Venktesh Shukla - Becoming One Of Silicon Valley’s Most Active Angel Investors

06/10/21 • 40 min

If you’re an Indian entrepreneur or you're thinking about founding a startup in India, don’t miss Venktesh Shukla this week on Halo Drop. Venk is a general partner in Monta Vista Capital, a VC company focused on seed stage B2B companies, bringing a hands-on operational approach to the first years of a company's life.

As President of TiE, a nonprofit that exists to promote wealth creation through entrepreneurship, Venk presides over one of the most powerful networks focused on technology startups in Silicon Valley. Venk is also the founding chair and active member of the TiE angels, one of the most active angel investor groups in the Valley.

“In those 3 years that the group invested in 25 companies, I wrote only 5 checks, but those 5 companies turned out to be the best of those 25, and nobody else in that 100% investor group got those 5 right.”

Venk is also involved in Startup India, an initiative designed to make it easier to startup, fund and grow a company in India.

“I used to write extensively, criticising [startup] policies in newspapers in India. The government thought that the best way for them to prevent me from writing all these things is to bring me inside.”

In this latest episode, Venk shares his incredible journey: from his boyhood dream of being an engineer, to coming to the US for his MBA. How he became Teradyne’s most successful sales person having never sold before. Why he became a VC. How he became involved in Startup India. Why having a wide network of people is invaluable. And how meditation gets his head back in the game.

“I sit down and try to figure out where I want to be two years from today. That frames how I should be spending my time today. What do I want to see happen in two years from today, and then work backwards from there.”

On today’s podcast:

Finding product market fit
Becoming a TiE angel
The advantage of being a distributed company
Startup India
His advice for new entrepreneurs

Links:

Venk is also involved in Startup India, an initiative designed to make it easier to startup, fund and grow a company in India.

On today’s podcast:

Finding product market fit
Becoming a TiE angel
The advantage of being a distributed company
Startup India
His advice for new entrepreneurs

Links:

Previous Episode

3D Printers, DTC Brands & Hydration Multipliers

The longer we’re all working from home, the more we figure out how to be self-sufficient, and one thing that’s becoming increasingly popular is 3D printing, in particular, printing things at home.

In fact, you can even 3D print your new home if you want.

“There's a bunch of interesting new startups that are 3D printing houses, where they'll prefab all of it, pre-print it and then essentially move an entire house to wherever the location you want to build it is.”

DTC brands are really shaking up the marketplace right now. By going direct to consumers, they’re cutting out the middleman and one thing that makes them super successful, is they are creating a community around the brand too, building awareness and encouraging advocacy.

“Live Tinted is a beauty brand started in the US and it’s basically beauty products that are catered towards tinted skin. One of the amazing things they've done is built this really powerful community across social media that is driving all their success.”

Finally, if you're looking for a hydration multiplier, try Liquid IV. You can also find a hydration multiplier with immune support, there’s another with energy, and another to help you sleep.

Don’t miss this latest episode of Halo Drop, it’s eclectic, educational and cheeky in all the right places.

On today’s podcast:

3D printing
Jinx dog food
Gender neutral perfume
The rise of DTC brands
Hydration multipliers

Links:

Next Episode

Applying Lessons Learned from Football to the Business World with San Francisco 49er, Jerry Rice

We are super excited for this episode of Halo Drop. At the start of the pandemic we hosted an amazing conversation with American football player, Jerry Rice, who imparted a wealth of wisdom gleaned during his time both on and off the football field.

“I never thought I would get drafted and go on to live the ultimate dream of playing professional football. You know, a guy out of Mississippi who goes to Mississippi Valley State University and gets drafted by the greatest team ever: The San Francisco 49ers.”

Jerry is a Hall of Famer, was a part of three winning Super Bowl teams and holds over 100 NFL records. Today he’s the CEO and founder of GOAT Fuel (Greatest Of All Time).

“You're not always going to win. But it's like, what do you do when you don't? And that's when I think you realize that you have to be tougher, you gotta be stronger. You have to be able to fight through adversity.”

In this episode, Jerry shares his journey from football dream to reality, the power of working together as a team, winning the Super Bowl three times, why losing makes you stronger, how to prepare mentally and physically for greatness and longevity, and why the GOAT mindset is for everyone.

“I'll do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t. That's what I'm all about. That's what I did in football. I always tell people to love what you do, and always give 100%.”

On today’s podcast: