
Opinion
Rajaram: Optical Communication Will Disrupt Space Telecom Like Fiber Optics Did Internet
“Today, communication is typically done using RF, and that's limiting in both terms of cost and bandwidth, and we think optics can do what fiber optics did for the internet for, let's say, telecommunication.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Rajaram: Speciale Invest achieved a triple-digit IRR on Pocket52 exit
“I haven't covered the company that we exited recently. It was a good exit for us. Triple digit IRR. This was a company in the gaming side.”
Insight
Rajaram: Deep Tech Requires Longer Holding Periods for Non-Linear Upside
“We know we're backing deep companies, and sometimes the waiting period has to be longer if you want to create you know, non-linear upside, and I think we were aware of that, and we're playing for it.”
Insight
Rajaram: Meaningful tech value creation typically requires 6 to 10 years
“The important part to keep in mind is that real value comes typically when you scale companies, you know, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 years. I think three, four years ago, it was an unwritten rule that strong value creation takes about 10 years. Of course, now…”
Opinion
Rajaram: Indian startup ecosystem no longer attaches stigma to failure
“I think what's fundamentally changed is the appetite for risk. There is no stigma attached to failure. People don't worry about failing. People don't worry about getting a job if this doesn't go anywhere.”
Insight
Rajaram: Deep tech commercial viability emerges in cycle two
“Generally cycle one is where there's a lot of learning and unlearning and cycle two in some of them is when their commercial viability and opportunity sort of represents itself much better.”
Insight
Rajaram: B2C Startups Require Nonstop Fundraising Compared to B2B
“BTC ones need a lot more capital to play out, which means that the founders themselves need to first understand that. And understand that fundraising is a, is not a seasonal job. It's an everyday job. I mean, you've got to be constantly fundraising in some of …”
Insight
Rajaram: B2B Milestones Progress From Founder-Market to PMF to Go-to-Market Fit
“There are strong proof points at each level, you know, at the pre-seed level, you're looking for founder market fit, and at a seed series A level, you're looking for product market fit, and then at B, you're looking for go-to-market fit.”
Insight
Rajaram: VC Strategies Must Be Repeatable and Relatable for Fund Managers
“Getting a strategy that makes money is different from getting a strategy that is relatable by you as a fund manager and repeatable by you as a fund manager.”
Disclosure
Rajaram: Speciale Invest Backs R&D-Heavy Startups Over Sales-Heavy Models
“My DNA and I think my partner's DNA is a little more inclined towards saying, let's take signify person of the fundraise and go build product and R and D as against saying, let's take 60% of the fundraise to go do sales and marketing. And then a natural byprod…”
Insight
Rajaram: Returning capital is an order of magnitude harder than investing it
“Giving our money is, is among the, among other things, easier to do because you're giving. Taking back is, is, is an order of magnitude harder, right? And then building A process to give and take, and then making it a cycle is where the core IP sits or the cor…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Rajaram: Indian VC in 2007-2009 Was Mostly PE-Style Without Much Tech
“Between 2007 and nine, frankly, most venture in India was still You know, more private equity-ish venture, which meant that there was not a whole lot of tech. There was not a whole lot of SaaS going on back then”
Disclosure
Rajaram: Speciale Invest targets 18 companies per fund over four years
“I think our belief is a portfolio construct will be about 18 companies for every fund, and every fund will invest over a four year period.”
Disclosure
Rajaram: Speciale Invest targets outcome sizes of around $100M
“We see what are the trends that are coming into economic viability that would be disruptive or additive to a large market. We see if these are founders who can build this. We think whether these outcomes can be about a hundred million dollars for us and then s…”
