This report from CB Insights features the top 10 most active startup accelerators and their investment patterns. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.
>>>Sramana Mitra: We are in the 2018 timeframe now?
Swapnil Jain: Yes.
Sramana Mitra: What are the next few strategic moves that got you further?
Swapnil Jain: 2019 was a big product year. We had a product that we were shipping every day, but we didn’t know if this was strategic or not. The big strategic decision in 2019 was getting a strong VP of Product. If I look back, that is something I should have done sooner. I acted as a product leader, but I was not good.
>>>Sramana Mitra: A lot of pre-seed investments happen in the alumni network. An engineer in a branded company like Twitter works.
Swapnil Jain: Of course. The other thing I would say is the Bay Area is more lenient in terms of supporting people. Did I have a great idea? Maybe. Maybe not. People’s willingness to support is also a big factor. It’s the pay-it-forward kind of thing.
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Entrepreneurs are invited to the 626th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, November 30, 2023, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/5 p.m. CET/9:30 p.m. India IST.
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In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:
Swapnil Jain: When you call your bank, you hear that the call is being recorded for quality and training. A human would come in and listen to it manually. While listening, they are filling out a form about the call details. Then on the other side, the supervisors who are coaching the agents are doing the same thing. The operations team, which is trying to improve processes on how to best handle these calls, is doing the same thing.
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RainmakerForce CRO Mack Sundaram had built a successful business optimized for autonomy and profitability when we spoke in 2018. Excellent navigation!
Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to the very beginning of your journey. Tell us where you’re from. Where did you grow up? Where were you born and raised?
Mack Sundaram: I was born in South India in a village near Chennai. I spent some time of my childhood in Chennai and Pondicherry. I later went to school in New Delhi. Since then, I moved over to the United States where I had an opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree in Economics. That’s where the transition happened.