From an Angel Investor to a Lead Investor, Mohit Satyanand maps his journey
Mohit Satyanand, Chairman and Founder at Teamwork Arts, is a Lead Investor at LetsVenture. As an entrepreneur and a public investor for a long time, Satyanand took to angel investing to diversify his portfolio. His aim was to get into new sectors that may or may not make it into public markets for a very long time.
In a conversation, Satyanand explains his journey from an angel investor to a lead investor. He says, "I don't really have a thesis in terms of sectors. The only sector that I don't invest in is something which is purely tech for tech sake - because I just don't understand that."
While he says he doesn't understand the nitty-gritty of B2B companies, he adds that he prefers things, which have a customer focus. "Obviously, they’re tech-enabled. Everything is tech-enabled today, but it's got to have a customer focus," says Satyanand.
Edited excerpts from the interview
LetsVenture: What qualities do you look for in an entrepreneur?
Mohit Satyanand: I don't think that one is really uniquely placed to assess whether an idea is good or not. And increasingly both from my experience as an entrepreneur and as an investor, it's not the idea per se. It's the personal implements. So really everything is about the entrepreneur.
As an investor director, the primary thing is a personal relationship. If you can't find a personal connect it's not going to work. And if that works then the combination of an experienced middle-aged or older like me, a businessman with a young entrepreneur with passion is quite explosive. You can actually see magic happen
LV: What are your expectations from your co-investors?
MS: You expect honesty, passion and speed of execution from them. The way I work with them is by jettisoning all preconceptions of what my role is. I see no boundaries. I'm not an investor director or an investor or representing other directors. I'm now a partner. I'm a partner who is willing to invest intellectual, creative, and emotional energy in the business.
The intellectual is obvious but it's getting emotionally and creatively involved with the business that makes all the difference. And lastly trying to keep some contact with my co-investors so that in case they can be brought in profitably into the whole process, they already know who you are and what language you’re speaking.
Watch the whole interview here
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In this series, LetsVenture will attempt to break the barriers associated with startup funding by providing a deeper understanding of the ecosystem and helping people #LeadWithLV.