[YAN] Newsletter Revival, COVID-19, and a Podcast

Oct 2, 2020

Yet Another Newsletter | Issue 9

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I’d like to start off by addressing quite the apparent silence from this newsletter. It is not that I haven’t been writing, it’s just that most of it is in the form of private investment memos. Many of you are aware of my investments through Cloud Capital in early-stage startups and some, who are part of my Syndicate, are also aware of the un-anticipated pace at which I have ended up investing this year; I am not complaining but admitting that I have slacked on other commitments such as this :)

Enough of sobbing, I am kickstarting this newsletter with this week’s edition as a basic aggregator of self-promotions and few interesting finds. Hopefully something more resourceful and insightful next time!

COVID-19’s Impact - India Edition

Kashish Sharma @kashisharma_

Indian MSMEs: - 60m MSMEs - Account for 29% of the GDP - Employ 40% of the total workforce - 90% earn < Rs 5 Cr - Only 300k opted for loan moratorium - 35% shut down as of June'2020 (AIMO survey) to top it off, apparently, our credit rating agencies are crap 😐

The Ken @TheKenWeb

The Supreme Court is even hearing a public interest litigation on this and is expected to pronounce judgment on 28 September. @tam_arund writes the definitive story today on the credit ratings issues. It’s a must-read. https://t.co/nHC9wcblXp

The fragile MSME segment isn’t just the only thing we have to keep a close look at …

The drop reported in the above graph coupled with the following statistic…

should tell us that salaried jobs only account for ~22% of India’s employment profile. Another 25-30 million MSME jobs have also been lost during the pandemic (The Ken).

AngelList India Radio

We at AngelList India recently started a podcast to have power 15-min conversations with founders, investors, and experts around the world.

For the audience interested in ‘angel investing’, I did a focused episode with Adith Podhar, Managing Partner at Gemba Capital, on portfolio construction:

Kashish Sharma @kashisharma_

Excited to have @Adithpodhar of @GembaCapital on @AngelListIndia Radio where we talk about: - Portfolio construction for angel investors - Competitive deals vs your portfolio rubric - GPs leveraging micro-funds & syndicates Hope you find it insightful✌️