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Arjan Guglani

Investor based in New York with a background in tech and consulting

Arjan Guglani is the CEO of Gander, a company focused on aviation technology. He has a background in business, having graduated from the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business. Guglani is recognized for his involvement in various initiatives within the aviation sector and has spoken at prominent industry events, such as the World Aviation Festival.13

In addition to his role at Gander, he has shown a strong commitment to innovation and education policy, indicating a diverse set of interests that extend beyond just aviation. Guglani is also active on LinkedIn, where he engages with a network of over 500 connections, sharing insights and updates related to his professional endeavors.2

Highlights

Aug 24 · linkedin

Have a startup idea and don’t know if it is worth pursuing? Having found myself in this position more than a few times, I put together a 10 step framework to help other future-entrepreneurs know if their idea is venture back-able and worthwhile opportunity. Think of it as an updated business model canvas (BMC) that encapsulate the most important questions investors will be asking of you. Find a fillable/printable worksheet attached and share if you find helpful. This can also be used as a pitch-deck checklist if needed!


  1. Form a Thesis on Value Creation: Who is your customer(s) and what dire and pressing problem(s) are you solving for them? What value are you creating for them that hasn’t existed before?

  2. Comprehensive Competitive Research: How do you plan on solving your customers’s problems in a way that is 10X better than competitors? What is your primary order winner (Price, Quality, Flexibility, Time) over competitors?

  3. Understand & Size the Market: Is this a multi-billion dollar market? What developments, consumption themes, and consumer convergences make this the right place to play for the next 10 years?

  4. Form a Customer Story: Write out the story of your target customer from discovery, adoption, and finally spontaneous recommendation? What unique wants and needs to these customers have and how does your solution cater?

  5. Business Plan: Quantify the value are you creating for customers. How will you sustainable capture that value in a way that is profitable in the long term? What are your cost-drivers, revenue drivers, and target long-run margin?

  6. Capabilities & Technologies: What kind of capabilities and technologies need to be developed or acquired to bring your vision to life? How will you go about building these in a defensible way? Why are you uniquely suited to build this than the incumbent?

  7. Vision: Is this a feature or a product? How will the world be different with your startup in it? Is your vision for this company broad enough to build a multi-billion dollar company?

  8. GTM

  • If creating a market - how will you educate users? 
  • If joining a growing market - find and activate marketing channels where user acquisition is < lifetime value
  • If entering a crowded space - how will you steal share under your competitors noses?
  1. Venture Back-able?: Can you reach measurable milestones (clinical trial progress, revenue growth, technology development) that will unlock additional capital every 12-24 months? Is the amount of money you think would be required at least 10X less than the enterprise value you could create? Can this be acquired or go public in ~ 10 years?

  2. Test Assumptions: To complete steps 1-9 you have likely made variety of assumptions about your customers, competitors, market, and overall future business. List these assumptions and then create tests, talk to experts, and research them until you are reasonably assure your most critical assumptions are more likely to be true than false.

May 17 · linkedin

I’m a proud investor at @Dorm Room Fund and excited to share that applications for their 2023 Summer Diversity Tracks are open now through May 19th! I will be leading the Prism Investor track so happy to answer questions about that one and am looking forward to reading your applications!

The programs are an amazing launch pad for underrepresented students interested in careers in startups and VC. DRF curates an amazing community of students, and brings in some of the best in the business to share their wisdom—past speakers have included Sam Altman (Open AI), Rebecca Kaden (USV), Elliott Robinson (Bessemer Venture Partners) & more. This year’s programs are below—get those apps in!

Blueprint Investor Track: A 6-week masterclass for aspiring student VCs who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or Latino Prism Track: A summer program for aspiring student VCs and founders who identify as LBGTQ+ Female Investor Track: A 6-week masterclass for aspiring student VCs who identify as female Female Founder Track: A 6-week masterclass designed to help female-identifying early-stage founders scale their projects and equip them with the skills to raise their first capital

Related Questions

What is Gander's mission and vision?
What are Arjan Guglani's key achievements at Gander?
How did Arjan Guglani start his career in aviation?
What projects is Gander currently working on?
What makes Gander unique in the aviation industry?
Arjan Guglani
Arjan Guglani, photo 1
Arjan Guglani, photo 2
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Experience

Investor at Insight Partners (2023 - Present)
Investor at Dorm Room Fund (2022 - 2023), Management Consultant at Bain & Company (2022), Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at UniFlow (2019 - 2021), Investor at UpRound Ventures (2019 - 2021), Produ at American Airlines (2021)

Education

Bachelor of Science in Information, User Experience from University of Michigan - School of Information; Bachelor of Business Administration BBA in Strategy, Technology & Operations from University of

Location

New York, New York, United States