- Veteran investor sees startup upside in venture winter.
- Funding drought instills focus on long-term, customer-centric growth.
- Shift from vanity metrics builds sustainable companies.
While the current venture capital winter has brought funding challenges, veteran investor Shailendra Singh views it as an opportunity for startups to develop healthy habits and focus.
Speaking at the recent Tech in Asia Conference, the Peak XV Partners managing director said he wished the dry spell would last longer to transform startup culture. “It’s a great time in nine other ways,” Singh remarked.
The Shift to Long-term Growth
Specifically, he highlighted how the climate forces companies to abandon the short-term “vanity” metric chase in favor of substantive, enduring growth. Singh advocated for startups to embrace a “1% mindset” – building businesses that can thrive for decades by making decisions that send ripples through industries.
He said this mindset manifests in heightened customer centricity and mission orientation, citing Tokopedia’s member trust and Grab and GoTo’s consumer loyalty as examples.
Singh revealed Tokopedia’s member commitment first drew Peak XV’s interest in 2014.
Resilience and Sustainability
Overall, Singh believes the venture winter pushes startups to “get creative” and trim excess to deliver core value amid scarce capital. The result, he said, is resilient companies like Grab and GoTo achieving profitability through customer focus despite economic turbulence.
In Singh’s view, the current climate separates sustainable startups from flash-in-the-pan unicorns. He feels the funding drought can improve startup culture by instilling healthy habits.
