When I look back on my journey as an entrepreneur and mentor/investor in startups, I reflect on a long and wonderful experience that has continuously nurtured my growth as a learner throughout my career.

The experiences I’ve had in raising funds, building organizations, handling banking and compliance, managing different geographies, overseeing HR and finance, and preparing for board meetings have all significantly impacted my learning curve.

I’m always excited by innovations in models and technology, which I have tried to adopt to drive business growth or invest in as an individual investor. However, the failures of the startups I invested in made me question whether I was making mistakes in assessing either the entrepreneur’s potential or the business model.

This led me to join the Indian Angel Network, where members collaboratively assess startups. This provided me with valuable perspectives from active lead members on startup evaluation. I also had the opportunity to lead a tech startup from the Chennai IITM Research Park. It was a nerve-wracking experience for me because I had to learn about technology and growth perspectives. I spent a lot of time with the entrepreneur and technology experts to enhance my ability to convince investors. This experience fast-tracked my learning, and the process continues to this day.

I was surprised to find that many entrepreneurs were not investing in this asset class and that there was a lack of startups emerging from tier-2 towns. Additionally, there were not many funds or investors based in Chennai. However, a positive development was the growth of a few anchor companies within Chennai’s startup ecosystem. Meanwhile, my mentor invited me to serve Native Lead, an organization promoting startups in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where technology was not the primary focus.

Building an ecosystem in a district or town was new to me, but I realized that the investor community plays a crucial role in this process. This led to the opportunity to educate many wealthy individuals in a few districts. After a few years, I’ve seen many of them now leading investments within that ecosystem. However, understanding exits remains crucial to sustaining interest. Reflecting on this journey, I find satisfaction in being part of the development of the Native ecosystem.

After 26 years of running my company, which started in 1997, I realized the importance of exits for entrepreneurs who have built ventures with partners and investors. The founder of Native Lead, who has become the state head for entrepreneurship, has supported the development of the investing ecosystem for the state. This journey continues, and I have also been invited to join a VC firm, with my learning ongoing. My only drive and restlessness now is to make a difference for the state and the VC industry. My journey in the startup ecosystem continues to be fascinating, and my expectations continue to scale.