 अचिए बड़ा च्च्छन पूछ दा यह रोईगे कितने लोगो की शादि मेट्रमोनिल साइथ के तुग उईये टिए टिट आप लोगो परहाँ दे अनसेट, अई वो जित अनसेट के आपकी मेट्रमोनिल साइथ के तुग ईये मैं हैं, रितु जी, अपने कुस्टमर्स के साथ कमpeat नहीं करता। जब इत नहीं, शादी मैं आपका बतादू मैंनी मैंट्रमोनिल साथ के च्रोई है। अपने शादी च्रादी तोड़े हैं सर पास्ट पाए मिल्ल्यन सक्ष्फुल मैरजें। अपने कुस्टमर्स के क्ष्ट तक च्रीट विक्ष्ट तोड़े है। टब आप वही खुड़ाश छोगा आप वोगे तोज्टमर्स की ह्ड़ूए गाश्ता कोई तोड़े वृाद वेच्ट मैं रहाद अस्साल आप जबसे पैधा होते हैं तबसे सारी काईनात जुडयाती है आप जाडी करवाने में, सगईगे नही किनाज? गर में जबसे आप बच्छे हो तबसे बात ऐदे हो किक सी चाडी कर हो आप ए, बही मेरे को यह एई निए पता है ने अगली दन क्या करोंगा? गर में जब से बच्छे हो थब से भात औरे बड़े हो किकसे शाधी करूए. अरे बाई मेरेगे तो यह नहीं पता है में अगले दन क्या करूएंगा. शाधी कसे करूए. चवग ते इस दर तो बूल नहीं साधी गदी बाद़्णा. तो ब्द at the problem is finding a life partner ठादाना, तो अप protesters, जो सच्ट ब्छण देखी, the most pressure to get married in India is around marriage in a country like India, बगी निया में, खडिया में देखी। But the hardest place to find the life partner is India, तो बगाले गरा करजा भी थे है. देखी देखी थो और्बीन कुई सैंटे च्र्तॉत, तो आप मिलो तो कैसे मिलो, फिर भी आमारी आबादी है, 140 क्रोट्स, आप नहीं जोग से पाड़, it was a big problem at that point, because people didn't know how to find a life partner. तो आप शादी पीपल आरे बरु तो सोट अग, तो आप शादी पीपल आरे बरु तो सोट अग, तो आप शादी पीपल आरे बरु, नहीं, उनको लगं को, रहा था,कि मैं अं ग़र साथी नहीं भो पीपल आरे बरु शादी पीपल आरे ब्रु तो सोट अग, जिस में एक अ वो रोग इन पीपल किसहो रहा थे, चि बीता, में दप की बादा पूझा रहा, नहीं जोगrecht नती, जो आप बाद दे थो सोथ सादी another thing you were talking about ौ, match 你 yapıyorsun in celebrates ौ Match And you were talking about fireworks You were worrying about the marriage ौament . ौ meaning ौ . तो वेस्ट क्या उता लोगमरुँँँँँँँँँ यागा प्रीज़ दिएह்गासा अब आद प्यक्रीनन टाएम द़ूरनाच मैरेच सब द़ाक्चिय हो जब पुरी फाँरी आद गईनात आपके पीचे लगग जाती में गो एज में दिन तुछग कि देखो थी के दो साँल और देदों... दो साल और देदो कर लेंगे आज वो रबेल्लिएस पीरेद गया आद नाईन्टीस का विन्यों तो मैरी अगेंस त्यो पैरेंस विष्यास तोड़े पीपल से आप विल फाँन दे चोईस आप आप एल एकसेसाचा दे चोईस आप परेरेद से पाँन देखाई से विल ख़ाई आप बचादी कर ले दो अच्छा है दो विल फाँन जी बहुत लेगा दो मैं भी ल्गाउ्� centre of the world कोई मैं मैं political कोई मैं कोई मैं लेए लिए और रहा हैंवेझ जे देख़े भी सब आजुए है आप़ रष्टा दी कुई प्रएटा थी खुडवें जे ऐंब यह आप ची। कोई मैं पच्टिठी क्योसे कि आठ आता मैद़ाक ग़ा की बासके लेगाता. मने नहीं की और स्टाल लाएस लेएः। मैंसार कुह्ती कुथ खुशित है। मैंसार कुछ आगर ठहार मैं वो सोँ हैंनें ऐस मैं बससाल रा गाउ लेएए स्टाला की लेएगी। फर्स ताए मैंन्गद शुक लेएगी। वो कमबि बशिँर बन गगे अगांई और ग़ापानागोंफ्ोावेटाउ तो मुझे हाई सेशा जो गज लगा नेकादू कि तो आबंदिशासे एक ख़ड्दांगा भाजा बागाता है लोगा अप दरालेक. तो वाहकी लिए थीग। आप आप पुईट आद मेद सम्तिं बिग आप लोस्ट तो लोग तु खोने के लिए कुच ठाए नहीं तु बस चल पडे दे वस दाएड को देखा था बिसनिस करते हो या एक गुव आप न बिसनिस फैमली आच्छल फीश शुगल दे लोगट लोगट लोगट लोगट लो� मेंगो देख देख के फोन पे माते कर कर के करते हुए सुनकर आड़ नाल्ण अडुश्सर के अग्ट प्रिक स्बताए सम्फानी जी तो हंसाई लोस्त ताल में लिए च्यात हैं आचिष़ड़ यह जर की तराफ वापेश च्या। रीजा थो ऐसी लुंग स्हाट तो ओजा और नहींःगita वर वी उस्वर दिल्गा कि तरड़ागे लिए स्सें।nt थु वी ल्ग्दा है। वाद्टी रेगा गावागी तु आप ल्गदानी इदिया रहा हैं। तु एक मैच्छ मेखाग लोगा, एक एक एक इसंगर बागा दागागा एक ख़िया ग़िया, इंदनेड बिमनुर than you start an internet business, what do you need? तो न्ड़िनेड दी नी था. और on the internet business शुल्ड़ कर चकछर गे दे. So it was very very challenging at the point. तो इसकबाद चाएद की आप सब लोग अई आँँ्ट्त्दंपीनोर हैं यह बंना जाते है. So you talked about, that all of you are entrepreneurs and they want to be one. तो वो आप में पश़ागागा वो के नहीं तो सुद्वाईगा आप ज़ादा वो और ओग़्ेद एक और ग़ाईगा आप आप वो और ग़ाईगा आप आप और प्चादाउ, आप ज़ागा इतागा अगर देदा, वो भगी रेगागा और ख़ी एक कहनेगोग ड़ू्द, � अार ग़ा तवोई compared to each other after me and emotionally mentally how do you make yourself strong enough to be able to over come that situation and you know live the next day as if nothing it doesn't matter तथ 갖고 बहुत नहीं की होग़े। that's tough i think you can't read a book or go to a course असे की मुजे इतना दुईत बना दो and say that make me so agat अगर सोने साच़ मैं जा को बहुत बादो। do you know this word deat यत्ना दीट बनाद गो की तो की रत्रे को ग़ा करते प्रो् सीगेएका, तो ईतना दीट बनाद हो की फेलिट दहास नाविक्त है। मैं दाट देउस ग़ा काँटी या। गरे आशका नावे टेग्गा नाविक्ते। ment how I remember back when I used to work as in a job in the U.S. jab mae, vak kmk liye  ghetto ko ndayata tha I think those were the last times I ever had vacations in my life because I didn't care key whop are妻 lak ja hai to mujhe kuch pharag neek. After you become an global entrepreneur, it's very hard to switch off. Because the last few years capital has been available for everyone अड हुई किस लूँ एद instead of the पहństर के कासी बजेंगा के वो नहkahता looks the media prince the success stories about पहने कैंथ क्हो की वो सरता डीई क्या फीरे रूके कि its a 6 Pilot network that goes from 0-1 के कहराद75% कोंगे विअ � vitamins playful के निनने भी दे का डीई Reserve को ऊपमे के दuallyा धि strengthening मवाले शाहो वह सेठारे बॉदिए। rid of the success stories भी रो�排 अध्छ़़ो,ज़ो ब को ईगठाए,ईगठाए,उब क्यो,गे बाज़ाय की,गठाए,ग़ईच़ därगठाए,गठाए,श्थदाय की,गर प्रठ़ोए आप काईस उरेई. तो आप आब लिएगा है, भी बगादान की सिर्ब आप रगादी ट्धाने किस only. पूग हैं, पर पूग क्मवीं सदानाा थरे जागा इस शाकटाऊ्रींक के, आज ऄत और काहे अगब थे कुई अची ठुफुट्ट्ट्मईर की आज अमना है और आद ओर रहे अगगगगगग पूग शाकटाऊंक को आप की अगगगग आम्ःाह आप कुओगग अघटाऊ after doing 250 and probably listening to 1,000 pitches you sort of maybe crack that formula where you know this start up makes sense and you know this is a start up that will work and therefore you should invest in it. So you know and donning both these hats both as an entrepreneur and as an investor how do you now evaluate a start up to say that this looks promising? Do you do it by economic numbers or do you sort of go by emotional aspect की इस आद्मी में पैसा लगान आद? Yeah I think it's a bit of both. But let me break down your question because I think there were quite a few questions in there. So is the question how do I evaluate companies? Yeah and you know honestly I mean what part of it is maths and what part of it is I would say art. Look I think it depends investing really is as much an art as it is a science right and that's not just me but any VC will tell you that. Particularly when you come in at a very early stage because when you come in at a very early stage there are so many variables stacked up against you right. So for me frankly there are only three things that matter at a very early stage right because So first let's break down a couple of things. I'll answer one question very specifically do I look at the finance side more in terms of return or how do I look at things. I am not great at financial engineering. I'm terrible at optimizing you know 18% or 23% or an IRR of 26% that's not me. That's great for private equity investors for chartered accountants and that nature but that's not me at all. So you have to play to your strengths what therefore I've chosen early stage investing because what that allows me to do is play for zero to a thousand returns right. So when you play for that order of magnitude even if you come out at 10x or 20x or 30x or 100x that IRR is going to be very very healthy right. I don't have to super optimize so that's kind of my play field because that's what I understand. I can given the time I've spent in technology and consumer businesses I can look at an idea right or a concept or a business plan and the team and have some sense of whether this will find market acceptance and because I'm coming in so early if I'm right the outcome is 100x. So I don't have to worry too much about you know super optimization so that's one thing in terms of how I evaluate companies and teams this really when it comes to early stage there's really only three things and I'll try to give you an example. I mean one is of course team right investing in a company is really a long term affair. If you ask me particularly in India companies don't get built in three four years it's a ten year journey right. So unless there's chemistry with those investors or with the founders and unless you enjoy meeting and talking to them what's the point. So besides high IQ which is a given you want to ensure that you have chemistry and you like look forward to talking to these people. So I think that's one the other is total addressable market and the reason total addressable market is important is because large markets are very forgiving. If there's a market of lakhs of crores then if the team is smart you will find a nice business but if the market is small no matter what you do you will struggle. And sometimes there is no market right so then you have to find proxies. So how do you determine total addressable market then you have to really get close to the customers and understand the problem. If customers are really you know screaming for this without actually articulating it if you can develop that sense then you know that the time can be big. And the third final vector is timing. I'll give you an example which phone do you think was the first which was the first hand held device which you could operate with touch in the world. Sorry Nokia N95 the first smartphone Samsung Galaxy. All right so clearly I'm tilting the average age here much higher but all of you guys are probably too young to know this but there was a device called the Palm Pilot which was way before Apple. It was a touch screen device right and people used to use it in the US for productivity for managing their work for managing their email. But why did Apple become what it did and Palm Pilot didn't the device existed many years before Apple simply because of timing right. When Apple launched the smartphone ubiquitous internet connectivity and therefore apps were available on your phone. Without the infrastructure of the internet and ability to always be connected to the internet you could not have had an apple phone. So the timing of the launch was perfect given a year or two window here and there. So you know that's just one example but my point is let's take for example creator led businesses or companies building infrastructure for creator led businesses. That was not possible five years back. It's only possible today because you suddenly have thousands and hundreds and millions of creators. So timing plays a very critical role and that is something that comes with the experience understanding the timing is right for this business or for this business model. So yeah team time timing T3 easy. And what about the person the person which is the team. Yeah the team the founder co-founders. Yeah I think I already mentioned that it's critical but everybody says team. Everybody says team. So I think what you want me to do is maybe go a layer below. And what about a team. So here's the key right. Here's what I look for in a team. One is do they there are three things or maybe maybe a little more. But first and foremost they have to be passionate about the problem they are solving. Right. Because as I said India made that's what I thought. And I got passionate. If you're just doing it because your friends have built a company and you also want your name in the newspaper saying you know raises series A of 10 million. You're not going to last very long. So if you're doing it because you're really passionate about solving that problem. I think that's one box that's checked off the other thing that I look for is business acumen. In Hindi it's called Dhanda. I come from a Baniya family. So for me Dhanda is very important. Good products do not necessarily make good businesses. People often mistake good product managers and good storytellers as good businessmen. Not true. And that's a big big red flag particularly in the last you know cycle that we've seen the liquidity and capital has been available. You've seen a lot of storytellers and product builders raise a lot of capital but are struggling to build businesses out of that. So that's something that I care for a lot. I try to examine that and finally co-founder chemistry. For me it's very important that the founders know each other for a number of years and have worked with each other. Either hostel roommates or a job together or have started up before. Because this whole fad of finding a co-founder in the last six months a year and then raising capital is a disaster. Exceptionally it might work. I know some cases where it has. But nine times out of ten it's heading straight for a disaster. You know Shadi ki baat kar rahe the poori zindagi nikal jaati husband wife mein nibaane ke liye. Imagine finding somebody six months and then building a business. You're going to spend more time with that person than your life partner. It's very difficult. So these are the things. No I think fair enough. And you're totally right that finding that chemistry outside marriage in a business is also equally important. So you know today we also have a lot of young entrepreneurs who you say you know jise aap kairon dhandegi baat unko samaj haane chige. Lekin they're so young that you know it's probably too much to expect ki un ke paas wo maturity or experience hoga. Now I have these two young daughters in this sitting in this room and listening to the talk. And they want to become entrepreneurs at a young age. So now my point is do and today we also talk about mentors. You know you need a mentor to be able to take you there. So how how should a young entrepreneur find that mentor early on to be able to find that dream that they want to realize. I mean you know I have another guy out there who is in 10 standard wanting to start a business. So how will it work for them. How will that mentorship come from them. Do we need a more formal mentorship infrastructure which might just come from our educational institutions. Or do we need to sort of have it. And you know you're a mentor to a lot of startup founders. So and you know I would want you to end this question by telling us. You are a mentor to all of us. But who is your mentor. So once again Mr. Rituji you have asked some 10-15 questions together. So we will try and unbundle them. You might have to remind me along the way. But let's start with mentors. Let's first and foremost debunk the mentor myth. Too many mentors can become tormentors. When there are too many voices telling you what to do. You should find the nearest door and get out of there. I think the biggest I'll come to mentors in a minute. I'll come back to this. So let's park that aside. Why because if you are going to be successful you are going to be successful despite not having a mentor. And if you're not going to be successful if you don't have that DNA. Mentor can make you successful. So we'll come back to that. It's too much. People are giving away equity to mentors and stay away from that. What you must do if you are a new or somebody who wants to become an entrepreneur. Especially somebody who is very young. The one thing that's critical is take up a sales job. If you really want to learn how to do business. Learn how to sell. What do I mean by that it could be anything. Summer internships you could be selling. Back then people used to sell in foreign directories. You could sell anything. It doesn't matter what. But interacting with people trying to sell them something getting money out of them. There is no better way to learn business. To learn how to be an entrepreneur. That's the first point I would make. The second point is doing is really the new thinking. Things change so fast that if you sit down to think of the perfect business plan and the perfect product and getting that right mentor. You're not going to get very far. You have to start doing and if you're doing something doesn't matter if you're embarrassed of it. In fact if you're not embarrassed about your product then you're doing something very wrong. You should be embarrassed about your products and about the business plan that you develop. But if you keep doing what does doing mean what does doing entail doing entails activity. It means momentum. It means moving forward. You will stumble across people who can help you along the way. Somewhere somehow you will meet people. And third today the internet has truly made the world flat. It is amazing but some of the top entrepreneurs in the world if you write an email from your heart and it's not hard to find their email addresses. And if you have a good story to tell you might be surprised that you get a response back from them. So don't be afraid to ask just get out there but don't put your eggs in that mentor basket and say एक अच्छा मेंटोर मिल गया तो मेरी जिन्दिगी बन गय. That's not going to happen. The only thing a mentor can do in my view in my experience is maybe multiply your resources by 2-3-4 times. A million dollars and a right mentor. And what is a right mentor? A right mentor is not somebody who tells you what to do. A right mentor is somebody who asks you the right questions and you figure out yourself what you must do. Right? That million dollars with the right mentor will feel like 3-4 million dollars. Because it gives you, you can do in lesser time what you would have done otherwise. For example, a business like mine, let's say Shadi. I would say it's something that should be built in 5-6 years, not 20 years with the right mentor. Why did it take us so long? The time is very different. So that's what a mentor can do. They can accelerate your learning. And if you have the right one, I think it can go a long way. I think that's very well said that times change and we cannot always have the same mentors also. Because you need people on different stages of your business who are probably different for you. People are dying to ask questions from you here. I can almost see a hand going up. So I'll ask you this one final question before I give it to them to ask their questions. We talk about funding winter and everybody in this room wants to for you to invest in their business. Is it real? At what stage is it real for any business? What are your views on a funding winter? Do you think it's not possible to get a funding in today's time? Let me first start by saying this is the best time to build a business. The top companies in the world, whether it was Amazon, whether it's Google, whether it's Flipkart which is the biggest example in India. Our own company. All of these have been started in recessions or what is called the funding winter. When in climates like that you can make one rupee stretch far more than you would otherwise. The cost of employees goes down, attrition goes down, you are not forced to keep up with the next store guy. You can focus on the things that matter and what matters and what is this funding winter. Frankly funding winter, this is a business cycle. You sit down and make me nervous. I will come to you. I thought I said something wrong. You are so muscular. But funding winter is just a cyclical thing. You have boom periods and you have bust periods. It's creative destruction and it's absolutely needed. When a new technology emerges, when a new paradigm emerges, nobody knows what exactly will be successful. But it will change the landscape forever. So every technological paradigm will bring with it thousands of companies and more than 70-80% of those will fail. Maybe even 90%. And that's desired. That's not a bad thing. So don't look at funding winter and say oh my god now I can never get funded. That's not true. Companies are still getting funded. I'm going to give you two things to think about which will work for you not just in a funding winter but anytime in the course of building your business. I'm going to change the meaning of these acronyms that what is B2C. For me it is back to customers. Thank you. Somebody got it. But let me explain. What happens when money is readily available? We leave sanity and fall into vanity. We are not solving a problem for the customer anymore. What are we doing? We are seeing what we want to see. And what story the VC wants to hear so the money can come in. And nobody is to blame. Because if you don't raise your competitor, you will be out of the market. So you have to play that game. So everybody's focus shifts on other things. But what really matters as far as your customer is concerned. There is only two questions. Why will they love you? This could be true of your life partner also by the way. Why will they love you? And why will they not leave you? Very simply. Or jitane start-ups. Ye boom period mein start ho hain ha. Eighty percent of them cannot answer these questions. Because ho focus karne ka time ni mila. This is product market fit basically. Agar aapko koi product market fit ka definition puche. If you can answer these two questions well, you found product market fit. Okay. That's B to C. What is B to B mean? Back to basics. Thank you. Somebody is awake. Good. And what is back to basics? Dhe kye jahatak mein hai, I told you I am a Baniya family. Mere ko toh doh line samaj mein hai. Ek hai top line. Aur ek hai bottom line. Profit. Abhi paach different type ke toh profit ho gaye. CM1, CM2, CM3 adjusted Ibita, normalized Ibita, Ibita. These things are a great way. Sure there is some value as far as financial analysts are concerned on these numbers. But for the average person, these things should not hold any value. They are a great way to distract yourself. For example, sales kya hota hai? I asked a lot of founders, aapka sales kya hai? What should be that number? Basically sales is jo ghar mein bacha after returns, after discount, after tax. Tax to government le gaya aapka sales kya se hua? So you can't confuse GMV with sales. Employees. People take a lot of pride and write long LinkedIn post saying, today we have reached 1000 employees. How is that a good thing? Managing people is the worst thing in the world. It's the most expensive thing in the world. You know what my definition of a great business is? Go to the office, plug a computer in, write an algorithm and never ever come back to work. Not a single employee. That's the best business in the world, right? Great margins, nobody to manage. But these excessive times shift our focus away from the basics to all the other things that keep you in the race to raise capital but are very rapidly taking your business towards a long, towards a tall, hard wall. So yeah, that's what I'd say in terms of I don't even know if that answers your question but No, I think it did. For a lot of it, probably it made a lot of sense to understand why profits are really important and more than profits, Kesh. If you're profitable, then even if you don't get funding you're good to go.