Anand Lunia, founder and partner of the very witty venture fund answers (no, really just check out
their website. It’s a delight to read). By the way he was also at Seedfund (yes, the one with Mahesh Murthy).
1. Why aren’t you as famous in media as Sequoia or Ivy Cap or Tiger Global?I know we are not as famous as Sequoia and Tiger, but we keep trying. Which is the other fund you mention?
2. What’s a micro VC?In a world full of $Bn deals, any investor investing less than a $1M becomes a micro VC. And we call the bigger ones as 'Late Stage VCs'. It’s like some media being called 'social or online media' till it becomes bigger than other media.
3. What is IQ’s date of launch?We will raise our Fund 3 soon.
4. Size of corpus?60M, where M stands for micro :)
5. What 3 important facts should entrepreneurs seeking funding know about IQ?- Think Consumer first, and try to solve by using technology
- There is no excuse for not building a prototype
- If you come asking for help and mentoring, we will worry about how good you are
6. Number of startups funded? Any names we recognize?
Lendingkart, Roposo, Grabhouse, Sharechat, iimjobs and Faasos
7. What’s the best way to reach IQ to get funding?Stalk us on twitter, or FB! Or send a text on whatsapp. Or else make friends with one of our existing founders.
8. Is there a lot of competition between investors vying for startups’ attention?Yes, there is good competition. Because we are all lazy investors. We always wait for everybody to get interested, and then want a piece of action.
9. How do you feel when you’re really interested in a startup but they are not interested in you? Or does that never happen?No it never happens! Even if it does, you think I am going to admit it?
10. Name three startups you’re most impressed by
Ola, Flipkart and Sharechat
11. Name three startups you’re not at impressed byJust 3! Can I name 30 please? Frankly, some sectors have seen mindless goldrush. Local services for example. Or the recent grocery delivery ones. Or the chatbot startups that have no clue what they stand for.
12. How does IQ gather its corpus? How many investor director and partners are involved?We are 3 partners. We raise money from institutions and family offices both in India and abroad.
13. Do you prefer any particular sectors to invest in?Consumer focussed. Right now we like fintech, health, education, media and gaming.
14. Do you prefer to seek your own investment opportunities or prefer to be approached by startups seeking funds?
I told you earlier we are lazy. We wait for the startups to come to us.
15. A startup isn’t living up to its expectations. How long do you keep funding it before writing it off?If the fund is a famous one, it will not want to write off soon. We are rather clinical about this, so we encourage our entrepreneurs to get on with the rest of their life sooner than later.
16. Name three investors that inspire the work at IQBill Gurley, Marc Andreesen and Chris Dixon
17. What’s the most important business practice to follow if a startup wants to become sustainable?The more money you spend, the slower (and stupider) you grow. So don't bother about the next round of money.
18. What’s one key advice you give to startups in your portfolio? Solve the problem for your consumers. Don't solve your own problem of looking cool.
19. Which is more stressful? Running a startup or running IQ?A startup needs to raise money from 1 investor at a time. IQ as a fund needs to raise money from 30 investors.
20. What’s the best thing about working as an investor in startups?You get paid to fail a lot as an investor. As a startup, you don't.
BW Reporters
Regina is a reporter for BW Businessworld. In her previous assignments, she has worked with Independent television Network as a news anchor and reporter in Sri Lanka
