TheCconnects: Can you tell our readers a little about your professional journey and how you came to your current role/position?
Tushar Kansal: I started out as a Textile Engineer but since I always used to read a lot, I knew that I had to make a career in, either, High-Technology or Finance. After my MBA in Finance from the University of Delhi, I started out in Entrepreneurship, but got a good exit in 2006. But because the Financial markets were booming, I thought that since Finance is my bread-and-butter, I should do a Corporate stint to learn more. That’s when I joint Deloitte, which is one of the “Big 4” Global firms and learnt complicated Finance, Macros and Markets. From there, I was poached by Brand Capital which is the venture arm of The “Times of India” Group. That’s where I learnt investing while I was part of the Team which invested Rs 100 crores across 6 companies. This led to a short stint in the Central Treasury Operations at Aircel, which was a Rs 20,000 cr Treasury, but which I didn’t like much because of many reasons and hence I joint MTS, the Russian Telecom company as their Head of Treasury. There I raised $2.5 Billion for the Company in 3 years as Debt and learnt the ropes of International High-ticket Debt funding. Finally, I joined as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Distribution Logistics, a company fully owned by the $335 US Billion Private Equity Fund – Guggenheim Partners.
I founded 2 Companies (The “Startup” Term was not so much in vogue then), one of them was Indus B2C Global and the other was Kansaltancy Ventures. Indus B2C Global went on to do a great business in the field of Hair Extensions. Kansaltancy Ventures was set up in 2016 and it has evolved as the largest Venture Capital/ Family Office network in this region with investors from India, Singapore, US, UK & UAE. Along the journey, we have helped more than 5000 Startups and growth-stage companies raise millions of Funding. We have done more than 500 Talks/ Podcasts/ Events across Ivy-League Academia and Corporate platforms. This includes more than 51 shows for Venture Capital TV for “Har Ghar Startup” channel on Tata Play. More than 500 videos of ours can be found on Google, LinkedIn, Spotify and YouTube. We are also the main partner for the largest Anchor Investor in the SME space with more than 150 + IPO investments and Assets-under-Management of more than Rs 20,000 crore. We are also partner with FinTech companies having access to hundreds of crores of Debt-giving capacity which can be deployed at a fast speed including Unsecured Debt for Companies which don’t have Real Estate to give as Collateral to the Lender. In this journey, we have been awarded multiple times including as the “Best Startup Supporter” by Dr Kiran Bedi for our work in the STEM field, and “Best IB to raise Funding”.
Below are some of the links which interested Companies can see and approaches us:
https://linktr.ee/tusharkansal
https://www.Kansaltancy.com
https://www.IndusChurning.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/TusharKansal
Playlists:
300+ Talks/ Events – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgrWugpMQEmY8UWwJOEiZ1ICcsSD9tgBk
51 VCTV (Venture Capital Tv) shows – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgrWugpMQEmbyMzpcsJQkYYDIu6JxiZUh
9 Shows on Har Ghar Startup channel (Earlier co-owned by Mr. Suniel Shetty & now by Tata Play) –
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgrWugpMQEmaLlW0abg4f-LtqIXZoPXoX&si=DHIn-TzNfKArBSDa
22 Podcasts on Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Aj0Mfy7WFEIN7vEkLozvr?si=knBbbDsxQLKr7cENrvqgOg&pi=a-C2lcge_fSweQ
I have won Awards/ Citations as given below:
– “Dynamic Entrepreneurs of 2023” by Times of India
– “Tribute to Entrepreneurs on National Startup Day 2024” by Hindustan Times
– “Innovative Leaders 2024” by Times Now
– “15 Business Leaders to lookout in 2024” by Economic Times
TheCconnects: Who has influenced you the most in life and why?
Tushar Kansal: I have been deeply influenced by our current Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. India has seen Prime Ministers who have led the country down the path of ruin from which the country has not been able to recover till now. Pandit Nehru & Mahatma Gandhi who made historic blunders and India is still facing the cost of those blunders – these include the partition of India, a Civilizational state like India gifting the UN Security Council seat to its inimical neighbour China, inability to prevent the annexation of parts of Jammu & Kashmir, not protecting the rights of Hindus etc. Smt Indira Gandhi enforced emergency on the country and lead India down the socialist path thereby rattling the economy and causing poverty throughout the country. Then Shri Rajiv Gandhi came and made historic blunders and along with Mr Manmohan Singh, the economy went bankrupt and the new Prime Minister Mr Narasimha Rao was forced by the World Bank to allow economic reforms by removing the Licence Quota Raj.
The only Prime Minister who tilted the country to the right and gave winds to Capitalism was Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee but he was running a coalition government and hence could not fully reverse the decades of economic ruin. The years 2004 to 2014 are a basket case of how to completely finish off a country and its economy.
Then came Mr Narendra Modi in 2014 and under his watch and guidance, India has doubled its economy from USD 2 trillion to USD 4 trillion – the country has become the 5th largest economy from the 10th largest economy in the world. The complete lack of progress which was seen in the last 70 years after independence was reversed and all the basic necessities have been provided to Indians under the watch of Modi Govt. The Government is in its 3rd term and I am sure that given the persistent efforts and wisdom of our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India will soon become the 3rd largest economy on the planet. Modi ji’s name will be etched in the history as the greatest Statesman of all times to come ever in any country – He will give company to the likes of Peter The Great of Russia, Meiji Dynasty of Japan, Bismarck of Germany and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel of India itself.
The biggest learning from Modi ji for me personally is to be a Karma Yogi, to dedicate yourself to the cause for which for people have chosen you, never let your people down, treat your country as your mother and make the most of whatever you have been given in your hands, to fight for your rights no matter what the situation is, keep your eyes open for opportunities, always maintain superb relationships with all the major countries and even if the whole history of the country is taught wrongly since eons, have the guts to bring out the truth and let the wisdom in the people judge what is right and what is wrong!
TheCconnects: What are the biggest challenges you have faced, and how did you overcome them?
Tushar Kansal: The biggest challenges I have faced have been mindset-related. One of the largest initial challenges I faced was when I could not cope up with the IIT JEE entrance examination and later on, could not clear the interview stage for IIT-Delhi MBA which I really wanted to pursue. One more situation was when I was All-India 5th in the written examinations for IIFT and Symbiosis also but could not clear the Group Discussion stages. Then in 2013, when I started on my own Business after leaving the Corporate life on a very high note, it was very difficult to adapt to a Founders mindset but ultimately I was able to make it a success. Lastly at Kansaltancy Ventures, it was very difficult initially to make the full process of investing and returns in Startups understandable to an average investor – Not only did we overcome this but today, we have delivered over 500 Talks/ Panel discussions/ Podcasts and all of that work is easily searchable at Google, YouTube, Spotify and LinkedIn. In this process, I have delivered 9 episodes of “Business ki Pathshala” on “Har Ghar Startup” channel on Tata Play, have more than 22 Podcasts on Spotify, more than 500 videos searchable by Google and YouTube and millions of ready followers who have benefited tremendously from our work over the last decade!
TheCconnects: What key lessons have you learned from your professional career?
Tushar Kansal: While I was at Deloitte, which is the Big 4 Global company, I learnt that one has to be very detailed and diligent in analysing the customer’s requirements and deliver so much value that the Customer does acknowledge that it was right for him to have come to a Big 4 company. The Company borrowed from the Best Practices and had Standard processes & controls for each kind of service they offered and these large Global clients brought home a conviction in me that standardizing systems and processes is a very important activity for any service company. Deloitte also stayed at the forefront of any new management knowhow and of Technology rules and regulations which came most recently in the market. Then when I was at Brand Capital, I realised what Customer relationship really means in the sense that Bennett & Coleman was the number one media company in India (still is) and kept customer relations as the number one priority across all its Businesses.
At MTS, I took a large lesson from how the Russians support their workforce which was hard-core professional to the level of a European Big company, and carried a deep love for Technology. They also kept employee welfare and intra-company relationships as a top priority which was very different from how many Indian companies approached their work. While being a CFO at Distribution Logistics, I learnt and admired how Investee companies report to their Private Equity owners, in our case Guggenheim Partners, the $335 Billion US PE Fund. The main item for watching the performance and keeping in touch with the financial requirements of an investee company is its accurate Financial model which could give a very clear idea about the Cash Flows of the Business – Cash Flows are the backbone of Private Equity investing and this lesson has stayed with me since that time.
At Kansaltancy Ventures, the biggest lesson has been to choose Founders with solid character who are genuinely and deeply committed to creating everlasting solutions for fundamental problems facing humanity, who are deeply reliable and really bother about giving a return to the Investors. The Business may not be very unique but the people behind the execution has to be a Number 1 choice. At Kansaltancy Ventures, we obsess about providing genuine and high-return investing opportunities for our Investor partners and this is possible because we have always climbed the steep learning curve across all sectors and have provided value to more than 5,000 Startups in this eventful journey
TheCconnects: What do you see as the biggest challenge for brands in the digital space?
Tushar Kansal: If you want to maintain your digital presence at a high level, it is not possible that you can side step some major platforms like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Amazon and LinkedIn controlled by few large corporations having valuations of trillions of dollars. This means that they have platform pricing power and a lot of the new age Startups which want to build their own brands end up spending a bomb on the content created on these platforms. The solution is to be very innovative in your campaign using content marketing keywords wisely in your content in sync with the latest happenings to attract the viewers and build engagement. Then there is an overcrowding in these platforms of different Brands vying with each other for a space in the mind of the customer. This means that a few keywords are sort after and these are mostly very costly. Every Brand has to keep up to date with the latest algorithms of the platforms including studying customer behaviour to stay relevant and to reach the right audience across multiple digital channels with the demands of new-age demographics also being a challenge. Even measuring ROI accurately to track the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns and determining the clear return on investment is not so easy. Lastly, digital platforms are facing the new phenomenon of Ad-blindness, where consumers become increasingly used to online marketing and Ads become harder to get noticed
TheCconnects: How does your product/services/solutions address your customers’ pain points?
Tushar Kansal: We provide Venture Capital from our network of Venture Capital Funds and Family Offices from US, Singapore, UAE, UK and India. We are also Venture Advisors of a Canadian Venture Capital Fund called Loyal VC and have invested in more than 400 companies across 60 countries. This Venture Capital is very crucial for Startups & growth-stage Companies to fight the entrenched Companies and disrupt their Business model to provide Customers with superior ways of delivery, better products, more efficient services and high scalability. In terms of providing guidance and to mentor Startup Founders, we provide Network Support, not only on the Business side but also on the Investment side. For Startups who need Debt but don’t have Collateral like real estate to give to a Bank, we provide Unsecured Debt at a fast speed and in good ticket sizes.
SME’s have to mostly rely on high-interest rate Debt from the Banks/ NBFC’s, they were upset that many Buyers didn’t buy from them because they doubted whether it can deliver Good quantity and quality, many Vendors didn’t sell to them because they were unsure whether the SME had the required liquidity, and faced competition from other SME’s with deep pockets. In terms of payments, SME’s get payments late from their Buyers and even if a few Buyers default on payments, it becomes a huge Problem. They are unable to attract Talent because their Office is not up-market and HR branding is missing in most cases. Then If you look at 97% of the 6.2 crore SME’s in the Indian market, they don’t disclose proper profits to save on tax and invest the cash generated into real estate. This has been the traditional way of functioning of these SME’s but now the IPO segment has opened up as a bright ray of hope for these SME’s.
We are the main partner of the largest Anchor Investor in the SME IPO space with more than 115 + IPO investments and Assets-under-Management of more than Rs 20,000 crore. We also provide document-creation services like Business Plan, Pitch Deck, Teaser, Financial model and Valuation.
I have delivered more than 500 Talks/ Events/ Panel discussions/ Podcasts across Corporate and Academia and all that content is easily available on Google, YouTube, Spotify and on LinkedIn/ other Social media. The motto of his Talks is – “Simplifying Life and Industry with meaningful talks”!
TheCconnects: What do you do in your free time?
Tushar Kansal: In all my free time, I do a lot of reading. In fact, I have been a voracious reader since my School time, from 1990 and I remember I always use to read 3 hours everyday even then! The same practice has continued till today and I happen to read a lot of information on various things everyday for at least 3-4 hours. This includes my heavy interest in international affairs, geopolitics, Venture Capital, Startups, Business plans/ Sectors, India as a Nation, Hinduism, other Indic faiths like Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Spiritual practices, Naturopathy, Technology, Product Management, People Management, Politics and Social delivery. Mostly, I read only non-fiction and my collection includes more than 1,000 Books which I have consumed over these years. Some of my favourite books are – Autobiography of a Yogi, Zero to One by Peter Thiel, Bharat Matters by S Jaishankar, The Beautiful Tree by James Tooley, Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson, The Magic of Thinking big by David Shwartz, The Power of the Subconscious mind by Joseph Murphy, the Book on Krishna by Osho, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Books, Sister Shivani‘s work, Thich Naht Hanh’s work on Buddhism etc. I also believe that one has to be a Nationalist in terms of loving your country, love Sanatan Dharma and love Capitalism-with-Welfare state which has given so much to our Earth – Use your knowledge to better your society and your country in all the ways possible
TheCconnects: Do you have any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs or C-Suite executives?
Tushar Kansal: My advice for aspiring Entrepreneurs and C-Suite executives is different for both of them. For Entrepreneurs, I say that don’t get blinded by the limelight which the Startup field has all the time. If you only look at the Success stories, and not study the mistakes which most of the Startups made which let them to either shutdown or not grow any more, then you will find pearls of wisdom as to how to manage Risk and most importantly, create a sound Unit-Economics Business having decent profits. Then I would advise them to delegate and to focus on Physical health as well as Mental health, because this journey is long and treacherous. I would also advise Startup Founders to make use of the plethora/ the wealth of information/ data available across the web on the Business models & markets/ Economies and Best practices as well as Management knowhow – all of that is gold-plated wisdom from people who have done it before. But above all, I would tell Startup Founders to have a large heart and lot of guts because as they say “Only the Paranoid survive”! You have to be very Brave in a world where umpteen number of Startups and Brands are completing with each other, many of them backed by solid Venture Capital monies and deep pockets of ultra HNI’s. You also have to be very creative and that is only possible if you free yourself from unnecessary data which clogs the Brain and be very focused, almost laser-like in your efforts to build a Sustainable, ever-lasting Brand which stands the test of time!
For C-Suite Executives, my foremost advice is to look, at first, Byju’s as an example. If you live in a glass house perched on the top of a Skyscraper, you cannot see your Customer who is in front of your shop on the ground. Having an Eagle eye on the Macros is good, but it is customer-obsession which has led to Amazon where it is today. Or you can be like Byju’s Founder – who strayed away from the Business Fundamentals and adopted malpractices across the board, cheated Investors to the brink and led to the closure of the Company which was valued at $22 Billion in its last Funding round. The Founder could never understand that his Product is not doing well and does not have the kind of pricing which he expected to earn given the fact that its valuation had run into Billions.
I would also urge Founders to focus on picking and retaining Talent. Instead of taking people from Ivy League Colleges with gold plated Brand names, look for people who spent a lot of efforts in up-skilling and cross-skilling them, who stay abreast of the latest Technology and processes and who take Ownership & are willing to burn midnight oil in search of a victory for their Company. Once you have set of committed people, they would be able to attract and retain more talent. I would also advise to have Equity-based compensation like ESOP’s for the teams so that they can feel part of the winning journey and also benefit by the wealth creation and not restrict the award of the journey only with themselves. Lastly, I would tell all to adopt Technology at a scale which is even not adopted by your Competitors because that will make you nimble and protect cash as well as increase productivity and make the Startup a winner for all times to come!
You can connect with Tushar Kansalon LinkedIn here
