Osborne Saldanha | Investor in early stage startups

2026

Sep 13, 2026 · 0 views

Repeat Founders Raise the Floor, Not the Ceiling

Repeat founders reduce startup failure rates, but true market-defining outcomes still often come from first-timers betting on massive opportunities.

Jun 1, 2026 · 0 views

Why Picking the Right Fund Manager Matters More in Private Markets

In private markets, picking the right fund manager isn't just important – it determines your entire investment vintage, as Osborne Saldanha reveals.

May 14, 2026 · 0 views

Interfaces are dead. Long live the interface.

AI agents shift interfaces from control panels to canvases or receipts, demanding new input paradigms for the next era of user-centric tech.

Apr 21, 2026 · 0 views

What makes ChatGPT and Claude so effective (and addictive)

AI product addiction stems from deliberate design, not just productivity, shaping how founders build engaged user loops.

Mar 24, 2026 · 0 views

No Such Thing as Value Investing in Early Stages

Early-stage investing success hinges on securing meaningful ownership in breakout companies, not just getting the lowest price.

Mar 22, 2026 · 0 views

The thing about plans

Plans are essential for direction, but founders must adapt them to reality to navigate the inevitable shifts and achieve ambitious goals.

Jan 28, 2026 · 0 views

Introducing LCBM

Osborne launched LCBM to convert between lakhs, crores, millions, billions with ease. No more fumbling or getting a USD/INR value incorrect.

Jan 20, 2026 · 0 views

Conviction Is The Only Business Model

Venture capital demands conviction, not pattern matching, to identify outlier startups and drive outsized returns in a founder-first ecosystem.

2025

Dec 14, 2025 · 0 views

Launching Eliza, my AI Venture Associate

Osborne explores using an AI Venture Associate to filter early-stage pitches, balancing founder experience with investor scale and signal.

Dec 9, 2025 · 0 views

Don Valentine

Learn Don Valentine's market-first, founder-focused investing wisdom, distilled from Sequoia's early days for practical startup execution and enduring capital.

Dec 8, 2025 · 0 views

Wrapped - 2025

A founder-first look at personal usage data, offering amusing yet insightful parallels for early-stage startup growth and market trends.

Dec 5, 2025 · 0 views

Anonymous Founder Feedback - 2025

Investor Osborne Saldanha seeks founder feedback to refine early-stage investing, fostering clearer, founder-friendly pitch processes for a stronger ecosystem.

Dec 3, 2025 · 0 views

Bal Samriddhi Yojana - Concept Note

Bal Samriddhi Yojana: A founder-first proposal to democratize savings, leveraging India's digital infrastructure for long-term financial inclusion and economic growth.

May 27, 2025 · 0 views

Great Man Theory

Great founders possess an innate "productive delusion" and relentless agency; investors should identify this disposition, not just skills, to back world-changers.

Feb 16, 2025 · 0 views

As a VC, who is your customer?

Founders are the true customers for VCs; a great founder experience attracts the best businesses, driving superior LP returns.

2024

Dec 16, 2024 · 0 views

Projects

Sharing my "labour of love" projects. It's a story of how GenAI coding tools reignited my passion for building, transforming decades of tinkering into real products with faster iteration, clarity, and creative control.

Aug 1, 2024 · 0 views

Tear Sheet

A quick look of the companies and founders I've invested in and partnered with over the years that are redefining India's fintech revolution — from payments infrastructure to AI platforms and beyond.

Mar 15, 2024 · 0 views

Venture investing is hard

Venture investing's brutal math and psychological toll demand exceptional founders, deep expertise, and resilience, making it a privilege, not for the faint of heart.

Jan 14, 2024 · 0 views

A Decade in VC

Osborne Saldanha reflects on a decade in VC, sharing practical, founder-first lessons for exceptional early-stage investing and ecosystem progress.

2023

Jun 5, 2023 · 0 views

Favourite Quotes

Essential quotes for founders and investors on building resilience, driving execution, and fostering a winning founder-first culture.

May 9, 2023 · 0 views

About me

Osborne Saldanha shares his journey and founder-first approach to investing, focusing on conviction and practical support for early-stage startups.

May 9, 2023 · 0 views

Fintech Happy Hour

Fintech Happy Hour: Insights on building valuable founder-first communities to drive collaboration and early investment opportunities.

2021

Dec 27, 2021 · 0 views

When Hubble Stared at Nothing for 100 Hours

Hubble's "stare" reveals how patient, data-driven observation unlocks entirely new markets for founders.

Dec 14, 2021 · 0 views

Anonymous Founder Feedback - 2021

Seeking honest feedback from founders to sharpen my early-stage investment approach and better serve the ecosystem.

Dec 9, 2021 · 0 views

Who inspires me?

Discover inspiration in peak performance and an agile mindset—crucial for founders navigating venture's challenges.

2020

Dec 31, 2020 · 0 views

My Personal Stack - 2022 (Updated)

Osborne shares his practical tech stack for early-stage operators, revealing how tool choices impact execution and offer investor insights.

Dec 23, 2020 · 0 views

Anonymous Founder Feedback - 2020

Seeking founder feedback to refine investor interactions, building a more founder-first ecosystem one honest insight at a time.

Oct 4, 2020 · 0 views

Newsletter Launch: Fintech Inside

Osborne Saldanha launches "Fintech Inside," offering founders and investors curated emerging market insights to navigate rapid innovation and adoption.

Oct 2, 2020 · 0 views

What Interests me about Impact Investing?

Impact investing is the future, offering massive opportunities in financial inclusion and sustainable value creation for founders and investors.

Sep 11, 2020 · 0 views

My Ten Year Plan (2020-2030)

Osborne Saldanha outlines a decade-long vision for building a VC firm, sharing practical steps for founders and investors.

Sep 10, 2020 · 0 views

BVP Released Internal Investment Memos

Bessemer's released memos reveal the art of calculated risk in early-stage investing, offering lessons for founders and investors alike.

Aug 19, 2020 · 0 views

Investment themes for the next 10 years

Osborne Saldanha outlines 10-year investment themes in fintech, logistics, and SaaS, offering founders practical insights for the next decade of tech innovation.

Aug 17, 2020 · 0 views

Where to start as a Founder?

Founders, invest upfront in deep research—problem, market, competitors, business models—to build a robust foundation for long-term startup success.

Jul 15, 2020 · 0 views

On Education

Education's true value lies in learning and application, not institutions; founders can drive this shift for broader opportunity.

Jul 5, 2020 · 0 views

The Future of Financial Services? Invisible

Fintech's future is embedded: understanding this shift from consumer-facing to invisible, background services is key for founders and investors.

May 29, 2020 · 0 views

Would you be interested in HackerNews for India?

Exploring the need for a HackerNews-like community in India, highlighting founder-first community building and market potential.

May 17, 2020 · 0 views

Framework for evaluating investment opportunities in various countries

Osborne Saldanha shares a practical framework for evaluating global investment opportunities based on efficiency and convenience.

May 17, 2020 · 0 views

Venture Capital Performance over 30 years (US)

Unpacking 30 years of US VC data reveals performance hinges on home runs, not just median returns.

May 16, 2020 · 0 views

Browser Start Page - Weekend Project

Osborne Saldanha shares how building a custom browser start page taught him about controlling user experience and optimizing for efficiency, critical lessons for founders.

Apr 15, 2020 · 0 views

Covid-19 - Recommended Changes to Pitch Decks

Founders: adapt your pitch decks for this market; I share essential Covid-19 impacts, cash flow scenarios, and unit economics insights.

Apr 5, 2020 · 0 views

Opportunities in a "Black Swan" Environment

Navigate "black swan" events by identifying overlooked opportunities in tech and fintech, a practical guide for founders and investors.

Apr 5, 2020 · 0 views

[REPORT] Implications of COVID-19 and the Market Disruption on Private FinTech

Osborne Saldanha analyzes COVID-19's market impact on fintech, offering founders pragmatic insights on navigating downturns and investor scrutiny.

Jan 8, 2020 · 0 views

Thought Experiment: A New Business Model for the Internet Age

Exploring a novel business model where users are paid for data exchange, offering a founder-friendly approach to future revenue and wealth redistribution.

Jan 6, 2020 · 0 views

[Link] Nobody Cares

Focus on your mission and execute relentlessly; worrying about external perceptions, like competitor moves, is a distraction nobody cares about.

2019

Dec 23, 2019 · 0 views

Founder Feedback

Seeking practical feedback to improve founder interactions, this investor shares lessons learned in early-stage venture.

Dec 23, 2019 · 0 views

Founder Feedback - 2019

Seeking founder feedback to refine my early-stage investor approach and build a stronger ecosystem.

Oct 27, 2019 · 0 views

Bangalore Starter Pack

Navigating Bangalore as a founder or operator demands practical insights: this starter pack offers founder-first advice for daily execution in India's tech capital.

Oct 24, 2019 · 0 views

Starting a New Chapter

Osborne Saldanha shares insights on career transitions and embracing uncertainty to foster growth as an early-stage investor.

Jul 28, 2019 · 0 views

[Report] Morgan Stanley | The Recession Playbook

Navigating market corrections: A founder-first look at Morgan Stanley's Recession Playbook for strategic startup resilience.

Jul 27, 2019 · 0 views

"Geographic Expansion-Staff Hiring" Problem in Excel (With Solution)

Master Excel for dynamic B2B SaaS geographic expansion staff planning, a practical founder-first insight from early-stage investing.

Apr 2, 2019 · 0 views

Gaming the Indian Startup Ecosystem

Startup ecosystems have users gaming systems; learn from these real-world examples to build more resilient businesses.

Apr 2, 2019 · 0 views

PSA: CloudFlare Virtual Private Network (VPN) App for Mobile

Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 VPN simplifies mobile security, offering a founder-friendly solution that could revolutionize how we interact online.

Mar 28, 2019 · 0 views

The Pursuit of Happiness

Focus on mindful, high-impact activities to combat burnout and build sustainable happiness in entrepreneurship.

Mar 4, 2019 · 0 views

Part IV - Banking 2.0 |

Banking 2.0 requires founders to rethink customer experience and financial inclusion, not just technology adoption.

Mar 3, 2019 · 0 views

[VIDEO] Loneliness (~13Mins)

A vital founder's guide to combating loneliness, a growing societal issue with profound startup and human implications.

Mar 3, 2019 · 0 views

Installing Pi-Hole on Raspberry Pi

Mastering core tech like Pi-Hole on Raspberry Pi builds foundational operator empathy, crucial for founders navigating complex systems and early-stage execution.

Feb 3, 2019 · 0 views

Opening Up My Calendar for Meetings with Founders

Making investor access easier, I'm opening my calendar for founders to connect and explore partnership opportunities, fostering a more founder-friendly ecosystem.

Jan 14, 2019 · 0 views

Part III - Peer-to-Peer Lending |

As an investor, I share my decade-long, founder-first view on India's nascent P2P lending market, outlining why I'm waiting to invest.

Jan 12, 2019 · 0 views

Explore the ISS Through Google Maps

Explore the ISS via Google Maps to grasp modular growth, a key lesson for building scalable startups.

2018

Dec 11, 2018 · 0 views

How Hard Was the NASA InSight Landing [Podcast]

Landing complex tech like NASA's InSight highlights the immense, coordinated effort behind ambitious ventures, crucial for founders building at scale.

Sep 28, 2018 · 0 views

On Automation and Our Future

Automation isn't taking jobs; it's evolving them. Embrace this founder-first reality for future-proof innovation.

Sep 20, 2018 · 0 views

Podcasts I'm Addicted to

Learn from top podcasts that fuel founder growth, market insights, and strategic thinking for early-stage ventures.

Sep 15, 2018 · 0 views

Indian Venture Capital Lacks Empathy

Indian VCs often lack empathy, driving flawed strategies by not understanding the realities of the vast majority of Indian consumers.

Jul 31, 2018 · 0 views

#PodcastRecommendation: Seen Unseen Hosted by Amit Varma

Discover insights on India's unseen dynamics through this podcast, essential for founders building across diverse sectors.

Apr 12, 2018 · 0 views

Pitch Deck Template - Fund Raising Starter Kit | Part 2

Osborne Saldanha provides a practical pitch deck template to help founders clarify their vision and attract early-stage investment.

Apr 11, 2018 · 0 views

Early Stage Fund Raising Starter Kit | Part 1

Demystifying early-stage fundraising, this starter kit provides practical templates to reduce founder friction and investor information overload.

Apr 1, 2018 · 0 views

From a Vantage Point - Newsletter Launch

Gain unique early-stage insights from an investor's vantage point to navigate startup challenges and build better businesses.

Mar 23, 2018 · 0 views

Mental Models for Evaluating Startups

Discover Osborne Saldanha's founder-first mental models for evaluating early-stage startups, essential for founders and investors alike.

Jan 19, 2018 · 0 views

Learn The Basic Ideas of Neural Networks in 7 Pages

Democratized AI breakthroughs like neural networks offer founders foundational tools; understanding them is key to building the next wave of disruptive tech.

2017

Dec 19, 2017 · 0 views

You Have No Choice

Osborne Saldanha shares how tough choices shape your path, urging founders and investors to commit and make their decisions count.

Dec 3, 2017 · 0 views

My Portfolio That Wasnt

Osborne shares lessons on identifying and investing in genuinely valuable early-stage companies, often missing opportunities despite extensive evaluation.

Nov 3, 2017 · 0 views

Blockchain 101: Visual Explanation of How Blockchain works (~18 Mins)

Demystify blockchain's core mechanics visually, offering founders and investors a practical grasp of this foundational fintech concept.

Nov 3, 2017 · 0 views

People, Places & Things - Stuff of 2017

Reflecting on 2017's key people, places, and things offers practical insights for founders and investors building enduring businesses.

Jul 30, 2017 · 0 views

My Exercise Routine

Fitness, like successful ventures, hinges on priority, discipline, and hard work—learn how these principles fuel founder productivity.

Jun 2, 2017 · 0 views

Aadhaar - Indias First Step Towards Access to True Public Benefits at Scale

Aadhaar's ambitious scale and open tech platform offer immense potential, but founders must navigate critical privacy and security challenges for true public benefit.

Feb 19, 2017 · 0 views

Getting People to Save "By Default" - Research by Poverty Actions

Defaults are a powerful, low-cost lever for founders to drive user behavior and adoption, as seen in this Afghanistan savings study.

Feb 12, 2017 · 0 views

Learning Projects 2017

Osborne explores year-long learning projects to solve complex fintech problems, emphasizing practical data and behavioral analysis for better lending.

Feb 3, 2017 · 0 views

Part II - Payments in India -

India's payments landscape: dissecting infrastructure, business models, and opportunities for founder-led disruption in a massive digital shift.

2016

Nov 24, 2016 · 0 views

If I knew this cheat sheet existed, my engineering days would have been a breeze

Demystifying complex tech systems early on accelerates founder execution and smarter early-stage investment.

Nov 6, 2016 · 0 views

Before the Flood [1Hr 35Mins]

Founder-first founders, the urgency of climate change demands practical solutions, not just talk, shaping future market opportunities.

Nov 1, 2016 · 0 views

Quality vs Quantity

Osborne Saldanha on Quality vs Quantity: Prioritize building a solid product foundation for sustainable growth and true customer loyalty over rapid scaling.

Sep 8, 2016 · 0 views

The Power of Your Idea & The People You Share it With

Choosing the right people to share your early-stage ideas with is as critical as the idea itself for founder success.

Sep 5, 2016 · 0 views

The Internets Own Boy - Aaron Swartz [1Hr 45 Mins]

Aaron Swartz's dedication to open information offers a powerful lesson in conviction for founders, investors, and the tech ecosystem.

Aug 14, 2016 · 0 views

Introducing After Office Hours | My bit for Entrepreneurship

Osborne offers founder-first mentorship after hours, sharing practical, early-stage investing insights to build sustainable businesses.

Aug 2, 2016 · 0 views

Machine Learning for Angels/Venture Capitalists

Demystifying machine learning claims for investors by scrutinizing algorithmic assumptions and stress-testing models, not just accepting buzzwords.

Jul 29, 2016 · 0 views

Open Sourcing Financial Services or the Need for its Disruption - Part I - OpenSourceFS

Exploring financial inclusion's core, this post details India's underserved markets, revealing fintech opportunities for founders and investors.

Jul 20, 2016 · 0 views

24x7 Live Stream of the Earth from the International Space Station

Witnessing Earth's constant stream from ISS reveals the power of persistent, high-resolution data for strategic overview.

Apr 27, 2016 · 0 views

Why Artificial Intelligence Should Take Away Our Jobs

AI should automate mundane human tasks, freeing our intelligence for innovation and solving bigger problems.

Mar 19, 2016 · 0 views

Crash Course in Neural Networks (~45 Mins)

Unlock foundational AI insights for your startup with this clear, 45-minute neural network crash course.

Feb 29, 2016 · 0 views

Breathe.

Entrepreneurs: harness mindful breathing for better posture, focus, and decision-making to navigate early-stage startup challenges.

Jan 30, 2016 · 0 views

Dr. Richard Feynman on Names and Knowledge

Feynman's insights on names and knowledge reveal how clear understanding fuels effective early-stage startup execution and investment.

Jan 16, 2016 · 0 views

Posting from my #RaspberryPi

Early execution challenges, like a Raspberry Pi setup, mirror founder grit needed for startup success.

Jan 4, 2016 · 0 views

< ideas >

Documenting founder thought processes and early-stage learnings for investing clarity and community growth.

Jan 2, 2016 · 0 views

Kickboxing for Entrepreneurs

Kickboxing offers entrepreneurs surprising strategic advantages, enhancing clarity, resilience, and competitive insight crucial for early-stage startup success.

Writing