Jay Goyal

What a joy to speak with this brilliant cohort of innovators in the The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) ENTICE (Energy Transitions Innovation Challenge) 2.0 program and taking on their sharp questions at the investor bootcamp. 80% of global GHG emission reduction goals for 2050 can be met through energy system decarbonization, efficiency and electrification. This represents a US $100 trillion opportunity according to the IEA.     A stronger, more stable grid is at the heart of building a #resilient #energy future. This year’s program challenges innovators to tackle:  1) Behind-the-meter digital twins: #AI tools to analyse consumption and create appliance-level insights  2) Industrial flexibility at scale: AI solutions using smart meter data to identify flexible assets and operational inefficiencies    Kudos to the entrepreneurs and the GEAPP team for curating and executing such a thoughtful program.     Looking forward to seeing how these #innovations scale #impact.  Synapses Dalberg Media Vaishali (Vish) Mishra Anukul Tripathi (He/Him) Jayant Sinha Saurabh Kumar

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Let Students Set the Pace—Not the Calendar Shiv Tandan’s recent video, “The School Calendar Is Broken,” challenges a fundamental flaw in how we think about education: we measure learning against the clock, not against actual understanding. The idea that all students must complete all prescribed levels within a fixed time frame is outdated and counterproductive. Some students need longer to absorb concepts. Others are ready to accelerate. Yet the system holds everyone to the same schedule. A more learner-centric model would allow students to progress at their own pace, with schools certifying the level of mastery they’ve actually reached—rather than forcing uniform completion of predefined levels. This approach acknowledges that education is not a race. It opens the door to deeper learning, greater equity, and more honest assessments of where students truly are in their learning journeys. Watch the video: https://lnkd.in/dwqUFbCB #EducationReform #MasteryLearning #StudentCentered #FutureOfLearning #AssessmentReimagined

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 $𝟭𝟲𝟱 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗱𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸? A sobering reality check: EdTech is more profitable than ever, yet remains "𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀" in the classroom. As someone who has watched the surge of capital into this space, I can’t say I’m surprised. We’ve spent a decade optimizing for investor decks and administrative convenience while ignoring the one variable that actually matters: the practitioner. The disconnect is clear: • For VCs: High-margin "gamified" apps look great on paper but often result in "clicking without learning." • For Educators: "New" solutions are frequently dumped into classrooms without being integrated into a teacher's workflow, leading to tech fatigue rather than transformation. In my view, we are hitting an 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. The era of "software-only" solutions is over. If a tool is developed without deep, frontline educator input, it isn’t a solution—it’s just expensive noise. The future isn't about replacing the teacher; it’s about Human + AI collaboration. 𝙒𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩. #EdTech #VentureCapital #EducationInnovation #AIinEducation #Leadership #FutureOfLearning https://lnkd.in/du6RnFPm

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India’s K–12 edtech sector has come a long way over the last two decades—emerging as a “new-gen” industry alongside fintech, healthtech, and agritech. But the journey has been anything but smooth. In the early 2000s, “smart classrooms” with screens were sold as premium upgrades, boosting admissions and fees by increasing parents’ willingness to pay. But real classrooms faced the 40-40-40 problem: 40-minute periods, 40 students, 40-degree heat. Meaningful adoption was limited, leaving school leaders frustrated. From 2005–2009, curriculum companies offered structured books, teacher manuals, and training. Yet training impact was elastic: teachers often reverted to old habits. Even schools that invested heavily struggled to show sustained gains, limiting their competitive advantage. By 2013–2015, companies bundled screens, manuals, books, and management systems into integrated solutions. This helped reduce willingness-to-supply costs for schools by simplifying procurement, but increased vendor lock-in and reduced flexibility—making many school leaders cautious. Policy shifts like NEP 2020 encouraged skill-based learning and teacher development. COVID accelerated adoption dramatically, but post-pandemic funding slowed. High-profile setbacks like Byju’s struggles made investors wary, and many B2B edtech players still operate with long, relationship-heavy sales cycles and limited accountability for outcomes. Adding to the complexity, many institutions struggling in higher ed—private engineering, B.Ed, low-enrollment MBA, pharmacy, and nursing colleges—have pivoted to opening K–12 schools. Seeking more predictable cash flows, they often lacked pedagogical expertise. In states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, engineering colleges unable to maintain approvals have converted to school trusts. In North India, B.Ed and D.El.Ed colleges repurposed infrastructure for “English-medium” CBSE or state-board schools. While access expanded, quality often diluted. Facing these headwinds, many edtech companies are returning to publishing roots: selling off-the-shelf curriculum and teacher manuals. It’s a rational move to lower willingness-to-supply costs and improve margins. But at what cost to competitive advantage? Short-term cost efficiencies risk turning innovators into commodity vendors indistinguishable from traditional publishers. True sustainability comes from growing willingness to pay by delivering real learning outcomes, investing in teacher support that sticks, and designing solutions for the 40-minute, 40-student reality. Because in education, reputation compounds over time—and so does mediocrity. The real opportunity lies in combining the scale and efficiency of commoditisation with the genuine innovation needed to deliver lasting learning impact.

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When you mentor founders, you are not just helping build companies. You are influencing the kind of leaders the next decade will produce. Over the years, I have worked with student founders across fourteen universities, from Southern California to India. The ideas were different. The environments were different. The challenges were different. Yet one pattern showed up again and again. Most early founders do not lack funding advice. They lack founder formation. Enduring companies are not built by decks, frameworks, or spreadsheets alone. They are built by people with the ability to think clearly under pressure, question assumptions, and stay anchored to their values when shortcuts are tempting. Curiosity is not just interest. It is the discipline to ask better questions, even when the answers are uncomfortable. Resilience is not optimism. It is the willingness to rebuild when the first plan fails, because it almost always does. Ethics is not a talking point. It is the quiet structure that holds trust together long after momentum fades. I have watched twenty-one-year-old founders stay up late not to refine a pitch, but to make their product more honest. Those moments matter. They show what mentorship truly shapes. Not direction, but judgment. Not outcomes, but decision-making. We often talk about building the next generation of startups. What we need just as urgently is the next generation of founders. Leaders who are thoughtful, steady in their purpose, and disciplined enough to outlast noise, hype, and trends. That is the real multiplier in any ecosystem. What qualities do you believe will define strong leadership in the decade ahead? #mentorship #students #founders

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From our PearX S25 cohort, meet Pravāh, the AI-native operating system for the electric grid When Mohak Mangal, Dhruv Suri, and Aman Gupta looked at the strain on the U.S. electric grid, they saw a system pushed to its limits. Exploding demand and unpredictable supply have made blackouts increasingly common. This costs the economy more than $150B a year, a number that could 10x in the next five years. Mohak Mangal and team founded Pravāh to help fix it. Their platform helps utilities and grid operators make real-time decisions on load, generation, and congestion, reducing blackout risks, optimizing power procurement, and bringing much-needed stability to the backbone of modern life. We’re proud to support the Pravāh team as they take on one of the toughest and most important infrastructure challenges of our time.

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Cloaked has raised a $375M Series B led by General Catalyst with participation from HUMAN CAPITAL and Lux Capital. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to work alongside Arjun Bhatnagar, Abhijay Bhatnagar, and the team at Cloaked to fight against surveillance, spam, & identity theft.

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Today marks a milestone for Salesforce Ventures, and a defining moment for enterprise security. Alphabet’s acquisition of Wiz has officially closed. Wiz has been a cornerstone of our portfolio since May 2021, when Nowi Kallen, Kartik Gupta, and team first invested in their Series B at a $1.5B valuation. We saw the potential early and invested deeply, backing the team through their Series C, D, and E rounds. From a $1.5B Series B to a $32B acquisition, one of the largest in enterprise tech history, the Wiz team’s execution has been nothing short of extraordinary. This outcome reflects our mission at Salesforce Ventures: identifying the companies that define the next era of technology and staying behind them for the long haul. But the real credit belongs to the entire Wiz team on the ground. Beyond the technology, it was the relentless grit and day one mentality of Assaf Rappaport and the team that turned a vision into a $32B reality. Huge congratulations to the entire Wiz team on this historic achievement.

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