Harvard in Tech Spotlight: Nitesh Banta, B12 and Rought Draft Ventures Co-Founder
I spoke with Nitesh Banta, co-founder of B12 and Rough Draft Ventures. Nitesh spent several years previously as an investor at General Catalyst where he invested in companies including Mark43, Handy, Brainly, and BigCommerce.
When Nitesh was at Harvard, he interned on the Customer Insights and Analytics team at Google. He appreciated the way in which Google was using technology as a scalable way to impact people globally. It was his first time seeing this since entrepreneurship and technology still played a limited role on campus in the mid-2000s.
After graduation, Nitesh dove into the work of entrepreneurship, starting a series of companies, most notably Getaround (a peer-to-peer car-sharing business). After his time as an entrepreneur, he joined the venture capital firm General Catalyst. General Catalyst has an office right in Harvard Square, and Nitesh was able to see firsthand how the Harvard technology ecosystem began to evolve. To support and be a part of this growth, Nitesh co-founded Rough Draft Ventures, where he invested in student founders who have built incredible businesses like Mark43, Instabase, and Workflow.
As a VC Nitesh caught the entrepreneurial bug once again. Through his experience as an investor, Nitesh found that the first generation of SaaS (software as a service) companies had been built on a “do-it-yourself” (DIY) model and mentality. But with the rise of AI and work automation, SaaS applications would move to a “do-it-for-you” (DIFY) model. To pursue this idea, Nitesh paired up with his middle school classmate Adam Marcus and launched B12. B12 is a human-assisted AI platform for the front office. It helps businesses with their website, SEO, blogging and email marketing.
Having been both an investor and a founder, Nitesh has a unique vantage point and shared advice and insight for both parties on working together and growing relationships.
Founders should learn as much as they can on the investor landscape. Educate yourself on which investors are known for what types of help, outcomes, and industries, which investors are active, and which investors have strong brands and reputations. Through growing their understanding of the venture capitalist landscape, founders can better select those they want to partner with for the long term.
Use blind references from portfolio founders to drill into the tough questions. What did the investor do when the founder faced a crossroads? When they differed in opinion? When their business faced seemingly insurmountable challenges? Posing these critical questions to those with first-hand experience dives to the core of an investor’s character and whether they would be a fit for your vision.
Investors should leverage network-based support for founders. Each investor can only add so much value through their experience and time but building a strong network of support is an immense value add to founders at scale. Examples of these networks include the Rough Draft Ventures Academy for recruiting top talent (for Rough Draft Ventures and General Catalyst portfolio companies), a16z’s introductions to enterprise buyers, and First Round Capital’s network of angels through Angel Track.
In supporting founders, one big thought is often enough. Understand what is most important to execute on at each stage and communicate this effectively to the founder. Shift their mindset constructively in one major way and leverage your team members to support the company in this endeavor. If you can do that you will already be a top investor.
Take a strategic yet data-driven approach to evaluate people for hiring and investing. Start with those you know and trust, develop criteria and frameworks for more systematic evaluation, and calibrate based on later outcomes to constantly iterate on this core decision-making process.
Take advantage of the Harvard community in team building. Whether you are an investor supporting companies or a founder yourself, leverage the Harvard network of classmates and friends of friends to find the best people you can. It is easy to take your classmates for granted since you have known them for so long, but the Harvard community is a talented one and you should make the most of it!
