VC Professional of the Year – Sandeep Singhal
Sandeep Singhal, co-founder of Nexus Venture Partners, discusses job satisfaction, the secrets of his venture firm’s success and the outlook for India’s early-stage sector.
Q: What do you enjoy about your job?
A: My role gives me an opportunity to work with very passionate and smart people, helping them to build market-leading companies. Their energy level is infectious, and makes what I do an enormous amoung of fun. Being an entrepreneur myself allows me to empathize with the challenges they face and to help them deal with the down days. I would like to see us build the leading venture firm out of India by partnering with the best entrepreneurs in the country, and in that process generate great returns for our investors.
Q: Where does Nexus derive its success from?
A: Our team has deep operating experience across domestic consumption and cross border technology, and we have a US office which allows us to make investments in companies using a global perspective and benchmarking. Our unique position has attracted great entrepreneurs to partner with us. This is really what has underpinned Nexus' early success.
Q: What's happening in the Indian venture industry?
A: India is seeing tremendous momentum in the early stage ecosystem, with entrepreneurial activity in all major cities. Akin to Silicon Valley, senior executives in large companies in India are leaving their jobs to venture out, and an increasing flow of entrepreneurs from the Indian diaspora are choosing to start their companies here. We also see local entrepreneurs focusing increasingly on growth, and understanding the benefits that value-added investors can bring to their businesses.
Q: How does this compare to before the pre-crisis boom period?
A: The quality and quantity of investment opportunities that we see today is significantly above that of 2007, when we started investing. We expect this momentum not only to be sustained but also to get stronger with time, as one sees successful exits and role models emerge.
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