There are No Checklists or Frameworks on HOW TO BE A VC?
So how do you even know if it’s the right path for you?

Unlike most jobs, venture capital comes with an extremely long feedback loop. It can take years before you know whether the bets you made actually worked out.

That’s why most seasoned VCs say: only choose this path if you're in it for the long haul.

This conversation will help you think through that choice. Whether you’re considering VC as a career, love building businesses, or just want to understand who really calls the shots on a cap table.

On The Neon Show, we have with us two operators turned investors:

Gaurav Ranjan, Principal at Prime Venture Partners, has led deals including Sunstone, Synaptic, Recko (acquired by Stripe), and Dozee.
Naman Lahoty, Partner at Stellaris Venture Partners, has been part of investments like Turno, Game Theory, PropReturns, and Vidyut

They share lessons from evaluating thousands of startups - what they’ve unlearned about pattern-matching in investing, why Excel projections mostly fail and why founder empathy might be the most underrated edge in venture capital.

It’s truly a conversation between three VCs on what it really takes to be a VC today.

0:00 – Stellaris Partners X Prime Ventures
0:43 – How Founders Turn Into VCs
4:19 – Do VCs Need an MBA or Consulting Background?
6:32 – Why Startup Projections Rarely Come True
8:43 – Are VCs Naturally Good Founders?
11:19 – Startups we Evaluated & Founders we Met
14:51 – From First Pitch to Deal Close
19:02 – Why VC Feedback Loops Are Extremely Long
21:00 – No Checklists. No Frameworks.
25:27 – Why On-Demand Rebranded as Quick Commerce Won?
29:20 – The Stellaris Framework to Evaluate Founders
35:53 – Why Indian VCs Must Think Independently
38:28 – Rapid Fire: The Big One We Missed
39:16 – The One We Loved But Didn’t Back
42:23 – Startups We Wish We’d Invested In
43:55 – Investors We Admire the Most
47:20 – Do We Believe Peter Thiel’s Theory?
52:35 – Startup Stories: Slack, Flickr, Dozee, Rupicard
57:15 – The GTM Hack That Led to Product Discovery
58:15 – Babygogo & Atomic Work
59:55 – All-Nighter Code Sprint for the Demo
1:00:55 – Lessons Founders Taught Us
1:06:30 – What We Miss About Being a Founder
1:10:28 – When Do You Decide If You Are a Good VC?
1:13:28 – Building a Fund V/S Building a Startup

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India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.

This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.

What is Neon Fund?

We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.

Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.

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Check us out on:

Website: https://neon.fund/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/

Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/

Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7

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This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

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15 Years Of Investing Lessons In 75 Minutes With Prime Ventures and Stellaris Partners | Neon Show

The Neon Show