Fund India

"It starts with just one thing - clarity. In the first 5 minutes, I need to know what problem they're solving, why now, and if they can win."

Then he walked me through his exact thought process using a pitch he actually liked:

A startup helping orthodontists convert more patients.

▶︎ 1. Is this a big, urgent problem?

The founder told me: 'Orthodontists are losing ₹30–40K/month due to poor patient follow-up. There are 40,000+ clinics in India dealing with this.'

That's focused. That's painful. That's the right place to start.

▶︎ 2. Can I trust this team to win?

One co-founder built a 7-figure orthodontic practice. The other scaled a healthtech startup to $20M ARR.

They've lived both sides - operations and growth. That's a team I'll bet on.

▶︎ 3. Can this scale - simply?

I asked: Can you sell this to 10,000 clinics the same way you sell to 10?

He said: 'Same product. Same onboarding. Already in 3 states - no custom builds. Once we nail orthodontists, we'll expand to general dentists.'

I don't want to fund a service agency disguised as SaaS.

▶︎ 4. Will this actually make money?

He showed me the numbers: ₹5,000/month per clinic. 5 users per location. CAC: ₹2,500. Churn: under 5%. Already 20 clinics paying.

If you can't explain how money comes in, I'm out."

Then he said something that stuck with me:

"Even if you nail all four - if there's no proof, it's just a story."

"Best proof? Money in the bank. Next best? A predictable funnel or a warm community ready to convert.

LOIs and waitlists? They sound nice. But they don't pay bills."

This conversation changed how I mentor healthtech founders.

It's not about having a perfect product. It's about having perfect clarity on these 4 areas - backed by real proof.

Are you confident your pitch clearly answers these 4 questions?