Venture Scholar Profile: Vikram Shandilya
This week our Venture Scholars were able to pitch their deal reviews to G51 live and in person!
The Texas-based organisation flew to Boston this week and the deal review was hosted in Babson College, a 20 minute drive from Boston University. This was not the first time a deal review has been held in Boston, as G51 was previously hosted here at the Questrom School of Business last fall on the invitation of Professor Gregory Stoller.
Venture Scholars within the Greater Boston area, including 5 of ours, made the trip to Babson and met with Rudy Garza, one of the founders and general partners of G51, which he founded as a venture capital firm 10 years ago in 1996.
According to Omer Lidor, a Venture Scholar in attendance at Babson that day: “It was pretty cool having them right here in Boston. Every week we speak to them remotely – this week we finally got to put faces to the names and voices on the phone. It was really great meeting Rudy and hearing his thoughts in person,”
Vikram Shandilya, the Venture Scholar we heard from this week, presented two very different deals on Friday. A successful early enterprise selling art photography and a communications startup that combines the utility of multiple phones (including phone numbers and simcards) into one device.
A computer science engineer from India, Vikram has tried his hand at entrepreneurship several years before he came to Boston to pursue his MBA in Health Sector Management. Inspired by the needs of rural communities around him, Vikram began his own startup during his undergraduate studies with the aim of mobilising the resources of several public schools within the district and facilitating the sharing of information through a common website. Although the idea was received well and at least 5 local schools agreed to participate in the initiative, Vikram and his co-founder faced significant challenges in its implementation. The experienced brought him to realise that he needed certain skills to position himself to truly make a difference.
Like other Venture Scholars, Vikram’s participation in the program served to gain him real experience in venture capital and the investment side of entrepreneurship. When asked about his process, Vikram shared that “Actually, with good time management you can review a deal in three to four days. I only review deals where I have the contact details of the entrepreneur and that I’ll be able to talk to.
The first thing I do is industry research – who else is in the market, how big is it, how competitive. Once I know what I’m talking about I contact the entrepreneur and set up a time for us to have a conversation. Then in the next few days I do research about the company and their value proposition.
The information I collect and the interview with the entrepreneur will give me enough information to make an informed recommendation for deal review.”
In fact, Vikram’s favourite part of the G51 program is his interactions with the entrepreneurs. “They’re passionate people, they love to talk about their baby. When I think about the deals, I approach it first from a devil’s advocate perspective, why did they make certain decisions, why this route and not that one. Then I look at it from a supportive way, how do we make this better, how can we meet the goals.
When I talk with the entrepreneur, I get a feel of their personality. I ask them about their strategies going forward, I question their decisions and we talk about what they do well and what they could do better”
Vikram presented both deals on Friday and his analysis was well received by G51, bringing the total number of deals he reviewed this semester to four. Vikram is active in several leadership positions within the Boston community from which his involvement provide him with real life experience and skill set building to bring to his next venture. He is a board member of Bottom Line through the BU on Board program, and a board member of the Boston Chapter of the National Society for Hispanic MBAs. In addition to these, Vikram is the Fundraising Executive of the Questrom Graduate Internship Fund, a non-profit that supports graduate internships in social impact sectors; he also holds a leadership position in the Questrom Graduate Marketing club.
Completed by BU MBA candidate Joanna Ghazali
