A 45-minute video conversation with Rajan Anandan felt like an exhilarating, rollercoaster ride that ended way too soon. His belief in India’s growing ecosystem of startups, the rising talent of founders, and the country’s journey towards becoming an AI powerhouse is filled with highly infectious enthusiasm. More importantly, it is also well substantiated by the examples he cites after almost every statement.
Anandan has almost become synonymous with the growth of the internet in India, especially during his eight long years at Google. And now he is championing AI by not only investing in companies but also being a very vocal champion of India’s potential in this sector.
Having worked in leadership roles at tech giants, including Microsoft and Dell, Anandan has had a truly illustrious career. And now as managing director of venture capital firm Peak XV Partners and its early-stage investing platform Surge, he has a front-row seat to India’s most exciting new companies.
However, he still cites failure as a bigger teacher than success. And no, he never thinks about his legacy. At the very end, he reveals that what really matters to him is actually very simple: showing up and being grateful.
In this interview, I talked to him about the nuances of institutional investing, innovative startups, the importance of storytelling, Surge’s intense mentorship program, and, of course, AI.
The full interview is behind the paywall on Campaign India: https://www.campaignindia.in/article/we-want-to-help-india-become-the-most-innovative-nation-in-the-world-rajan-anandan/4npc32sgsy67cwfkgsmj9126dm
My favourite quote: “People tend to agonise over their failures, forgetting that most other people usually remember the times you succeeded. For example, when I look back at my eight years at Google, we failed more often than we succeeded. But people only remember the successes. There were many more products and initiatives that didn’t work than the ones that did. And that’s an important part of building and experimenting — you have to be willing to swing for the fences, take the shot, and take risks, knowing that the probability of failure is often higher than the probability of success.”
