I’m Pankaj Jain, Partner at 500 Startups. Ask Me Anything!

Namaskar TIA Community,

I’m a Partner at 500 Startups, the Silicon Valley accelerator and seed fund founded by Dave McClure and Christine Tsai. I’ve been investing in Indian startups for 4-5 years and before that I founded Startup Weekend in India, co-founded the HeadStart Network Foundation in India, founded Teknatus Solutions and before that I spent about a dozen years on Wall Street at firms like Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM).

Over the last 5 years, 500 Startups has become one of the most active investors globally with over 1,400 investments. We’ve invested in over 50 companies across India in the last 3+ years in companies such as Sheroes, Little Eye Labs, ZipDial, Instamojo, SourceEasy, Social Cops, Culture Alley/Hello English, KartRocket/Kraftly, SilverPush and many many more.

Some facts about me:

1. Yo, I’m a New Yorker. Lived in Brooklyn and Queens my whole life.
2. I moved to Delhi in 2007 to startup and failed
3. I once jumped onto a moving train in a village in India because I didn’t hear the announcement of the train leaving the station. I was 14.
4. I’ve been investing in the stock market since college but investing in startups is so much more fun
5. I hate swimming
6. I’m a foodie
7. I love all kinds of Sci-Fi and I’m really upset that I’m missing opening day of The Force Awakens.

Feel free to ask me anything. Some ideas might be:

• What do I look for in startups?
• What was it like working at LTCM?
• What was it like starting up in India in 2007?
• Why I love investing in India?

Looking forward to answering as many of your questions as I can!

Ask Away!

Note from Daniel, TIA’s community manager:
The host may choose at his preference to not answer particular questions. The AMA is moderated by the community managers, so let’s keep the questions friendly. 🙂

Read more about 500 Startups in Southeast Asia here.

Pankaj will be speaking at 500 Startups’ Design Quickly boot camp on the 17th December, 2015 in Delhi from 3-7PM IST. You may register for it here.