[YS TV] Mahesh Murthy on Fund Raising

No words minced, Mahesh Murthy gives some very candid views about raising funds...

One of India’s most successful college dropouts, Mahesh Murthy is a very well known face in the Indian VC fraternity (and otherwise). He is currently a managing partner at SeedFund and the founder of renowned marketing firm, Pinstorm and has held various creative positions at multinational companies such as HP, Microsoft and Pepsi to name a few.

Here we have Mahesh Murthy’s words of wisdom on the best ways to raise money, the thought process of a VC, when and when not to take VC money -

“To me the smartest fundraise is where you don’t need VC money. If you look at the worlds greatest companies, say an Apple, Microsoft or a GE, they never needed VC money to start. The smartest way to raise money is to get your customers to pay,” said Mahesh when asked about the smartest way to raise money.

Mahesh also believes that 99% of the great business ideas will never get VC funding because VC’s can’t exit. “A VC is looking to exit your company in say 5 or 6 years through an IPO or a merger or a sale. If he senses that your business cannot be sold or IPO’d, no matter how great your idea is , you’re not going to get money.”

Watch to know his frank views on fund raising... And stay tuned to hear more from the man...