What does it take to find alpha in the markets everyone else writes off?

Most investors compete for the same deals in the same few geographies. Varun Rekhi built his career doing the opposite — investing across the emerging economies of the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, where returns supposedly don't exist and where reading the context is the whole game. In Episode 8 of CVCism, he joins hosts Shashvat Somany and Sriharsha Bandaluppi for a wide-ranging conversation on how the world's overlooked markets actually work — and what that teaches you about investing anywhere.

From Delhi to New York, Singapore and London, Varun's journey shaped a simple conviction: the edge in venture isn't a better model, it's seeing what others miss. The three of them trace that idea across fintech, crypto, AI and the mechanics of the asset class itself.

The conversation runs from why public fintech rails can become an "inheritance trap" for the founders who build on them, into how stablecoins are rewiring cross-border money and why that shift has been slower to reach India. It moves through the "broken flywheel" that stalls venture when real exits don't come, what India genuinely got right — starting with its diaspora — and the difference between Bitcoin as an asset and Bitcoin as infrastructure. From there it turns to where the next edge is forming in AI and frontier technology, from compute bottlenecks to photonics, before closing on an honest exchange about what it really means to have a corporate VC on your cap table: when it adds value, and when it doesn't.

For SIG Tattva, it all comes back to one idea: we invest as strategic capital, not tourist capital — with the conviction to back what the crowd overlooks, and the integration to help those companies scale inside real businesses. Varun's instinct for finding value where no one else is looking is the same discipline that drives how we build.

Chapters:

0:00 - Introductions

3:06 - Delhi to Emerging Markets: Varun's journey

5:58 - Finding Alpha & Recalibrating Across Markets

8:43 - Fintech, UPI rails & the "Inheritance Trap"

16:08 - The Stablecoins Sandwich

21:00 - IPOs, liquidity & the Underrated Founder

24:20 - Building Acquirable Businesses

28:06 - Closed rooms & the "quiet middle"

32:14 - Reading founders: the 2-2-2 rule

37:26 - The Broken Flywheel: the "tap," exits & LPs

41:37 - What India Got Right

44:20 - Bitcoin: Asset vs. Infrastructure

47:12 - AI, tokens & frontier tech

50:11 - Reading a CVC on the cap table

51:59 - What makes a great CVC

Hosted by Shashvat Somany and Sriharsha Bandaluppi.

Subscribe to सीVCism for conversations at the intersection of startups, industry, and execution.

Follow SIG Tattva

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sig-tattva/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sig_tattva/

Is conviction something you build with evidence; or something you feel before the evidence arrives?

Because at the earliest stage of a company's life, there's nothing to measure. No traction, no revenue curve, no product-market fit to validate. There's only a founder, an idea, and a decision that has to be made anyway.

But that raises a deeper question- if there's nothing to point to, what exactly are you underwriting?

This episode exists to interrogate that.

Through Ishaan Khosla and Huddle Ventures, we wanted to move past the polished stage-by-stage playbook and get closer to the decision itself. Not what a founder eventually becomes, but how you build belief in them before anyone else does.

At SIG Tattva, this is a question we constantly sit with; from the opposite end. Huddle writes the first institutional cheque, entering at zero-to-one where belief has to do the work data usually does. We come in after validation, when the question is no longer "will this work" but "will this scale inside a live business." Two philosophies that look like opposites. Harsha calls it Batman versus Joker.

Which is why this conversation leans into uncomfortable territory.

If you back a concept on paper, then execution capability; not pedigree, not narrative, becomes the only thing worth underwriting. If the future belongs to smaller, focused funds, then attention, not capital, becomes the real edge. And if conviction is the job, then the hardest discipline isn't finding deals, it's staying high-conviction instead of spraying and praying.

But that's where the friction lies.

Because conviction forces trade-offs. It forces you to separate genuine belief from your own bias. And in a market that rewards activity, saying no is often the hardest thing to do.

So this episode stays inside that contradiction-

Between belief and evidence. Between speed and scrutiny. Between the founder's freedom and the investor's involvement.

If you're building or backing early, don't just ask: "Is this a good idea?"

Ask: "Would I still believe in it if no one else did yet?"

Because conviction that only survives with company isn't conviction; it's consensus.

Chapters -

00:00 – Intro & Welcome

05:51 – What Is Huddle: The First-Cheque Philosophy

13:36 – Batman vs Joker: Why Opposite Philosophies Are Complementary

19:22 – Founders & Strategic Capital: Freedom, Control & Trust

23:11 – Building Conviction on a Concept: Evaluating Pre-Seed

30:56 – The Huddle Name, the Advisor Network & the Anti-Portfolio

38:41 – Small Funds, Narrative & Grooming Founders

48:45 – Tattva's Lens: Strategic Value & Patient Capital

55:03 – Hot Takes: Consumer AI, Deep Tech & "Unsexy Is Sexy"

Hosted by Shashvat Somany and Sriharsha Bandaluppi

Subscribe to सीVCism for conversations at the intersection of startups, industry, and execution.

Follow SIG Tattva

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sig-tattva

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sig_tattva/

#CVCism #VentureCapital #EarlyStage #Startups #Investing #SIGTattva #CorporateVentureCapital #IndiaStartupEcosystem

Is venture investing actually a system; or just intuition dressed up as experience?

Because if you strip away narratives, access, and hindsight bias, most conversations around investing still fall back on instinct. Timing, conviction, “seeing something others don’t.”

But that raises a deeper question- if outcomes can be explained, can they also be repeated?

This episode exists to interrogate that.

Through Raghav Bahl’s journey—across Bessemer, Alibaba, and now Promaft—we wanted to move away from outcomes and get closer to decision-making itself. Not what worked, but how those calls were made, and whether there is a structure behind them.

At SIG Tattva, this is a question we constantly sit with. Because operating as a CVC forces you into a tension: you don’t just allocate capital—you justify it, align it, and deploy it inside a live business environment. That makes instinct insufficient. It demands process, clarity, and repeatability.

Which is why this conversation leans into uncomfortable territory.

If investing is truly cyclical, then conviction should change with cycles; not narratives.

If Product-Market Fit is the most important inflection point in a company’s journey, then it cannot remain a loosely defined idea, it needs to be measurable, comparable, and testable.

And if frameworks exist, then the real edge isn’t access to deals, it’s discipline in applying those frameworks consistently.

But that’s where the friction lies.

Because frameworks create clarity, but they also remove excuses. They force trade-offs. They force you to say no. And in a market driven by activity, saying no is often the hardest thing to do.

So this episode stays inside that contradiction-

Between instinct and structure. Between cycles and conviction. Between opportunity and discipline.

If you’re building or investing, don’t just ask: “Is this a good company?”

Ask: “Would I still invest in this if I had to follow the same process every single time?”

Because if that answer changes, then maybe the decision isn’t a system; it’s a moment.

Chapters -

02:36 – Promaft & Global Learnings

05:06 – Venture Cycles

08:48 – Method Over Gut: Framework Thinking

16:17 – Discipline & Sitting Out

17:52 – Investor vs Operator Mindset

20:22 – India vs China Learnings

26:11 – Product Market Fir: The CURW Framework

32:15 – Value vs Valuation 34:16 – Tier 2/Tier 3 Reality

37:22 – The LP Flywheel

40:49 – Promaft Partners

46:54 – Founder Advice

50:26 – The CVC Perspective

Hosted by Team Tattva — because at Tattva, the pilot is the product.

Subscribe to सीVCism for conversations at the intersection of startups, industry, and execution. Follow SIG Tattva

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sig-tattva/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sig_tattva/

#CVCism #VentureCapital #ProductMarketFit #Startups #Investing #SIGTattva #CorporateVentureCapital #IndiaStartupEcosystem