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Surjendu Kuila
Co-Founder, Zopper - Angel Investor
Surjendu Kuila is a dedicated entrepreneur with a profound interest in Deep Space and Military history. His curiosity extends to exploring Hinduism and Judaism. Alongside, he is an avid sports enthusiast and fitness lover.
Surjendu holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with specializations in Marketing, Finance, and Entrepreneurship from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. Additionally, he pursued his B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.
With an impressive professional journey, Surjendu Kuila is the Co-Founder and CEO of Zopper. Prior to this, he served as an Angel Investor at SalaryBox, Co-Founder and COO at Zopper, and as a Partner and Associate Vice President at Luna Ergonomics Pvt. Ltd in New Delhi. His career also includes roles such as Associate Director - Ecommerce Programs at Rediff.com in Mumbai, Principal Engineer in the Collaboration Group at eTouch Systems in California, Senior Engineer in the Adaptive Authentication Group at RSA The Security Division of EMC in California, Technical Architect in the State & Local domain at CIBER, Inc. in Seattle, Software Programmer in the IS & T Group at Apple Computers in Cupertino, California, and Programmer Analyst focusing on Hi-Tech and Discrete Manufacturing at Infosys in Connecticut.
Highlights
Recently in one of my Mumbai visits I met a seasoned investor who, in passing, asked me “What’s wrong with the Indian startup ecosystem?” As I was in a hurry, I casually told him that the new set of founders are worshipping the wrong Gods (aka the cash-burning founders) and believing in their dangerous sermons. Unfortunately, we all have started believing that whatever sermons they are spewing are the “gospel truths”. I was itching to write a LinkedIn post on this at leisure, but the question prompted me to quickly pen down something. Over the last 12 years of my association (read: in the trenches) with the Indian Startup Ecosystem, I have come across a few types of "Founders". Founder Type A -> There is a set of founders who were able to offer exits to investors and by virtue of that attained ceremonial status of “Demi-Gods”. Their startups, even after 14-15 years of operation today, burn boatloads of cash with no signs of profitability. Luck played a very important role in their exits; as in most cases the macro factors acted as catalysts. Founder Type B -> There is another set of founders who instead of creating, destroyed value. As their startups changed hands, significant value got eroded, each time. Company A sold itself to Company B for $X Million. Company B, after a few years, sold itself to Company C for $X/2 Million and after another few years Company C offloaded itself to Company D for $X/4 Million. All this while destroying value. Founder Type Z -> And then you have the lesser mortals who have been building their companies brick by brick with blood, sweat and tears and most importantly "very quietly". And while doing so, they have created serious long term value. I call them the “Never Enough” founders. Founder Type A and B, as part of mutual admiration sessions, narrate a very different philosophy of startup ethos to the new crop of entrepreneurs and I believe that’s a gross injustice happening to the industry. Blatant disregard for investor’s money and financial engineering to show palatable P&L are considered acceptable. Themes such as “Burn cash to buy growth”, “Grow at a breakneck speed to raise the next round” are considered to be the ONLY way to build a company, which the new set of entrepreneurs are emulating. Standards such as strong work ethics, discipline, tenacity have been replaced by myopic vision, frivolous ideas, cash guzzling execution, disrespect for frugality and long term value creation. That's what I believe is wrong with the Indian startup ecosystem. The new crop of entrepreneurs are executing the sermons of these so-called “Ivory-Tower” founders (A and B), doing even more harm to the ecosystem. We fail to recognise that in the long term, companies will always be valued on EBITDA, PAT, FCF – these are the ONLY solid business fundamentals. Rest all metrics are either created for convenience or for hiding the real health of the startup.
Recently I bumped onto a seasoned investor during my flight from Chennai to Mumbai. We spent 2 hours discussing investment thesis, lack of meaningful exits in India, short-cuts founders’ take, corporate governance issues, flavour of the season investing and lack of long term value creation.
All those topics are so close to my heart, I thought let me pen down a “nutgraf” for the first time entrepreneurs.
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Focus on long-term value creation. Always. Prioritise sustenance/profits over mindless growth. Growth is good but not at the cost of going belly-up.
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Be bold in taking decisions. Always keep a fine balance between short term growth (that reflects in monthly MIS) and long term sustenance (It helps when the macro changes and you are at the right vantage point)
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Never give up. I have witnessed very few founders who have the grit, audacity to persist and be tenacious. Remember you can only create wealth if your startup survives. And don’t hesitate to pivot. We at Zopper pivoted twice. Today we are the largest Insurtech player in India. We couldn’t have reached here, had we not survived for the last 11 years.
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Listen to everyone but do what you believe is the best for the company. If you are building for the next 50-100 years, your decisions can never be wrong. Having said that, I can't vouch for your decisions, if your goal is to flip the company soon in the next financing round.
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Do not over-optimize on valuations. If you believe your valuation can withstand public scrutiny, take it. I repeat - Do not over optimise. In the long run, you will always be valued for what your company rightfully deserves. Not a penny more, not a penny less.
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Stay away from “30 Under 30”, “40 under 40”, “Entrepreneur of the Year” and all the pomp and show. Study suggests that 95% of the startups founded by “30 Under 30”, “40 under 40” founders, fail in 3 years flat. What I mean is - "Your only focus should be your startup and not you".
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And finally, building a company is incredibly hard. So invest in “Self-Care” as a founder because your mental and physical health affects business outcomes and productivity.
#startups #business #investment #entrepreneur #founders
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Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
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Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
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