Matrix Moments by Matrix Partners India Matrix Partners India

HOW DID PARK+ ACE 🛞HIRING FOR AN EARLY-STAGE STARTUP

Founded in 2019, Park+ drove through various challenges and introduced a plethora of services to find its footing today. However, it always had one clearly defined goal - to make car ownership easy and hassle-free. Park+ Founder and CEO Amit Lakhotia takes us through his interesting ways of building the team at Park+ in this episode of Matrix Moments.  

-Amit mentions how hiring when the startup is going from 0-to-1 is different as compared to when it's at 1-to-10 and why getting a good Talent Acquisition Head is essential for any startup. 

-0-to-1: At this stage, a startup needs people who can deal with ambiguity and are naturally inclined toward solving problems.  

-1-to-10: This is the stage where a more disciplined team is required since the answers are already figured out. 

-Amit has an interesting way of training leaders. He hires people with 4-8 years of experience to work in the founder's office for six months and understand how each department works. Later, they’re allocated to a specific department. 

Amit says, “We are not going to randomly hire, we are not going to randomly fire.”

His conscious hiring method has helped find the right folks to bring on board. This has helped with solving new consumer problems, leading Park+ to offer services like issuing FASTag, car washing, parking, challan, and more. 

If you’re a founder stepping into an untapped territory, this episode of Matrix Moments will provide you with meaningful insights. 

IS GreyLabsAI PLAYING THE AI GAME BEFORE TIME?  

The founders of a leading speech analytics platform for financial institutions, GreyLabsAI, Aman Goel and Harshita Srivastava, take us through the journey of identifying their market, building the product, and distributing it over the past few years. Setting up an AI business in India might seem a bit earlier than recommended, but is it?

This episode of Matrix Moments unpacks the nitty-gritty of a young AI startup.  

📍 Identifying a meaningful problem  
Customer service chats are recorded to be analysed later. GreyLabsAI helps large enterprises with analysing this data. The problem proves to be quite meaningful for enterprises.

🤝 Collaboration among co-founders
They stress on how compatible traits and mutual trust are necessary among co-founders. It allows them to create clear boundaries. While Harshita builds the product, Aman handles the business aspect of GreyLabsAI.

🌏 India or USA?
Working for American clients while living in India brings a larger risk from companies functioning completely in the States. Aman and Harshita chose India as the base for their company as well as their market.

🦾 Is it too early for an AI start-up?
While Harshita sees the opportunity NOW as the technology is reasonably mature to solve real-world problems but hasn’t been explored yet, Aman believes that it’s the right time to gain the trust of the customers.

✨ Distribution in a new market.
Although Financial enterprises have a lot of tech spending, it’s necessary to establish trust. Furthermore, one can analyse more customer problems and solve them with new products.

Harshita says, “It is said that sometimes little things happen in decades and sometimes decades happen in little time.”

If you’re a founder exploring the potential of AI products in India, this episode of Matrix Moments will give you pointed insights on various aspects of building and distributing young technology in India.

WHAT’S THE FUTURE OF FINTECH IN INDIA?

The Indian Fintech ecosystem is entering its middle journey. With $100bn+ in market cap already created by these businesses, the twin engines of Compounding and market penetration project potential for large-scale growth. Anand Khetan and Vikram Vaidyanathan dissect the past, present, and future of the finance industry in this episode of Matrix Moments.

On this Matrix Moments episode: 
•⁠  ⁠What can FinTech learn from the success of Financial Services behemoths like HDFC & VISA?
•⁠  ⁠What is the importance of TRUST while building a FinTech brand? 
•⁠  ⁠How can FinTech businesses compound without growing user base? 
•⁠  ⁠How should founders view regulation & the costs of compliance? Is it a feature or a bug?

How should founders think about using offline channels for growth? Is phygital a real option or just a mirage? Rajinder Balaraman and Vikram Vaidyanathan double-click on the myths around phygital, bust them and share learnings for founders thinking of going phygital. 

👉MYTH #1 Phygital has a higher CAC - It depends basis category, users and ticket size - Dezerv who employs a phygital model has a lower CAC than its competitors, whereas OneCard, operating purely online has a CAC that is 4-5x lower than SBI cards. 

👉MYTH #2 Going offline slows you and makes it harder to scale - When you employ the right tech, scalability at speed becomes possible. Mamaearth’s online presence has spiked from 15% to at least 50% in 3 years.

👉MYTH #3 Customer experience journey is too complex in phygital - The journey is actually complex, but is an opportunity for founders to create an edge, and potentially a long-term moat. 

👉 MYTH #4 Phygital is not relevant for all sectors - While there are sectors in the extreme who don’t need a phygital model, a significantly larger number benefit from creating a phygital experience. SaaS is an excellent example, where prima facie it looks like a purely digital model, but the sector spends much more on offline branding and events. 

If you are a founder who is evaluating going phygital, this episode of Matrix Moments would help you make an informed choice.

PICKING THE PERFECT SaaS LAUNCHPAD - US or INDIA?

For SaaS founders, the incorporation decision hinges on factors like business outlook, end goals, and access to capital markets. The US has often been the default choice for incorporation, but this is changing in recent years - India is increasingly considered a viable choice to start a SaaS company. 

So what should founders do? Watch this episode of Matrix Moments. Dig deep into the incorporation dilemma - Harish Sekar, Partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, talks to Pranay Desai and Ashwin Pandian and they've got tips on: 

1. Shattering Location Myths: India's burgeoning startup ecosystem is challenging US dominance with lower costs, faster setup, and abundant domestic capital.

2. Choosing Your Target Market: The optimal incorporation location depends on the target market, IPO aspirations, and founder location.

3. IPO vs. Acquisition: Strategise for both scenarios, including the United States' stringent IPO standards and India's more accessible path to local listings.

4. Transitioning from the US to India: Navigating the complexities of restructuring and the potential opportunities in Indian capital markets.

THE FOUNDER’S PLAYBOOK: INTERNAL FUNDING ROUNDS

Internal or pre-emptive funding rounds are a major topic on founders' minds. Internal rounds refer to financing events where a company's existing investors, rather than external new investors, provide additional capital. They can signify confidence from current investors in the company's potential and can help maintain momentum without the complexities of bringing in new stakeholders. 

If you’re a founder, Internal rounds can be a complex decision to make with several variables to consider. To help, Vikram Vaidyanathan & Rajinder Balaraman weigh up the pros & cons of internal or pre-emptive funding rounds on Matrix Moments. 

👉Valuation-Dilution trade-offs are inevitable - Both the founders and investors make trade-offs during pre-emptive rounds, requiring nuanced decision making. 

👉The stability of internal interest - An existing investor is likely to have the highest intent in terms of new investment commitment. 

👉Efficiency of internal funding - It is the fastest process with the least capital dilution.

👉Price advantage of external funding - The wider discovery process can lead to higher price if there’s very high interest in the market.

👉Criticality of external validation - An external round is a crucial as a validation of TAM, quality of the team and the business model. 

If you are a founder thinking through fund-raising choices, this episode of Matrix Moments is for you.