In investing – especially in venture capital, when you are investing in unknown founders and distributive opportunities, one does not know what or who will succeed .
Here success has multiple connotations- Product Market Fit (PMF), another round of capital raised, team in place…the list goes on.
As an investor in this ecosystem for a decade now…one of the important elements we take into account is – can we be as nimble as in 2026, as we were in 2016?
The data points today are more in place as compared to a decade ago. And this has also helped in identifying investment opportunities, and also let go of a few.
And the common element in letting go involved majorly –
- on how will it look in future,
- whether there will be return of capital,
- lowering of risk appetite,
- not ticking the points in the checklist,
- size of investment.
Again, the size of investment was one element along with the ‘gut ‘, which was the element, not allowing to take the leap of faith…
And this happens, as the ticket size moves up…the opportunity to invest early takes a beating (if I can use this word).
In such a scenario it becomes all the more important that one does not lose sight of the opportunities to invest in new-age disruptive technologies.
AI – is the buzzword in 2026. When significant amounts of money were being invested a decade ago in this space, a listed Indian software entity had an opportunity to be a part of this ecosystem from day zero.
But then, conservativeness prevailed & the opportunity went begging.
This is where big money is made and the measured call kicks in.
So how do we approach such a situation at Auxano?
The first question is – will we lose money. If ‘yes ‘ – then why the outlook towards return on capital can be there?
The next question – what can be the impact of the disruption?
Also, whether the next round of capital can be raised?
With this as the basis, the tone is set…for the go/no-go for the investment.
The anti-portfolio list cannot grow, adapt & adopt is the approach!
Author,
Brijesh Damodaran
