Daily rant on Dollar daftness. Why oh why do seed stage companies in India insist on referring to things in Dollars? If someone reaches out to me with a message "I'm looking to raise $1 million at $10 million", and over 50% of their revenues AREN'T earned in USD, you're going to the reject mailbox. It's easy to try and 'siliconvalley-ize' building companies, refocus on reality. #funding #fundraising #startups #india #venturecapital
As a US based investor, sometimes I am slow in mentally converting INR to USD. I sometimes need to pause in the pitch to understand the math. And the inconsistency between INR and USD doesn’t help. I’m with you on INR being form factor but if the founder is raising global capital from global fund, they should show everything in dollar.
I disagree. It's just easier for me to grasp the number, Rupee is a big number. I don't understand 1 lakh crores, but i understand $10 Million. I think it's just what someone is comfortable with.
News agencies should also start mentioning figures in INR. Since everyone tends to talk in terms of USD, it becomes a natural choice to follow suit. However, change has to start somewhere. Thanks for pointing this out. We will update our mailers and deck to show figures in INR. Although our entire business plan is made in INR, we did a final conversion of the raise to USD. Mahima Jain - this is what you've been pointing out for quite some time.
You do walk the talk by putting numbers in your website in crores and not $ millions. But when your own portfolio companies publicize funding rounds in $M why grudge the rest? Maybe they are raising from both usa and Indian investors hence doing this
Avik Ashar Hershel Mehta The Pitch Deck & Finance model we have is in USD since we deal with international freight so USD is the specific currency we deal with. On the other hand we are a start up based in India aggressively looking to raise funds. So we need your valued feedback to keep the currency in USD or INR?
I think this is a chicken egg situation. We as founders always spoke in Crs and Lakhs. Funds usually wanted us to change it to $ for uniformity in IMs. It was assumed that's the norm. But, agreed, should always be in local currencies.
We have only truly Silconvalley-ized when a part of the fund raise goes for building Sleep-Pods in offices :)
Most VCs actually Ask the amount in Dollars, even they mention the same Thing in their websites also...
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4moIt’s a common issue to see seed-stage companies in India using dollar figures when their revenue isn’t in USD. It can definitely create confusion and make it seem like they’re not fully grounded in their local market dynamics. Refocusing on practical, region-specific metrics can not only make pitches more relevant but also show a better understanding of the actual market. For many startups, clearly presenting how they plan to grow and scale within their local context can be more impactful than just quoting dollar amounts. For those in the early stages, it might be worth considering how your financials and projections align with your actual market and revenue streams. This approach can strengthen your pitch and make your business case more compelling to investors who are familiar with the local landscape. If you’re looking for more strategies on crafting effective pitches or need help aligning your financial metrics with your market, feel free to reach out. Let’s keep the conversation going and support each other in building stronger, more grounded businesses!