Mehta Ventures provides comprehensive startup, estate, and crypto co-investment opportunities to a trusted network of HNI families globally.
The independent, privately-owned boutique invests in early-stage startups. The company has invested in 121 companies to date. It is primarily investing in startups in India (100 to date) and is expanding its investments in U.S. startups (21 to date).
I interviewed Hershel Mehta. He focuses primarily on U.S. Investments for the family firm. The former CEO of Zoupple, a social network app created to help connect couples with other couples for new friendships, empathizes with entrepreneurs because knows the challenges they face.
Here’s what Mehta Ventures looks for when investing in a startup. He also shared why investing in startups in India is so attractive today.
“We don’t invest in vitamins, we invest in pain killers.”
Are you solving a real problem?
Mehta says companies typically fall into two categories: vitamins and pain killers. Vitamins offer supplements to a problem. Pain killers address a real need. “We don’t invest in vitamins, we invest in pain killers.”
What’s the market?
Mehta is interested in companies with massive exit potential – they can quickly scale and will raise subsequent rounds of money.
If you’re creating a brand new category or taking a moon shot and you have the persona and the capacity to execute, Mehta is interested.
Who are you?
What’s your industry experience? Do you have valuable connections? Can you build a solid team? Do you have a strong sales pipeline? Can you close sales contracts? Can you scale quickly?
Mehta is interested in founders with deep industry domain expertise and strong connections. Mehta says he’ll also consider a 2nd or 3rd-time founder because he or she knows the pitfalls and how to better navigate them this time around.
Experience doesn’t mean age though. Mehta invested in a 23 year old’s startup. The Indian entrepreneur created a manufacturing solution that connects machines with humans to optimize factory production. The entrepreneur had deep domain expertise. His father owned a factory, so he understands the problems facing the industry, how to address them, and how to quickly onboard customers.
“I want to see teams, not individuals.”
Can you build a team?
Mehta says he invests in teams, not single founders. If something happens to the founder – relationship, health, burnout, etc. – and the business collapses, as a result, the investment isn’t worth it. There must be a co-founder. There must be a team.
Do you have an unwavering conviction?
Mehta is looking for founders who are willing to sacrifice everything.
His favorite founder just closed a $3M round. He worked at Microsoft. He retired. He started his own company. He spent three years building the technology. He paid himself $2,000 a month. He took money out of his IRA. He didn’t have to start this company. He believed in it so much, he sacrificed to make it happen.
“I can tell if a founder is trustworthy or not within a minute.”
How important are first impressions?
Mehta conducts a lot of phone interviews. He can tell if a founder is trustworthy or not within a minute, just by how they talk about their business and how they answer questions.
What’s next?
India. Mehta says investing in startups in India is a huge growth opportunity because the startup and investment ecosystem mimics San Francisco and New York.
Dynamic founders are running relatively new, very large tech companies. They are making an imprint on young Indian engineers and entrepreneurs. Instead of leaving to work at Google, for example, they are staying in India and creating unique tech solutions.
Mehta said innovation is still happening across industries. One of the most interesting companies Mehta Ventures invested in is MiraculeX. It’s a flavor modifier product that tricks your taste buds, so anything sour tastes sweet. Mehta says the use cases (sweetening cranberry juice or yogurt without sugar or sugar substitutes, for example) have tremendous potential.
He predicts quantum computing will be huge in 10 years because it will help solve the forthcoming artificial intelligence and machine learning bottleneck.
He believes we are only at the tip of the iceberg with cryptocurrency and blockchain. He believes Bitcoin can change the world.
Finally, he believes the way we interact with our government and the global economy is going to change in the next 20 years.
Any advice for entrepreneurs?
First, everyone should be an entrepreneur. He says the toolset you learn is priceless. Failure is important.
Second, talk to people. There’s a huge network effect of being open. People are not going to steal your idea. If they can steal it, it’s a garbage idea. Share it. Talk about it. You want to get it out there. You want to hear what people are hearing. Miss out by being guarded.
To learn more about Mehta Ventures, to submit for investment consideration or to learn more about investing in startups in India, contact Mehta Ventures.
To learn more about how we can help you craft a clear and concise investment pitch and deliver it clearly, confidently and compellingly, please contact us.