E3: Dev Bajaj (Venture Partner, Kalaari Capital)

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Dev Bajaj is a Venture Partner at Kalaari Capital, an early-stage, technology-oriented VC firm headquartered in Bangalore, India. Prior to joining Kalaari, Dev founded MITRA, one of India’s largest AgTech startups. Dev built and led a team of 150 people to sell 4 different patented technologies. In 2018, Mahindra & Mahindra, the largest tractor company in the world, entered into an agreement to acquire MITRA to grow M&M’s horticulture business.

Dev the spent early years of his career in investment banking and private equity in the US, and then went on to receive his MBA from INSEAD.

Startups in his portfolio include: Instamojo, RKSV, Active Intelligence, Agnext.

You may follow Dev on Twitter – @devneetbajaj and read more about him here. While you’re at it you may also follow our host, Akash Bhat - @bhatvakash and visit us at thedesivc.com

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Glossary of terms you will encounter in this episode:

1. APRU – APRU or Average revenue per unit is the measure of the revenue generated per unit or user.

2. DAU – DAU or Daily Active User is the measure of how many users visit or interact with the product or service over a given interval (i.e. per day)

3. MAU – MAU or Monthly Active User is the measure of how many users visit or interact with the product or service over a given interval (i.e. per month)

4. GMV – GMV or Gross merchandise value is the total value of merchandise sold over a given period of time through a customer-to-customer exchange platforms.

5. GTV – GTV or Gross Transaction Value is the measure of number of items sold multiplied by the price collected

6. Unit Economics – direct revenues and costs associated with a particular business model, and are specifically expressed on a per unit basis

7. EBITDA – EBITDA or earnings, before interest expenses, taxes, depreciation, and amortization is a proxy for a company's current operating profitability i.e. how much profit it makes with its present assets and its operations on the products it produces and sells, as well as providing a proxy for cash flow.

8. NPS – NPS or Net Promoter Score is an index ranging from -100 to 100 that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company's products or services to others. It is used as a proxy for gauging the customer's overall satisfaction with a company's product or service and the customer's loyalty to the brand.

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In this episode, you’ll learn about:

1. Dev’s story and how he ended up as an investor

2. Responsible and sustainable investing and why it is more important than ever before

3. Important growth metrics for startups

4. Why funding numbers in certain sectors such as FinTech are misleading and don’t really tell you the complete picture

5. Successful traits of entrepreneurs from within Kalaari’s portfolio

6. Things he’d like to change about Indian VC

7. Portfolio companies that he’s most excited about

8. Dev’s insights on investing and growing businesses