Long-Term Investment Approaches

What do Fevicol, Royale, Dabur Honey, Eveready, Bajaj, Dr. Fixit, and Apex all have in common? They are Indian entrepreneur-led brands that have held dominant market share for decades. No government protection. No regulatory barriers. No global giant has been able to push them out. The secret? After three decades of working with and learning from some of these organisations, I can say this with confidence: they operate on a different code. It is not just about size. It is about mindset, decisions, and leadership DNA. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀, 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗱𝗱𝘀. Here are eight patterns that consistently set them apart. I call it the 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲, because these organisations have always stayed at the frontier of their markets: → 𝗙 — 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗱. No red tape. Agility is protected, even at scale. → 𝗥 — 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺. As one MD once told me when I hesitated on a bold campaign spend: “If you are confident, go ahead. We don’t have to wait for approval to come from Geneva. Send me a note in the evening, I will approve it.” → 𝗢 — 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 (𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲). Brand investment doesn’t just mean TV advertising but visibility in channels, amongst influencers and consumers. They take risks with that investment even before achieving scale. → 𝗡 — 𝗡𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁. Responsibility and trust create loyalty. Employees become custodians, not just staff. → 𝗧 — 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Dealers and distributors are business partners, not numbers. Leaders know them by name and solve their problems hands-on. That is why products reach every shelf from metros to kiranas. → 𝗜 — 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁. It is not a research report. Leaders stay close to the consumer, connect dots, and act on patterns. → 𝗘 — 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆-  is built deep in the organisation. Everyone is trained to sniff opportunities, not just the founder. → 𝗥 — 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆. Wins are celebrated, but never worshipped. Progress never stops. The operating code is simple, but powerful: 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀. 𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲. 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲.

The biggest threat to long-term growth isn't losing consumers. It's allowing your product roadmap to be entirely defined by the needs of your past growth cycle. The pattern with every growing business is clear: the companies that win don't just serve existing consumers better. They successfully identify and build for their future consumers at the same time. Why is this so hard? Because your current, high-value consumers are the loudest voices. They consistently ask for small, incremental improvements or more complex variations of what already works for them. But tomorrow's consumers? They want something fundamentally different—often, they just want simplicity and clarity. Crucially, they remain silent until they choose your competitor. I've watched many new brands fall into this D2C trap. They keep building more complex product offerings for existing users, while the next wave of consumers only wants simpler choices. This leads directly to losing new market share to companies offering cleaner experiences. While expanding your business, remember this: An intense focus on your current consumer can become a serious constraint if you fail to look ahead. Your current best consumers got you here. Your future consumers will fuel your next stage of growth. #StartupLessons #BuildingaBusiness #Entrepreneurship

Decarbonization Journey 🌎 Effective decarbonization begins with establishing a comprehensive and accurate emissions baseline. This involves measuring direct and indirect emissions using standardized methodologies and ensuring third-party verification to provide transparency and credibility. Without a reliable baseline, it is not possible to track progress or prioritize action effectively. Once emissions are measured, science-based targets must be set to provide direction and accountability. Targets aligned with the 1.5 degree Celsius scenario create a clear benchmark for action and support alignment with international climate commitments. These targets serve as the foundation for long-term planning and investment decisions across business units. Identifying and prioritizing abatement levers is the next critical step. This requires a detailed analysis of emissions hotspots across operations, supply chains, and product lifecycles. Prioritization enables the allocation of resources to the most material reduction opportunities and supports integration into operational planning. With priority areas defined, organizations must build decarbonization pathways that translate targets into practical trajectories. These pathways combine technology options, operational changes, and supplier engagement strategies into structured plans that outline when and how reductions will be achieved over time. Implementation depends on effective resource allocation and internal coordination. Teams must be equipped with the tools, guidance, and incentives to execute the plan. Success also relies on embedding emissions reduction into core decision-making processes, including procurement, logistics, and capital expenditure. Communication plays a critical role in supporting both execution and accountability. Internally, it ensures alignment across departments and leadership. Externally, transparent updates on progress and challenges help build trust among stakeholders, from investors to regulators and customers. Regular disclosure reinforces transparency and continuous improvement. Emissions reporting should follow established frameworks and cover Scope 1, Scope 2, and relevant Scope 3 categories. These disclosures inform stakeholders of current performance and provide a basis for tracking alignment with climate goals. Understanding emission scopes is essential for comprehensive decarbonization. Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned sources. Scope 2 includes emissions from purchased energy. Scope 3 spans upstream and downstream activities, such as supplier operations, transportation, and product end use. Addressing Scope 3 requires collaboration across the value chain and the integration of sustainability criteria into procurement and product design. Source: Terrascope #sustainability #sustainable #esg #business

In a world of quarterly targets and instant gratification, long-term thinking is becoming a rare—and powerful—superpower. The leaders I admire most are the ones who resist the pressure to react and instead choose to respond. Managers who invest in people and ideas that won’t necessarily pay off tomorrow, but will shape what’s possible years from now. Long-term thinking shows up in all kinds of ways: ✔️ Building a resilient company culture. The strength of a resilient company culture should not be underestimated. It is one that you can lean on during good and bad times. It can serve as your compass and be with you through a company’s evolution. A resilient company allows you to innovate and keeps your mission and purpose aligned. There are no short cuts to building resilience. Meaning that the most resilient cultures are those built over time and through long-term strategic thinking and commitment. ✔️ Choosing sustainable growth over unsustainable speed. Quick growth is fine—great, even—but not if it causes you to make careless mistakes that will be difficult to recover from. If you're growing so fast that you are neglecting quality, or worse, safety, then it's time to recalibrate. Long-term success means prioritizing the well-being of your customers and your team. ✔️ Focusing on relationships with your customer, not just transactions. This includes knowing your stakeholders. If revenue dips, it might be tempting to raise prices to patch the shortfall. However, ask yourself: is  price the problem, or is there something deeper missing in the product or service? Short-term fixes can backfire if they erode trust. Long-term thinking requires you to deeply understand the needs of the people you serve—and to keep earning their loyalty over time. Personally, I’ve found that long-term thinking brings clarity. It helps me filter out the noise and focus on what really matters—not just in business, but in life. If you want to lead with vision, ask yourself: What will matter most in five years? And what am I doing today to build toward that? When you can zoom out, you often see the path forward more clearly. And that’s how leaders—and legacies—are built.

US Equity Real Returns (1900–2024): A Century of Lessons in One Chart Sometimes a single chart can tell a deeper story than an entire book. This histogram of real (inflation-adjusted) returns for US equities from 1900 to 2024 is a powerful reminder of the resilience, risks, and rewards of long-term investing. A few reflections that stood out to me: ➕ The odds are in your favor: The majority of years delivered +10% to +30% real returns, underscoring why equities remain a compelling long-term asset class. ➕ Recent years have been remarkable: Post-GFC and post-COVID years like 2017–2021 and 2023–2024 have clustered at the top of the chart. But strong recent returns may also create recency bias. ➕ Pain is part of the process: Years like 2008 and 2022 show that deep negative returns do happen. Navigating these years requires conviction and a long view. ➕ Volatility isn’t new: The early 1900s and the 1930s were full of extremes. War, pandemics, depression — and yet, equities powered through. 🔹 The takeaway for me 🔹 🔸 TIME in the market beats TIMING the market (but most of us are fools and don’t listen to that advice). 🔸 Real wealth is built not by avoiding downturns, but by staying invested through them. Curious — what stands out to you most from this chart? #Investing #Equities #LongTermThinking #FinancialMarkets #BehavioralFinance #DataDrivenInsights #USMarkets

A soap launched in 1986 with ₹60 crore in its first decade just crossed ₹2,850 crore. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗠𝗖𝗚 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸. Santoor didn't outspend Lifebuoy. They outsmarted it. In a category dominated by legacy giants with decades of brand equity, Santoor chose a different playbook, and it's one every founder building against a bigger competitor needs to study. 𝟬𝟭. 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘁𝗵 Instead of spreading thin across India, Santoor went deep into Andhra Pradesh first. Built dominance. Then moved state by state – Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat. By 2009, they were the largest soap brand across South and West India. → Don't try to win everywhere at once. Identify one geography or segment where you can become undeniable. Win it completely. Then expand. Depth builds a moat. Breadth builds exposure. 𝟬𝟮. 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 Santoor started as a sandalwood-turmeric soap – an ingredient story. Then they repositioned around one powerful benefit: younger-looking skin. That one shift changed everything. → Ask yourself honestly – are you selling what your product is, or what it does for the customer? Features attract attention. Benefits build loyalty. Repositioning from ingredient to outcome is often the highest-leverage brand move a founder can make. 𝟬𝟯. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 The "Santoor Mom" campaign ran for decades – same theme, evolving story. No reinvention every year. No chasing trends. Just disciplined consistency until it became cultural memory. → Most founders change their brand positioning too early because they're bored of it. Your customer hasn't seen it 1000 times like you have. Pick a positioning that's true and stay with it long enough to compound. ₹60 crore to ₹2,850 crore. One brand. Four decades. No shortcuts. That's what patient brand building looks like. #santoor #fmcg #brandstrategy #founders #business

Very excited to share my most recent article in Forbes, focusing on the role of philanthropy in supporting climate innovation in emerging markets. Over the past few weeks, our team has had some great conversations with foundations and other partners who are supporting climate entrepreneurs in the some of the most vulnerable countries. Philanthropy is uniquely positioned to play a role here, but we need a wider aperture in terms of what it can and should do. The article proposes five areas where philanthropy can take on a wider agenda to not just fund more climate startups in these markets, but to build the talent pools and enabling ecosystems that support these companies. Here's a breakdown of the five areas: 1. New company building models: We don’t need just more climate entrepreneurship and innovation in developing countries, but we need it to be targeted at solving the most pressing problems. Purpose-built platforms - venture studios and builder models - can incubate startups with greater intentionality, offering technical capacity, market access, and tailored support that meet local needs. 2. Build fractional leadership networks: As much as more funding is needed to support climate startups in their early stages, matching them with the right talent at the right time can be critical. And there’s no guarantee that this talent is locally available. We need specialized programs that can match seasoned leadership - e.g. fractional CFOs, CMOs, and other C-level executives along with technical experts - who can provide critical guidance, strategic discipline, and credibility, making ventures more investment-ready and sustainable. 3. Ecosystem enablers and hubs: Climate tech benefits from enabling ecosystems, which often entail complex networks of universities giving birth to ideas, funds financing the development of prototypes, executive talent coming in from the corporate world and policymakers assessing how to incentivize the adoption of climate technologies. 4. Create linkages between emerging markets: Most funding, technology and talent transfer in climate tech tends to be concentrated between wealthy countries, but there are opportunities to strengthen ties between emerging markets themselves. Creating networks between regions fosters peer learning, market entry, and collaboration. 5. Prioritize adaptation and resilience: Often, adaptation and resilience (A&R) risks are the primary ways in which emerging markets first and foremost experience climate change. Increasing finance, company building and entrepreneurship support for A&R - health, disaster resilience, agriculture, and water - reflects the acute realities on the ground and brings direct benefits to vulnerable communities.

As marketers, there’s a common belief that crafting a great product is all it takes to succeed. → Quality will speak for itself. → Social media is just a checkbox to tick. → Customers will naturally gravitate towards the brand. And this mindset can persist for far too long. - It’s assumed that once a marketing strategy is set, it’s good for the year. - There’s a belief that after landing a customer, the job is done. - Price is seen as the sole driver of decisions. Then reality hits. The market is dynamic, and so are customer needs. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but assumptions can be costly. Today, successful marketing is about adaptation and engagement—not just products. Here’s how to debunk common marketing misconceptions: ✔️ Quality Is Just the Starting Point → Invest in effective marketing strategies. → Showcase the product’s value through storytelling. → Engage customers before and after the sale. ✔️ Social Media Is a Tool, Not a Magic Wand → Build relationships rather than just pushing sales. → Provide valuable content that resonates with the audience. → Use social channels for genuine conversations. ✔️ Price is One of Many Factors → Understand customer motivations. → Communicate the value beyond the cost. → Highlight unique selling points that set the brand apart. For those in marketing, remember this: Success isn’t defined by a single sale—it’s about creating lasting relationships and adapting to change. Short-term wins may feel good, but genuine engagement leads to sustainable growth. It’s not about what is sold, It’s about how connections are made with customers.

Last week I caught up with some of our climatetech founders and the Wavemaker Impact team in Singapore. It reminded me how much Europe could learn from the pace, creativity, hunger and grit of emerging markets when it comes to building climate solutions. In South Asia, you don’t have the luxury of slow progress or “pilot purgatory.” Climate impacts hit hard and fast, so the innovation mindset is lean, practical and deeply connected to livelihoods. 1. The Green Discount Forget moonshots and massive R&D budgets. Across South Asia, founders are building cleaner and cheaper solutions that work now: modular, low-capex climatetech with real unit economics from day one, like turning waste into biofuel (Octayne) or agricultural residues into biochar (WasteX) while improving customer margins. ✅ Lesson for Europe: Move beyond the “green premium.” We don’t always need new tech; we need to deploy what already works, faster and at scale. 2. Decentralised Energy and Leapfrogging Like Africa skipped landlines to go mobile, South Asia is leapfrogging traditional grids with off-grid solar, microgrids and batteries replacing diesel, from Agros to Helios Solar Company Limited and SOLshare. ✅ Lesson for Europe: Distributed renewable energy isn’t just cleaner; it’s more resilient. Energy security in wartime or flood season may depend on it. 3. Nature-Based and Community-Led Solutions After decades of deforestation and degraded land, pioneering models are fighting back through community reforestation, mangrove restoration and regenerative agriculture. Ventures like Bumi Baru and Fair Ventures Social Forestry make nature profitable by working with local populations. ✅ Lesson for Europe: Climate action sticks when people have skin in the game. Build with communities, not just for them. 4. The Just Green Transition In emerging markets, climate isn’t a distant moral issue; it’s a development and equity issue. Policy conversations link emissions to jobs, food and public health. When clean tech creates livelihoods, people back the transition. ✅ Lesson for Europe: Embed justice, inclusion and affordability at the heart of the transition, not as an afterthought. 5. Adaptation and Resilience South Asia is among the most vulnerable regions to climate change and has no choice but to adapt: flood defences, early-warning systems, better weather data and climate-resilient crops. Ventures like Rize and Intensel Limited prove that resilience and profitability can coexist. ✅ Lesson for Europe: Don’t just decarbonise, adapt. Resilience is also an investment class. After more than two decades building start-ups across Asia, I’ve seen how constraint breeds creativity and urgency drives focus. Europe has the capital, talent and technology. Maybe it also needs a bit more of that emerging-market scrappiness and hunger. Because the truth is, we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We just need to roll it faster. 🌍💚

Caution: Unpopular observation incoming. Are we thinking about climate tech all WRONG? I started my career in clean-tech in 2008 (solar, wind, then grid-scale storage). So many tech folks I met since then think climate tech is about breakthroughs. But one founder made me question everything. Let me take you back to 2012. I was analyzing battery technology startups (does anyone remember zinc-air?), watching charismatic founders pitch their "breakthrough innovations" to eager VCs. What did the Chinese do? Go for Li-Ion. In solar, the Germans bet on thin-film, but the Chinese INDUSTRIALIZED mono and poly-crystalline by 2008. The result? Billions were wasted on breakthrough promises. Fast forward to today, and the same pattern is repeating in clean building materials and carbon capture. The secret to scaling clean-tech innovation is systems engineering and radical industrialization, with improved—not breakthrough—chemical bonds. And that’s what I look for—I just don’t see it often. One such moment was when I met neustark way back when (which means "new powerful" in English). As we dove deeper into their approach, something struck me. The real trap isn’t backing the wrong technology. It’s being seduced by shiny promises of breakthroughs when the real opportunity is industrial execution. The German idiom: "The sparrow in your hand is better than the dove on your roof." Climate tech funding too often gets misallocated on huge promises, while the biggest impact comes from system integration. What policymakers should foster: - Scientific Hopium vs. Industrial Reality: Most VCs chase patents, but real winners build scalable systems with proven tech. - The Integration Game: Innovation isn’t just about new components—it’s about making them work together at scale. - Market Timing: We don’t always need future tech to solve today’s problems. The pieces are often already there. Neustark is a perfect example: - Partners with existing concrete recycling plants to integrate carbon storage. - Mineralizes captured CO₂ into recycled concrete aggregates, locking carbon in solid form. - Scales rapidly without new infrastructure—just plugging into existing systems. A system that could store millions of tons of CO₂ in the coming years. Not through hoping for groundbreaking chemistry, but through brilliant industrialization. I’m not against fundamental research—give us more of that. But why should VCs with no scientific background allocate capital into chemical breakthroughs? Change my mind. >>>>>> More on The System Integrator Model: https://lnkd.in/em9v73cy #CleanTech #VentureCapital #Sustainability #Innovation #ClimateAction P.S. Not an investor in Neustark, just genuinely impressed.