Techie turned investor with Abhay Havaldar

In this episode, Abhay Havaldar shares his story and experiences related to:

• Starting his IT career with a role in  testing software and going on to play other roles of marketing support and sales
• Product management and support with a dealing room package
• Always willing to experiment and joining a venture capital firm - Draper International
• Early stage investing, General Atlantic, India - and a boutique investment firm
• Why he got into IT
• How he positions an IT solution to a prospective client
• His experience of product management, explained in today’s terminology, as Software as a Service
• His experience with developing software solutions under a contract and the benefit of listening skills to add context to contracts
• The power users wield in product led growth models
• His starting out being a venture capitalist as a partner directly with the legendary Bill Draper
• His approach of investing in the plan first, than the market opportunity that is forecast
• The importance of evaluating all risks and being humble
• His thoughts on scaling startups and the Powerlocker model adopted by his form
• His views on reviews by investors in the context of fundraising and context of goals
• How he approaches theme based investing
• His approach to learning from others
• Being wrong is a great time to learn
• His experience and perspectives on the social sector
• The importance of being comfortable with storytelling, particularly for entrepreneurs

Experienced Board Member with a demonstrated history of working in the venture capital and private equity industry. Skilled in Corporate Finance, Venture Capital, Investment Banking, Strategy. Strong business development professional with a MSc (Sloan Fellow) focused in Business Administration and Management, General from London Business School.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhay-havaldar-a4a46523/