Alum Ventures: KD Ventures – Dhruv Soni, PGP 2015

When you are confident of the destination you want to reach, the journey and the road becomes a rewarding experience. Similar was the case for Dhruv Soni, founder of KD Ventures, who knew very early in his career that entrepreneurship was his calling. Every experience on this path has not just been exciting but brought along numerous learnings with it.

His latest stint on Shark Tank India as a part of Team Falhari is making an exciting buzz in the business community. As alums, we are just proud and thrilled to see one among our tribe to be making news.

In an exclusive interview with Dhruv Soni on his journey..

Please tell us something about yourself.

I think I am an eternal optimist. I enjoy problem-solving and challenging myself with complex business problems. That’s pretty much the driving force behind everything I do. Across my corporate and entrepreneurial work, I have thoroughly enjoyed hustling with amazing founders and teams.

How and when did you start KD Ventures, how did you get into this space?

In 2018, while I was pursuing my full-time strategy consulting job at Arthur D. Little (Dubai), I started experimenting with whether the corporate consulting learnings are as applicable to the startup ecosystem. I started engaging with founders in India to enable fundraise through alumni, HNIs and NRI networks in Dubai. Later the same year, I started KD Ventures with my friend and an IIM Kashipur alumni Mayur Choudhary. We started consulting startups for raising funds and strategic decision-making across topics ranging from go-to-market to growth. 

Can you tell us about some start-ups that have benefited from your platform?

We have partnered and worked with several D2C startups in India including Falhari, Carmesi, Himshakti, iThink Logistics, Luxury Ride. We have worked with amazing founders to deliver exciting product launches and topline growth. 

You were recently a part of Team Falhari that featured on Shark Tank India, how was the experience for you?

It was indeed a thrilling experience. Delivering your message and vision at the national television is an amazing opportunity. Beyond the chance to pitch your idea, it’s also an excellent platform to connect with many startups and founders who are fellow participants. Getting to know their ideas and journeys was super enriching for me. Overall Shark Tank India has significantly increased awareness about the startup journeys among Indian households. This would definitely boost growth and fresh talent in the ecosystem. 

You chose the entrepreneurial path very early in your career, why?

I have been passionate about business ideas and bootstrapping since my college days. Early-stage hustle has always excited me. After a few years of corporate work, that calling still echoed, and I joined fellow hustlers in their entrepreneurial path. 

Any advice to someone just starting out.

I think there are a couple of things that can’t be more emphasised like having mentors, reaching out to other founders, celebrating each milestone with your team and learning from each other’s mistakes.