Literati Reading List

In 2016, I started a literary group focused on serious literary works. Here is the list of books for our Caravanserai Literati.

Featured Videos

Roundtable Recap: November 21 – A Superb Discussion on Artificial Intelligence

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Arijit Sengupta, Founder and CEO at Aible. Previously, Arijit founded another AI startup, BeyondCore, which was acquired by Salesforce.com. This was an excellent discussion, and I urge you to check it out.

Ederlabs

As for the pitches, up first, we had Sharat Satyanarayana from Bangalore, India, pitch Ederlabs, an AI data privacy protection startup that is in the 1Mby1M Premium program.

Suquino

Next we had Ravi Amble from Sunnyvale, California, pitch Suquino, a telehealth startup.

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Roundtable Recap: November 14 – An FFF Financing Case Study

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Kevin Groome, Founder at Pica9, who discussed his journey of building a capital efficient company with just friends and family financing.

Continube

As for entrepreneur pitches, up first we had Raj Krishnamurthy from Fremont, California, pitching Continube, a product focused on the Cyber Insurance sector.

LayerFive

Then, Sushil Goel from Fremont, California, pitched LayerFive, an AI product focused on the MarTech Consumer Identity Management problem.

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Video FAQs

Roundtable Recap: November 7 – An Excellent Discussion on AgTech Startups in Latin America

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Francisco Jardim, Founding Partner, SP Ventures, a Brazilian firm focused on AgTech in Latin America. We learnt a lot about what’s happening in the sector and the region.

Logicus eMobility

As for entrepreneur pitches, up first we had Saurabh Acharya from Bangalore, India, pitch Logicus eMobility, an electric bike leasing solution.

AutomizeApps

Next, Sayander Paul from Kolkata, India pitched AutomizeApps, an analytics solution for mid-sized e-commerce companies.

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Roundtable Recap: October 31 – Quality of Startups from India is Improving Steadily

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Anand Rajaraman, Founding Partner at rocketship.vc. Anand was an early investor in Facebook. Among other things, we discussed how the quality of startups from India has been improving.

Digital Parliament

As for entrepreneur pitches, today we had Harsha Mukherjee from Mumbai, India, pitch Digital Parliament, a social media platform for managing elections.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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Roundtable Recap: October 24 – Do Not Spray and Pray

During this week’s roundtable, we had three pitches.

Ederlabs

Up first, we had Sharat Satyanarayana from Bangalore, India, pitch Ederlabs, an AI data privacy protection startup that is in the 1Mby1M Premium program. We worked on the segmentation priority today. I am trying to narrow the targets down.

Tellinga

Next, Alex Kurkowski from Houston, Texas, pitched Tellinga, a personalized greeting card with artists creating stories by hand. Each card series tells a story. Very creative model that I thought would apply well to weddings as they progress from engagement to the actual wedding. Again, I tried to narrow down the focus to something very specific.

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Roundtable Recap: October 17 – Blackbaud – 1Mby1M Social Good Startup Challenge Launch

During this week’s roundtable, we had our guests Roz Lemieux, Senior Director, Blackbaud Labs, and Rachel Hutchisson, VP, Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy, and Chair, Senior Women’s Leadership Council, Blackbaud, announce the Blackbaud – 1Mby1M Social Good Startup Challenge.

Hayag Corp.

For pitches, up first, we had Hema Lakkaraju from the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, pitch Hayag Corp. The firm focuses on automating compliance for the digital health industry. Hema is a member of the 1Mby1M Premium program. The company already has customers.

Palacio

Next, Rahul Ranjan from San Francisco, CA, pitched Palacio, a digital frame to showcase art that looks like it is an original. Rahul is also a member of the 1Mby1M Premium program. The company already has revenues.

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Roundtable Recap: October 10 – How Much Funding is Too Much?

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Guillermo Gaspart, Founder and CEO of ByHours.com from Barcelona. He shared his wonderful journey of building a unique online travel company. We had an interesting discussion on the issue of how much funding is too much.

Qlicket

For pitches, up first, we had Vivek Kumar, a 1Mby1M Premium member from Pittsburgh, PA, pitch Qlicket. The company focuses on high turnover employee engagement and has just closed its first $500k a year Fortune 500 account.   

Housing Joint Venture

Next, John Delia from Columbus, Ohio, also a 1Mby1M Premium member, pitched Housing Joint Venture, an online learning platform for real estate investment.

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