Who is a seasoned investor? Is it someone who has backed multiple ventures? Or a veteran who has seen various investment cycles—hypes and bubbles—over decades? Mohan Kumar ticks both the boxes, but what really qualifies him as a seasoned investor is a trait that not many in the investment world possess: Balanced storytelling. He starts with a tale where the protagonist is a founder.
Once upon a time—well, it was in the middle of last year—the startup ecosystem in India found itself in the midst of a crazy funding boom. Kumar, who has spent two decades in leadership and operating roles, including as corporate vice president of Motorola, and has also had stints with two startups, describes the ‘insane’ funding scene. Pre-2018, he first sets the context, the valuation multiples for SaaS companies were in the range of seven to 10 times their revenue. “If you happened to be a market leader, you could even get 15 times,” says the former managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), who started growth-stage SaaS- and B2B-focussed fund Avataar Venture Partners towards the latter part of 2019. During the peak of the pandemic, SaaS companies started getting 40x. “Some even got 100x,” he says with a smile.