1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Chandrashekar Kupperi, General Partner of Peaceful Progress Fund (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: What are some examples of really good companies that are focused on that segment?

Chandrashekar Kupperi: There is a company which is into chocolates. They chose tier 3 and tier 4 markets because you have the big companies in tier 1 and tier 2. What this has done is has led to the increased wallet size. Another thing they’ve realized is there are certain pockets with the ability to spend. You can even have product ranges with some premium launches.

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Solo Student Entrepreneur to $5M: David Liu, CEO of Deltapath (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Then what happens after 2011?

David Liu: Around 2015, we had the first investor. We had a high-net-worth individual who was interested in investing in the business.

Sramana Mitra: How did that person get involved? How did you find him?

David Liu: His son had just started a new e-commerce business and went public. He had some extra cash and wanted to invest in something related but not exactly e-commerce. He was introduced to us. We raised a million dollars.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Chandrashekar Kupperi, General Partner of Peaceful Progress Fund (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Do you want to act as a feeder into these humongous rounds? Small funds like yours get diluted heavily. The game that the Tiger’s and Softbank’s are playing is putting in huge amounts of money in the later rounds.

Some of the smaller funds that we have brought in say is it’s not so easy to play that game. You can’t really do pro rata at those levels. Let’s say a large Series C comes in. The small funds take an exit. How are you processing this dynamic of very large funding rounds downstream?

Video FAQs

Solo Student Entrepreneur to $5M: David Liu, CEO of Deltapath (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: In 2007 when you put together the appliance, how many customers did you get? How much were they paying on average?

David Liu: By 2007, we’d won Nokia. Nokia started deploying us globally. We also got Juniper Networks.

Sramana Mitra: This is still just you?

David Liu: Yes.

Sramana Mitra: Fantastic!

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Chandrashekar Kupperi, General Partner of Peaceful Progress Fund (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to a few examples of companies that you’ve invested in within the tech-enabled field.

Chandrashekar Kupperi: The first is an EdTech company. This is a startup that helps students or professionals connect with the right mentors. It all happens via AI. It ensures that any follow-on support is given.

Thursday, June 30 – 581st 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 581st FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, June 30, 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!

Solo Student Entrepreneur to $5M: David Liu, CEO of Deltapath (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: How did you find these customers?

David Liu: They came to us. They found our website.

Sramana Mitra: Google search?

David Liu: Yes. SIP is the industry standard for VoIP and PBX basically means phone system. I remember if you type SIP PBX, we would come up on the first page.

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping a 2-Sided Marketplace to $10M

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

CEO Sal Akbani had bootstrapped Gateway Classic Cars to over $10 million in revenue when we spoke in 2017. This is a great story of how a two-sided marketplace was masterfully seeded and scaled in a niche market.

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?

Sal Akbani: We have the same ancestry. My parents were from India. I was born in Pakistan. My mother is from Calcutta. My dad is from Bombay.

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