Loading...
Expert
MenuAC
Anil Chhikara Entrepreneur, Mentor & Investor
Bangalore, India
Chairman, Startup India Foundation | Managing Partner, WeDeal China | Founder CEO BlueBolt Startup Factory | Judge @ India's First Startup Reality Show.
I'm an entrepreneur at heart & believer in the power of dreams. I love mentoring budding entrepreneurs & innovative startups in our portfolio on building biz plans, successfully pitching to investors, go-to-market strategies & scaling up businesses.
In 2001, I founded 24x7 Learning and led its growth over a decade to become India’s largest e-learning implementation company. Besides angel investment, I successfully raised multiple rounds of investments including $4m from Network 18, India’s leading media conglomerate. I was responsible for global sales operations and all customer-facing functions…
1
Call |
1
Review |
angel investing
Startups
Early Stage Startup
Scalability
Small Business Consulting
Early Stage Companies
Small Business Development
Early Stage Investment
Professional Mentoring
Pitch Development
Member since March 2020
Areas of Expertise
-
AC$1.67/min per minute(1)Pitching to Investors for Early Stage InvestmentsAnil Chhikara • Bangalore, IndiaCreated 5 years ago in Funding / Venture CapitalIn 8 seconds, (the average attention span of a human being not focused on a task, according to psychologist Michael Formica), start-ups need to be able to attract the attention of an investor. Once start-ups get the attention, they probably have 2 to 5 minutes to explain the value proposition and other details. Think of it - Investors don’t invest in Startups… they invest in business potential of problems Startups are solving. So focus on the Problem, How BIG and SCALABLE it is, How critical it is for Customers & How Unique your solution is, how you will get paid for it and Investors will target you! We will discuss: • Psychology of early stage investor • How to create and Tell a story to get initial interest and attention of investors • What, How and Why of Elevator Pitch • Problem & Current Solutions: What need do you fill? Other solutions available • Product or Service: Your solution - describing it in a line that covers all. • Market Opportunity: Define market size & your customer base • Business Model: Key Revenue Streams • Momentum, Traction, Expertise: Your key numbers • Market Approach & Strategy: How you grow your business, distribution strategies - direct, online, tech licensing, distributors, system integrators, focused communities - identifying and targeting them. • Competition - how to do competitive analysis. What to be open about and what be closed about. • Team & Key Stakeholders (Founders, Investors, Advisors) • Financials - what and how to show • Investment: Your ‘Ask’ for funding, Basic use of funds Optional: Exit Strategy, Partnership Agreements, Product/Service Demo, Existing Sales/ Clients and Your “Special Sauce”. If you have already made a pitch, I can review it and do a hard-ass mock pitching session with you. If you are struggling to make the pitch, I can come on board as advisor and help you with your pitch and business plan for investors.Anil Chhikara Bangalore, India(1)
-
AC$1.67/min per minute(1)Bootstrap Budgeting for Early Stage Startups SurvivalAnil Chhikara • Bangalore, IndiaCreated 5 years ago in Business / Getting StartedHow do you grow your business with little or no venture capital or outside investment? You need to Bootstrap! You need to rely on your own savings and revenue to operate and expand. We will discuss how to create and track a practical bootstrapped budget by the founder herself without consulting a financial expert or chartered accountant. This budget will help you track and monitor your expenses (manpower, tech infrastructure, office space, marketing, travel etc.) and revenues. It will also help you to present the financials if you are dealing with an angel investor or raising money from friends and family.Anil Chhikara Bangalore, India(1)
-
AC$1.67/min per minute(1)Top 20 Reasons Early Stage Startups Fail and How You Can AVOID Them!Anil Chhikara • Bangalore, IndiaCreated 5 years ago in Business / Getting StartedAre you struggling from some internal or external factor that's coming in way of growth of your startup? Is there a conflict among founders or the team that is hurting the morale and efficiency of everyone? From lack of product-market fit to disharmony on the team, in this session we will analyse the top 20 reasons for startup failure. This is based on CB Insights research by analyzing 101 startup failure post-mortems. After reading through every single of the 101 postmortems, CBInsights learned there is rarely one reason for a single startup’s failure. However, a pattern was seen to these stories. And so after sifting through the post-mortems, CBInsights identified the top 20 reasons startups failed. We will discuss these top 20 startup failure reasons and analyse them from your startup perspective. This will include real life examples from other failed startups and further reading/reference resources. We will discuss practical solutions to the challenges being faced by your startup.Anil Chhikara Bangalore, India(1)
-
AC$1.67/min per minute(1)How to Setup an Early Stage Startup Accelerator Program in India or Asia?Anil Chhikara • Bangalore, IndiaCreated 5 years ago in Skills & Management / EntrepreneurshipSo you want to build and run an Accelerator Program! Awesome!! You have come to the right place! I run Bluebolt Startup Factory, a tech startup Accelerator. I earlier managed Jarvis Accelerator. Bluebolt Startup Factory focuses on finding brilliant entrepreneurs solving business and consumer related critical challenges with tech driven disruptive solutions. We help them with what they need to go from a MVP to a successful startup gunning for a Series A investment. This could be with worldwide access to experts, fortune 500 companies, angel investors and seed funds looking to invest in deep tech startups, refining their target customer, positioning in market, pricing & licensing, setting up distribution networks - whatever the startup needs to succeed! We will discuss how do accelerators benefit the local economy and the startup ecosystem, how do you setup an accelerator program based on a particular industry (Healthcare, cybersecurity, Energy, sports etc.) or technology (IoT, AI, Cloud, SaaS etc.). We will discuss how such programs are structured, monitored and tracked. The program will be a total of 3 phases. These are: ■ Discover & Build: This phase forces the startup to justify assumptions, prove market viability and build a clear proposition. This is achieved through the help of our Accelerator team, mentors and special experts. At end of this phase the startup would have proven the viability of its product or service, defined its pricing and licensing strategy, defined its go-to-market strategy and built a 3-5 years business plan. ■ Validate & Build: This phase focuses on building your product and growing customer interest. Product launch will be achieved in this phase and the mentors’ networks used to arrange partnerships and sales opportunities. At end of this phase the startup would have successfully launched its product or service in the market, got initial customer revenues going and have visibility of a sustainable break even revenues stage. ■ Invest & Grow: This phase pulls together all the elements and gets the startup ready for pitching to investors. Lawyers, accountants and pitch trainers will all be brought in to ensure each team has the correct skills and materials to pitch for and receive investment. An Investment Demo Day will be held with Angels, Seed Funds and other early stage investors. The final outcome is your ability to make a proposal covering all aspects to setup an accelerator and present it to top management or the sponsors. A sample proposal can be shared.Anil Chhikara Bangalore, India(1)
-
AC$1.67/min per minute(1)India Market Entry Strategy for Innovative Tech Startups WorldwideAnil Chhikara • Bangalore, IndiaCreated 5 years ago in Sales & Marketing / Growth StrategyWith countries all over locking down their borders, startups providing innovative products and services to other countries are in trouble. It will be a challenge for startups to reach out and establish themselves in various countries that have locked down their market access. I have over 30 years experience in selling BIG $$ products and services to large corporates, educational institutions and the government in India. I established new businesses in India for MNCs like Parametric Technology from US, Cimatron from Israel, D2L from Canada besides my own successful startups as you can see in my profile (www.linkedin.com/in/anilchhikara). My expertise lies in helping innovative startups on building business plans, successfully pitching to investors, go-to-market strategies, strategic distribution partnerships & scaling up businesses within India. In 2001, I founded 24x7 Learning and led its growth over a decade to become India’s largest e-learning implementation company. Besides angel investment, I successfully raised multiple rounds of investments including $4m from Network 18, India’s leading media conglomerate. I was responsible for global sales operations and all customer-facing functions including implementation, consulting besides defining technology, enterprise products roadmap and strategy. After exiting in 2013, I set up Marco Polo Ventures, an innovative Go-to-Market Strategy and Execution consulting firm. Marco Polo helped develop, implement and manage a custom go-to-market strategy & distribution network for startups wishing to quickly scale up their revenues. Prior to founding 24x7 Learning, I successfully setup & launched businesses for 2 large MNCs - Parametric Tech, USA and Cimatron, Israel. I earlier headed Jaarvis Accelerator, where I got opportunity to nurture some of India's finest tech startups. I have worked closely with super smart entrepreneurs & innovative startups in our portfolio and helped them build their sustainable business and successfully raise investments under Bluebolt Startup Factory. I'm a well-regarded startup mentor in the Indian startup ecosystem. I was the anchor judge for Haywards 5000 Haunslay ki Udaan, India's First Startup Reality TV Show and the official startup coach for The Vault Show, India's answer to Shark Tank. Besides my mechanical engineering, I have learnt sculpting at New York Academy of Fine Arts and about art markets at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London. Do visit my profile - www.linkedin.com/in/anilchhikara.Anil Chhikara Bangalore, India(1)
- Reviews 1
RM
Anil helped me identify a great business opportunity. A very useful call, thank you Anil!
Source: Clarity Rodrigo Martinez Mar 5, 2020
angel investing
Startups
Early Stage Startup
Scalability
Small Business Consulting
Early Stage Companies
Small Business Development
Early Stage Investment
Professional Mentoring
Pitch Development
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.