Ritu Bhargava, Vish Rao Dumpeti, Rathnakumar Udyakumar, and Shomir Dutt shared perspectives on fundraising, founder readiness, entrepreneurship, and building enduring companies.
What makes an entrepreneur fundable? How do founders know when they have identified the right opportunity? And what can experienced entrepreneurs teach first-time founders about the mistakes that matter most?
These were among the questions explored at the American South Asian Network's (ASAN) Investor-Founder Connect: Immigrants Edition, a standing-room-only gathering during San Francisco Tech Week.
The event brought together accomplished founders and investors for a discussion focused on the practical realities of building, financing, and growing companies.
Four Perspectives on Entrepreneurship and Investment
The panel featured leaders whose experience spans enterprise technology, venture capital, artificial intelligence, consumer platforms, and entrepreneurship.
Ritu Bhargava, independent advisor and investor and former President and Chief Product Officer at SAP, brought experience leading enterprise technology organizations and investing in companies from pre-seed through Series C.
Vish Rao Dumpeti, founder, CEO, and managing partner of Forward Share Ventures, brought the perspective of a three-time founder working across entrepreneurship, venture creation, and investment in industries frequently overlooked by traditional venture capital.
Rathnakumar "RK" Udyakumar*, founder and CEO of Legalyti, drew on experience building five companies. His current work focuses on developing AI-native law firms and rethinking how legal services are delivered.
Shomir Dutt, founder and CEO of Intro and a former founding product manager for Instagram Reels at Meta, brought experience building consumer technology products. Intro is developing a dating platform serving LGBTQ South Asians, a community with specific needs and experiences within the broader dating market.
What Founders Need to Understand About Capital
Fundraising involves more than convincing an investor that a business has potential.
Investors evaluate markets, business models, execution capabilities, competitive positioning, and the founders responsible for delivering results.
The discussion explored how immigrant entrepreneurs approach fundraising, the potential influence of cultural expectations around risk and financial security, and what investors look for when deciding whether to commit capital.
Panelists also examined the importance of finding investors whose objectives and expectations align with the business.
These issues connect directly with ASAN Scale, the organization's developing initiative to help entrepreneurs access capital, financing relationships, and expertise.
Founder Readiness, Cofounder Alignment, and Lessons Learned
Another important theme was the transition from professional experience to entrepreneurship.
An accomplished operator may have extensive experience building products, leading teams, or managing businesses. Becoming a founder introduces different demands involving uncertainty, financial risk, customer acquisition, and ultimate responsibility for business outcomes.
The conversation also addressed how repeat founders evaluate new opportunities, the consequences of choosing the wrong cofounder, and lessons learned from expensive entrepreneurial mistakes.
For founders serving underserved markets, the discussion raised an additional question: how can entrepreneurs identify genuine customer needs and build commercially viable companies around them?
These perspectives were particularly relevant to immigrant founders navigating both the opportunities and challenges of the American entrepreneurial ecosystem.
A Highlight of SF Tech Week
The standing-room-only gathering reflected strong interest in practical conversations between investors and entrepreneurs.
Attendee *Sumit Jagdale* praised the panel and its organizers:
"Mohini Todkari and Dr. Nitin Bajaj did a superb job curating the panel and the event. Not a single minute wasted in fluff. Easily one of the highlights of SF Tech Week."
The response reflected the value of bringing experienced entrepreneurs and investors together for substantive conversations grounded in company-building experience.
Building a Stronger Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Investor-Founder Connect reflects ASAN's broader effort to connect founders and investors through substantive conversations, relevant introductions, and professional relationships.
For immigrant entrepreneurs, access to experienced founders, investors, and operators can provide valuable perspectives on company formation, financing, hiring, growth, and navigating difficult decisions.
Through ASAN Scale and its network of entrepreneurs and business leaders, ASAN is developing a more connected ecosystem where expertise, capital, and opportunity can reach people building the next generation of businesses.
