Feb 2024 | Athera's Odyssey: Grit and Growth Mindset
Learn about what it will take to build India's Space Tech future, lessons from MoveinSync's playbook on scaling sustainably, and much more!
In this month’s edition of Athera’s Odyssey, we explore Grit and Growth through
Portfolio Perspectives with Pixxel: In conversation with Awais Ahmed about his experience and wishes for the Indian space sector.
Athera’s Almanac feat. MoveinSync: A deep dive into one of our earliest investments, MoveinSync and how it became a global mobility platform.
Ecosystem Stories and Discoveries: Our very own Ishan Sinha reflects on answering the elusive question of knowing when to scale.
Pathways feat. Peak Performance in Sports: This month we focus on the intricacies of what it takes to perform at the peak of world sports.
Say Hi to Anshu, the newest member of the Athera team!
Portfolio Perspectives: Pixxel
We sat down with Awais Ahmed on the month of Pixxel’s 5th anniversary to talk about the future of Indian Space Tech.
A day before our conversation with Awais, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for India’s Second Space Port in Kulasekarapattinam, Tamil Nadu (about 700 km. from the current one in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh).
The spaceport is expected to help ISRO achieve a 5-fold increase in global launch market share and provide a more economical option for indigenous satellite players like Pixxel. This is a step in the right direction for India to grow its space economy.
Let us understand how Awais became one of the youngest Space Tech founders in the country.
From Chikmagalur to the Cosmos
Awais grew up in Chikmagalur, Karnataka. Since he couldn’t access the internet till the 8th grade but that didn’t stop him from reading encyclopedias on space science and technology. Awais dreamt of becoming an astronaut and to that end pursued his engineering from BITS, Pilani.
During his college years, Awais contributed to a team developing a nanosatellite with ISRO and also co-founded Hyperloop India (a team that built India’s first Hyperloop pod prototype), serving as its engineering lead. In the process of building the nanosatellite, he identified an untapped market for high-quality hyperspectral data from space for applications to sectors like agriculture.
A visit to SpaceX (as part of the Hyperloop pod competition) was the final push Awais needed to cut short his dual degree by a year and start Pixxel with his co-founder, Kshitij Khandelwal, in 2019.
The Three Strategic Factors Behind The Origin of Pixxel
Awais attributes three strategic factors as to why he and Kshitij decided to dive into Space Tech.
(i) Launching satellites has never been more affordable.
Awais recounted how a comical attempt at buying Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) from Russia pushed Elon to build his own rockets at SpaceX by employing a first-principles approach.
The result? Putting something into space now costs 1/10th per kg vs. a decade ago.
(ii) Space Tech’s Moore’s Law Moment
The progression of electronics following Moore’s Law has helped the space industry accelerate the trend of miniaturization. More powerful and compact integrated circuits and microelectromechanical systems have reduced circuit sizes, weights, and power consumption. This had the knock-on effect of reduced launch costs.
In the initial days of Pixxel when many industry veterans were skeptical about the cost of hyperspectral satellites, Awais and Kshitij hypothesized and later proved that it could be done for about INR 10 Cr. as against 100s of crores which was the accepted standard.
All of these factors have led to small satellites typically costing up to 90% less than large satellites to produce and launch. This has led to the number of satellites being launched into space doubling every year since 2015
(iii) Increasing usage of non-space grade components
Another interesting aspect that Awais noted is the trend of increased quality of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components and the growing risk-taking appetite of engineers to use these components.
While COTS components might not be radiation tolerant, they offer reliable and cost-effective avenues to build low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites.
Five Lessons From Five Years Of Running Pixxel
From our conversation, Awais shares 5 important lessons for any aspiring space tech entrepreneur
Hardware is hard
Hardware adds a layer of complexity and risk to the product due to supply chain uncertainties and engineering costs. However, for those who don’t have the gumption to build hardware, there is still a lot of potential in analyzing existing weather, imagery, and IoT data beamed down from space.Understand the time and cost overruns while building Space Tech
Before beginning the journey of building and launching space ventures, it is important to understand and account for the fact that there will be cost and time overruns. A good thumb rule to keep in mind is that satellites usually take twice as long and cost thrice as much as initially planned.
Borrow wisdom
Awais says that early on the most helpful insights came from ISRO scientists who generously shared their failed experiments and experiences. This saved a lot of time and money but at the same time reinforced their conviction in what Pixxel was trying to accomplish.Leverage the ecosystem
Startups nowadays can make use of everything from ISRO testing facilities to free cutting-edge software from IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) and funding opportunities.Listen to yourself and the laws of physics
Awais recounts how an ISRO scientist with decades of experience told them that what they were trying was simply not possible. A year and a half later, Pixxel tested the first private satellite at ISRO and launched it. All this goes to show that as long as your idea can abide by the laws of physics then it is worth a shot.
Three Wishes for Indian Space Tech in 2024
Awais left us with three wishes for 2024 as Pixxel gears up to launch a record six homemade satellites this year
Call for more seasoned founders and VCs to enter the Space Tech arena
Awais feels that this moment in space tech is akin to the heyday of entrepreneurship in the 1970s when companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Google were being set up in garages by first-time entrepreneurs. As costs continue to plummet, he hopes it will lower the barrier to entry for seasoned entrepreneurs to enter the sector as well as for more VCs to launch Deep Tech and Space Tech-focused funds.Translate India’s technical prowess into market share dominance
While India is one of the top five countries in space tech, it has less than a 2% share in the commercial space industry. This needs to change not only with policy help but also by actively supporting private businesses and creating demand. Awais pointed to the fact that India started on this path in 2020 with state-led reforms that opened the sector to private companies and created IN-SPACe.Increased focus on space by universities
Finally, Awais wants the talent and entrepreneurial pool of Space Tech talent in India to expand beyond self-supported student satellite clubs. This needs to come from universities by creating courses focussed on Space Tech and funding student clubs.
Pixxel is one of the most exciting startups we have funded in recent times and we are looking forward to seeing Awais and his team reach for the stars, and beyond. Subscribe to our newsletter for more conversations with Athera’s partners, founders we have backed and experts.
Athera’s Almanac: MoveinSync And The Art of Scaling Sustainably
In January 2024, as Indian VC funds collectively tightened their belts, slashing deal volumes by 30% and halving deal values, MoveinSync broke the mould, securing $15 million from Bessemer Venture Partners. Amid this “funding winter”, their story shines as an example of scaling sustainably.
From its inception as a straightforward SaaS solution for fleet managers, MoveinSync has grown to become the world’s largest commute platform ferrying over half a million white-collar workers every day.
In a landscape littered with cash-burning ventures, MoveinSync’s story emerges as proof that thoughtful growth is possible —a journey we're thrilled to spotlight and see up close.
In this edition of Athera’s Almanac, we share two lessons entrepreneurs can take from its playbook.
Customer Obsession
"Customer obsession" is everywhere—in employee handbooks, on company websites, and buzzing through boardrooms.
But how can entrepreneurs make it more than just corporate lip service, embedding it into the DNA of daily operations? That's what Deepesh and Akash have been striving to build from Day Zero.
MoveinSync first began as an employee carpooling service called RideinSync. However, the team realised that a better way to enable this was to focus on helping enterprise fleet managers efficiently operate cabs.
So MoveinSync launched its first product as a software solution for large enterprises to help manage their employee commutes, with Google being their first major client.
Soon the team developed a keen understanding of employee commute patterns, drivers' needs, and employee travel operations. Eventually, customers requested for MoveinSync to take over fleet management operations completely.
Its new expanded offering proved to be exactly what rapidly expanding multinational corporations and large enterprises were looking for.
In fact, till 2018, MoveinSync had zero churn and even when the COVID-19 lockdowns struck their existing customers not only stuck by them but also honoured their contracts throughout the pandemic.
Throughout its history, the founders and the team have complemented their flexibility to innovate with an intense focus on the core vision of providing safe, reliable, and secure office transport for their customers.
Ardent Frugality
Being obsessed with the customer is only part of the equation of scaling sustainably.
Another crucial aspect is frugality.
At a time when startups tend to raise millions to generate negative returns even after a decade in operation, the team at MoveinSync have been profitable since 2019 (save for the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021). Not only that, the MoveinSync team has built a business that generates over 6 million USD in annual revenue after raising less than a tenth of that amount.
This comes from a culture of not following the crowd, focusing on winning customer trust instead of market share and excellent corporate governance.
MoveinSync stands as a testament to the transformative power of vision, resilience, and innovation. We hope that the team and their principles of customer obsession and ardent frugality inspire future entrepreneurs to build businesses that can scale sustainably from the start.
Ecosystem Stories & Discoveries: Ishan
At Athera, while we typically focus on seed-to-series A investments, one of the energizing perks of our daily lives is that we nevertheless get to meet incredible founders on Day Zero of their building journeys.
Many pre-revenue founding teams, often first-time entrepreneurs, have a common conundrum such as “Have we reached problem-solution fit”? or “Are we ready to scale”?
While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, there are a few mental models that might help in these situations. I’d like to share a few (beyond the usual) that we often deploy, picked both from our experience as well as best practices from successful entrepreneurs we’ve fortunately had a ringside view of.
The value of red teaming
The early days are times of heady optimism. As such, there is value in proactively taking an adversarial approach to one’s own hypotheses, and trying to poke holes. Through subsequent iterations, the idea should be to deconstruct with as much readiness as constructing - particularly when it comes to zoning in on consumer insights. MVP N+1 might negate part of the success of MVP N, and that’s a good thing.
A 10X benchmark
Solutions to deep problem statements often either (a) enable a new kind of transaction in the market or (b) reduce friction in existing transactions, sometimes to the point that the unviable becomes viable.
Image generation through GenAI is a typical example of the former, while UPI is perhaps a good example of the latter.
A vast majority of innovation is in the latter bucket, and what hides behind the elusive “moat” is typically a fundamental question - are we solving the whole or a part of the problem statement 10x better than the current best alternative?
If we’re solving for grocery deliveries, is some part of the user experience an order of magnitude superior to walking down to the neighbourhood Kirana store? To note - it is not that solutions which are incremental but not 10X better don’t take off; they might, but ramifications are likely to show up elsewhere in the business model.
Identifying cognitive biases
A lot has been said and is well accepted, but hardly implemented. To make matters simple, a good place to start is to check for confirmation bias (are we subconsciously interpreting information in a way that reinforces preconceptions?) and some types of anchoring bias (is the first trial cohort truly representative of the TAM?). It is safest to assume that it is usually not a question of “whether” there is a bias, but rather “which” bias are we most prone to individually.
The MVP is not step 1
There’s a strong case to be made that an objective understanding of the problem statement should command priority, “ahead of” and not as “part of” the MVP buildout. Rushed rollouts and iteration in a direction that is a few degrees off the mark initially are likely to become irreversible after a point. Cycles of iteration spent in pursuit of a fascinating solution to a weak problem or the wrong customer are likely to turn into sunk costs.
Frugality
Not in the economic sense, but in the bones of the MVP. There is merit in building only what is necessary, setting clear learning goals behind each experiment, and getting to the learning fast. There is no single tell-all experiment; iterations help scope out different parts of a layered problem.
Pathways: Peak Performance In Sports
Last time out, we started “Pathways” to share three works of content across books, videos, and podcasts that captured our attention last month. This month, the theme is peak performance in sports - observations from elite athletes that apply to our daily lives spent in pursuit of fantastic “building”.
Start with the relatively light but super engaging How to Build a Car
This book is by Adrian Newey, currently the CTO of the Red Bull F1 racing team and oft regarded as one of the greatest engineers in Formula 1 history. A beautifully illustrated read (fit for “coffee tables”), the book explores Adrian’s 35-year career in Formula 1; taking us on a behind-the-scenes journey through motorsports and the art of car design*.* Through technical details blended with personal anecdotes, we explore the human side of pushing the limits of speed, style, and efficiency to the last millimetre - and the triumphs and tragedies that come with it.
From outward craft, shift to inward zen. Try The Inner Game of Tennis
W. Timothy Gallwey’s work on tennis explores what it means to reach a state of “relaxed concentration” for peak performance - and the self-awareness that it solicits. A worthy read for individuals in any field, the book nudges readers away from focusing on outward skill alone, and emphasizes how the inner, subconscious battle is often the one that unlocks full potential. Practical read, with implementable takeaways - but partly up the “self-help” alley.
Expanding the forensics of performance from individuals to teams, explore The Captain Class
This work by Sam Walker is a wonderfully strange and absorbing study of what drives great sports teams, Walker (previously sports editor at WSJ) stumbles onto non-obvious but enthusing, persuasive insights on the common traits that captains/leaders of some of the world’s most successful teams (across sports) have shared. Provocative and flush with anecdotes, the book carries a vital lesson or two for founders, leaders and managers. Worth a pause and a spare thought.
Welcome Aboard, Anshu!
We're excited to welcome Anshu Pandey to the team. Anshu joins Athera after working with product and strategy teams in Navi, ShareChat, and OYO.
Athera embodies the principle of investing patient capital in companies with strong fundamentals, its performance over 16 years and 4 funds is proof of that. Most importantly though, Samir, Parag, Rutvik and Rajiv have investing experience spanning decades and are super humble.