ETSA 2023: Balancing growth and monetisation will be key while picking winners

An eye on profitability and balancing growth with innovation are the key traits that jurors Satyan Gajwani, vice-chairman, Times Internet, and Arjun Sethi, cofounder of Silicon Valley-based Tribe Capital, will look for in the contenders.

Satyan Gajwani, vice chairman, Times Internet

India's startup ecosystem is growing up and, with it, so are the standards for our ET Startup Awards nominees. The name of the game today is efficiency and bang-to-buck. We'll be looking out for companies that fit a few potential bills: (a) a higher orientation towards profitability and viable business models, (b) innovative uses of AI technology, and (c) deep tech work which is hard to replicate and can have an impact on a global scale.


Arjun Sethi, cofounder, Tribe Capital

As a tech entrepreneur myself, as well as an active investor across all stages, nothing excites me more than competitions like this one. I’m always looking for extreme product-market fit - whether that is through metrics or the founders themselves. I'm also interested in how the founders think about scaling their businesses and how they balance growth and monetisation. India is a market ripe for disruption, especially in sectors like logistics and financial infrastructure. And it’s also at an inflection point where founders have matured and the ecosystem is ready to support higher levels of investment.