Talk: Acko on AIR - Subrata, Abhinav (Accel Partners, Acko’s first investors) - at Acko townhall
Notes:
- Anecdote by Abhinav - Sachin Bansal (his then colleague at Amazon) fixed code in amazon payment for which the team was struggling (system was crashing completely when running a test suite cos of which they were unable to launch)
- Flipkart initial investment by Subrata - 3.5 cr for 25% - everytime they would come they talk about something they fixed (everyday) - committed to the cause
- When looking for investment - references from networks matter (Accel will ask Varun for Acko’s employee)
- Why most startups fail
- get to some scale as quickly as possible (zero to one)
- not having sharp focus (anti of why win - having a sharp focus)
- team dynamics don’t workout, going out in different directions
- Advice to youngsters
- Abhinav, Subrata - work with really good people, it compounds (good mentor)
- Subrata - really enjoy working whatever you do
- Varun - stay with a team for long time (5yrs or so it takes to crack a market) - everything compounds - your skills, your market value, your networks (you don’t restart everytime)
- One trait which Abhinav looks for in early founders - mentally and physically fit - it is tough to maintain
- Acko vision - 10Bn dollar (by 2030), in market that compounds
- Make companies in bust (startup bubble, less distractions), they will come out on top (strong) when the market is out of bust, market cycle again starts (happened multiple times in past - 9/11, 2008 etc)