The Funded Entrepreneurs Group
I just got back from my trip to Kolkata which was planned in order to introduce the founding team of an upcoming investment to Mr. Aditya Ladsaria of Chaibreak (an Artha investee) and Mr. Miftaur Rahman of Wow Momos (a fantastic venture that I deeply respect but unfortunately didn’t get a chance to invest in). The objective of the trip was to give the new founders the chance to learn from two sets of successful founders that had no previous background in food, yet managed to fund their respective successful food startups from customer capital before raising venture capital. I especially admire Aditya & Miftaur’s razor-sharp focus towards addressing the customer’s needs through constant innovation in both, the product and operations.
I was a mute spectator (for the most part) in the conversation between the new founders and the experienced ones, but thoroughly enjoyed listening to their detailed discussions about operations, product innovations, customer loyalty management, HR, etc and all the other topics that concern building a business, except “how to raise money from VCs”. This experience gave legs to an initiative that I have wanted to launch for the last 8-12 months i.e. the Funded Entrepreneurs Group.
The idea is to put a group of founders that have already raised money (seed, angel, pre-series A, series A, etc) into a conference room for a couple of hours every 4-6 weeks to talk about matters that only another founder that has raised money can relate to – ‘how to build the venture!’ The discussion shall take place behind closed doors with no recording so that any founder from any stage of the business growth cycle can ask questions – no gyaan sessions only mutually beneficial universal learning.
I strongly believe that when a founder learns the solution to a problem from a fellow founder who has faced a similar issue and managed to overcome it, the solution seems more do-able and the problem less enigmatic. This will also help form a stronger and more cohesive ecosystem for all entrepreneurs. Going forward, the group can also share business leads or transact with each other and the possibilities remain endless, but for now, lets stick to getting a first meeting done.
Artha helped organise a meeting in an open discussion format for angel investors under the age of 50, with a minimum of 5 investments with a similar objective of learning from each other’s experiences. Those meetings have successfully been going on for the past 11 months with beneficial results for all the participants. Currently, the discussion has graduated to deal sharing and evaluating each other’s investments.
My team and I are excited to be able to organise the first Funded Entrepreneur Group meeting for the founders of our ecosystem. The meetings won’t be sponsored by anyone so that the attendees’ independence will be maintained, but there will be a thorough scrutiny of each person that attends to ensure the sanctity of the event. The exact costs of the event shall be shared between the attendees but I do not expect the cost to exceed 500-1000 per attendee inclusive of tea/coffee and a snack.
So, if you are an entrepreneur who
- Has raised outside capital
- Are willing to share your experiences to help another founder
- Are interested in meeting other founders to build your business
Then email us on feg@artha.ventures with
- Your full name
- The name of your venture
- Link to the article announcing your latest funding round
- Your mobile phone number(s)
If there is enough interest, I would love to organise the first FEG meeting in 2-3 weeks (based on everyone’s ability). Email us as soon as possible!
30/2018
Naveen Chowdari
Since the time i read in one of your blog posts on the best ways to approach an investors ( is through references from founders of their invested companies), I’ve changed my investor approach strategy. I’m sure a forum of this kind would be of super useful to obtain such references..!!
ShowMeDamani
Unfortunately this forum wouldn’t be open for founders that haven’t raised money as the focus of the group isn’t to help each other raise money.
The focus of the group is to help each other to continue to build a business after they have raised money.
You will be welcome with open arms once you have raised money! 🙂
Chandra Shekhar Satti
I won’t lie that it’s the first time I read your blog. It’s pure adventure to read this article and I can imagine how much helpful it would be for teams joining this meetup. However, my team can’t be a part of this as we are not funded yet but I still believe it’s the most enjoyable piece of article I read today.
ShowMeDamani
Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. Yes we cannot have you join FEG today but hopefully you are building a startup that won’t require funding at all 🙂
Amitabh Vatsya
Great idea..currently my start up does not require funding.but wish to be part of the group when qualified/required.your blogs are so fresh.. A great fan of your enthusiasm
ShowMeDamani
Thank you for the kind words Amitabh. Please send in the following info to feg@artha.ventures
1. Your full name
2. Full name of your company
3. Last funding article on your company or you can tell us why you think you will fit in the group and not look for funding related help from other founders in the group.
4. Your mobile number
As of now we had decided to include funded entrepreneurs only but let me re-discuss with my team based your answers.