Vishnu Prasath Devarajan

Why is it that out of the 4000 D2C brands doing $1M of monthly revenue on Shopify, not a single brand is from India? The answer is a mix of technical and cultural reasons. I will start with cultural. Because that is valid not just for D2C but for other industries like SAAS and tech as well. 1. Our processes rely on people instead of systems. And as warm and loving as that sounds, it simply doesn’t work at scale. It is also the reason why Indian orgs have so much internal corruption as they scale. 2. We are a risk averse nation. Government jobs. Education. Safety net. These are the values typically passed down and get hardcoded in our DNAs. So even when we start a business, concepts of credit and debt are not used as efficiently as they should be. Heck even our investor community is the most risk averse in the world. Everybody wants to copy and follow what’s working. Nobody wants to take the leap and innovate. 3. Entitlement comes very fast Anybody who has earned a couple of crores in their lives thinks they are God. Several socio economic reasons for this that I won’t get into here. 4. We care too much about not looking poor. We want to spend like the west because it “looks” cool. A person on a 50k/m salary has a 1L iphone. A person who earns 20L a year as a 40L car. A D2C business owner who earns 10L per month pays 4L in salaries. A founder who just raised a round of funding will overspend on IIM/IIT talent and swanky offices they don’t need. 5. We outsource/delegate too early. Because labour is cheap, we are quick to hire. We don’t do our dishes and laundry at home so then why would we do the dirty work of our own business? (Entitlement again) ______________ Moving on to the non cultural factors now. Specific to D2C only. 6. Founders have no grip on their P&L fundamentals. Nobody knows what their real breakeven roas is in the 0-1 stage and they keep pumping in more money until they run out. 7. Marketing, Finance, Inventory, Creatives & branding are all deeply correlated. But founders are not building businesses trying to prioritise all of these together. The founder who is great at branding ignores finance metrics completely. The founder great at performance ignores branding completely. And so on. 8. Founders don’t know enough about their own businesses. Remember point 5? This causes a gap. And this gap keeps growing with scale. 9. We are 5 years behind western markets in technology adoption. Purely because of points 2 (risk) and 5 (early delegation). Case in point -> First party data adoption. This is the one single technology switch that has enabled US brands to keep scaling without dropping MER and nobody in India is talking about it. But why is nobody talking about it? Because the people directly responsible for growth are MBA peeps, not founders themselves. These MBA peeps are even more risk averse. This would have never happened if the founder had upskilled and kept up with what’s new in the world.

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My friend, also an angel investor, called me today looking a bit frazzled 😅 He said, "How do you handle all these pitch decks every week? I can’t keep up!" I had to laugh because I’ve been there, the avalanche of decks never stops ❄️📄 Here’s what I told him step by step so he doesn’t miss the next big unicorn 🦄 First, know your focus 🎯 Are you looking at health tech? Green energy? AI? If not, swipe left. Being clear saves hours. Second, scan for the essentials 👀 Team, problem, market potential. If any of these are weak, move on. Don’t waste brain cells. Third, trust your instincts 💡 After enough decks, you start seeing patterns. Sometimes your gut is the best filter. Fourth, triage like a pro ⚡ Tag decks: deep dive, maybe later, pass. Keeps your pipeline organized and ensures the gems don’t get lost. Fifth, schedule focused review time ⏰ Even 30-60 minutes a few times a week keeps the flood manageable. Finally, remember: clarity is everything ✨ Founders, if your deck is confusing, it’s game over. Make it obvious why your idea matters and why you’re the team to do it. At the end of the day, it’s not about reading every deck; it’s about reading the right ones the right way. That’s how you find diamonds 💎 without drowning in the pile 🌊 #AngelInvestor #StartupLife #PitchDecks #InvestingTips #Founders #Startups #VentureCapital #TimeManagement #StartupInvesting

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Here’s what almost every D2C founder get wrong (and it’s not their ads) 👇 They hire an agency to “run ads”. But never ask: • What’s my hero product strategy? • What should my bundles be? • How can I upsell post-purchase? • What’s my repeat playbook? Ads aren’t your growth engine. They’re just the fuel. Our clients start to see traction — by touching their ads only in week 3. Why? Because we fixed the funnel, not just the traffic. You don’t need a better ad guy. You need a better growth lens. If you want your marketing partner to think like a co-founder, not a media buyer, let’s talk. #D2CGrowth #MarketingStrategy #BrandBuilding

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If this isn’t a wake up call, I don’t know what is. China imposing restrictions on the REEs export can be very difficult for India. Rare earth elements aren't rare. But access to them is. And in the race toward clean energy, that’s a problem most people are ignoring. Today, China controls over 68% of global REE mining and 86% of exports. These numbers don’t just indicate dominance, they define dependence. Your EVs, wind turbines, phones, defense systems, medical devices - all rely on REEs. These minerals power the green future we’re all trying to build. But here's the issue: -India holds over 6% of global REE reserves. - We mine less than 1%. That gap? It’s not just strategic. It’s existential. In 2010, when China cut off REE exports to Japan, the global market panicked. Prices spiked. Industries stalled. And once again, we remembered just how fragile our systems really are. Now imagine this happening at scale. Globally. Because that’s exactly where we’re headed unless we shift from extraction to intelligence. What are REEs used for? - Green energy: EV batteries, solar panels, wind turbines - Electronics: Smartphones, TVs, LEDs, laptops - Magnets & Motors: Used in almost every electric motor - Defense & Aerospace: Stealth, navigation, guidance systems - Medical: MRI machines, surgical tools - Refining: Catalysts for fuel and emissions control - Glass & Optics: High-performance glass, polishing, lenses They’re everywhere. And yet, we keep treating them like they’re infinite. So what’s the solution? Not just mining. And not just stockpiling. We need to build systems for circularity: - Recycle REEs from e-waste and clean tech - Localize processing capacity - Build incentives for recyclable design - Shift to lifecycle thinking, not just product cycles This is where real resilience comes from. Because if we don’t invest in sustainable recovery now, we’ll be paying the price in dependency later. The future isn’t just electric, it’s circular. And those who understand that today will lead tomorrow. Recykal.com #recykal #circularity #china #exports #evs

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Most founders obsess over how their deck looks. But investors don’t fund based on good design. They fund based on their conviction. Here are 4 things your deck actually needs to build conviction around: 1. Current need-gap and solution (short term) 2. Future need-gap and solution (long term) 3. Why this will be HUGE in the long term 4. Why this will be massively profitable in the long term --------------- 1. Current need-gap and solution (short term) Is this solving a real problem today? Is there early traction or validation? Most decks get this part right. It’s the default focus. 2. Future need-gap and solution (long term) Will this still be a meaningful problem tomorrow—and are you the one to solve it then too? This is where most decks fall short. They get busy selling the “now”… and forget that investors are buying the future. If you don’t transfer conviction about what the world will need—and how you’ll meet it— the deal won’t move forward. Note that, I call it 'transfering conviction from founder's mind to investor's mind' It's different from convincing investors with data dump. Sometimes, the future solution looks very different from today’s (think: Cred). Other times, it evolves only slightly. (most startups) Either way—you still need to make the future version feel inevitable. The world will change. So will your market. Even your solution might evolve. Today's conviction doesn't automatically translate into future conviction. 3. Why this will be HUGE in the long term This isn’t about slapping on a $5B TAM slide. TAM is proof. But conviction must come first. Proof is just the icing. Conviction is the cake. Investors have to feel that this can be massive—before your numbers confirm it. Even if you’re small today, the scale story needs to feel believable. 4. Why this will be massively profitable in the long term Same principle. Conviction >> Proof. It’s okay if you’re not profitable right now. But I should believe you’re building a future profit engine. Short-term profitability is a bonus. Long-term profitability is the bet. — When a deck feels off, it’s usually not a design issue. It’s a belief gap between founder & investor.

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BluSmart controversy: A wake-up call for the startup ecosystem? The recent BluSmart developments have sent shockwaves through the startup world. And it’s not just about one company—it’s about the credibility of the entire ecosystem. As founders, we must realize: Funding is not success. Governance is. Here’s what I believe every startup must do to stay credible and investible: • Appoint senior board advisors with real-world experience • Bring in an independent director for unbiased oversight • Work with a reputed Chartered Accountancy firm for financial transparency • Keep books clean, compliant, and audit-ready • Avoid related-party transactions or disclose them properly • Be honest with investors,even when things aren’t going great Startups aren’t just building products,they’re building trust. What else do you think startups should do to build long-term credibility? Would love to hear your suggestions and experiences. #StartupGovernance #InvestorTrust #BluSmart #FounderLessons #Startups

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Worry Is the Signal, Work the Response (Originally published for Slice of Startup Life on eChai Ventures) Founders worry. All the time. Payroll is due but a client’s payment hasn’t come in. A key customer leaves without warning. A teammate hints at moving on. An investor who seemed excited goes quiet. Sometimes it’s a shipment stuck in transit. Sometimes it’s a competitor launching the same feature you’ve been building for months. Sometimes it’s simpler, you plan a brand event, but registrations are far lower than you expected. Worry sneaks in, and once it does, it loops in your head. Telling yourself to stay calm rarely works. Worry doesn’t leave just because you want it to. That’s because worry is not useless. It is a signal. It points to the money, the product, the people, or the growth areas that need your attention. And once you see the signal, you need a response. The best response is action. If you’re worried about payroll, chase down the late payment. If you’re worried about churn, call the customers who left. If you’re worried about the event, reach out and invite more people. If you’re worried about competition, make your product better. The worry won’t vanish overnight, but the act of doing makes it lighter. Work steadies the loop. Sometimes that action starts with a pause. An evening with friends, a walk, or a meal without your laptop won’t fix the problem, but it clears the head. And often, that space is what lets you return to the work with more energy and focus. So worry is the signal. Work is the response. One shows you where to look, the other helps you move forward. The question is never whether worry will show up. The question is how you’ll respond when it does.

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This Grammarly ad (22M views) is 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹-𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴. In part, due to its structure. Here are 4 core concepts you can borrow for your B2B software ad. (𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘦 0:30 𝘢𝘥) 𝟭 - 𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝗸𝗲 The ad lowers your guard right before --> The feature --> The CTA Two things we don't want to watch when watching YouTube. We want to watch fun content. That's why we're on YouTube. And when an ad opens with good acting, it stops us from skipping it long enough to hear the message. 𝟮 - 𝗜𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝟭 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Grammarly has 13+ features and 100+ integrations. But we only really talked about 1. Email writing. The feature is so easy to grasp. And so is the benefit. Saving time. They're targeting a busy B2B audience with this ad. So I love that it talks about enterprise value 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵. 𝟯 - 𝗜𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿 People are getting sucked into their computers. Literally. Can we just take a moment to clap at that? It's a VFX trick that probably took a lot of planning. I think it pays off. What makes it better... ...the metaphor is both PHYSICAL and MENTAL pain. Such a memorable way to paint the problem. 𝟰 - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 We're not bombarded with high-level concepts. We're not going into a complex platform. We're not on a crowded desktop. We see an actual example. Their UI is stylized. And there's nothing to distract us. It's a nice break from the Loom tutorials and in-depth guides I need to watch when I learn other software. This ad makes it easy to learn. ---- PS. Did you notice the sneaky social proof line toward the end? "... 70,000 teams trust Grammarly." I thought that was cheeky. What stood out to you? (Video by Squero )

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Most D2C founders live and die by ROAS. But here’s the problem: ROAS is a lagging metric. By the time you see ROAS drop, the damage has already been done. What you actually need are leading signals that predict whether your ads will scale profitably: ✅ CTR (Click-Through Rate): Tells you if your creative is pulling attention. If CTR is low, ROAS will tank later. ✅ LPV Rate (Landing Page Views ÷ Clicks): If your site takes forever to load, even great ads won’t save you. ✅ Add-to-Cart Rate: Early sign of buying intent. If ATC is healthy, ROAS almost always follows. Think of it like health: if ROAS is your cholesterol report after a heart attack, it's already too late to prevent damage. You want early indicators that help you change course before disaster strikes. CTR, LPV, and ATC are like daily blood pressure checks that warn you early, giving you time to adjust before major problems occur. The smartest marketers don’t just monitor the final score. They look at the warning signs early, fix the leaks, and protect profitability before it collapses.

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90% of D2C founders are out here oversharing on LinkedIn because their “strategist” said so. Okay, we all love the authentic stories (keep them coming). But if you're a D2C founder, there's a solid chance you're looking to attract investor attention. And if you're building something meaningful, there's an even better chance that a VC is reading your posts right now and deciding if you're investable. Here’s something to keep in mind - When investors scroll through your feed, they're not just reading for fun. They're quietly checking you out as a person, long before they ever see your pitch deck. They're asking: - Can this founder handle pressure?  - Do they make smart decisions?  - Are they someone I'd want to work with?  - Do they understand their market? Your posts are giving them answers whether you realize it or not. Here's the thing - you can't just share every thought that crosses your mind.  You need to be strategic about what you put out there. DO This: - Share specific numbers and metrics when you can  - Talk about what you learned from mistakes, not just the mistakes  - Show you understand your customers deeply  - Demonstrate you can hire and retain good people  - Share insights about your industry, not just your company  - Ask thoughtful questions that show you're thinking strategically  - Celebrate your team's wins, not just your own DON'T Do This: - Post about every crisis as it's happening  - Complain about competitors, suppliers, or customers  - Share content that makes you look like you're always struggling  - Post generic motivational quotes without adding your own insight  - Talk about raising money constantly  - Share personal drama or family issues  - Make promises you can't keep publicly Examples: Instead of: "Rough month, everything is falling apart"  Try: "Last month taught us three things about inventory management..." Instead of: "Looking for investors, DM me"  Try: "Built our customer acquisition cost down to $12. Here's how..." Instead of: "Competitors are copying us again"  Try: "Interesting to see the market moving toward X. We saw this coming because..." The best founders on LinkedIn don't just share what's happening to them. They share what they're learning, what they're building, and how they're thinking about their business. Remember - investors see hundreds of founders.  The ones who stand out aren't the ones crying about problems.  They're the ones solving problems and sharing what they figured out. Your LinkedIn is your reputation. Make it count. P.S. Looking for a team that helps you balance both beautifully? We're just a DM away🤎

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You need to stop obsessing over ads and fix your site first. I’ve seen D2C founders make this mistake 100+ times. They pour lakhs into ads. Traffic comes in… but the sales don’t. Why? Because your website is broken. ❌ Slow load times. ❌ Confusing navigation. ❌ No clear Call-To-Action. ❌ Zero trust-building elements. Here’s the truth no one wants to hear: Ads don’t sell. Correct systems sell. A good site should do three things: → Make the offer clear. → Make checkout easy. → Build enough trust to buy. Get these basics right, and the same ad generates 2–3x more sales. Because a confused customer never buys. 👉 Ready to stop burning money on ads alone?  Book your free audit call today (link in comments).

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"Your product will do great on quick-commerce!" A statement which most of my portfolio brands get to hear from the ecosystem day in and day out. There are strong investment thesis' which are being circulated for "Q-Com Only" / "Q-Com First Brands", and people talking great about the progress of our Q-Com giants in India. But no-body is talking about on ground challenges which a founder is facing in their journey on quick commerce platforms. Let me share some regular incidents, I have witnessed myself along with my portfolio brands: 1. Let's say it out loud: On-boarding a quick-com is like securing a seat in a Delhi / Mumbai Top College. Everybody in the industry - founders, investors, enablers & ME - everybody is finding connects to the latest category managers / POCs across platforms to connect with our clients. 2. Employee attrition is massive, and there is 0 handover of data when your POC / manager changes. It's a mess for days if not months, once they leave. 3. There is 0 communication between buying teams and finance teams and brand owners get caught in their crossfires, ending up in late payments and liquidity choking. 4. It does not stop at communication gaps between buying and finance! a. Buying team's are raising PO's. b. Founders are shipping goods, which reach the q-com warehouse c. warehouse managers rejecting goods because they have no communication for these entries. d. Goods lying around in logistics partner warehouses for weeks, PO's getting expired. e. Amidst all of this, No Responsibility, No Communication, Nothing from the Q-Com Teams, because event they are not able to figure out how to handle this mess. 5. Didn't even want to keep regular payment delays at the top of this list as they are so common, and people have made peace with it. 45 Days Credit Periods, Payments coming post 90 Days and multiple follow-ups because, the Q-Com Partner was shifting its accounting software, and hence decided to not pay to anybody for a while. Not to Forget, Banks starting to disregard, Q-Com Invoices for Invoice Discounting Lines. 6. Q-Com Partners loading Ad Wallets, without prior approvals from companies, for amount more than 3x of the brand's revenue on their platforms, and asking brand owners to pay for it, while they promise 1.5x Ad Credit Instead, but please don't escalate these issues ahead. It is an operational hazard, but it is yet a necessary. Brand's posting celebratory / success stories with q-com platforms also going through the same issues. It is important to at least provide support to the founders who are being hit in this entire cross fire. Because, these are the same founders, who get calls to schedule meetings with the marketing teams of Q-Com's to decide their "Ad Spend for their next month", before their PO's are accepted by warehouse managers. PS: Attaching a snippet from a daily conversation with one of the teams across the platforms. Zepto Instamart Blinkit

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Hemingway had plenty of organic traffic. But the people actively searching for a writing tool couldn’t find them. If someone Googled grammar checker or proofreading software, Hemingway might as well not exist. Hemingway already had: → Strong brand recognition → Plenty of organic sessions But growth was capped. Why? Nearly all visibility came from branded and informational searches. People who already knew Hemingway or just wanted writing advice. When users searched for a solution like grammar checker, proofreading software, paraphrasing tool, readability checker, Hemingway wasn’t there. The goal wasn’t more traffic. It was to show up before the brand was known, at the exact moment someone was searching for a solution. So we flipped the approach. BOFU first. Instead of publishing more content, we built pages around high-intent, solution-aware categories tied directly to signups: → Grammar checking → Proofreading → Paraphrasing → Readability Authority came from structure, not volume. Each category became a destination, with tightly mapped subpages, clear internal linking, and intent alignment that told Google exactly what Hemingway should rank for. And every page was built to convert, not just answer a question and send users back to search. The result: • 8k+ additional monthly organic sessions to BOFU pages • Strong visibility for competitive, conversion-focused terms • A meaningful lift in signups from intent-driven traffic The takeaway isn’t “publish more content.” It’s this: SEO fails when it’s treated like a traffic channel. It works when it’s treated like a demand capture channel. If organic growth has stalled, it’s rarely an effort problem. It’s an intent problem. And until you rank for searches from people who’ve never heard of you, SEO will always feel like branding, not growth. -- Getting traffic but not signups from organic? The problem isn't effort, it's intent. We'll show you where the gaps are: https://lnkd.in/e98_Q45Z

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