From failing at his 1st Business to investing in 250+ startups.
An inspiring story of Indiaโs favorite Angel Investor and hidden lessons to be learned from...
A thread ๐งต
An inspiring story of Indiaโs favorite Angel Investor and hidden lessons to be learned from...
A thread ๐งต
Anupam Mittal @AnupamMittal is undoubtedly an example of how a setback might be a blessing in disguise - not only for the entrepreneur but for the entire industry.
He is the Founder of People Group and has invested in 250+ startups in India.
He is the Founder of People Group and has invested in 250+ startups in India.
He did his graduation in commerce and joined his fatherโs textile business in Mumbai.
He ended up making some bad decisions, which caused huge losses in his family business and decided never to return to his fatherโs business.
He ended up making some bad decisions, which caused huge losses in his family business and decided never to return to his fatherโs business.
He travelled to the U.S and did his MBA from Boston College in 1990.
In 1996, he joined Microstrategy, the business intelligence software company in the US.
In 1996, he joined Microstrategy, the business intelligence software company in the US.
During his tenure Microstrategy had become the poster boy for startups, shooting the companyโs valuation from 100M$ to 40B$ in 2 years.
Anupam had generous stock options in the company making him a millionaire in his mid-twenties.
Anupam had generous stock options in the company making him a millionaire in his mid-twenties.
Around that time, he visited his family in India and chanced upon the idea of a matrimonial website when he was under the lens of a traditional matchmaker himself.
He immediately kicked off shaadi.com and moved back to US and managed the team from there.
He immediately kicked off shaadi.com and moved back to US and managed the team from there.
However in 2000 Microstrategy announced some accounting irregularities, crashing their stock by 66% in a single day.
Anupam had bought ferrari & porsche, but soon lost them all due to the stock crash.
He had no option but to return to India and work on shaadi.com
Anupam had bought ferrari & porsche, but soon lost them all due to the stock crash.
He had no option but to return to India and work on shaadi.com
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ญ: ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ
His first crisis was losing everything he earned at microstrategy
In 2006,he raised his 1st round of capital and made the rash decision of quick diversification to other businesses
His first crisis was losing everything he earned at microstrategy
In 2006,he raised his 1st round of capital and made the rash decision of quick diversification to other businesses
But there was almost no growth in the user base which decreased the confidence of investors in Anupamโs capability
After struggling for 2 years for fundraising, in 2008 he made a contractual agreement of $ 10 million from venture capital to use it to build interactive platforms
After struggling for 2 years for fundraising, in 2008 he made a contractual agreement of $ 10 million from venture capital to use it to build interactive platforms
Based on that he got into various areas and started to build Fropper and makaan.com (real estate portal)
Soon after, the Lehman brothers bankruptcy brought about a global economic freeze, all the VCโs vanished and Anupam was facing bankruptcy all over again.
Soon after, the Lehman brothers bankruptcy brought about a global economic freeze, all the VCโs vanished and Anupam was facing bankruptcy all over again.
Company was in debt as Anupam had borrowed money to run the company's operations and was confident of the $ 10 million investment which never came.
This led to the first round of layoff. Initiatives like fropper were put on hold and he focused on profitability for next 5 years
This led to the first round of layoff. Initiatives like fropper were put on hold and he focused on profitability for next 5 years
This decision came at a price, he lost the race of shaadi.com to bharatmatrimony, and makaan.com to 99 acres and magicbricks.
He lost his competitiveness in both businesses as he was not investing and just optimizing cash.
He lost his competitiveness in both businesses as he was not investing and just optimizing cash.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ-๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฌ
makaan.com had accumulated tons of liabilities, was heavily dependent on shaadi.com (@ShaadiDotCom) and not carrying its weight at all.
makaan.com had accumulated tons of liabilities, was heavily dependent on shaadi.com (@ShaadiDotCom) and not carrying its weight at all.
Investors were pressing Anupam to sell makaan.com but he believed in the business and was not keen to sell the company for peanuts.
Anupam had cashed out his largest investment by then.
Anupam had cashed out his largest investment by then.
He had made investments in Interactive avenue, a digital marketing startup in 2007 and was acquired by IPG (Interpublic Group) in 2012.
Anupam owned a third of the company.
His Angel investment came to his rescue at the right time
Anupam owned a third of the company.
His Angel investment came to his rescue at the right time
Anupam chose to invest Rs 12 crore and ended up owning 100% in makaan.com
Real Estate classified portals are known to be bloodsuckers before becoming profitable
Anupamโs spinning out with https://t.co/WfyCELAEZ1 was nothing short of playing with fire
Real Estate classified portals are known to be bloodsuckers before becoming profitable
Anupamโs spinning out with https://t.co/WfyCELAEZ1 was nothing short of playing with fire
But the Risk paid off, In 2015 Real Estate Portal Proptiger acquired makaan.com.
Anupam couldnโt have got a better script for this.
Anupam couldnโt have got a better script for this.
He made a lot of cash in that deal and ended up being the largest shareholder of the combined entity of Housing.com, makaan.com and Proptiger which is valued at $ 250 million
This incident is a sheer example of self belief and perseverance of Anupam.
This incident is a sheer example of self belief and perseverance of Anupam.
๐
๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ
Anupam was one of the very few Angel Investors when he started investing in 2006.
He has invested in more than 250 startups but his investment in Ola has made him most money
Anupam was one of the very few Angel Investors when he started investing in 2006.
He has invested in more than 250 startups but his investment in Ola has made him most money
Anupam rejected the idea of Ola and refused to invest initially as the idea didn't make sense to him.
Despite his reservations he couldnโt forget about it
He would call the Ola call center every week and show his frustration for the services
He wanted to test the character
Despite his reservations he couldnโt forget about it
He would call the Ola call center every week and show his frustration for the services
He wanted to test the character
Invariably the phone was answered by Bhavish (@bhash) himself, unaware that he was being tested
Anupam was impressed with the way Bhavish handled the situations on call
As fortune favors the brave, once Anupam was in Delhi and struggled to book a taxi
Anupam was impressed with the way Bhavish handled the situations on call
As fortune favors the brave, once Anupam was in Delhi and struggled to book a taxi
He experienced the problem Bhavish was trying to explain to him for a long time
He was already sold on Bhavish and his personal experience in Delhi made him invest in Ola (@Olacabs)
He invested Rs 50 lacs, which has grown to Rs 350-400 Crores over 9 years
He was already sold on Bhavish and his personal experience in Delhi made him invest in Ola (@Olacabs)
He invested Rs 50 lacs, which has grown to Rs 350-400 Crores over 9 years
๐๐; ๐๐
Losing a boatload of money at microstrategy accelerated Anupamโs full time entrepreneur role
As an entrepreneur he raised tons of money but his empire nearly crumbled
With his investments & success of makaan.com he is rebuilding shaadi.com
Losing a boatload of money at microstrategy accelerated Anupamโs full time entrepreneur role
As an entrepreneur he raised tons of money but his empire nearly crumbled
With his investments & success of makaan.com he is rebuilding shaadi.com
Ola which he initially rejected, has made most of Anupamโs wealth as an investor
He is one of the Sharks in @sharktankindia & giving back to the ecosystem
He is an example of how a setback might be a blessing in disguise-not only for the entrepreneur but for the entire industry
He is one of the Sharks in @sharktankindia & giving back to the ecosystem
He is an example of how a setback might be a blessing in disguise-not only for the entrepreneur but for the entire industry
If you have enjoyed this RT the 1st Tweet and give me a follow at @AdeshraNikunj for more tips, stories, and tactics about growing a business.
I've bootstrapped Proptech @clear_deals,acquired 2600+ paid clients,doubled my revenue each year & built my company valued at 5M $
I've bootstrapped Proptech @clear_deals,acquired 2600+ paid clients,doubled my revenue each year & built my company valued at 5M $
You would also like to check the incredible story of another indian startup whose founder is also part of @sharktankindia
https://twitter.com/AdeshraNikunj/status/1481231461160488965?t=g3nzy97AdB90rYInub_9NQ&s=19
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