Writings on VC, Tech & Culture
I recently made an appearance on the Rainmatter podcast, as part of their series ‘How VCs Think’. I joined Dinesh Pai (no relation!) from Rainmatter’s investment team, and his colleagues Nithin Sasikumar and Vineet Rajani to discuss, no surprises, PMF or Product Market Fit! Regular readers of this blog, or those who have read by PMF Playbook will not find anything terribly new in the podcast,…
There’s a certain type of pitch I keep getting these days; an AI wrapper sometimes personal finance, sometimes a productivity app, sometimes a B2B solution. The AI tool is solving a real problem. The founders have high-growth startup experience. And they walk in with a working prototype, vibe-coded on Claude or Antigravity. This wasn’t possible even a few years back. Back then, the MVP or Minimum…
What I read and found interesting recently, along with my thoughts on them. Books 1/ Sakina’s Kiss (2021) – Vivek Shanbhag, translated by Srinath Perur Fiction, after a while. My second Vivek Shanbhagh; the first was the brilliant Ghachar Ghochar, which I read in 2023. This isn’t as good as that but still a fine read. Shanbhag has a masterful ability to bring in unease and discomfort into cozy…
I recently spoke at Rubaru , Amazon India Finance Org’s career day as an external speaker. I was asked to speak about my career journey and transition to the VC world, as well as what I have seen as key hallmarks of successful careers. A transcript of my talk, which I have cleaned up and rewritten for readability, with relevant slides from the presentation accompanying it, is below. Sourav Das ……
What I read and found interesting recently, along with my thoughts on them. Books I was able to keep reading going, despite the challenges of the relocation and the disruptions caused by it. That said, fiction took a backseat this last two months unlike the first two months of the year when I was able to get in more fiction. The goal going forward is to reset the mix. 1/ … The post Interleavings:…
This is a fascinating book, and I am grateful to Akshay Jaitly, one of the founders of Trilegal for having written this history of Trilegal. It takes a lot of intellectual honesty to lay bare the challenges, etc., that Trilegal went through, including internal conflicts and divisions, particularly given it is still continuing / flourishing as a firm, and recently completed its 25th anniversary,…
I recently made an appearance on economist Vidya Mahambare’s podcast ‘What Shapes Us’. The podcast covers how the 5Es as terms it – Endowment, Environment, Education, Effort, and Equality of Opportunity – shape our lives and careers. It is perhaps amongst the most transparent and candid public conversations that I have done (of a kind). The Youtube link: Here is the transcript of the same, hand…
In January 2026, I wrote my reflections on how I was consuming podcasts, and notes + thoughts on the state of podcasting . Here is how my podcast consumption has evolved since then. As AI tools have improved, I’ve recently started summarising podcast transcripts via Claude and reading the summary. I tweeted about this shift here. I’ve been thinking about whether it makes sense for me to use Claude…
What I read and found interesting recently, along with my thoughts on them. Podcasts 1/ Keith Rabois, Khosla Ventures, on Lenny’s Podcast – April 2026 Link . AI Summary . Minute for minute, amongst the most insight-packed podcasts I’ve encountered of late. Lots here in this Lenny Podcast featuring Khosla Ventures’ Keith Rabois, but the following stood out and are worth noting. 1/ The first is his…
Garima Deveshwar-Bahl , a management coach, recently asked me, “I’m putting together a one-page essential reading list for entrepreneurs. What would your top five be?” That got me thinking, and I compiled this list and shared it with her. Here it is for all of you to take a look at. 1/ High Output Management — Andy Grove If you can read only one book, then make it this one … The post The Busy…