Balaji Krishnan: Venture Studio

In this episode, we sit down with Balaji Krishnan, a serial entrepreneur and venture studio founder whose consumer hardware and software companies have achieved multiple successful exits, including acquisitions by TiVo and a public company. Balaji shares his journey from a systems engineer at Sun Microsystems, HP, and Oracle to becoming a prolific founder, driven by a passion for building products he would personally use. We dive deep into the venture studio model of his current venture, Keeja Lab, where he bootstraps ideas to the seed stage before bringing in external capital—a unique approach that de-risks investments and retains significant ownership. Balaji offers invaluable advice on fundraising, valuation strategy, lean operations, and the art of the exit, emphasizing the importance of building inbound acquisition interest rather than actively seeking a sale. Whether you're an aspiring founder, an investor interested in consumer tech, or curious about alternative venture-building models, this conversation is packed with hard-won insights on product creation, founder resilience, and building a portfolio of profitable, scalable businesses.

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