Divya Raghavan was promoted to principal at NGP Capital last year, having moved up from associate and then vice-president in under two years, but she originally saw herself as a founder.
Raghavan, who describes herself as a typical Californian who loves hiking, started out as a software engineer at Citrix. That experience in software development and product management experience has helped shape her specialism at NGP Capital, where she targets enterprise software and cybersecurity investments.
She also logged some time as a senior product manager for customer relationship manager SugarCRM. Subsequent internships at venture funds including Samsung Next were meant to give Raghavan more insight into the fundraising process. Instead, she fell in love with the job.
“I loved how hands on you get to be during the company-building process, and what also attracted me to the job was the intellectual rigour you need to bring,” she says. “Because you’re often trying to predict a few steps ahead in terms of where the market is headed and make a judgment there.”
One part of the company building process Raghavan enjoys is helping portfolio companies identify challenges and then overcome them, and her new role has given her more autonomy as an investor. But she is clear on what her best feature as an investor is: hustle.
That hustle manifests itself in speaking to the right people to find investments that haven’t appeared on the radar of other firms, and in cultivating relationships with the best founders.
“I grew up in a very entrepreneurial household and I’ve seen first-hand how much hustle and grit can move the needle of one’s life,” she says. “That’s something that’s very engrained in me and it’s an attribute I try to bring day in, day out to my role as an investor.”
https://globalventuring.com/corporate/publication/rising-stars-2024/