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.
why aren't all 10 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Karthik Reddy: Indian tech IPOs became overpriced direct listings without justification
“So you actually skewed the entire idea of an IPO into the equivalent of what the Americans call a direct listing, but after pumping the price up significantly, with no basis of justifying that kind of valuation.”
Karthik Reddy: International LPs demand 25% target returns for Indian VC
“So, international investors won't touch early stage India VC if they don't Can't imagine a world where you can deliver 25% compounded, right? You might fail miserably at it, but if that's not their hope, they won't touch you. So it's a tall ask.”
Karthik Reddy: Five companies drive 85% to 90% of fund returns
“Somebody taught me a rule of thumb that basically irrespective of size of portfolio in a cycle, so it's important to measure this in cycles, it's disproportionate in their case because you'll have these free kits like Flipkart and Freshworks. But in a cycle, i…”
Karthik Reddy admits Indian private equity outperforms VC on cash returns
“Cash returns. They're ahead of us.”
Karthik Reddy: Startup vision requires a single dominant founder CEO
“We used to think teams are important. Of course, they're important. But I think I'm back to over indexing on one alpha female, alpha male equivalent, because I don't think you can distribute that vision and mission.”
Karthik Reddy: Overconfident founders are preferable to survive extreme startup hurdles
“Yeah, if I had to pick one, I'd pick the overconfident. ... So there has to be a will to say that I can conquer any mountain, right, in some sense. That it doesn't, without that, there's no chance. The first small peak, you'll give up.”
Karthik Reddy: Institutional money allocation indexes trust over returns
“Money is more about, I would actually index trust more than returns.”
Karthik Reddy: 95% of angel investors generate mediocre returns
“95% will be mediocre returns. Five percent will do well, of which I think five percent are legendary.”
Karthik Reddy: VCs earn zero carry until returning all capital and fees
“Here you are not entitled to anything until you've returned. Not just the capital that you invested in totality, but also the fees you consume during that 10 year period, you return that too.”
Karthik Reddy: Truly outsized startup journeys take 10-plus years
“Super normal journeys, the ones that those five companies that deliver the magic, those are 10 plus your journeys. And full ridden with potholes and shocks and emotional setbacks. The only thing that keeps you going is the mission. So if you have started with …”