Vani Kola says deep-tech success depends on clear value proposition, not just innovation
Founders must balance conviction, pivots and financial discipline across market cycles
AI, foundational tech drive investments, while VCs back long-term scalable business building
Dream Big, Build Boldly: Vani Kola's Message to Women in Tech
Clear value over complex tech: Vani Kola urges founders to focus on market fit, financial discipline and long-term value creation across cycles
Summary
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For deep-tech founders, the real challenge isn’t building cutting-edge technology but selling it effectively. Vani Kola, Managing Director at Kalaari Capital, emphasizes that founders must go beyond technical excellence and clearly articulate how their innovation fits market needs.
“If founders say, ‘people don’t understand my product,’ that’s often not entirely true. You must translate complex technology into a clear value proposition. Otherwise, it remains just science, not a business. Technology must evolve into a product, and a product must deliver value to become a viable business,” she says.
In an interview with Outlook Business, Kalaari Capital’s Managing Director reflects on her journey as both a founder and an investor, and how these experiences shape her approach in today’s startup ecosystem. She also shares her perspectives on women in leadership as founders and investors and highlights the structural challenges that still need to be addressed.
You have been both a founder and an investor. How has this transition influenced you as an investor in today’s startup ecosystem?
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Startups are never a straight path to success, they are a journey. Along the way, you don’t always know where the tough corners are, but they inevitably exist. Setbacks, pivots, and unexpected market shifts are all part of the process.
The key is knowing when to stay true to your conviction, even when things don’t look great, and when to make course corrections. If you look at any successful company, it’s really a story of choices that enabled it to create value and scale.
This is especially true in deep tech. These companies take time to build, yet technology evolves rapidly. By the time you have built something, you must ensure it has not become obsolete. It’s a fine balancing act.
Having been a founder myself allows me, as an investor, to engage meaningfully with founders and support them through that bumpy journey. It’s important not to give up at the first sign of trouble, but equally important to recognize when change is needed. That balance is critical.
You also need patient investors and boards who not only support but also challenge you, so collectively, better decisions are made.
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You have invested through boom cycles and brutal downturns. How does your decision-making framework change when capital is abundant versus when it is scarce?
We tend to exaggerate these cycles, they make for good soundbites: ‘funding winter,’ ‘boom cycles,’ and so on. But reality is not that simplistic.
If you look at periods like 2008 or 2013, often called downturns, great companies still emerged. Similarly, just because funding is abundant doesn’t mean great companies will be built.
These cycles may allow weaker business models to survive temporarily, but they also get corrected. Ultimately, these are broader economic cycles, funding is just a derivative of them.
Take COVID, for example. Companies that made quick, disciplined decisions and managed cash well survived and thrived later. Those that assumed funding would always be available struggled.
This applies to all companies, not just startups. Learning financial discipline early is crucial.
As investors, we don’t drastically change our pace based on cycles. We invest with a 10-year horizon, knowing we’ll see multiple ups and downs. That is how you sustain over time.
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When you evaluate a founder, what signals suggest they are building for decades rather than an exit cycle?
Building a great product and building a large company are not the same thing. You can have an excellent product and still not scale a business.
Also, it would be incorrect to say we can predict with certainty which founder will succeed long-term. We look for signals that are relevant at that moment.
These include clarity of thought, a strong learning mindset, leadership ability, and the capacity to attract the right people. These ‘soft signals’ often define strong leaders.
You are essentially evaluating whether they have the grit, commitment, and long-term drive to build something meaningful. Markets are unpredictable, you may assume one thing, and reality turns out differently.
What are the less-discussed structural barriers that women founders in India continue to face, and are there distinct leadership traits they bring that remain undervalued by the market?
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We have addressed this in detail in our CXXO report, I would recommend going through that for a comprehensive view. I am cautious about generalizing. Different industries require different leadership styles, and broad statements can oversimplify things.
That said, one observation could be that women founders may sometimes project expectations less aggressively, which might affect early perceptions of their business value. But this isn’t universally true, and context matters a lot.
Kalaari Capital has built a diversified portfolio across sectors like retail, deep tech, fintech, and healthtech. How do you adapt your investment strategy to evolving trends within each sector?
We do not think in terms of sectors first. We focus on foundational technologies that can drive large market shifts.
For example, technologies like mobile-first solutions or AI can apply across multiple sectors. We look at where these technological disruptions can create significant value.
So, it’s less about sectors and more about technology evolution and its impact across industries.
The government is actively supporting deep tech through policy changes and funding initiatives (RDI Fund, IndiaAI Mission). Do you see this as a catalyst for private VC participation, or is there still a gap that needs to be filled?
Absolutely. These initiatives are necessary and very encouraging. For deep tech to scale, strong public-private partnerships are essential especially in bridging research and commercialization. Programs like ANRF and RDI are helping explore these models.
This is critical for building sovereign technology capabilities and fostering an innovation-driven economy.
Many deep-tech founders struggle to translate technical innovation into commercial success, how can this gap be bridged effectively, and what role can VCs play in enabling that transition?
Every product must have a clear value proposition. Take NVIDIA, they started in 1991 building GPUs. Today, it’s a trillion-dollar company. They did not succeed just because they understood technology, they succeeded because they communicated its value effectively.
Even in something simple like buying a moisturizer, you choose based on perceived value. The same applies to deep tech.
If founders say, ‘people don’t understand my product,’ that’s often not entirely true. You must translate complex technology into a clear value proposition.
Otherwise, it remains just science, not a business. Technology must evolve into a product, and a product must deliver value to become a viable business.
Alpha Women celebrates women shaping industries through leadership, conviction and long-term thinking. What has that journey looked like for you personally, and what advice would you offer to the next generation of women builders and leaders?
Live to your full potential. Dream big and don’t hold back. There may be systemic barriers, but if you truly believe in yourself, you can overcome them. And when you do, you don’t just create a path for yourself, you create it for others who follow. So, dream big, build boldly, and open doors for those coming after you.