Bangalore: When a VC makes an investment in a company, they are taking a big risk. They not only put in their money, but also their time and efforts. The first investment generally offers a lot of learning to a VC, which sets course for the future investments. In a candid chat with siliconindia, few VCs shared their insights about the learning from their first investments.

Epiphany Ventures

“Our first investment was in iLevel Solutions. My learning was that even after an entrepreneur has a fantastic business plan, you have to be prepared as there will always be surprises. You have to be quick to adapt and change according to the situation. Sometimes the product capabilities would not be like what you thought, so you would have to change the product. There can be positive or negative surprises, but you have to take things in your stride, and have the ability to cross the hurdles. Sometimes your strategies can be incorrect, your client might not be satisfied and might ask for few changes. Thus things do not always go as planned in case of a startup, you have to be prepared to face the situation as and when required. Also, you should have a good relation and credibility with the management. If you trust each other’s instincts help the business to perform well,” says Gaurav Saraf, Director, Epiphany Ventures.

Epiphany Ventures is a VC firm founded in 2008, which focuses in early-stage businesses. The fund is sector agnostic and aims to invest in value-driven innovative, and scalable business opportunities. The typical investment ranges from $500,000 to $3 million and the firm is open to co-invest in larger deals by collaborating with other funds or HNIs from its network.