I joined Lightbox VC in the summer of 2016 after having graduated a year earlier. I had just returned to India after working with a successful UK based startup. I was uncertain about what the experience of working in Mumbai would be like, since I had never worked professionally in India but had heard several unpleasant anecdotes about how ‘interns’ were treated. However, my stint at Lightbox was unlike any of my peers in similar positions.

During my time at Lightbox VC, I had the freedom to work on things that interested me. For example, I was given the responsibility to work on the due diligence for a follow on funding round of a portfolio company. I not only got to sit in high level meetings with the founders and LBVC partners but prepared some of the documentation that would be sent to the Limited Partners (Entities that provide the funds to a venture capital firm to make investments). Along with some of the other members of the team, I would evaluate incoming deals to determine whether they warranted further consideration. I was also exposed to the operations of a portfolio company that was in a period of extreme difficulty. I came away from these experiences having a new understanding of the startup ecosystem.

However, the value of Lightbox is not only in the jobs you perform but also the people you meet.

During the annual Lightbox dinner, I got to meet several people who are household names or industry veterans. The culture at Lightbox is very open minded and every monday we would have a team meeting where we would interact with someone from outside the organization.

Lightbox had a tremendous impact on me. I was slated to attend a Master’s program in the US but due to the experience and frank inputs of the people I worked with and met, I was able to make a more informed and well thought out decision. Today, I am working on my own project, for which, Lightbox deserves significant credit. There are some relationships that I hope to hold on to, even though they were made during a relatively short stint.

Q&A

What are you doing now?
Working on my own tech startup.

What is venture capital to you?
Enabling new ideas to impact the world. It enables new ideas to succeed through the distribution and sharing of capital and experience.

How do you see technology changing India in the next 10 years?
Technology will help in transparency and distribution of information across all the sectors and will enable people to access products and services that today, are out of reach.

What’s the best insider tip you would give to a new intern?
Make the most of your time at LBVC and do not be shy to go speak to everyone on the team - even those you may not directly be working with. Ask everyone how you can help them with their work.

What’s the wisest thing anyone has ever said to you?
Almost everything we believe in - law, religion, the economy, politics are all figments of the human imagination. They are all myths. None of it exists in reality. In only exists because a large number of people have committed to believing in these things.