Robin Lobo

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.

804

23 Comments

Recko’s $150M Exit to Stripe. I sat down with Co-Founder Saurya Prakash Sinha to unpack the story behind one of India’s biggest B2B SaaS acquisitions — and what it really takes to build for a $100M+ outcome. We dive deep into: 1. Why companies get acquired? 2. How companies are evaluated for Acquisitions? 3. Why $100M+ Acquisitions are rare? 4. How to Build if there's Zero Validation? 5. Why Stripe understood what VC's couldn't 6. How to raise when investors follow success playbooks? 7. How to find the real value your product adds? 8. What to expect when building products in finance? 9. What did Recko solve for Myntra that Big Four couldn’t? Watch the full episode: Youtube: https://lnkd.in/gwW84mur Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gGHMCqV8 Apple: https://lnkd.in/gDSesRm3

62

2 Comments

I’ve always believed that India’s next breakout consumer stories won’t just come from tech, they’ll come from everyday categories we underestimate. Bombay Shaving Company raising ₹136 crore is exactly that kind of story. A men’s grooming brand that is: ✔ PAT-positive ✔ ₹550+ Cr revenue run-rate ✔ Scaling across retail + D2C ✔ Prepping for an IPO ✔ Backed by some of the sharpest investors in the ecosystem What I find most interesting is why investors doubled down: Strong repeat consumption, omnichannel execution, profitability and brand trust; fundamentals that matter in 2025 for every business. Consumer brands with real financial discipline are rare. This one is clearly getting it right. Shantanu Deshpande

16

Why we don’t spray and pray There’s a growing debate in VC about portfolio strategy. Data suggests: If you’re not a top 10% fund, spreading your bets wide often leads to better fund performance. 100 small investments beat 20 high-conviction ones on average. At redalpine, we play a different game. We deliberately focus our portfolio to max. 20 investments because we want to show up for the companies we back. Not just as capital providers, but as real partners with time, conviction, and skin in the game. The “spray and pray” approach might work for some, but it leaves little room to go deep. If you’re a founder: Ask yourself: do you want a fund with 100 portfolio companies… or one where you’re one of 20 that truly matter?

53

6 Comments

VC schedules, and thoughts on being a VC noob. -- VC schedules to know -- Most venture capital firms hold partner meetings on Mondays. This is typically when the investment committee votes on new investments and other key decisions. Savvy founders learn the exact timing and may need to provide additional data over the weekend to stay in motion. It is also well known that many venture capitalists observe a “European summer,” with August often being light or fully off. Similarly, the winter holidays reduce activity across much of December. That said, data from Carta shows a meaningful year-end push to close deals in December, followed by a flurry of activity in January. Founders should be cautious about kicking off fundraising during these slower periods. You do not want a raise to go stale and fall apart. VCs talk to each other, the industry is highly interconnected. -- I’m a mid career Noob! -- I am an “emerging manager,” effectively a new VC, less than three years in. In venture capital, the timeline is long. On my Linkedin you'll see I have two roles at Blitzscaling: Limited Partner means I put money into a fund, but have no decision making ability, and General Partner means I'm actively finding startups, bringing them to the partnership, and funding. As a General Partner, you are often considered an emerging manager for close to a decade, as it takes years for a fund to fully mature and establish a VC track record. Investing is a long game, but the upside can be extraordinary. Fortunately, I entered this role with a positive angel track record from my own bank account, which is often a good idea to have as a VC. When I learn a new VC concept or term, I’m an AI first, I’ll link to my post a few days ago in the comments, I totally live for constant growth and learning, if you’re not growing you’re dying. Fun fact: Many/most start their VC career in their 40s, as they need to have enough tech and biz cycles, a broad enough network, resources, and a platform to stand upon. As we end the year, I'm sharing more career thoughts, and productivity thoughts, rather than industry trends and market maps and frameworks and forecasts. I wrote all of this by hand myself, but used AI to edit some of it.

103

17 Comments

The best founders and companies build markets. In 2004 at IPO, Google told investors that their Total Addressable Market was $6 billion. Today, their annual revenue is over $300 billion. Azeem Azhar on the TAM Trap.

45

6 Comments

12 Startups. ₹640 Cr+ Combined Revenue. Meet the "Fast 42" Disrupting India’s Kitchens The "funding winter" didn't stop the Indian consumer's appetite - it just made them more selective. In FY25, a new breed of F&B players has emerged, proving that Taste + Trust + Tech is the ultimate recipe for hyper-growth. Here is a strategic analysis of 5 breakout brands from the "Fast 42" spotlight👇🏻: 1) Sid’s Farm (Revenue: ₹167.59 Cr) a) In a market flooded with adulterated dairy, Sid’s Farm focused on the "Zero-Adulteration" Moat. By owning the supply chain and performing 26+ tests on every batch, they turned a commodity like milk into a high-trust premium brand ✨ b) Scaling beyond Hyderabad by leveraging the growing urban demand for "clean-label" daily essentials. 2) ZOFF - Zone of Fresh Food (Revenue: ₹102.70 Cr) a) Spices are a household staple, but ZOFF disrupted the category with Air-Grinding Technology. By grinding spices at low temperatures to maintain essential oils, they offered a superior product in a highly fragmented market 🏬 b) Mastering the "Shark Tank Effect" and aggressive Quick Commerce distribution to cross the ₹100 Cr milestone. 3) Potful (Revenue: ₹58.72 Cr) a) While competitors focused on "Fast Food," Potful bet on "Slow Food" executed with Cloud Kitchen precision. By specialising in clay-pot biryanis made to order, they captured the high-value "authentic experience" segment 🍽️ b) Maintaining high average order values (AOV) by positioning as a premium, family-meal destination. 4. GO DESi (Revenue: ₹55.65 Cr) a) They reinvented the "Traditional Candy" by tapping into Nostalgia Marketing. By taking regional Indian flavours (like Imli Pop) and giving them premium, hygienic packaging, they successfully moved traditional treats from local kiosks to modern retail shelves 🏢 b) A massive Phygital footprint, bridging the gap between small-town nostalgia and big-city convenience. 5) Blue Tea (Revenue: ₹36.69 Cr) a) They didn't just sell tea; they sold a "Visual Experience." By using the Butterfly Pea flower to create naturally blue-coloured tea, they became an "Instagram-first" brand that gained global traction 🔍 b) Leveraging Export Potential and high-margin wellness positioning to scale rapidly in the premium beverage category. The ➡️ Insight: The 2026 F&B winner isn't just selling calories; they are selling Supply Chain Integrity. From ₹13 Cr to ₹167 Cr, the common thread is a relentless focus on a single "hero category" before diversifying. ➡️ The 2026 Blueprint: In the "Fast 42" era, if your product doesn't have a clear "Clean Label" or a "Technical Moat," you are just a commodity. Build for transparency, scale for trust 📈

428

36 Comments

Yesterday at the VC Grid gathering at Quorum, I heard Satya Narayan Bansal from Blue Ashva Capital share some powerful formulas around asset allocation and compounding. Simple math. But big impact. It reminded me of something. In the startup ecosystem, we obsess over valuation. But we rarely talk about: • Rule of 72 • CAGR • MOIC • Portfolio allocation logic • Risk-adjusted returns And on founder calls, I still see many who don’t know: • Burn • Runway • CAC • LTV • Dilution math Capital is emotional. But allocation is mathematical. Investors think in formulas. Founders often think in stories. The ones who understand both — win. Grateful to Vansh Oberoi for the invite. Always good to sit in rooms where numbers matter.

22