The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
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Deepak Gupta: High-volume seed dealmaking does not yield good companies
“We also do not think that just doing large numbers of deals is the answer to get to good companies.”
Gupta: VC Deal Volume Won't Drop by Half in 9 Months
“I'm not sure the, you know, in nine months time, we will be doing only half the deals that we did before. We'll be doing probably better than that.”
Gupta: Investors Should Keep Deploying in Downturns Rather Than Withdrawing
“A downturn is not necessarily a crisis. So, if you can hold your conviction and invest, you should do that. It may be harder to invest at the same rate, and it's probably foolish to do that, but I don't think a complete withdrawal is something that I would pur…”
Gupta: Even Top Founders Flounder in Multi-Year Market Downturns
“If you see the Nasdaq downturn, It was actually quite prolonged. It was for more than two years. And in those kind of downturns, even the best of founders may flounder simply because, you know, it's very hard to sustain a business over two, three years of a do…”
Gupta: Startups With Crisis Tailwinds Should Play Offense, Not Just Survive
“So if you are in the tailwind sector, many of our companies are, especially those who have content, or even small case and you have the capital, then you should be, what I call, semi-aggressive. Because if you see the general advice, it is survive. I think sur…”
Gupta: Startups on weaker footing during prolonged crises should pursue M&A
“I would actively urge companies who are slightly in a weaker footing to think through potential M&A possibilities. Because, ah, you know, if raising capital is going to be difficult, and they will lose some competitive advantage during the, if this crisis is s…”
Gupta: Crisis Survival Requires Pragmatism That Contradicts The Passion VCs Seek
“When the crisis hits one of the things is to be pragmatic and non-emotional, right? Which is actually a contradictory quality to when we appraise entrepreneurs upfront where we want them to be passionate and all that. But they have to be sort of passionate and…”
Gupta: Half of WEH Ventures Portfolio Outperformed Due to COVID-19 Tailwinds
“I mean, if I look at our portfolio, I would say at least half the companies are actually doing better than maybe they would have if this had not come.”
Gupta: Lower Post-COVID Costs Mean Seed Startups Need $700K, Not $1M
“I think if the companies at seed stage have adequate runway, then that runway should last them longer because the cost of doing business should go down, right? So the cost of hiring will go down. Also rental should go down. So, you know, if you needed a millio…”
Gupta: The ETF share of the US market has crossed 50%
“The market now in US is 50% in ETFs. They've crossed over.”
Gupta: India's low-cost ETF market grew from 2% to nearly 6%
“At that point also it was a very high percentage, but in India it was only two percent. People were not aware of low cost passive investing. That market has now grown from two percent to almost six percent.”