Mohan Belani: Founding e27 & Echelon, Media Business Myths & Angel & Orvel VC Investing Journey - E442

BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English)

Mohan Belani, Cofounder & CEO of e27, and Jeremy Au talked about three main themes:

1. Founding e27 & Echelon: Mohan discussed his early career decisions as a computer engineering undergraduate with the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) program, failed founder and startup executive. He shared how he juggled his studies and his founding role in e27, often receiving warning letters for his grades. He and his co-founder Thaddeus faced significant challenges, including resetting the brand, cleaning up the cap table, and attracting investors from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and Indonesia between 2012 and 2013​​​​. Despite these challenges, e27 has developed into a leading player in the region’s tech ecosystem.

2. Media Business Myths: Mohan highlighted the profitability potential of media and events businesses, despite common misconceptions. He emphasized avoiding vanity metrics and focusing on real ROI. During the COVID-19 pandemic, e27 pivoted from physical events to online channels, resulting in significant growth in media and webinar revenues from 2021 to 2023. This strategic shift resulted in the three best years in the company’s history. He also discussed the tough decisions, such as canceling events instead of postponing them and making hard choices around salaries and compensation. He underscored the importance of navigating partnerships with government agencies, which often have different operating metrics and objectives compared to for-profit companies.

3. Angel & Orvel VC Investing Journey: Mohan recounted the lessons learned from his 30 angel investments that begun in 2013. He shared how founding Orvel Ventures with Milan Reinartz and Jeremy Au required a new systematic approach to evaluating companies, including analyzing gross margins and exit opportunities. His experience as an LP in funds like Golden Gate Ventures and Rebel Fund provided insights into the importance of localized GPs and focused investment strategies. He also stressed the need for funds to support local ecosystems and avoid overly ambitious scaling plans.

Jeremy and Mohan also talked about effective onboarding practices, the evolution of the tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia and the use of OKRs to plan and assess personal and professional progress.

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