Indian Summer
Insights from My Unique Introduction to Ed Tech VC Investing
Summers are typically reserved for two types of experiences: 1) Vacation: when I was younger summer was reserved for reflection and relaxation in a familiar place or 2) Exploration: as a college student and young professional it was time set for new experiences. I would have to say that summer 2012 falls under the latter category.
I was an MBA candidate at Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern), and I was set out to embark on a random internship. I received a fellowship from Kellogg’s Center for Research in Technology & Innovation (CRTI) to leverage my experience as an ed tech entrepreneur for a 12-week internship assignments. The CRTI Fellowship matched Kellogg First Year students with investment firms and social enterprises in India focused on using technology in innovative ways to improve governance, promote education, create livelihoods and improve health care. So in June 2012, I was set out to take on a very unconventional MBA internship, in every sense of the word:
City: While most my classmates were gearing up to experience summer- time Chi or test out living in popular cities such as San Francisco or New York, I was going to work in New Delhi, India. Also important to note that I had never been to Asia before I stepped off the plane that summer.
Function: I wasn’t going into Management Consulting or back to Investment Banking. As an entrepreneur, I would be learning the other side of the business as a Venture Capitalist.
Industry: Thankfully, I wasn’t green in all three areas. I had some experience as a founder of an ed tech online mentoring startup but would be expected to get quickly up the learning curve on all things technology (hardware, software) within the Indian education market.
My Firm and Agreed Summer Objectives
My CRTI sponsoring firm was Central Square Foundation (aka CSF). The company was founded in 1Q 2012 by successful Private Equity professional, Ashish Dhawan. The team was definitely a startup when I joined; CSF had only six full-time employees with a majority focusing on the nonprofit programming and community awareness projects. I was selected to work with Ashish and the venture capital investment arm of the foundation. Before joining the team, I spoke with Ashish and former Executive Director, Azad Oommen and agreed to provide the following deliverables at the conclusion of my internship:
Develop a market map of the Indian ed tech industry
Draft a landscape analysis report on the Indian ed tech industry (Highlighting trends, investment opportunities, risk drivers, etc.)
Present investment thesis and insights from research to central square foundation board of directors and investment committee
Firm Culture & Structured Approach Served as Foundation for Success
To achieve those objectives during the summer, I had to quickly develop adaptive approaches both personally and professionally to succeed in my new environment. Looking back at the experience, I believe I was able to produce quality work and drive impact in some of the company’s key objectives because I was able to listen actively, quickly develop pattern recognition, and persistently remain curious. Ultimately, these characteristics enabled me to become a strong investor and better man in an unfamiliar setting. Thanks to my former CSF colleagues who answered all of my (sometimes stupid) questions and who advised me on business customs in India. If it were not for my colleagues there, I would have missed out on a holistic experience.
Professionally, I felt the best approach to complete my summer objectives was to leverage secondary and primary resources in the ed tech field. My first couple days, I read as much market research I could and then identified the specific ed tech market leaders that could not only provide our team with an overview of their product but also introduce us to others in the ecosystem.
Outcomes of Summer Objectives
I was able to achieve each of my objectives, which served as the groundwork for future accomplishments and projects of CSF. Below I provide an overview of what I accomplished for each specific deliverable and what that objective led to:
Market map of Indian ed tech industry — Through research and meetings with industry experts, we identified approximately 130 different players within the ecosystem. We conducted meetings with more than 75 companies (ranging from pre-revenue startups to Fortune 500) including 32 in person meetings during an eight day trip to 3 cities (Mumbai, Chennai, and Banglore). The graphic below is of my finalized project, which was an early draft of CSF’s interactive market map.
Landscape analysis report on Indian ed tech industry — Leveraging secondary research and meeting notes, I synthesized my findings into a white paper. The draft was an extensive 50-page report consisting of macro trends, investment recommendations, 5 case studies, and select company profiles. In July 2015, CSF released their finalized ed tech landscape report.
Present investment strategy to select stakeholders — On my last day in New Delhi, I shared my thesis and recommendations to the investment committee. Of the 5 opportunity areas that I recommended, 4 (Adaptive Content Providers, Curator of OERs, Teacher Training Tools, & Enterprise Resource Planning Tools) were in areas CSF made subsequent investments.
My Indian summer is an experience I will never forget. I was able to see parts of the world I never imagined and discover a new passion for venture capital investing. In March 2012, I accepted the fellowship with CRTI. I remember questioning my decision and doubting whether it was a good investment of my time. Similarly to the investments I conducted due diligence on, my summer had uncertainty but 3 years later I can say that the return was at least 15X.
For more information on the awesome work that Central Square Foundation is doing in education for students in India please check out their website and follow them on twitter @csf_india.