Smart CEO

Transforming Smart CEO from a traditional magazine for leaders to something fun, amazing and truly differentiated. Yet to figure out what exactly!

[Smart CEO @theSmartCEO]

@vikpai @ReferRush Investor List

[Vikram Pai @vikpai]

In India, fundraising is hard.

For @ReferRush I spent months building a list of 5,000 verified Indian investors of angels, VCs, and funds — with names, emails, and contacts.

It took us weeks to create and I’m giving it away for free!

Comment “investor list”, like, and repost and I’ll DM you the link.

[You must be following me to receive the DM]

[Smart CEO @theSmartCEO]

@varun067 Interesting point. Depends on the product. Also, the algo does capture the silent ghosts who are not clicking or liking.

[Anton Osika @antonosika]

Lovable just raised $200M at a $1.8B valuation led by Accel.

This all started unexpectedly with me calling my friend at 6AM to go for a walk.

I've never shared this story before: (thread)

[Smart CEO @theSmartCEO]

@felixhhaas @lovable LFG

[Smart CEO @theSmartCEO]

@viraj_sheth @AskPerplexity what’s the context of this tweet

[Sanjeev Bikhchandani @sbikh]

Naukri was launched on April 1, 1997. Today is the 28th anniversary of the launch of the first internet business at Info Edge. Indiamart was launched a year earlier on April 1, 1996 and Makemytrip three years later on April 1, 2000 if I remember correctly. It is Makemytrip’s twenty fifth anniversary - congratulations @Naukri @IndiaMART @makemytrip

[Aravind Srinivas @AravSrinivas]

What would it take to produce a really good Mahabharata with the help of today’s AI? What do you think should be the budget and who should direct it?

[Steve Ballmer @Steven_Ballmer]

Great to see @DOGE digging into @USAFacts government data

[Smart CEO @theSmartCEO]

@JayeshSidhwani Very mature way for reflecting on what happened. Great trait!

[Gokul Rajaram @gokulr]

Just heard from a friend who’s been at a FAANG for the past few years: “we are in a much better financial standpoint than before joining them”.

This statement underscores a basic truth. While startups might be great from a culture and impact perspective, working for a handful of years at one of the Magnificent 7 is the absolute best, near-riskless way in tech to get to a level of financial security that allows you to feel comfortable taking significantly more risks in your career.

If you have significant upcoming financial liabilities, consider the FAANG : Mag7 path, if just for a few years. It might not be the most exciting and fulfilling option (though many friends say the work is great) but it’s definitely the most pragmatic. Don’t blindly drink the kool aid; instead do what’s right for your personal situation.

[Khadim @KhadimBatti]

Vara and I welcome @warburgpincus and thank SoftBank Vision Fund 2 for their participation.

We are excited to revolutionize DAP with innovation and expansion into DAP Adjacent offerings.

Thanks to our investors, customers, partners, and Whatfixers!

@varakumar

[Tejeshwi Sharma 🇮🇳 @tejeshwi_sharma]

Whatfix continues to go from strength to strength. @KhadimBatti and @varakumar_n have built an execution juggernaut.

The story of building @whatfix when told, will be a master-class in innovation, first-principles, and ambition.

Welcome @warburgpincus

@peakxvpartners

[Sayash Kapoor @sayashk]

Beyond excited to have received my author copies of AI Snake Oil (w/@random_walker)!

The book is out in 2 weeks, but the entire intro (30+ pages) is now available online: https://t.co/uboGwH53Ob

Read a summary of all chapters in our latest post: https://t.co/FzHEtYXK6U

[Sajith Pai @sajithpai]

We are delighted to launch our newest Bluprint, or report, on the Eldercare space.

First, what is a Bluprint? Well, Bluprints are how we make sense of emerging sectors or spaces, at @blumeventures.

Each Bluprint dissects a sector, maps out the landscape in one or many 2x2s, understands rubrics for success, and attempts to identify and rank promising startups on their distinct right to win across these rubrics. Bluprints help us sensemake sectors and track interesting opportunities. It helps us initiate conversations and spur serendipity.

That said, a Bluprint is not the final word or answer on any sector. Rather it is an endeavour to ask the right questions. It is the beginning of an exploration, and publishing Bluprints and making it public, allows us to get feedback on the Bluprint, learn from founders and practitioners, and thereby refine our thinking. Hopefully, it will also help aspiring founders and observers garner an outside perspective.

Our latest Bluprint is on the eldercare space.

My ex-colleague @radhika_agar and then intern @simran_malik_ cowrote the Eldercare Bluprint for us. Post their departure, my colleagues @mar_kodi & @llnachull did the final touches.

In the Eldercare Bluprint, We have identified five broad categories of opportunities linked around various seniors' pain points, including health, lifestyle, safety, and financial well-being. We believe that children, particularly those living overseas while their parents reside in India, often play a crucial role in deciding to pay for eldercare services.

Our findings highlight several areas with high willingness to pay, such as nutrition supplements, concierge services, senior homes & assisted living, fitness, social & entertainment, mobility aids, senior tourism, and insurance. We believe that a full-stack approach may well emerge as an effective way to serve elders' needs, as they are more likely to adopt a single, trusted channel for all their requirements.

We are excited to release this to the world.

Link to the Bluprint, following twitter tradition(!), in the first comment / threaded tweet.

[Smart CEO @theSmartCEO]

@banglani Great thread. Ironically- one category is where people are fired up to make money, so they can chill and pursue other non-financial goals after they make enough!

[Ritesh Banglani @banglani]

In my work i meet a lot of very ambitious people, and take great pleasure in figuring out the source of their hunger.

Some are endearing: the desire to prove your worth to a parent or a partner; others pedestrian, like keeping up with your batchmates from college. /1

[Alex Lieberman @businessbarista]

I've never spoken to a founder that regretted selling too soon.

I've spoken to many founders that regretted selling too late.

[Girish Mathrubootham @mrgirish]

Fantastic interview where @BKartRed gets my dear friend @SachetiMithun to open up on his phenomenal @Caratlane journey. https://t.co/FXM5cV8925 Thoroughly enjoyed the session with so many great insights. Don’t miss the trick on how to keep the attention of important mentors when they are tired and sleepy😊😊

[Jen Abel @jjen_abel]

Startup Sales Tip: When communicating with enterprise executives ...

Keep all correspondences in plain text and in the body of an email.

It forces you to think, be specific, and pithy. And, allows them to easily add their comments in reply OR forward to colleagues.

Do not add a video, presentation, link to X, etc. If the answer requires it, grab 15-30min and review live.

Brochure pushing is for order takers 🙃