Sequoia

Shailendra Singh

  • Seed/Surge
  • +
  • Venture
  • +
  • Growth
  • +
  • SEA
“Life is millions of combinations of probabilities that are interdependent, hard to predict. The best people improve the probability of success through hard work, learning, smart choices and long term thinking.”

I grew up in a family with tons of idealism and a big focus on impacting society positively. My grandfather and father have devoted their lives to social service, launching and running education trusts that set up non-profit schools. Their idealism has shaped me immensely.

I was also deeply influenced by my elder brother. He was a dynamic, fearless entrepreneur, completely unfazed by challenges. Unfortunately, we lost him to cancer. His courage played a key role in many important life decisions for me.

When I was in the 12th grade, I got extremely sick with hepatitis, missing four months of school and IIT coaching. People advised me to wait a year to apply to IIT, but I was grateful to have simply recovered. I greatly surprised myself and others when I got in. I started to believe that anything is possible if you work very hard and give it your best.

My startup journey during the dot com bust was very painful. That failure hurt my confidence. But it has allowed me to relate to what founders go through. I believe in the Founder’s DNA, that a relentless, give-it-everything mindset, a very personal journey defines founders.

This is the journey that most founder leaders are on, of understanding themselves, and how and when their gifts turn into their blind spots. The journey of entrepreneurship and eventually of enduring leadership is about getting to know yourself.

Authenticity. Contrary to what some say, I don’t believe in the “fake it till you make it” mantra. The best founders are very real. They hold themselves to a really, really high bar – on product, on product-market-fit, on quality of people they hire. If founders have a high bar, and are connected to the world in a real way, then they are truthful to themselves about what they need to do to win. Self awareness and intellectual honesty leads to clarity, which in turn leads to greater alignment inside the companies they run.

I always try to understand what drives founders to devote their life to a problem. Do they have any unique insights into a market, have they thought deeply about serving their customers better than others? I’m always keen to understand what shaped their life and key decisions. I like to hear about their family and friends, their siblings, parents. I look to learn about their failures and how they might have overcome them. We are shaped by our challenges and failures more than we are by our successes.

In the end, I think amazing success can be achieved by highly imperfect people. It’s not for us to judge others, but for simply to understand them and assess if there are common values, so we can work well together for a very long period of time.

Cricket / Action Movies / Nature / Climbing Mountains / Family / Crazy Ideas

Press & Media

Current Companies

  • Arbo Works is determined to help people enjoy more successful financial lives.
    Partnered In

    2021

  • Carousell is a consumer-to-consumer mobile marketplace.
    Partnered In

    2014

  • CRED is a members-only credit card payment app.
    Partnered In

    2018

  • Druva is a leading provider of continuous data protection and disaster recovery solutions.
    Partnered In

    2010

  • FamPay offers India's first online and offline card payments for teenagers.
    Partnered In

    2020

  • Flip is a fintech-based payment platform in Indonesia that has served more than 7 million users and hundreds of companies and SMEs.
    Partnered In

    2019

  • Freecharge (acquired by Snapdeal) offers the fastest and most simple online recharge for prepaid mobile, postpaid bills, data cards, and DTH.
    Partnered In

    2011

  • GlobalLogic, a global product development services company, partners with emerging and established technology leaders, helping them bring great products to market in less time and at a lower cost.
    Partnered In

    2008

  • Gojek is the fastest courier, transport, food delivery, and shopping services provider in Indonesia.
    Partnered In

    2015

  • GoTo Group is the largest digital ecosystem in Indonesia, with a mission to “empower progress” by offering technology infrastructure and solutions that help everyone to access and thrive in the digital economy.
    Partnered In

    2021

  • Happay is a business expense management software. The Happay mobile app allows customers to pay anyone, anywhere with just their mobile number.
    Partnered In

    2015

  • Infoedge is a premier online classifieds company.
    Partnered In

    2007

  • InVideo is a powerful, online video editor, packed with 5000+ templates, iStock media, music library, filters, transitions and much more.
    Partnered In

  • KredX is India's first online discounting marketplace where creditworthy SMEs can get their invoices discounted through a network of investors for a short tenure.
    Partnered In

    2016

  • MobiKwik is a credit-led payments platform, offering digital credit, one-click insurance, and instant savings to millions of users.
    Partnered In

    2013

  • Mobile Premier League is an e-sports and mobile gaming platform.
    Partnered In

    2018

  • Mu Sigma provides management consulting and analytics services to help companies institutionalise data-driven decision-making.
    Partnered In

    2011

  • OlaCabs, popularly known as Ola, is a mobile app for personal transportation in India.
    Partnered In

    2014

  • One Championship is Asia's leading sports media property.
    Partnered In

    2017

  • Park+ is an app that helps users find & book parking, recharge FASTag, view e-Challans, monitor car health, and buy & renew their car insurance.
    Partnered In

    2019

  • Pine Labs is a payments and loyalty solutions platform for retail companies.
    Partnered In

    2009

  • Practo is a healthcare app that allows consumers to find doctors, book appointments, and conduct online consultations.
    Partnered In

    2011

  • Scaler is a transformative tech school, helping working professionals and college students build their career and create impact with impeccable coding skills.
    Partnered In

    2019

  • Bringing together category-leading innovation, unrivaled Contract Lifecycle Management expertise, and a deep commitment to customer success, Sirion helps the world’s leading businesses contract smarter.
    Partnered In

    2014

  • Tokopedia is an online marketplace for individuals and small and midsize business owners in Indonesia.
    Partnered In

    2014

  • Unacademy is one of India's largest online learning platforms providing high-quality lessons by expert educators.
    Partnered In

    2017

  • Zamp is a business banking and investment platform with a mission to reimagine the experience to be seamless, borderless and safe.
    Partnered In

    2022