Lightspeed India to train entrepreneurs in a no-strings-attached setting

Lightspeed India has launched Extreme Entrepreneurs, an eight-week entrepreneurial training series that will connect eight Indian startups to top entrepreneurs around the world.

Lightspeed India has announced that it is launching Extreme Entrepreneurs, an innovative and one-of-a-kind entrepreneurial training series in India. Their aim is to connect a select group of Indian startups to the top guns of global technology and entrepreneurship.

EE2018, will have business leaders like Jon Steinberg, ex-COO of Buzzfeed; Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of OYO Rooms; Dheeraj Pandey, CEO of Nutanix; and John Thompson, Chairman, Microsoft,; sharing what they have learnt from entrepreneurship.

Investors Anu Hariharan of Y Combinator and Jeremy Liew and Ravi Mhatre of Lightspeed will be among the mentors.

Applications for the programme opened yesterday. The investment company will shortlist eight startups for the programme by the end of August. They are keen on early stage and seed-funded startups, while being sector agnostic.

Vaibhav Agrawal, Partner at Lightspeed India Partners, has specified that the programme is one “with no strings attached”. He explains that it will be only about quality interaction, quality recreation, quality time, with no cash hand-out, no stake taken, and no “accelerator” terms.

Extreme Entrepreneurs has a three-session format and will be live every Tuesday, September through October, at Lightspeed India Partners’ Bengaluru office. Besides business luminaries speaking, the selected startups will have their processes and points of view grilled by an experienced Lightspeed India investor. The evening session will connect the who’s who of business with the next generation of entrepreneurs in an informal setting.

Sunil Rao, Partner, Business Services at Lightspeed India Partners, told YourStory that they plan to make this a yearly programme for startups. “Since we are getting only eight startups, there will be a personalised touch to the training. This programme is not about volume, but the quality of the startups. If there are more, we may not be able to give quality time and attention to each,” he said.

“It is hard to get time with investors and prominent entrepreneurs otherwise. So this programme will give these aspirants huge exposure,” Rao added.

LightSpeed Ventures has been on a high recently, with its portfolio companies making waves. Edtech unicorn Byju’s has turned profitable, Freshmenu founder Rashmi Daga was awarded Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, and OYO Rooms is expanding to China.