Episode 118: Ash Arora: Partner at LocalGlobe - From Delhi to Top VC
This week on the EU-Startups Podcast, Marcin Lewandowski sits down with Ash Arora, the youngest Partner at LocalGlobe — the #1 early-stage VC fund in EMEA and a backer of legendary companies like Wise, Canva, Twitter, Robinhood, and more.
In this episode, Ash shares her journey from Delhi to leading investments in frontier tech across London and beyond. We dive into her days at Polygon Ventures (managing a $100M fund with LPs like Sequoia, Lightspeed, SoftBank), her time advising the Indian Prime Minister’s Office with a focus on emerging tech startup investments and strategic policy impacting 1.5 billion people, and what she’s learned about power, adversity, and intuition along the way.
We explore:
– Why adversity builds better founders
– How gut instinct is actually pattern recognition
– What VCs get wrong about hardware and DeepTech
– Why most startups don’t actually need venture money
– How to read people like the best investors
– And the worst (and best) advice she’s ever received
Whether you're a founder, investor, or just someone curious about how the next generation of VCs think — this conversation will challenge what you think you know about success, strategy, and venture capital.
🔥 TAKEAWAYS:
1. Perfect is the enemy of launch. Ship it.
2. Trust your gut — even when it goes against the grain.
3. Most startups don’t need venture funding.
4. Reading people is an underrated investor skill.
5. Gut instinct = subconscious pattern recognition.
6. Zombie startups are born from too much capital.
7. Adversity creates clarity, drive, and vision.
8. Pay it forward. Always.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 - Intro: Ash Arora (LocalGlobe)
03:02 - From Delhi to VC Partner
06:02 - Big Career “Holy Sh*t” Moments
09:02 - Power, Money & What People Don’t Say
11:55 - Gut Instinct in Investing: Science or Myth?
15:04 - Adversity as Fuel for Success
17:59 - Unpopular Opinions About Venture
18:25 - The Role of Big Vision in Startup Success
20:12 - Why Reading People is a Superpower
23:04 - Pattern Recognition and Gut Feelings
26:20 - Most Startups Shouldn’t Raise VC
30:15 - Building a Contrarian VC Dream Team
32:20 - Best & Worst Advice She’s Heard
35:27 - Ash’s Life in Five Words
#startup #venturecapital #entrepreneurship
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