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A swipe in the right direction. Yes getting a date is as easy as that in the age of smartphones. Smartphone apps have changed the dating landscape and men are relying on their phones to get a perfect match. Long gone are chat rooms or blind dates where your friends would set you up. Today, it’s all about swiping left or right on your smartphone. It’s easier than booking a cab after a lazy evening at the bar. 
 
 “People are comfortable in our app even when surrounded by strangers, simply because they trust that there won't be any creeps on the app. This confidence is uniquely empowering and that's what enables high engagement on dating apps these days,” said <keyword id="316899" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sachin-Bhatia">Sachin Bhatia</keyword>, CEO and Co-Founder of <keyword id="1745655" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TrulyMadly">TrulyMadly</keyword>, a <keyword id="1095218" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dating-app">dating app</keyword>. 
 “We aren't like Western dating apps, which are primarily for 'hook-ups'. Nor are we your traditional desi matrimonial sites. We've tried to remove the taboo from the term 'dating' in the Indian world by associating it with safety and compatibility and have seen a great response from users in metros and even small towns,” added <keyword id="4943" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bhatia">Bhatia</keyword>. 
 Unlike the West, where one night stands is not seen as a social taboo, in India, people browsing these apps, often look for a long time commitment. “Hook up and casual dating apps are mushrooming but there are millions of singles who crave something more meaningful and long-term. In fact, as we interact with more and more of our users, we realize that men and women equalled crave love and companionship and ‘casual relationships’ don’t fulfill that need. Woo has been conceptualised and created especially for such people,” said <keyword id="1964927" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sumesh-Menon">Sumesh Menon</keyword>, CEO and Co-founder, Woo. 
 
Most apps in India keep safety and security as their primary concerns. 
 
“We have a Trust Score for every user, based on the amount of information a user volunteers to share with the app. This impacts the matches she/he receives. In fact, we also have manual verification systems in place to double check profiles. Users can only engage in conversation or even see each other’s names once both of them have expressed an interest/ liked the other. All information about a user is self-updated and the existing user can anytime update or remove any or all information as per their personal preferences. If they deactivate their account, all their information gets wiped off too,” Bhatia added. 
 
Meanwhile, 9 out of 10 women in the age-group between 18 and 25 prefer keeping a dating app on their phone, while 7 out of 10 in the age group between 26 and 35 prefer the same. 
 
“An app brings the multiplier effect and widens the pool, beyond anything that was possible before. Secondly, because it is on a private smartphone device, it gives users the convenience of having uninterrupted, one-on-one conversations and really getting to know one another. And finally, it has given people complete independence over the kind of person they choose to be with. The decision is now taken by the individual, and not by anyone else,” added Menon. 
 
Dating apps are like a free market economy for relationships in general and sex in particular. You might not find your dream girl among your acquaintances, but these apps ensure more exposure. Also, if we have the freedom to choose everything, then why not have the freedom to choose the right partner.

Here's how Indian dating apps are giving Indians a way to find their right
partners

Harry met Sally is a universal phenomenon. But in India, Harry met Sally on the road and fell in love or Harry’s family met Sally’s family and fell in love. Fast forward to 2015, Harry’s love is online now—on Truly Madly- a dating app that helps meet like minded individuals to find their ‘perfect love’. 
 “Truly Madly is a dating app meant to cater people in the age group of 18 to 26 years old. We realized that this is the group that we can cater to as most of them did not want to settle down so fast but definitely wanted to meet interesting people. So, we decided to create a dating space for this group rather than disrupting the matrimony space,” says <keyword id="316899" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sachin-Bhatia">Sachin Bhatia</keyword>, co-founder of <keyword id="2517530" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Truly-Madly">Truly Madly</keyword> at his office in Delhi. 
 Disrupting the matrimony space? The <keyword id="54613" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="makemytrip">Makemytrip</keyword> co-founder and CMO explains that last year, the founders of the company- Sachin Bhatia, <keyword id="674163" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hitesh-Dhingra">Hitesh Dhingra</keyword>, co-founder of electronics ecommerce firm <keyword id="620521" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Letsbuy">LetsBuy</keyword>.com, and Rahul Kumar, who formerly worked with travel portals such as Expedia, Makemytrip got together and started looking at online Indian businesses that have not evolved up in the last one decade in India. 
 
“So, we looked at real estate and then we saw matrimony. On going deeper, we realized that this segment did not really do anything different and decided to disrupt this segment. I mean the players are still matching in a regressive way-based on caste, creed and religion. So we thought of doing something interesting and disrupting this category,” he adds. 
 
Bhatia points out an interesting fact here. According to their research, 30% of the men registered on these match-making websites are married and are only looking for fun. “On researching more, we got the feedback that girls were wary of being on such apps as none of the profiles were verified, which may be accessed by stalkers and corny men. And hence, we came up with our verification feature on the app,” notes Bhatia. 
 
So how does Truly Madly work? It’s simple. You will have fill in your details and then answer some fun quizzes which allow the app to understand your preferences. The second process would be the verification, which can be done by linking all your social media profiles including Facebook and Linkedin along with documents such as the passport in order to assess whether profile created is genuine or not. The app will then match you with profiles and a chat access is given only when there is a mutual like. 
 
“Truly Madly is built on two pillars- compatibility and verification. We can’t promise love and perfect matches but at least we can help you sift through bunch of profiles based on common interests and likes. This works well with the women,” avers Bhatia. 
 
Talking about the competition, Bhatia feels that the biggest competition in the segment is the US based dating app Tinder. However, he also believes that the concept which governs Tinder is not for the Indian market. “Tinder is more of a casual dating, which works well in the US but not in India,” he asserts. 
 
Seeing the potential of the dating space in the country, the company has raised Rs 35 crore recently. And it will be used for primarily two things—expanding the team with the best talents on board and creating quality content for the app. 
 
“We have half a million users now with 35% girls. One major area of concern is that people won’t go on Facebook and announce that they are on Truly Madly. But they may share original content that the app offers. So, we are really focusing on creating original content,” Bhatia explains. 
 
The company also aims to create dating as a category as it is still considered to be a taboo. Bhatia tell us that even today people prefer to say ‘going out for coffee or a movie’ rather than calling it a date. 
 
So, who are the core target audience for this dating app? Bhatia quickly tells us that the company is only targeting women. “Once women are on board, men will follow,” he chuckles. 
 
Interestingly, the app has seen a higher number of women from small towns registering themselves than those in the big cities. “In terms of downloads, metros lead but 30% of our users who are from non-metro cities are more engaged,” points out Bhatia. 
 
The company will soon make its business model subscription-based and will charge a meager amount. While it may hurt a few pockets, until then, enjoy dating online. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes.com

Cupid goes online! Find love Truly Madly style

The Delhi chapter of <keyword id="139680" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Indus-Entrepreneurs">The Indus Entrepreneurs</keyword> (TiE) will host on Thursday the 8th iteration of the <keyword id="4390638" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Internet-Day">India Internet Day</keyword>, one of the largest conferences for Internet entrepreneurs in the country. India Internet Day 2019 targets entrepreneurs which attracts start-ups, unicorns, industry leaders, investors, mentors, policy-makers, and many more key domain experts from across the country every year India is presently home to over 500 million internet users and 21 unicorns. With the aim of raising a hundred start-ups and enterprises to become billion-dollar companies on the back of their internet-centric innovations, TiE Delhi-NCR is hosting the 8th iteration of India Internet Day. The vision of #iDay2019 is encapsulated in the headline of the event’s main theme: “India Internet Unboxed: Getting ready for a 100 Unicorns”. Enabling the next generation of leaders At iDay 2019, leaders of the internet and entrepreneurial community will deliver content for the benefit of young entrepreneurs, enabling the next generation of leaders to gain a deeper insight into the opportunities and evolving trends in the industry, Tie said in a statement. Building on the theme of ‘unboxing’, iDay2019 plans to have focused and thought-provoking discussions during the session line-up on topics including: Unboxing Indian Tech Going Global, Unboxing Funding, Unboxing Talent, Entrepreneurial Milestones: Unboxing Pivots &amp; Pirouettes to Exits, Unboxing 2nd Innings, Unboxing Valuations. It will also have a special focus on the Chinese startup ecosystem, key speakers will speak on Unboxing China, its Landscape &amp; Overview, Chinese VCs in India - A perspective and Cross Border Learnings. Additionally, entrepreneurs will be provided with a platform to showcase internet-centric innovations and get constructive feedback on their ventures. All about networking The conference is one of the most anticipated entrepreneurial conferences across the world as it gathers entrepreneurs and vision-holders in the midst of key investors, industry leaders, and policy-makers under the same roof. It will have sessions that will chaired by prominent industry leaders including Vani Kola, MD, Kalaari Capital, and Rajesh Sawhney, CEO &amp; Co Founder of Innerchef, the conference will open with a keynote address by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder &amp; CEO of PayTM. The opening address will be followed by conversations with industry experts including Anant Maheshwari, President - Microsoft India and Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Google &amp; President, TiE Delhi-NCR. Other ace speakers include Lathika Pai, Country Head - Microsoft for <keyword id="6362513" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="startups">Startups</keyword> MENA and SAARC , Gaurav Deepak, Co-founder &amp; MD - Avendus Capital, Anand Lunia, General Partner – India Quotient, Helen Wong, Partner at Qiming Venture, Yun Lou, Founder &amp; CEO of Clubfactory, Hans Tung - Partner, GGVC Kunal Shah, Founder &amp; CEO – Cred, Amrish Rau, Ex CEO – CitrusPay, Aprameya Radhakrishna, Founder &amp; CEO of Vokal, Raul Rai, Co-Founder of Nicobar.com, and Mukund Kulashekaran from Urban Clap. Power Breakfast with the iDay Committee The event will kick off with a breakfast with industry leaders and the best in the startup ecosystem. The committee members who will be a part of this event include Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Google &amp; President, TiE Delhi-NCR; Alok Mittal, Co-Founder, Indifi Technologies; Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director, Spotify India; Arvind Jha, Multipreneur, Movico Technologies; Miten Sampat, VP, Times Internet; Deep Kalra, Founder &amp; Group CEO, MakeMyTrip; Gautam Gandhi, Angel Investor; Prasanto K Roy, Policy Consultant ; Karan Mohla, Partner &amp; Executive Director of Chiratae Ventures; Ravi Gururaj, Founder &amp; CEO, Qikpod; Dev Khare, Partner, Lightspeed India Partners. B2B Founders' Lunch Ace B2B founders who will be part of this session include Shridhar Gupta, Co-Founder - Loconav; Pranav Tyagi, Founder - Eigen; Ajay Chauhan, Co- Founder -SalezShark; Sachin Bhatia, Co-Founder &amp; Ex VP - Drishtisoft solutions; Rahul Bhalla, CEO &amp; Co Founder -Zeanatix will be part of the lunch tables Fintech Lunch Leading Fintech founders who will be part of the lunch include Ajay Vikram Singh, Consumer Business Head- Clix Capital ; Jonathan Bill, CEO &amp; Co- Founder – Creditmate; Kshitij Puri, CEO &amp; Co- Founder - Ziploan ;Sandeep Srinivas, Co-Founder &amp; CMO - Redcarpet Tech ; Kapil Mehta, Co - Founder – SecureNow; Alok Bansal, Co-Founder &amp; CFO – PolicyBazaar ; Mukesh P Kalra, Founder &amp; CEO – ETMoney #iDay Launchpad A platform at India Internet Day where tech businesses have a chance to demo/launch their new products/services in front of a large relevant audience of VCs, entrepreneurs etc. The start-ups will be selected by an influential jury panel #iDay Workshop A stellar workshop on product management professionals with Anshumani Ruddra, VP of Product (Social &amp; Gaming) – Hotstar will equip participants with new strategies &amp; principles to ace their field Gala Evening Network, interact, explore synergies over dinner and jive the evening away with a rocking band performance! The conference will take place from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on 25th April, 2019, at Leela Ambience, Gurugram. Register here now! <a href="https://www.iday.in/">https://www.iday.in/</a> Note: Business Insider India is a media partner at the event.

Here’s all that you need to know about the upcoming India Internet Day 2019

By 2025, <keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword>’s sale will be one-fifth of its total international sales and its Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) will touch $81 billion. 
 As per a report by Bank of America <keyword id="6374847" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Merrill-Lynch">Merrill Lynch</keyword>, Amazon's India unit will also make $2.2 billion in operating profits by 2025. 
 However, with these figures, Amazon India will still remain behind <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, which will continue to be on number one position in India. 
 
The report said Amazon's GMV market share will improve to 37% by 2019 from 21% in 2015. It expects Snapdeal's market share to fall from 14% in 2015 to 9% by 2019. 
 
"India revenue is small today, but the investment is financially relevant as the Amazon could be losing $0.5-$1bn a year. Longer-term, by 2025 estimate Amazon India could generate $81bn in GMV (~20% of total International GMV) and $2.2bn in operating profit," the report by analysts Justin Post, Sachin Salgaonkar and Akshay Bhatia, stated. 
 
Amazon India is investing in India and Jeff Bezos raised the sum to $5 billion from $2 billion. 
 
The main India unit, Amazon Seller Services, has received Rs 8,618 crore since beginning of 2015 and over Rs 9,600 crore since it was set up. In March Amazon also made its intention clear to keep pumping in more capital, as it filed to increase its authorised capital from Rs 8,500 crore to Rs 16,000 crore. 
 
"India profitability will depend on Amazon's investment posture, which is somewhat unpredictable. However, longer term, assuming Amazon continues to operate a marketplace only model in India, it is possible that Amazon India could realize a margin profile similar to eBay's operating margin in mid-30's," said the report. 
 
Recently, Amazon India raced past Flipkart in seller base and is launching various initiatives to woo shoppers and increase more merchants. 
Meanwhile, Amazon India wants to have 27 FCs across states covering a total area of close to 2.5 million square feet and a storage capacity of 7.5 million cubic feet.

Amazon India to touch $81 bn GMV by 2025 but will remain behind Flipkart, suggests report

These 119 Indian billionaires are worth over $300 billion right now, according to Forbes

The landscape of Indian startups in the recent times has interesting mix of businesses that provide an important indicator into the future. NASSCOM in its recent report said that <keyword id="770060" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-start-ups">Indian start-ups</keyword> are coming up with <keyword id="3070390" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Unique-Business-Solutions">unique business solutions</keyword> to meet the requirements of a geographically vast, diverse and a chequered society. With technology maximizing its potential, solutions that merge both possibilities of domain and tech are gaining ground. Geographically, minds that have been focusing on unexplored possibilities are making it to the list of some of the exciting <keyword id="121946" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="start-ups">start ups</keyword> that India needs to watch out for! 
 
Here are a few start ups that have caught the fancy of the nation for gaining popularity. 
 
Meet the chef everyday! 
<a href="http://www.holachef.com/">HolaChef</a>, a cloud-based restaurant aims at bringing best of cuisines created and crafted by some of the best chefs from across the world. It is operational in various areas in Mumbai. HolaChef strictly focuses on titillating your tastebuds only with masterpieces delivered each day in form of food! 
 
A startup in the food technology space, HolaChef raised a seed funding of Rs 2 crore from India Quotient early this year. Ratan Tata has made an investment of undisclosed amount in this startup, boosting its growth potential by a great extent. This bright spot among the startups also aims to raise an additional Rs 20 – 30 crore in the coming months to realize its full potential. 
 
A technology to track your sugar! 
<a href="http://diabe.to/">Diabeto</a> is a solution that was most needed in the times when diabetes is turning out to be a silent killer on the prowl. It is a hardware device which plugs into existing glucometers to transfer the sugar reading from the sugar testing machine, using Bluetooth to an Android device that has the diabeto app installed. 
 
This startup initially raised $70,000 in total, and was offered an additional $500,000 in case the business was interested in staying in Chile. Well, India being the better and lucrative market of the two, the minds behind Diabeto decided to be home in India. Now, time can reveal whether this decision was a good one or otherwise. 
 
Love across technology 
<a href="http://www.trulymadly.com/">Truly Madly</a>, in short, is a dating app that helps connect lovelorn people who are looking to meet the ‘right’ kind of partners who could be separated by mere geography. Worry no more! Started by Sachin Bhatia, Truly Madly is a dating app that was meant to cater to the love needs of people between age group 18 and 26 years. What’s the greatest cut the app has been able to make above the rest of the players in the same space? TM is about being a responsible app that connects people only after verifying their identity. No space for grasshoppers here. This app raised nearly Rs 35 crore funding early this year. 
 
Tasks? Don’t worry! 
<a href="https://www.taskbob.com/">TaskBob</a> conceived by Aseem who wanted to help average Indians meet their needs to run chores by way of roping in some experienced and reliable handymen was a dream come true for many people who simply find such tasks time consuming and exhausting since they have a long history of being conned at getting small jobs done. Now, no more sweat about menial tasks because TaskBob takes care of the entire gamut of requirements that need the attention of an expert plumber, painter, carpenter or just about anyone who is not on your friends’ list! The startup raised $ 1.2 mn from Orios and Mayfield in April this year. TaskBob is focusing on Mumbai right now, and has plans to expand soon. 
 
No teething problems! 
Mumbai-based <a href="http://www.mydentist.co.in/">MyDentist</a> conceived by Vikram Vora, is a chain of over 103 dental clinics spread across Greater Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Surat. With over 3 lakh cases that have been successfully treated much to the pleasure of both founders and users, MyDentist has addressed a crucial problem faced by most parents and youngsters by running nearly 100 clinics across cities. MyDentist, apart from its most successful run, also raised funds up to Rs 50 crore recently. 
 
When the trade is of a drink 
Mihir Desai of <a href="http://barstockexchange.com/">The Bar Stock Exchange</a> came up with the idea of setting up India’s first stock market based pub chain where drink prices changed based on the real-time demand and supply. Drinking at TBSE does not only give you a high on the drink alone, but also the empowered kick of having monitored the stock market at the same time. One of the most promising, innovative, fun and unique start up of our times that is bound to catch the fancy of more than drinkers alone. Go, savour that crash!

These Indian start-ups are revving up the Indian business scenario

At a time when the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ecommerce">e-commerce</a> and IT industries are reaching heights at lightning pace, young entrepreneurs with great business acumen need a platform where they can compare notes and egg each other on to do better. 
 
Such platform was provided by TiE Mumbai’s ‘Smashup’, which captured the pulse of new generation <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=startups">startups</a>. 
 
The IIT Bombay campus, the venue of the event, was buzzing with new ideas and refreshed zeal as the event saw over 900 attendees with 11 of India's most successful names in among entrepreneurs, multiple accelators, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=venture+capitalists">VCs</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=angel+investors">angel investors</a> since last 5 years. 
 
There were no big VCs making tiring speeches nor there was any suited-booted crowd. The audience heard plenty of startup tales​, experiences and lessons​ from​ some of​ the most successful startup founders in the city, with rapt attention. 
 One of the major highlights of the event was ‘first 365 days of an <keyword id="6359301" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Entrepreneur">entrepreneur</keyword>’. First one year of any startup decides the life of an entrepreneur. 
 
The panel called up <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=entrepreneur">entrepreneurs</a> who had successfully passed first 365 days in their <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword>. From experiences and insights, we have zeroed on 10 things that are important for startups. Take a look 
 
Building perception 
During the first year, business analysts rule that three out of 10 startups expire, never to be revived. And if the first 365 days don’t have smart learners leveraging on the lessons learnt, half of those startups eventually bite the dust. 
 
Brand value 
Fix your brand and platform with clarity. Do you want to be in the virtual world of internet, or ride the mobile wave and be an app? Most of the successful startups have been through umpteen iterations and phases of correction and have survived the test of time and volatile business atmosphere. 
 
Hire fast, fire fast 
Like MyDentist founder Vikram Vora says, it is time to “Build the right perception, know your audience, hire fast, fire fast.” 
Time is crucial, but so is the collective spirit and sharing similar passion. If someone in the team is not working and meeting the desired expectations, part ways immediately. It may leave you with a smaller team and result in overburdening. Do it now, and thank yourself later. 
 
Analyse-learn-analyse-set it right 
The initial 12 months is that magical time when you are going through phases of self-doubts, learning and steering ahead; all happening at once. Make sure to take some time out to analyse where you are headed, and set the mast in that direction. Not reading vital signs through this phase can be hazardous for the business. 
 
Read data, learn fast 
Learn from other people’s mistakes. But, remember, you need to apply them only after understanding its relevance to your business. 
Aseem Khare, the founder of TaskBob, says data is god. “You should be extremely data focused. Real life learning from experienced entrepreneurs help more than reading books. For a considerable amount of time, the work should be much more than you can handle.” 
 
Factor in problems 
Anyone who has ‘been there and done that’ knows that problems crop up at regular intervals and at most challenging times. Have Plan B ready, but also factor in some problems so that you ‘fight’ them well ahead of time. 
 
Lean isn’t mean 
When you are doing business with people from different walks of life, it is better not to reveal all your secrets. Cut the losses. Forget cheap clients. Build a lean product to save time and resources till you seal the deal. 
 
Sachin Bhatia of Truly Madly has a very valuable suggestion. He says “Be ready to sell your ideas to stakeholders efficiently and convince them. Go out, connect with the masses and figure how to make business viable.” 
 
Control expenses 
Thinking big doesn’t mean spending big. Keep expenses down till you get someone to invest and grow big. Startup time isn’t about partying harder every weekend. Pay decent salaries and keep the fire burning till you can have your period of glory. 
 
Be your own salesman 
Hold on to your dreams and live them every moment of your life, till you see them getting to a space where they were meant to be. When you do branding, make sure you have all the ingredients to make it a success. Follow your instincts and be your own salesman. Let the world see your passion. 
 
Live life as well 
You are not just your dream. You are a social person. Remember to cut that work related umbilical cord and socialize. It does good to your soul. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Here are 10 things that can help your startup sail in first 365 days!

2020 IPL auction will see these 332 players trying their luck under the hammer

At any point of time, there seem to be enough opinions and analyses about what makes an entrepreneur or his business attractive to Venture Capital (<keyword id="47361" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="VC">VC</keyword>) investors. 
 
Take Mark Suster’s excellent post on <a href="https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbothsidesofthetable.com%2Fentrepreneur-dna-c1c5d312aaaa%23.d5phzhrac">Entrepreneur DNA</a> for instance, which calls for entrepreneurs to clear a very stiff gauntlet of demanding tests, to be considered worthy of being called an entrepreneur. 
 
And yet, there is precious little information to answer another question which has co-existed all along: 
 
What makes certain VCs better than others? 
 
I propose answers to this critical, and yet almost unknown facet of the mating dance between entrepreneurs and VCs. 
 
Answers that seem to point to the possibility that the best VCs are the ones who treat their “customers” well. First things first, who are a VC’s “customers”? 
 
In a dipstick test done by Larry Cheng on <a href="https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flarrycheng.com%2F2009%2F09%2F27%2Fwho-is-the-venture-capitalists-customer%2F">“Who is the VC’s customer?”</a>, about 85% of the respondents (Interestingly, the group of respondents included several entrepreneurs, but no VCs) said that the VC’s sole customer is the Limited Partner (A firm or an individual who invests in a VC fund). 
 
More revealing was the fact that not a single participant in the survey said that the entrepreneur is the VC’s principal customer. 
 
One would assume that if entrepreneurs are the VC’s customer, entrepreneurs themselves would know about it. 
 
Might the observation that not a single entrepreneur considered themselves the VC’s principal customer be attributed to the possibility that most VCs do a terrible job at taking care of their customer (The entrepreneur)? 
 
For the most part, the perception that there is a huge skew in the power balance between VCs and entrepreneurs (In favour of the VCs) runs very deep. 
 
The truth though is that <a href="https://medium.com/r/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.in%2FVCs-are-from-Venus-Entrepreneurs-are-from-Mars%2Farticleshow%2F53449860.cms">without entrepreneurs, VCs would be out of business</a>. 
 
More profoundly though, in the case of the best entrepreneurs, they are always free to choose another investor that takes better care of them. 
 
 
 
<a href="https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsmctoday.wordpress.com%2F">Image source</a> 
 
The revelation is surprising and yet hard to refute: Entrepreneurs are VC’s customers and therefore, deserve (Maybe even demand ?) excellent customer service. 
 
Borrowing from Suster’s piece, what are the qualities that make up the DNA of a truly customer-focused VC? 
 
This post offers a primer on some of these traits: 
 
Approachable &amp; Responsive 
It is perhaps every entrepreneur’s greatest pet peeve: VCs either don’t reply to emails or take too long to respond. 
 
 
 
<a href="https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fpulse%2F5-signs-you-may-email-jerk-hilary-wagner-">Image source</a> 
 
On the other side of the table, it needs to be appreciated that VCs get a LOT of email. For instance, Ted Serbinski estimates that he gets nearly <a href="https://medium.com/r/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crainsdetroit.com%2Farticle%2F20130910%2FBLOG111%2F130909890%2F5-secrets-for-getting-a-vc-to-respond-to-your-email">100,000 emails a year</a>. 
 
For most people, that translates to an email almost every minute while they are at work. 
 
For a VC, it is a daunting task to go through every mail and provide a detailed response within a reasonable turnaround time. And yet, there is no other way for a VC to make a great first impression and (possibly) close the sale. 
 
Much like in the case of McDonald’s &amp; Dominos’, service delivery and turnaround time are not only critical to maintaining the VC’s brand ethos, but if done wrong, can result in the loss of a customer and create negative word-of-mouth. 
 
The time and the effort that goes into timely and well-written email responses is well worth a VC’s investment. 
 
[BRB, clearing some more emails that have been pending for a while] 
 
Knows the Customer 
 
Companies that have mastered the art of customer service have been able to do so because they have identified just who their customer is, and, just as importantly, who isn’t. 
 
The same is true in the context of VC firms : They need to know their focus sectors / business areas, preferred ticket sizes, and stage at the time of entry. Entrepreneurs and ventures that remain excluded thereafter, are by definition, not the VC firm’s customers. 
 
Wait, surely this is too trivial and obvious a matter to even be mentioned? 
 
But if that were the case, why do so many entrepreneurs end up receiving responses such as: 
 
“This space is not of interest to us” 
….after weeks of diligence ? 
A good VC knows how to quickly and efficiently say No when an opportunity doesn’t fit the firm’s investing interests. 
 
Not doing so wastes a lot of time and creates unnecessary clutter in the mailbox. 
 
Offers Relevant Feedback &amp; Adds Value 
Being an entrepreneur is hard enough, without having to hear what is passed off as “feedback” in many VC conversations, and then keep a straight face. 
 
One of my favourite entrepreneurs told me about how during one of his meetings with a VC, the VC “took the whole of 30 minutes to tell us that our company name will never work. Why ? Because it has more than two syllables!” 
 
Perhaps there exists a study out there which has established a correlation between the likelihood of a startup’s success and the number of syllables in its name. 
 
But even if that were the case, every VC owes an entrepreneur some feedback, either on how he could improve, or on why he chose to decline the investment opportunity. 
 
It is a responsibility that continues to apply in even greater effect if the investment is consummated, especially over board meetings and other reviews (No, pseudo-intellectual one liners used in B-Schools or consulting firms do NOT count as feedback). 
 
 
 
<a href="https://medium.com/r/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.quickmeme.com%2Fmeme%2F36keat">Image source</a> 
 
(BRB, need to work a bit more on a sector to be able to give real feedback) 
 
Becomes your greatest Cheerleader 
The popular portrayal of the entrepreneur-VC relationship is one where the VC is, by some distance, the dominant partner in the relationship. 
 
The reality though is that the natural dynamic of the relationship implies that the risk-taking and fearless entrepreneur takes charge, and the VC supports and nurtures the business, especially during its tough times. 
 
In other words, the VC needs to become the Cheerleader for the business. 
 
When I had a chat with Sachin Bhatia, Co-Founder of MakeMyTrip &amp; Co-Founder of TrulyMadly about this, his views brought home an under-appreciated truth: 
 
‘Though the colour of money is the same, only one thing differentiates a great VC from all the others in my mind: will they support the venture and founders during tough times? Every venture will go through a bad phase, especially when it comes to raising a round of funds. As an entrepreneur I need the comfort that the VC will be good with the support needed to swim through these rough waters.” 
 
<a href="https://medium.com/r/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fa16z.com%2F2014%2F07%2F21%2Fa-dozen-things-ive-learned-from-marc-andreessen%2F">Marc Andreessen doesn’t disagree</a>: 
 
“You spend most of your time actually dealing with your companies who are struggling and trying to help them. Because it’s the companies that are struggling or failing that actually need the most help. The companies that are succeeding are generally doing just fine without you. The companies that are failing are really the ones that need help and support. And so a lot of what you end up doing at the job is supporting struggling entrepreneurs. It’s kind of continuously humbling. You are a trouble shooter. There’s always something going wrong. Psychologically–we talk about this with our partners–you have to be psychologically prepared for the opposite. It seems like it’s going to be a life of glamor and excitement. It’s more of a life of struggle and misery. And if you are okay with that–because it’s part of the package–then the overall deal is pretty good.” 
 
So the next time you find yourself in an investment pitch meeting, whether as an entrepreneur or as a VC, remember that both sides are evaluating each other’s attractiveness, and there is only one chance to make a strong first impression. 
 
<a href="https://assets.entrepreneur.com/content/3x2/1300/should-go-east-west-venture-capital.jpg">Image source</a>

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