Satya Raghavan

🧭 If one of the reasons for the leadership change was “missing AI opportunities,” that would be disappointing. Venture has always been about taking calculated risks, not chasing every trend. Even the best firms will pass on some winners; the real test is whether they stay disciplined enough to find the ones that fit their conviction. Sequoia’s strength has always been long-term focus and pattern recognition through cycles. The danger is not missing a single AI deal, it is losing the ability to think independently amid the noise. https://lnkd.in/eVKiCEtD #VentureCapital #Leadership #AI #Governance #Startups #SequoiaCapital

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There is Renaissance moment happening in marketplaces in India. With ubiquitous connectivity and payments, rising incomes, evolving consumer preferences, emergence of large sub-segments of markets, higher expectations on convenience in urban India, among many other factors, the time is ripe to build category defining marketplaces. Having built a large marketplace, Snapdeal, with tens of millions of customers and backed many other category creating marketplaces, we are excited to speak to those who are excited about this phenomenon. We believe India will have hundreds of new marketplaces that will be created in the coming years.

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Eggoz Raises $20 Mn Series C Led By Gaja Capital; Claims to hit its EBITDA Breakeven In Q4 FY25, Revenue Up 76% YoY To INR 130 Cr FY25 https://lnkd.in/gd9j68rp Abhishek Negi Aditya Singh #Eggoz #funding #D2Cbrands #Agritech #EBITDAbreakeven #Revenuegrowth #Indianstartups #consumerbrands #GajaCapital

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🚀 Exciting milestone for all of us at CityMall—we’ve raised $47M in Series D, led by Accel with participation from WaterBridge Ventures, Citius, Elevation Capital, Norwest, General Catalyst & Jungle Ventures CityMall is building a differentiated model for Bharat—designed ground-up for the needs of mass-market consumers. For millions of families outside metros, groceries still come with affordability gaps, broken distribution, and limited access. Here’s what we’ve built so far: ✅ Lowest-cost distribution network for groceries in the country ✅ Sustained 2X YoY growth and scaled to over 60 markets across NCR, UP, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Bihar ✅ A differentiated product offering consisting of private labels and mass brands both regional and national This round is not just capital—it’s validation of our thesis that India’s mass market deserves a platform built with them at the center. Onwards to making everyday essentials affordable, accessible, and reliable for Bharat. https://lnkd.in/gm_d78JG #CityMall #Fundraise #EcommerceForBharat

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There's a lot to learn for founders in this note and IDfy journey. But I think there's a learning here for folks in VC firms as well - please don't tell founders that they are wasting their life with the company they are building(even if you mean well).

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Founders are pushing the boundaries of what AI can make possible. Google AI Futures Fund has partnered with Accel Atoms to launch a pre-seed cohort for AI founders in India. The program offers: 🧠 Early AI Access to advanced models like Gemini, Imagen, and Veo 🤝 Support from Google, Accel and startup ecosystem specialists ☁️ Cloud credits and dedicated tech support to scale 🚀 An opportunity to seek potential investment and fuel growth Registrations open today: https://atoms.accel.com. #AIFF #AIStartups #IndianAIFounders #IndiaStartups #GoogleForBusiness #DeepTech

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Short TL;DR of Gokul Rajaram on Invest Like The Best: AI makes building any product easier. What matters now is judgment and choosing *what* to build (and what not to build). The best software businesses win through moats like network effects, control points, or essential workflows. Great product builders focus on customer behavior change, design by removing friction, build self-serve products, and optimize for long-term value creation. Top Quotes • “The one truly future-proof skill in the AI era is judgment.” • “A product manager’s job is to balance customer needs and business needs.” • “Outcomes are defined in customer behavior. Behavior change is the leading indicator of business results.” • “Great design is reducing friction. The best product people are editors, not adders.” • “In the age of AI, stickiness comes from network effects, money flow, hardware, or unique assets.” • “You either die or live long enough to become an ads company.” • “Self-serve software teaches you more about your product than any sales team ever will.” • “Stay at every job long enough to have impact.” https://lnkd.in/gtJkNJSc

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We’ve spent decades looking at India as a services powerhouse. But that lens is now outdated. With services-as-software, India’s startup ecosystem is shifting from delivery to platforms: AI-native, workflow-deep, and enterprise-ready. Our PoV -> https://lnkd.in/gZH8AfEe It is time to expand the radar as several emerging players are beginning to look less like regional startups and more like early platform contenders building enterprise-grade platforms. Cloud & Data Platforms: Druva | Acceldata | OpsMx  Cybersecurity & Risk Platforms: CloudSEK | Securonix | SEQURETEK | Safe Security AI Automation Platforms: Uniphore | Darwinbox | Kore.ai | Haptik  Vibe Coding & AI-Assisted Development (Dev Platforms): Postman | BrowserStack | LambdaTest is now TestMu AI | Hasura  FinTech Infrastructure Platforms: Razorpay | Zeta | Perfios Pine Labs At HFS Research, we are tracking this space closely. Akshat Tyagi David Cushman Paras Chugh Suhas AR Suraj Raghunath Saurabh Gupta Achyuta Ghosh Srini Vaddepalli

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Selection builds scale in a design heavy category like Home Decor, but sharper insights, and smooth execution helps one sustain that scale. Rahul Jain quickly grew his selection since inception, but what truly set eCraftIndia apart was building systems to move faster and using data to leverage growth: a principle that continues to drive lasting growth even today. Watch the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gZNwGTDd

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Following the whirlwind of conversation my LinkedIn post sparked, I have expanded the argument in my latest Economic Times Brand Equity op-ed. I explore why Google’s AI-powered checkout is not just another product update, it is a fundamental shift in how brands, platforms, and consumers will interact going forward, especially in India’s fast-evolving D2C space. If you are building for digital commerce, this one is for you. ET BrandEquity Prasad Sangameshwaran #checkout #ai #google https://lnkd.in/gs8WtA8e

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From Zero Orders to 500+ Deliveries: The Journey of Building Barsace Liu When we started Barsace Liu, we didn’t have a fancy office, big team, or a playbook for success. What we had was an idea—to simplify and elevate the way corporate gifting is done in India. But ideas alone aren’t enough. We faced it all: Clients ghosting us after endless follow-ups. Rejections from companies who didn’t believe in a new brand. Sleepless nights juggling sourcing, packaging, and logistics. Creating pitch decks, cold calling purchase managers, and often hearing a polite “we’ll get back to you”—but they never did. There were moments we questioned ourselves. There were months with zero orders. There were people who said, “This won’t scale.” But we kept showing up. We kept listening, learning, and improving. Today, we’ve successfully delivered 500+ bulk gifting orders across national, small, and multinational companies. We’ve built a network of reliable vendors, a team that believes in the mission, and most importantly—a brand that adds value to businesses and their culture. This post isn’t about how far we’ve come—it’s about how far consistency, belief, and clarity of vision can take you. If you're an early-stage founder, marketer, or builder—know this: The struggle is part of the story. Keep going. #CorporateGifting #MarketingJourney #BrandBuilding #Entrepreneurship #BarsaceLiu #StartupStruggles #CMODiaries #B2BMarketing #BusinessGifting #Leadership From Zero Orders to 500+ Deliveries: The Journey of Building Barsace Liu

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Who controls the rails of digital access? 🇮🇳 ​Critical insights on why India needs a localized, open app ecosystem to sustain its massive digital growth. ​A great read on the work we are doing at Indus Appstore. Priya Narasimhan breaks down the problem and articulates our commitment to broadening the app economy through openness and choice. ​Read the full article below 👇 ​#IndusAppstore #AppStoreForIndia #DigitalSovereignty

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On the latest episode of Embracing Erosion I sat down with Suyog Deshpande, Co-Founder & CEO of Webless (a Fluvio Ventures portfolio company). Before starting Webless, Suyog spent years at Amplitude, Salesforce, and Samsara - shaping products and GTM strategy at scale as a product marketing leader. That perspective is now fueling one of the boldest bets in tech: 🏗️ rebuilding the web for LLMs. Instead of optimizing for clicks and SEO, Webless imagines an agentic web -where sites are designed to interact directly with AI models and agents. We dug into: - What an LLM-native web could actually look like - How companies can prepare to be LLM-ready - What metrics will matter beyond pageviews and clicks - Why safety and trust are core to agent-driven experiences - Lessons Suyog brings from “big tech” into this transformation If you’re curious about how discovery, trust, and value exchange will evolve online, this one’s worth your time. Link to the full episode in the comments 👇

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Natasha Malpani Unveils Rs 200 Cr Boundless Ventures to Support AI Startups Former Kae Capital partner Natasha Malpani founded Boundless Ventures, an early-stage fund worth Rs 200 crore that supports Indian AI-native startups. Finance Outlook India READ MORE: https://lnkd.in/gTK4FxKD

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If you're venturing into the world of D2C brands in India and seeking guidance on product development, marketing strategies, and navigating online marketplaces, this podcast featuring Sushank Arora is a valuable resource for your journey. Sushank shares insightful tips on harnessing consumer behavior to boost sales, offering a roadmap to establish a robust D2C brand. Tune in to gain actionable insights for your brand's success. #D2C #BrandBuilding #ConsumerBehavior #SalesBoost

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Today marks an important milestone. We unveiled India’s first Large Cultural Models (LCMs) - built to understand Indian languages, emotion, and storytelling at scale. AI can translate, AI can summarize, but cultural understanding is different. LCMs are designed to go beyond syntax - to reflect context, nuance, narrative, and identity. Alongside this, we launched Eros Universe, our AI Creator Super App powering video, voice, music, avatars, and monetisation - all built on the foundation of Ethical Cultural AI. Next, we activate creators globally and build what we believe will become the world’s first Cultural AI Creator Economy. India has always shaped stories. Now we’re building the technology to shape how stories are created in the AI age.

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Every major leap in India’s growth over the past decade or so has followed one pattern. Inclusion, innovation and ecosystem went hand-in-hand on top of an enabling digital public infrastructure. That’s exactly what we’re starting to see again. Across Bharat, local economies are at the cusp of becoming the next engines of growth. MSMEs can get trusted local talent, A new generation of youth can get jobs near home, Local businesses can flourish with increase in local spending, Local ecosystems can unlock adjacencies to expand market potential, And Digital public infrastructure is becoming the bridge between them. When trust and visibility reach the grassroots, opportunity multiplies: → Households move from uncertainty to stability. → MSMEs & local businesses grow & evolve from local to regional markets. → India’s workforce becomes more inclusive & invaluable. → Innovation expands market potential & reach. And India can position itself as the Skill Capital of the world. And this time, it’s not just policy that’s leading the change. Blue Dots; Verifiable credentials; Open digital networks; And AI-led multilingual, multimodal tools... They are all coming together as building blocks of open digital public infrastructure, turning aspirations into reality. Because when the foundation is inclusive & frictions reduce for the ecosystem, innovation scales. At #charcha25, during the session on “Jobs Next Door: Unlocking India’s local economy” we’ll explore how this vision can be turned into practice. I’m looking forward to exchanging ideas with ecosystem leaders on unlocking India’s local economy.

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