Continuing the conversation from Part 1, Kanika Agrawal, Ex EY, and Credit Suisse, Ex VC at Mayfield Ventures, tells us about how she ended up founding Upside AI, a boutique investment firm running on algorithms and AI. Kanika takes us through her role as a VC, where she learned the ropes from her seniors and mentors and was instrumental in many deals.

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The tables turned however when Kanika founded Upside AI with her partners. She shares how she dabbled in the direct-to-consumer segment and then realized that her passion was still finance. Nights of playing strategy-based board games with her husband and friends resulted in a thought process that pushed them to explore machine learning for trading and investing. With the vision to build a system that could intelligently pick the right stocks, inspired by the likes of Renaissance Technologies (the largest and most successful hedge fund run using algorithms in the world). Kanika and her team dedicated 2 years to creating and developing their offerings.

As she shares with us, the next step involved getting customers on board. As the only non-techie on board, Kanika was responsible for sales, outreach, marketing, and more. She shares how as a VC, she was the one getting pitches, but as an entrepreneur, she had to be the one making these pitches. From pitching their product to investors to understanding the needs of consumers, Kanika tells us it’s all a learning process.

Touching upon trends in investing and funds, career decisions, and thinking ahead, this conversation is full of interesting mentions and tips. Some highlights:

-Learning how to think about a career, or a business helps you propel yourself forward.
-Invest time and energy into working towards your career goals to get disproportionate rewards.”
-In the decisions throughout my career, money has played the least important role when I have chosen to do anything.
-Being a founder, you may not get a salary and need support from people around you before you break even.
-Think long-term when making career decisions. Base your career decisions on what will propel you further, not just the salary you’ll get.
-It’s a very very tough job in sales.
-As you grow in any organization, as soon as you get above mid-level, you’re a salesperson.
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Watch the first part of our conversation with Kanika here: https://bit.ly/3yksb4B
Watch all our Konversations Cafe videos here: https://bit.ly/3LY2YRz
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