From self-described “Wall Street spreadsheet monkey” at investment bank Merrill Lynch to venture capital is a path trodden by many, and aspired to by more.
But few choose to go by way of being a chef as Nathan Krishnamurthy, part of the investment team at Capital One Growth Ventures, the corporate venture capital unit of the eponymous bank, did.
Still, it is a path that has worked. Jaidev Shergill, head of Capital One Growth Ventures, said: “Nathan has quickly been able to understand the complexity of our organisation, the technology and business leverage areas and the people who can help our portfolio companies succeed. With this knowledge and relationships with the venture and startup ecosystem, Nathan is proving to be a critical member and rising star of the team.”
Having joined in May 2015, Krishnamurthy said: “My greatest success was leading and structuring an unprecedented deal for Capital One in which we tied a key element of our data management strategy to an early-stage startup.
“These deals work great when all the pieces fit together. We had a long-term problem and no roadmap to solve it; a startup had a groundbreaking solution, still in alpha; I could lean on our data engineers to diligence and validate the product at enterprise scale; our commercial team could lean on me to properly capitalise the startup, getting them comfortable with a long-term software licence; and this symbiotic relationship got several leading VCs excited enough to put their own money in the deal.”
But the pieces do not always come together so well. Krishnamurthy added: “The biggest challenge for any CVC is reconciling traditional VC time horizons – three to eight years – with normal-course-of-business time horizons – current quarter or fiscal year – that is the challenge, but also why it is exciting.
“CVCs should seek to understand and use market terms and timelines in almost all circumstances. No slipping in rights of first refusal or first offer, returns on net assets, or any other acquisition option [effectively meaning the corporate parent can buy a startup] and framing this as “founder friendly”.
“No contracting for product exclusivity, special projects, or roadmap pivots that steer portfolio companies off course. Be straight forward with founders about the decision-making process and timeline. Anything less gives CVC a bad name.”
His own experience helping startups as a strategy manager for incubator Launch Collective for three years helped inform this perspective, sharpened by completing his MBA at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 2015 as a Palmer scholar in the top 5% of his class.
Given such clear advice, understandably Krishnamurthy said his main professional ambition was to have a “net positive benefit on as many people as possible through the investments we make and the way we use those technologies”.