Podcast: Sheel on Tank Talks
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Originally published by Ripple Ventures on Spotify here.
Sheel Mohnot, Founding Partner of BTV, is a natural storyteller and a good hang, you can just figure that out with his Twitter feed and his track record of creating one of the most popular startup podcasts. He also happens to be one of the sharpest minds in FinTech investing which makes him an exceedingly interesting guest.
This is a wide-ranging conversation that covers Sheel’s early days, what he learned as a founder, and how he’s grown as an investor. Enjoy!
In this episode, we discuss:
- (02:58) Sheel’s journey to becoming a FinTech investor
- (07:55) How did growing up in India and around the world help shape him
- (11:14) Sheel’s time at Fee Fighters and why they sold to Groupon
- (13:33) What he learned at Groupon
- (16:31) How the Pitch Podcast came to be
- (18:58) Selling the podcast to Spotify
- (20:58) How Sheel started as an Angel investor
- (22:24) 500 FinTech as a stepping stone to becoming a VC
- (25:05) His first fundraising experience
- (28:30) Investing in BTV’s first company before they had finished fundraising
- (30:18) How his investing journey has evolved
- (32:22) The importance of being a sounding board for founders
- (33:20) BTV’s investing thesis
- (35:18) Who Sheel looks up to as investors
- (36:29) Why VC needs to be collaborative
- (37:28) The importance of partnership in the VC/Founder relationship
- (38:56) Concrete things early-stage founders should ask from their VCs
- (39:37) How power law informs all of VC and portfolio construction
- (43:14) Lessons from Sheel’s anti-portfolio
- (44:59) His stay with Brian Chesky at Airbnb LA
Listen Here
Sheel is a Founding Partner of BTV, which also runs The Mint, the pre-seed program for fintech founders. They accept applications and introductions on a rolling basis. Sheel was also Co-Founder with successful exits from FeeFighters and Innovative Auctions.
