Anjula Acharia
Partner at Trinity Ventures. Entrepreneur, Angel investor and Manager to Priyanka Chopra
Discussion
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
I’m Anjula Acharia, partner at Trinity Ventures and manager of Priyanka Chopra. I’m an entrepreneur, philanthropist, pop culture enthusiast and angel investor. I’ve invested in ClassPass, The Hunt (acquired by Pinterest), Mayvenn, Gobble, The Muse and many more. I’m delighted to be here -- ask me anything!
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neeharika sinha
@neeeharika · Google, Threadchannel
Hello Anjula ! Great to meet you here. What is the best way a seed stage company to get noticed by you? Are you interested in companies in a certain vertical more than the others in the coming yeaR?
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
@neeeharika hi!!! I generally look for cultural shifts - for example I saw that people were going less to gyms and were obsessed by classes and paying a lot for them, so when Payal Kadakia talked to me about classpass I thought she was on to something. there was a real shift happening
Eva Otte Smith
@eva · Marketing
Hi Anjula, how did you become a partner at Trinity Ventures?
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
@eva I was an entrepreneur-in-residence at Trinity thanks to @ajaychopra who was actually a VC I pitched for my series B of desi hits. I always loved Trinity and the partners (in particular him because he was an entrepreneur himself) and he asked me to stay. I said yes!!!
Ranj Bath
@ranj_bath
From all of your experience, If there's one thing you could do differently what would it be?
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
@ranj_bath LOL!!!! I would have failed faster and admitted to myself when things were not working in business - when your heart and soul is wrapped in something to accept you have to change or pivot. I really admire people who can do that fast..
Koji K
@twelvejapan · Web/iPhoneApp dev/legal tech startup
Hi Anjula, thanks for your time. I'm working for a startup and building MVP. We're a very early stage and trying to get funding. All of us don't have experience in startups' scene. Could you give us some advice? Like what to do and what not to do. Thank you!
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
@twelvejapan I was in exactly the same position when I started. Listen carefully.... you need to be in the right environments and you need to network with the right people - VC's, angels, go to VC and angel events, there are so many of them. Don't just go there and sell yourself, engage in conversation about the space you are in, talk about the challenges and issues and inspire with your solutions. You have to engage in a 2 way conversation with people.... if they aren't contributing and engaged, notice and change your strategy, ask questions.... the right investors for you will engage in good conversation, the wrong ones won't....
Koji K
@twelvejapan · Web/iPhoneApp dev/legal tech startup
@anjula_acharia Thank you so much!!!
Amit Singh
@abeoye · Founder, Wow Labz
@anjula_acharia Haha! One of my portfolio companies matches your investment thesis - tech meets pop culture(non fashion/music but qualifies as Digital Media). It's SF based. I'd love if you'd check it out at your convenience and let me know if it excites you.
Japna Sethi
@japna_sethi
Hi Anjula! You've managed to follow your passion, work in multiple areas, and be incredibly successful. You've worked in entertainment/media, and expanded that to become an entrepreneur, a manager, and an angel. What advice can you give to young women (and others) hoping to do the same? What are some actions we can take to find our own individual path, and how did you discover it?
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
@japna_sethi hi japna, thanks for your question.... a lot of what has happened in my life has not been deliberate, I have kind of just been swept up in different winds and sometimes question whether that is good or bad ;-) success is a funny description because for many years I was building my start-up (which I eventually had to shut down) and I didn't feel successful at the time, in fact, I at times I felt like a failure. What I was able to do though, was look at what I was successful at and leverage those things to move on to the next, it is true that I followed my passions but those passions took different shapes and I didn't resist that. I have been surrounded by some very successful people who I felt knew me better than I knew myself and I listened to their advice and embraced what seemed crazy at the time. For example, I was a start-up founder from silicon valley and Jimmy Iovine told me to manage Priyanka Chopra, he said I was the ONLY person who would be successful because I had a different approach (because I was not from the industry) - it seemed absurd to me at the time, I had never managed anyone in my life and I had no clue what I was doing. He felt that was exactly what Priyanka needed. It totally makes sense to me now..... she is a different talent altogether and she required a disruptive approach and that's what I did because I didn't know any different. So I would say, listen to the smartest and closest people around you and maybe they will know your path before you know it! I also mediate a lot and block out the noise, listen to what I really want to do (I love this app called 10% happier that is kind of meditation for dummies) it really helped me become aware of the things I am telling myself .... maybe this is too deep for product hunt but of well!!!! I am out of time :-)
Japna Sethi
@japna_sethi
@anjula_acharia Thank you for your in-depth answer! I will definitely look at the meditation app and listen to my close friends/family :)
Thomas Stöcklein
@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com
1) What are some verticals/sectors that more entrepreneurs should focus on in your opinion?
2) If you were to start up an entire new business tomorrow, what type of company would you launch?
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
@tomstocklein I would start something that is at the intersection of tech and pop culture...
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
@tomstocklein I would never tell an entrepreneur that they should pursue a certain sector or vertical, you should do what makes sense to you and where you see the opportunity to solve a problem. if you are truly solving a problem and you turn out to be the best ones doing it and its a problem experienced by a lot of people you can win!
Thomas Stöcklein
@tomstocklein · FoundersFundersFuture.com
What are your favorite questions to ask founders seeking funding from Trinity Ventures
a) during the initial meeting
b) in the final meeting before you finalize your investment decision?
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
@tomstocklein I love asking founders their personal story ... how they see the world, what problem they are solving and why they are the best person to solve it.
Laf. Julius
@laf_julius · co- founder @evolvesports
What's the hardest part of managing priyanka? What's the best part? What current sectors are you currently interested in investing? Where do I send pitch deck? 📩
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Anjula Acharia
@anjula_acharia
@laf_julius the hardest part of managing PC is that she is so global and the demands on her are so all over the world! She is also someone who wants to do everything and be everywhere so its difficult from a logistics standpoint. There was also a lot of education about who she is and what she stands for (which is a lot). Priyanka is multitalented she isn't one of your "average stars" and because of that life is very demanding on her. Sometimes is just a tough call to say "you can't do everything and you need to slow down. She is so philanthropically driven (as am I) I feel its hard not to do everything that comes our way - you want to help, and be part of the solution. Trinity invests in both consumer and enterprise we are a diverse fund in the types of deals we do and the people we back. we mainly focus on series A & B.