Smart, witty, and a great sense of humor usually aren’t the first qualities used to describe one of Forbes Venture Capitalist Every Startup Should Know, but this soon-to-be newlywed is someone to pay attention to.
A Boston native, Kalghatgi describes himself as an “engineer, UX designer, and entrepreneur turned VC.” Receiving his Bachelor of Science and Master’s degree in engineering from Tufts University and his Master’s of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, Kalghati currently uses his education and professional experience investing in startups through Vast Ventures.
Prior to Vast, Kalghatgi was at Softbank Capital, having been the Founder and Fund Manager of Partner 6 hedge fund. He then went to become the Senior Design and Project Manager at The MITRE Corporation. Following The MITRE he was the Director of Business Development and Marketing at Localytics and in 2010, he became the Principal at Softbank Capital where he focused on seed and Series A stage companies.
Kalghatgi looks for startups with a strong team who have a willingness to learn.
VC Firm:
Vast Ventures
Expertise Area:
Commerce Platforms, Mobile Enterprise, Marketplace, Connected Devices, Mobile Tech and Startups
Selected Investments:
Reserve, Moat, Bark & Co, FitMob, Recombine, Elite Daily, Ripple Labs, Kiip, Sweetgreen, Keychain Logistics, Simply Measured, MobileDay, Ginkgo Bioworks, Cambrian Genomics, StyleSeat
Social Media:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
Memorable Quotes:
On how to reach bloggers: “Don’t necessarily try to reach the Top 10 bloggers. Go for 11-50. Their aggregate audience is bigger than the Top 10’s and they don’t get as much love.”
“Small potatoes are great potatoes when they’re the only potatoes you have.”
