Among the many, is the creation of wealth. The opportunity to grow and scale a business or start-up idea that you are most excited about is exhilarating, while also helping increase employment opportunities in the ecosystem. 

Q2. Describe your workday and leisure day, how does it look like?

My typical work day begins at 9 am, I drop the kids at their play school. I reach the office by 9:20, I am also involved in the family office. So a mix of this and the venture that we started as a side hustle ( Ice breaker tech (Ice. vc) has come a long way. We have invested in over 75+ start-ups since 2014 across India, Israel, the USA, and Africa. A leisure day for me means a day off work- no calls or emails, quality time with friends and family, movies, traveling, etc. 

Q3. What is your view on the future of India as a market?

India is a very big country with a diverse culture. As a market with the right leadership and the government it will keep on growing and venture ideas have encouraged a lot of people to leave their full-day jobs and work towards their ideas /dreams. According to me a very interesting thing that has happened due to China's lockdown being extended is that people who were setting up their base in China for investment or manufacturing, have started shifting to India which is a bonus!

Q4. Help describe your investment thesis and ideas you would like to back.

My thesis keeps changing from time to time keeping in mind the trends that are going on at that point in time. More than ideas we like to back the founders and their capabilities to scale their venture to another level. 

Q5. What are your 5 key learnings from your experience as a venture investor?

1. Invest in People and their ideas. 
2. Timing matters.
3. Lean into what you don't understand. 
4. Your own opinion and conviction matters.
5. Founders are more important than VCs. 

Q6. Mention the top 5 consumer/industry/technology trends in India and globally?

1. Gaming 
2. Agriculture 
3. Entertainment industry
4. Manufacturing 
5. Mobile and digital technology 

Q7. Top 5 pieces of advice you would give to a startup founder?

1. Always be humble. Be thankful to your supporters and investors. 
2. It's not your money if you have raised from outside.
3. Find an idea that solves the problem.
4. The product or business should be sellable. 
5. You are always fundraising.
6. You are here to build something for the people, don't take hefty salaries till you have not reached the scale.  

Q8. How do you support your portfolio companies?

To be completely transparent, in a lot of ways, from fundraising to connect with investors and VC funds. It's an all-in-all 360-degree approach and helps that we like to provide to our portfolio companies. 

Q9. Which of your portfolio company you are very excited about and why?

     There are a lot of companies we are excited about, some of them are:

1. Eeki foods- Crazy founding team and very unique business proposition.

2. Gameon studios playing a game based in Mumbai city on the lines of grand theft auto was always a dream. 
3. Babyg Parenting hack made easy for newborns. 
4. Dawadost Alternative and generic medicines is a new division in health care. 

Q10. What inspires you in life and what keeps you awake at night?

Overcoming challenges and being able to keep a balance between work and professional life is what keeps me going!

Q11. Books or Blogs you would recommend to entrepreneurs?

Many books that I'd like to recommend, but here are a few that I think deserve to be highlighted: One up on wall street, the Fountainhead by andy Ryan, Dhandho, The hard things about hard things, The intelligent investor, Beat the Crowd, First break all the rules, Mcdonals (Ray Krok) Steve Jobs and Elon musk.

Q12.If you have interacted with100X.VC, please share a few good words about us?

I have always admired Mr. Sanjay Mehta and the contribution that he has given to the startup ecosystem. I have learned a lot from his webinars and discussions during events. His passion for start-ups is what has brought us into being a small part of the ecosystem. 

About Mrunal: 

Mrunal is the founding partner of Ice.vc icebreaker tech investing in startups globally. Graduated from Middlesex university in London and started a career in building the family business Jhaveri flexo India ltd before starting the family office and venture arm in 2014. 
Passionate about startups, food, and traveling. Mrunal has also produced a movie the Final exit which got accolades in international festivals. He has worked in 13 different jobs while in London at the arsenal stadium to Wimbledon events, to the marketing research company, even cast as an extra in movies to testing games for platforms, etc. The idea was simple to gain immense knowledge of how different industries work in their own capacities.