Ashish Gupta is a famous figure in both the Indian startup ecosystem and the Silicon Valley. He founded Junglee in 1996, which was obtained by Amazon in 1998, and took the entrepreneurial plunge for the second time in 2000 with Tavant Technologies. The BTech graduate from IIT Kanpur is likewise a Kauffman Fellow. Ashish holds a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University.

Ashish has been an early investor in startups like Flipkart and Mu Sigma. In 2005, he co-founded Helion Advisors and presently serves on numerous forums including Ezetap, Pubmatic, Simplilearn, SMSGupshup, and Naukri. His beyond investments include Qwikcilver (obtained by Pine Labs), Daksh (obtained by IBM), MakeMyTrip, Upwork, Perfios, and redBus.

Investing – myths vs reality 

Ashish has been an angel investor and a VC for extra than a decade. While sharing his learnings from making an investment, Ashish says he has heard from many, in particular from individuals who aren’t investors, that angel investing is a manner to make money.

Ashish clarifies, “I found that angel investing is more a way to exercise one’s passion, and it costs a lot of money. So, it is probably more expensive than golf or tennis as a way to keep yourself entertained.” However, once in a while, one might get lucky.

FOMO mentality 

Ashish believes there may be a FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out in the private investment market. He connects the scarcity of sources to the reason for existing FOMO in the private world.

He compares a startup to a motorcycle, and public market investing with a bus. “The motorcycle will only take one rider on the pillion with them..it is equally hard as to which bus to climb. But that perception of a bus versus a motorcycle exacerbates the sense of FOMO in venture investing,” Ashish says.

Indian vs US markets 

Comparing the investing panorama in India and the United States, Ashish says the 2 markets are notably different from each other. However, since 2006, the Indian marketplace has gotten greater depth, with people becoming more specialised.

However, in the venture business, the adulthood curve of the Indian and the United States marketplace is very unique. “The fact that there (US) exists on a regional basis, makes the market very different,” Ashish says.

The US has had a startup tradition for 60-years. There is a VP of some thing all round in the US neighbourhood, while one can only locate VP of engineering in India, those who specialise only in backend and performance-orientated organizations.

Following trends 

There has been a belief of investing behind traits in India. The yr 2015 become all about making an investment in hyperlocal startups, and now, edtech and healthcare startups are the rage.

However, Ashish says, “Trends are very dangerous because most of them turn out to be misleading and venture is a micro-business.”

Stating the instance of ecommerce, Ashish says that among 2008 and 2012, dozens of ecommerce organizations were given money, however only one is left standing — Flipkart. “I was an unfortunate investor in several of the others,” he says.

Explaining further, he says the essence of making an investment in the right micro includes selecting the right team. What makes the difference, Ashish says, is the “team’s ability to be intellectually honest, learn, and correct their mistakes within a trend.”

Tips for younger entrepreneurs

For potential entrepreneurs or founders who’ve commenced up in the last six to twelve months, Ashish says younger entrepreneurs need to be aware of cash. “It’s the single biggest reason companies die,” he adds. While it may sound obvious, Ashish says one would be surprised at how little attention people pay to cash.

Whether it was Albert Einstein, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, or Bill Gates, there is a recurring theme in all of them — “That self is trumped by fact and market. And these are all signs of having no ego,” Ashish says.