Nagraj Kashyap (SoftBank Vision Fund) - His Three Consumer Investment Themes, How Fund 2 is Different From Fund 1, and How He Invests in Tech and Non-Tech Businesses

Our guest today is Nagraj Kashyap, Managing Partner of SoftBank’s Vision Fund one of the world's largest venture capital fund, with over $100 billion in capital. Nagraj leads their consumer investment practice for north America. It was amazing chatting with him about how Vision Fund 2 is different from fund 1, his thesis around the future of healthcare the ecommerce stack and how he thinks about scale for non-tech consumer businesses. WIthout further ado, here’s Nagraj. What was your initial attraction to investing in consumer focused businesses? How did you end up joining Softbank? How is Vision Fund 2’s focus different from Fund 1? Why should founders partner with the Vision Fund? What is your decision-making process? How do you get to a decision quickly in today’s market? How do you leverage your platform? Walk us through your due diligence process. When a founder comes to you, how do you think about the size of problem they are solving? How are you thinking about today’s market climate? Do you think valuations are high? What’s your target cadence for consumer investments? There’s been alot of investment in direct-to-consumer healthcare. What’s your thesis around the future of healthcare?Wellness and preventative care Where is the opportunity when it comes to the ecommerce stack serving consumer brands? How do you think about scale in non-software businesses/consumer brands? I.e. Vuori What’s one thing you would change about venture capital? What’s one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally?Professionally: Innovator’s Dilemma Personally: American Sickness What’s one piece of advice you have for founders?