After my last company was acquired, I found the time to look at the world around and I was quickly came to realize that it’s a perfect time to start a company. Traditionally startups have required teams of 15-20, two+ years and millions of dollars before they have their first hundred users. There was a new class of startup that could, with a few people and a small pot of capital get to that kind of traction in months. However traditional forms of early capital were not structured to participate in such startups. The startups did not need the kind of money that was normally invested by these firms and most would not see the kind of exits that traditional early capital considered viable.
I concluded that what was needed was a different form of entrepreneurship and not a different form of capital. This led me to set up Tandem Entrepreneurs.
We invest our sweat and usually less than $1MM in a startup over a period of 2 years working in tandem with the founders. We are much more like Y-combinator than Sequoia. We don’t consider ourselves a VC like Sequoia because we work so closely with founders and view more modest exits as a success. We love Y-Combinator’s approach, but they just help a company get out of the gates. We engage for a much longer period and happen to invest more time and money in each business.
Take a look at our website tandementrepreneurs.com that has more detail. I would love to get the thoughts of the venture woods community. We would also love to hear from founders who would like to work with us.
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I like the logo and it summarizes the whole idea which is what INDIAN innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs are badly in need of.
Very refreshing to your website ! Some eye catching cartoons which are enough to get the message across really make it stand out from the crowd !
A few questions:
How do you propose to assess the ground situation here in India while being based in the US ? Adding value as entrepreneurs to a startup will require your presence atleast 12hrs each day, if not more ! And the ground situation in India, and guiding startups based in India is a whole new dimension i think.
Do you have a team currently working in India, or are u in the process of setting up an office/workplace here ?
What all incubation facilities are you planning to offer to startups in India ? Office space, tech help, logistics, etc etc…
Great questions and comments. I truely appreciate the thoughtful comments. I am on a short vacation and have limited access to the internet so expect a post that answers all the questions on Monday.
Hi Sunil,
Great concept and a very interesting business model in today’s world of web2.0 startups. This will help the small innovators. If the core team that Tandem forms is strong in their domains, this could become a very good incubator for innovative ideas.
Couple of questions:
1. You mention how you differentiate from Y-Combinator by offering full support and services to the entrepreneurs. How do you intend to differentiate from other incubators such as HitForge or Obvious?
2.Are you focusing on the Indian entrepreneurs and Indian businesses? Or are you targeting US businesses?
Good luck!
Sounds great. Though I share mohit’s apprehensions about how you plan to work in “tandem” with indian entrepreneurs when you are in CA.