578th Roundtable Recording with Janam Mehta, Campus Fund and JSW Ventures

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

Featured Videos

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping Niche E-commerce Brand Big Barker

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

We’ve talked about niche, proprietary e-commerce brands and how entrepreneurs are building businesses around different concepts. Founder Eric Shannon shared the story of Big Barker, a dog bed for large dogs, with me in 2017.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Eric Shannon: I was born in Pennsylvania in a suburb about 45 minutes outside of Philadelphia. I went to Temple University. I was a Finance major. After school, I moved to California and took a job in banking. I hated it and was terrible at it. I had a couple of other jobs and eventually discovered the internet side of the economy. I became very attached to it. I started in that industry in 2004.

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Thursday, June 16 – 579th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 579th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, June 16, 2022, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CEST/8:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to “pitch” and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to “attend” to watch, learn, and interact through the online chat.

You can learn more here and REGISTER TO PITCH OR ATTEND HERE. Register and you will receive the recording by email, even if you are unable to attend. Please share with any entrepreneurs in your circle who may be interested. All are welcome!

Video FAQs

Indian Unicorns 2022: Spinny Leverages AI in Used Car Market Through Scuoto Acquisition

According to a JM Financial report, the pre-owned car market in India is set to more than double to 8.2 million units or $47 billion by 2026 from 4 million units or $17 billion in 2021. The growth in the market is also driving the growth of the used car vendors such as Spinny, which recently joined the Unicorn club.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Anupam Rastogi, General Partner of Emergent Ventures (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Can you elaborate on what it would take for you to do the concept stage? We see very few investors who do the concept stage.

Anupam Rastogi: Along with the other criteria, we are looking to see how much market development the founder has done. We come across entrepreneurs who have gone to 20 to 50 customers and they have processed that information in a structured manner. It’s not just based on just one empirical experience. It’s often based on 20 to 50 people.

Building a Capital-Efficient, Highly Scalable Smart City IoT Venture: LYT CEO Timothy Menard (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Was there a customer that you had in mind?

Timothy Menard: All sides – automotive and the communities they drove in.

Sramana Mitra: How did you get the company off the ground?

Timothy Menard: I applied for a Federal Small Business Research and Innovation grant. The company started on a quarter-million grant. I was able to use a portion of that and partner with the University of California – Irvine to have a road system and students of all classifications work on this digitalization concept.

Best of Bootstrapping: Founder Bootstrapped to Over $10M from Australia

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

This is another wonderful story of a founder who diligently scaled his startup. DNA Behavior Founder Hugh Massie had bootstrapped to over $10 Million in revenue when we spoke in 2017.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Hugh Massie: I was born in Sydney, Australia. I was privately-educated at a very good private school. When I finished that, I earned a degree in Commerce and Economics at the University of New South Wales. Following that, I became a Chartered Accountant and worked with Arthur Andersen for 10 years in auditing, mainly in the tax area. I worked in the Sydney office and then in the Singapore and Thailand offices as well.

After 10 years, I wanted to go out on the street and become an entrepreneur. That was really the start of my entrepreneurial journey. I had always been an investor though, ever since the age of 20. As soon as I got my first job, I bought a house and got an investment rental property and was always doing things that were related to investing.

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Indian E-Commerce Unicorns 2022: Good Glamm Targets Both Online and Offline D2C Market in India

According to a recent report, India’s beauty and personal care (BPC) market is estimated at $25.9 billion in 2020. It is projected to grow 8% annually to reach $32.7 billion by 2023. While traditional retailers continue to serve the market, there is a growing presence of e-commerce players as well. One such player is Good Glamm that recently joined the Unicorn club.