E84: Parag Dhol (General Partner, Athera Venture Partners)

The Desi VC: Indian Venture Capital | Angel Investors | Startups | VC

Parag Dhol is the General Partner at Athera Venture Partners. He started his VC career with ICICI Venture, India’s first venture capital company, in 1993. He followed that up with stints at GE and Intel’s corporate venture arms. Parag joined Athera (formerly known as Inventus Capital) in 2008, shortly after the first close of Fund I. Parag is/was a Board Director/Observer at redBus (acquired), FundsIndia, Lemnisk (buy-back), eTechies (buy-back), Power2SME, PolicyBazaar (IPO), Avaz (buy-back), peel-works, Tricog, worxogo, Pixxel and Clootrack.

Parag has a B.Tech. (Mechanical Engg.) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore.

In this episode, we will cover:

1. Venture Capital in India in the 1990s (2:55)

2. What factors influence a fund manager's temperament? (5:26)

3. Things that surprise Parag about Indian venture capital (9:58)

4. What lessons has public market investing taught Parag about private market investing? (20:29)

5. Managing investor biases and blindspots (24:32)

6. What investment advice would Parag give to his younger self? (29:13)

7. Evolution of Indian VC over the decades (35:10)

8. Considering the current venture landscape in India (43:59)

9. What continues to pique Parag's interest in the India opportunity? (51:16)

10. Athera's vision and the role Parag sees it playing in Indian venture capital (55:08)

11. How would Parag like to be remembered i.e. his legacy in Indian VC (1:00:06)