161 Should You Raise Money or Bootstrap Your Startup

03/12/2021 1h 6min
161 Should You Raise Money or Bootstrap Your Startup

Listen "161 Should You Raise Money or Bootstrap Your Startup"

Episode Synopsis

When you read tech articles and social posts – it appears raising a round is the only way to grow a business.What would happen if you repurposed all the time and effort spent on raising capital and focused it on bootstrapping your startup? Our guest, Naveen Prasad, understands the value of bootstrapping a startup before you begin raising capital.He’s the Founder & Managing Partner of Group Agilis (Agilis Advisors and Agilis Capital), where he manages a mandated portfolio in excess of $4 billion. The firm is operational in 10+ markets, and Naveen spearheads the leadership team for deal sourcing, fund placements, M&A and fundraising transactions. Originally from India, and now settled in Berlin, Germany, Naveen has built ventures from scratch, and is also an active early-stage investor, mentoring startups in venture programs such as EIT, Cocoon & StartupbootcampPrior to Agilis, Naveen had co-founded Fintech & eCommerce ventures Blackbill and MinRP and held leadership positions in Lendico (Rocket Internet), Kreditech and Amazon.To learn more about Agilis Capital, please visit: https://agilisadvisors.com/ Please connect with Naveen and Agilis Capital via the following social media platforms:Naveen:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naveenkprasad/Linkedin : https://www.linkedin.com/in/naveenkpTwitter : https://twitter.com/NaveenKPrasadAgilis Capital:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agilis-advisorsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/agilis_advisors/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Agilis_AdvisorsHere's a link to learn more about Nykka and its fab female founder Falguni Nayar:https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/12/business/nykaa-falguni-nayar-india-billionaire-hnk-intl/index.html00:00 - Meet Naveen!08:00 - Naveen's origin story12:00 - what Naveen learned from his first ventures into entrepreneurship17:00 - meet Agilis Capital Advisors22:00 - first understand why you need funding for your startup25:00 - bootstrapping, VC funding or angel investor funding27:30 - what do angel investors look for in a startup and its founding team31:40 - before investing, what does Naveen seek in a founding team 37:19 - Naveen's favorite example of a bootstrapped business: India-based and female founded Nykka ! https://www.nykaa.com/42:00 - should you bootstrap in a competitive landscape?48:00 - how to shift the lack of diversity in the Venture Capital landscape 51:15 - what Naveen wish he'd known before he began raising capital57:00 - the Berlin startup ecosystem - an insider's view1:03:40 - the most important trait of a founder is empathyThank you for carving out time to improve your Founder Game - when you do better, your business will do better - cheers!Ande ♥Ande Lyonshttp://andelyons.comANDELICIOUS RESOURCES:JOIN STARTUP LIFE LIVE MEETUP GROUPGet an alert whenever I post a new show!https://bit.ly/StartupLifeLIVEAGORAPULSEMy favorite digital marketing dashboard is AGORAPUL

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