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The Moonshot Game: Adventures of an Indian Venture Capitalist
India's start-up revolution began in 1998, when the first venture capitalists (VCs) arrived from the US and backed early businesses in IT services for global corporates. The second wave came in 2006 when home-grown VCs raised large amounts of capital and funded products and services companies for Indian consumers.
This is a gripping behind-the-scenes story of a VC's journey, right from the beginning of the second start-up revolution in India in 2006 until the end of the funding frenzy in 2016. A story about how global conditions, local consumers, founder ambition and good old greed shaped the start-up story in India.
Rahul Chandra is the co-founder of Helion Ventures, and in this candid memoir he tells us about his journey building one of India's oldest VC firms. In a remarkably gripping account, he recounts his adventures in India's hyper-funded start-up ecosystem.
The Moonshot Game gives readers an insight into the secret world of a VC, with unguarded stories involving large bets and big mistakes, and tales of how one juggles several investments at the same time.
Rahul shows why being a VC is a constant journey of ups and downs, why building value is a long-term business, and why no amount of failure can be an excuse to lose optimism in the power of entrepreneurship.
This is a gripping behind-the-scenes story of a VC's journey, right from the beginning of the second start-up revolution in India in 2006 until the end of the funding frenzy in 2016. A story about how global conditions, local consumers, founder ambition and good old greed shaped the start-up story in India.
Rahul Chandra is the co-founder of Helion Ventures, and in this candid memoir he tells us about his journey building one of India's oldest VC firms. In a remarkably gripping account, he recounts his adventures in India's hyper-funded start-up ecosystem.
The Moonshot Game gives readers an insight into the secret world of a VC, with unguarded stories involving large bets and big mistakes, and tales of how one juggles several investments at the same time.
Rahul shows why being a VC is a constant journey of ups and downs, why building value is a long-term business, and why no amount of failure can be an excuse to lose optimism in the power of entrepreneurship.
- GenresStartupIndiaTechnology
176 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 23, 2019
37 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 5, 2020
Probably the first or certainly one of the first books on private investing in India. Needless to say, as a co-practitioner, one was keen to pick up the book and learn more about the journey that someone else had undertaken.
A quick read. But unfortunately, quite disappointing.
It’s quite unclear to me what the purpose of this book was. It if was to talk of the journey of a venture capitalist, the timelines were all over the place without a coherent reason as to why the reader should do time travel. If it was to talk about their investing acumen and process, again it did nothing except throw in snippets of how they thought about various deals at various points in time. If it intended to give us perspective on the journey of a VC/PE backed company and the trials and tribulations of success in this space, it sadly did not even give headline numbers. If it was to talk of this caste called promoter, it generally did nothing but cover them in poetry, the flattering types.
And finally, if it was to talk of the pains of building a team and working together for 10+ years (which is bloody difficult) it only gave a small glimpse when it spoke of the new partners.
I am sure the author and his partners’ journey in this world of private investing was not easy. There would have been hard conversations inside and outside, hard decisions, heart burn and blame game, and a sense of deep despair and despondency which would match the jubilation of every success. Unfortunately the book does nothing more than print the headlines, and that too selectively.
I would imagine that’s partly due to the fact that it is too soon. History, it is said, is always best written after enough time has elapsed. Else it is too delicate and painful to be brutally honest. Else you are too busy trying to please everyone and hurt no one. And that makes for rather poor reading.
A quick read. But unfortunately, quite disappointing.
It’s quite unclear to me what the purpose of this book was. It if was to talk of the journey of a venture capitalist, the timelines were all over the place without a coherent reason as to why the reader should do time travel. If it was to talk about their investing acumen and process, again it did nothing except throw in snippets of how they thought about various deals at various points in time. If it intended to give us perspective on the journey of a VC/PE backed company and the trials and tribulations of success in this space, it sadly did not even give headline numbers. If it was to talk of this caste called promoter, it generally did nothing but cover them in poetry, the flattering types.
And finally, if it was to talk of the pains of building a team and working together for 10+ years (which is bloody difficult) it only gave a small glimpse when it spoke of the new partners.
I am sure the author and his partners’ journey in this world of private investing was not easy. There would have been hard conversations inside and outside, hard decisions, heart burn and blame game, and a sense of deep despair and despondency which would match the jubilation of every success. Unfortunately the book does nothing more than print the headlines, and that too selectively.
I would imagine that’s partly due to the fact that it is too soon. History, it is said, is always best written after enough time has elapsed. Else it is too delicate and painful to be brutally honest. Else you are too busy trying to please everyone and hurt no one. And that makes for rather poor reading.
February 22, 2022
The Moonshot game talks about the journey of Rahul Chandra in Indian VC Space from 1998 to 2017. After author's initial journey of learning the ropes, the book gets interesting after confounding of Helion in 2006. The book talks in detail about the startup world and the role of capital. Delving into the role of angels, VCs, PE and the big foreign funds, Rahul takes us through the thought process of choosing a startup to fund. With journey of startups and their relation with founders of UnitedLex, Equitas, Spandana, Shubham, LetsBuy, Seclore, LetBuy, Railyatri, Moengage, Wooplr, CrownIT talked about a lot, Rahul also takes care to mention about missed opportunities like Bookmyshow and hundreds more startups which were evaluated by Helion. There is also mention about what led to closure of Helion Ventures. The content is good, the placement could have been better. Stories intermingle and also move across timelines which could have been consistent. A good read for people interested in Indian VC/PE space.
October 6, 2020
There are lot of books, blogs, articles on the history, culture,dynamics of Venture Capital in the Silicon Valley.
But there aren't enough resources available about the Indian VC culture and system.
My search to know more about the dynamics of Venture Capital in the Indian context ended with "The Moon Shot Game" by Rahul Chandra, co-founder Helion Ventures.
Rahul Chandra talks about his journey as a co-founder with Helion Ventures, a VC firm.
He traces the rise of of Venture Capitalism in India since 1997, from the days of Rediff, Make My Trip, TSN (Tele Shopping Network) etc.
Anyone who wants to understand the Indian VC ecosystem will find this book helpful. It's an easy read with discussion on real time Indain start ups.
As a startup founder, looking to raise a fund an insight into the VC firm helps.
It's important to understand how a VC firm works. What do a VC looks forward in a start-up. What are the fears and apprehension that a VC has. What are their strength and limitations.
This book acts a window into the world of a VC firm.
Rahul Chandra has done a candid job while sharing his experiences with Indan startups.
His interactions and dealings with Indian startups are case studies in real time and a great learning curve to the reader's.
Reason for dismantling Helion Vetures was not clearly explained but can be taken with a pinch of salt.
A must read for anyone intrested in Indian startup ecosystem.
But there aren't enough resources available about the Indian VC culture and system.
My search to know more about the dynamics of Venture Capital in the Indian context ended with "The Moon Shot Game" by Rahul Chandra, co-founder Helion Ventures.
Rahul Chandra talks about his journey as a co-founder with Helion Ventures, a VC firm.
He traces the rise of of Venture Capitalism in India since 1997, from the days of Rediff, Make My Trip, TSN (Tele Shopping Network) etc.
Anyone who wants to understand the Indian VC ecosystem will find this book helpful. It's an easy read with discussion on real time Indain start ups.
As a startup founder, looking to raise a fund an insight into the VC firm helps.
It's important to understand how a VC firm works. What do a VC looks forward in a start-up. What are the fears and apprehension that a VC has. What are their strength and limitations.
This book acts a window into the world of a VC firm.
Rahul Chandra has done a candid job while sharing his experiences with Indan startups.
His interactions and dealings with Indian startups are case studies in real time and a great learning curve to the reader's.
Reason for dismantling Helion Vetures was not clearly explained but can be taken with a pinch of salt.
A must read for anyone intrested in Indian startup ecosystem.
June 15, 2021
Rahul has beautifully explained his VC journey with the minutest details and being balanced wherever required. However, my expectations of the book was a bit different. I was looking to understand how VC industry works, what metrics they'd be measuring to be profitable, is there any difference between how VCs operate in silicon valley and in India, etc. The book sounds a little slow in the beginning and steadily picks up the momentum and ends with a heavy emotions. It was good to read about the journey of different startups from a VC perspective.
November 29, 2021
Not the book I was looking for. I was hoping to draw some learnings from the inner workings of VC world in context of Indian startups but this is more of a story of author and their journey into funding Indian startups. So much so that author also paints the picture of physical surroundings of Mumabi, Bangalore, Gurgaon etc.
It could be a good story to read about evolution of Indian startups but as I said, not what I was looking for.
It could be a good story to read about evolution of Indian startups but as I said, not what I was looking for.
January 27, 2022
A book which lays out the rough history of VC in India through the eyes of one firm and one individual. Rahul Chandra's perspective on how the Indian VC scene panned out is a good hitchhiker's guide to the vc space in India. Great to learn about how investing decisions are made although would have wanted to know about the shutdown of Helion Ventures in much greater detail.
January 22, 2020
Gives a ringside view of tech startup system in India from a VC point of view
October 15, 2020
The 'Moonshot Game' is informative and entertaining. As a memoir , Rahul Chandra is both self-examining and reflective making it an absorbing read overall.
March 29, 2021
In my first job fresh out of college, the founders were ex-Helion folks. So this was a long to-read book on my list. It could have been more detailed but I found it a story worthy enough to read.
April 18, 2021
Journey through the foundational days of Indian VC space & rise of consumer tech startups.
January 13, 2022
A tour de force! An engaging account of what goes inside a VC firm and what's a typical workday for a Venture Capitalist.
May 8, 2022
Honest and brilliant.
December 14, 2024
A very average story, a very average narration.
October 8, 2019
Interesting journey of an Indian VC, who has seen it from the beginning. Disclosures were expected to be balanced due to the secrecy needed in this industry so won't downrate it for unanswered questions.
April 23, 2022
The storytelling of initial phase of startup culture and funding stories of startups like makemytrip, redbus, bigbasket etc. in India. Helion Venture story and VC culture learnings.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews