Rahul Dev Gupta Email & Phone Number

This comprises of 3 subsections:-1) Education & earlier professional experience2) Current (CEO @ Kuruvindum)3) Giving back via "pro bono" activities (teaching etc.)1) EDUCATION & EARLIER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCEI hold a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree in Electronics Engineering and did my post-graduation from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA).I have earlier (i.e., before Kuruvindum) worked at senior levels such as Business Unit Head, CEO, Group CEO etc. and as MD. My experience spans mature companies, greenfield and turn-around roles.At various times during my career, I have been nominated to various honorary positions (ex-officio as well as otherwise). I am a member of Mensa, the UK based society for the exceptionally intelligent. 2) CURRENT (CEO @ KURUVINDUM)I am currently CEO @ Kuruvindum which is into early-stage (Angel/Seed) venture capital investments with a focus on innovative-tech start-ups. Kuruvindum has invested in India and the USA. Our US investee company is into Drug Discovery.While our primary area is looking at potential investments into early-stage innovative-tech start-ups, there is also a secondary (but complementary) area of activity of Incubating Ideas. This Virtual Incubator handholds ideators, innovators, inventors etc. during the "Idea-to-Company" transition viz converting preliminary ideas into market-ready products.3) GIVING BACK VIA "PRO BONO" ACTIVITIES (TEACHING ETC.) This includes various activities e.g. I try to take time out to advise & mentor business plan contestants; judge business plans & elevator pitch contests; chair panel discussions; speak about start-ups, VC/PE investing practices etc. at various fora. A partial list of institutes, events etc. that I have spoken at follows below:-NASSCOM, Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad; TATA-NEN Hottest Startups; IIT Mumbai (IITB) Shailesh J Mehta School of Management; IIT Madras (IITM); National Institute of Technology (NIT) Trichy; Institute of Financial Management & Research (IFMR); College of Engineering Guindy (Anna University); SSN College of Engineering; SRM University; Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA); Saveetha Engineering College; Great Lakes Institute of Management (GLIM); MGR University; Loyola College etc.

Listed skills include Start Ups, Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, Strategy, and 15 others.

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  Chief Executive Officer

  Kuruvindum

  Aug 2006 - Present

  Kuruvindum's differentiating factors include, inter alia: -(i) A tech-sector-agnostic approach.(ii) Comfortable with extended investment horizons, if warranted.(iii) A belief that funding integrated with customised, on-demand, non-monetary-inputs (e.g., mentoring, advice etc.) is, on a Ceteris Paribus basis, a better causator (thus a predictor too!!) of start-up success than plain-vanilla VC models.An indicative (and hence non-exhaustive) list of my primary activities & focus areas follows below (sorted in an approximate time-sequential order):- > Managing deal-flow and ensuring that we access an appropriate number of fund-able start-ups.> Participating in funding discussions with entrepreneurs.> Signing off on deals (viz the crucial "Y/N" decision), valuations, term sheet etc. > Engaging with and guiding our portfolio start-ups on broad strategic options as well as (only in exceptional circumstances and purely on a case-by-case basis) detailed operational issues.> Executing investment exits, once made, at the appropriate time.We (and our start-ups) follow a Deep Stealth Mode because premature disclosures can lead to competitors planning me-too products to potentially preempt us. Please see http://www.kuruvindum.com/stealth.htm for an exposition.