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# Lessons from Bejul Somaia
- URL: https://www.antoinebuteau.com/lessons-from-bejul-somaia/
- Published: 2025-10-24T01:36:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-28T02:52:15.000Z
- Description: Bejul Somaia, managing director at Lightspeed Venture Partners and an early believer in India and Southeast Asia, studies outlier founders and market creation through patient, long-term company building, with conviction as the anchor for identifying disruptive opportunities.
- Author: Antoine Buteau
- Tags: Profile, Investing, Venture Capital Profiles

Bejul Somaia is a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. He helped establish its India practice in 2008 and its Southeast Asia practice in 2020, and led early investments including OYO and Udaan. — [Lightspeed — Bejul Somaia](https://lsvp.com/team-member/bejul-somaia/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

His essays and interviews explore how to assess opportunities beyond superficial pattern matching and how to work with founders as a questioning, supportive partner. — [YourStory — Listening Without Stereotypes](https://yourstory.com/2017/10/being-fully-present-with-a-curious-mind-is-under-rated-bejul-somaia-iex?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

![Infographic for "Lessons from Bejul Somaia".](https://www.antoinebuteau.com/content/images/2026/07/lessons-from-bejul-somaia-optimized.webp)

## On Investment Philosophy & Identifying Opportunities

1. **Backing Exceptional Outcomes:** Look for opportunities with the ambition and market potential to produce exceptional outcomes. Somaia focuses on the size of the prize rather than letting every possible obstacle dominate the investment decision. — [Kauffman Fellows — Investing in Emerging Markets](https://kauffman-fellows.medium.com/the-key-to-investing-in-emerging-markets-312706cb87dd?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Assessing Market Risk:** A good product and team may still struggle in a small market or without conditions that support growth. Assess market size and timing alongside product-market fit, rather than assuming execution alone is enough. — [YourStory — Listening Without Stereotypes](https://yourstory.com/2017/10/being-fully-present-with-a-curious-mind-is-under-rated-bejul-somaia-iex?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Creating Markets:** Look for opportunities to change how an industry works. IEX created an electronic spot market that matched electricity supply with demand; creating that market did not eliminate later competitive threats. — [Lightspeed — Indian Energy Exchange](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/indian-energy-exchange-iex-968b3cf503e2?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **Seeing Beyond Initial Size:** A company’s initial size need not define its eventual opportunity. IEX was small when Lightspeed invested, but its underlying electricity-market problem gave it room to become much more significant. — [Lightspeed — Indian Energy Exchange](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/indian-energy-exchange-iex-968b3cf503e2?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **Backing People, Not Just Trends:** At the earliest stages, assess the founder as well as the market. Somaia emphasizes getting both decisions right; a fashionable sector alone is not enough to judge an investment. — [YourStory — Playing the Long Game](https://yourstory.com/2020/09/lightspeed-venture-bejul-somaia-talks-investment-strategies-startup-india-opportunity?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
6. **Conviction Under Uncertainty:** Early investment can require conviction before important questions are settled. With IEX, Lightspeed developed confidence in the opportunity despite its unfamiliar sector and unresolved issues. — [Lightspeed — Indian Energy Exchange](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/indian-energy-exchange-iex-968b3cf503e2?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
7. **Digitizing Established Markets:** Technology can improve how an established industry transacts. Somaia uses IEX’s electronic power market to illustrate how liquidity, transparent rules and trusted transactions can support a valuable marketplace. — [Bejul Somaia — Inventory vs. Marketplace](https://www.vccircle.com/inventory-vs-marketplace-model-debate?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
8. **Investigating Unconventional Ideas:** Do not dismiss a founder simply because their worldview challenges yours. Somaia uses that discomfort as a reason to investigate the founder’s ambition and market understanding more carefully. — [Kauffman Fellows — Investing in Emerging Markets](https://kauffman-fellows.medium.com/the-key-to-investing-in-emerging-markets-312706cb87dd?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
9. **Measuring Investment Outcomes:** Judge venture performance by capital returned, not just headline company valuations. Ownership and the eventual exit value matter to what investors actually receive. — [Mint — Bejul Somaia Interview](https://www.livemint.com/Companies/FXxhwGANTO31WNEK1sAbDP/India-is-similar-to-what-we-saw-in-China-fourfive-years-bac.html?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## On Founders and What He Looks For

1. **Persistent Problem-Solving:** Look for founders willing to work through difficult problems rather than settle for an easy fix. Somaia praised LimeRoad’s team for pursuing durable solutions even when that meant uncertainty and short-term risk. — [Lightspeed — Why LimeRoad](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/why-lightspeed-continues-to-be-excited-about-limeroad-82da99341ba1?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Founder-Market Insight:** Understand why this founder is pursuing this problem and what insight they bring. Somaia looks past surface credentials to the founder’s point of view and understanding of the business. — [YourStory — Listening Without Stereotypes](https://yourstory.com/2017/10/being-fully-present-with-a-curious-mind-is-under-rated-bejul-somaia-iex?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Attracting People and Capital:** A founder needs more than an idea: they must attract capable people, serve customers well and persuade others to provide capital. These abilities help turn market insight into a functioning business. — [Kauffman Fellows — Investing in Emerging Markets](https://kauffman-fellows.medium.com/the-key-to-investing-in-emerging-markets-312706cb87dd?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **Persistence Without Flamboyance:** Do not mistake aggression or flamboyance for entrepreneurial strength. Somaia’s cricket analogy emphasizes persistence, intensity and resourcefulness; quiet founders can have those qualities too. — [YourStory — Playing the Long Game](https://yourstory.com/2020/09/lightspeed-venture-bejul-somaia-talks-investment-strategies-startup-india-opportunity?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **Learning as the Company Changes:** Look for leaders who can learn and adapt as the company evolves. Assess how they approach unfamiliar challenges and whether their capabilities fit the next stage, not only the current job. — [Lightspeed — Building Your Dream Team](https://lsip.com/stories/building-your-dream-team/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
6. **Humility in Partnership:** A strong point of view need not prevent listening. Somaia values authentic relationships and mutual respect, and describes investing as a service business with no place for ego or a lack of humility. — [YourStory — Playing the Long Game](https://yourstory.com/2020/09/lightspeed-venture-bejul-somaia-talks-investment-strategies-startup-india-opportunity?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## On Company Building and Strategy

1. **Protecting Cash Runway:** Cash runway gives a company time to execute without depending on an immediate fundraise. Plan around the capital available and the work needed to improve the business, rather than assuming another round will arrive. — [Moneycontrol — Bejul Somaia Interview](https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/ipo-market-for-india-tech-startups-still-nascent-lightspeeds-bejul-somaia-8929851.html?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Hiring Complementary Strengths:** Identify the capabilities your team lacks and hire leaders who can supply them. Strong hires can attract other talented people; founders should devote their own time and judgment to these decisions. — [Lightspeed — Building Your Dream Team](https://lsip.com/stories/building-your-dream-team/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Culture That Supports Execution:** Talent alone is not enough. Alignment, culture, empowerment and process affect how well people work together; build those conditions deliberately rather than relying on individual ability. — [Lightspeed — Building Your Dream Team](https://lsip.com/stories/building-your-dream-team/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **Focusing on Business Quality:** Pay attention to the quality behind growth figures. Somaia saw LimeRoad’s increasing engagement without escalating marketing as encouraging evidence, and warned that discount-driven growth could hide weak differentiation. — [Lightspeed — Why LimeRoad](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/why-lightspeed-continues-to-be-excited-about-limeroad-82da99341ba1?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **A Distinct Value Proposition:** Before pushing growth, establish a differentiated value proposition and a sound business model. Somaia argues that growth cannot substitute for the hard work of building that foundation. — [YourStory — Listening Without Stereotypes](https://yourstory.com/2017/10/being-fully-present-with-a-curious-mind-is-under-rated-bejul-somaia-iex?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
6. **Activity Versus Progress:** Check whether your time reflects your priorities. Somaia changed his own schedule to do fewer things more deeply, protect focused work and say no to activity that crowded out what mattered. — [Bejul Somaia — Changing the Way I Work](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/why-im-changing-the-way-i-work-625122c8a691?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## On the India & Southeast Asia Opportunity

1. **Infrastructure Changes the Opportunity:** In his 2017 interview, Somaia contrasted India’s more mature internet and mobile market with earlier years when startups had to build demand themselves. That change could make some new businesses less capital-intensive. — [Times of India — Premature Scaling](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/startups/people/indian-companies-scale-prematurely-so-spend-too-much-on-marketing/articleshow/61595855.cms?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Beyond Putting a Business Online:** Reworking an offline industry is not merely a change of channel. Somaia’s ecommerce essay examines how operating models must balance customer experience, capital efficiency and logistics, rather than assume one model is inherently better. — [Bejul Somaia — Inventory vs. Marketplace](https://www.vccircle.com/inventory-vs-marketplace-model-debate?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Building for the Local Market:** A model that succeeds in China or the US is not automatically the right solution for India. Work from the needs and conditions of the market you actually serve. — [YourStory — Playing the Long Game](https://yourstory.com/2020/09/lightspeed-venture-bejul-somaia-talks-investment-strategies-startup-india-opportunity?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

## On the Role of a VC & Board Member

1. **Believing Early:** Early-stage investors can support founders before there is much product or traction to evaluate. Somaia describes wanting to back talented people near the beginning of their journey toward a large company. — [YourStory — Playing the Long Game](https://yourstory.com/2020/09/lightspeed-venture-bejul-somaia-talks-investment-strategies-startup-india-opportunity?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **Being a Sounding Board:** A useful board partner understands the founder’s business, offers another perspective and asks questions that sharpen thinking. Somaia stresses that what each entrepreneur needs from that relationship differs. — [YourStory — Listening Without Stereotypes](https://yourstory.com/2017/10/being-fully-present-with-a-curious-mind-is-under-rated-bejul-somaia-iex?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **Supporting the Long Journey:** Company building is rarely a straight path. Shared priorities and a real understanding of the founder help investors support the business when setbacks test their conviction. — [YourStory — Playing the Long Game](https://yourstory.com/2020/09/lightspeed-venture-bejul-somaia-talks-investment-strategies-startup-india-opportunity?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **Listening Across Disagreement:** Investors and founders can disagree about how to build the business. Mutual understanding and respect make it possible to listen to each other rather than treat every disagreement as a contest. — [YourStory — Playing the Long Game](https://yourstory.com/2020/09/lightspeed-venture-bejul-somaia-talks-investment-strategies-startup-india-opportunity?ref=antoinebuteau.com).

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## Additional Key Learnings

1. **On Capital:** Easy access to money can encourage a company to diversify before it has perfected its core business or to scale before its foundations are sound. Funding is not a substitute for discipline. — [Mint — Bejul Somaia Interview](https://www.livemint.com/Companies/FXxhwGANTO31WNEK1sAbDP/India-is-similar-to-what-we-saw-in-China-fourfive-years-bac.html?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
2. **On Product-Market Fit:** Launching a workable product is the start of learning, not the end. Build the ability to observe customer behavior, run experiments and improve the product as feedback arrives. — [Lightspeed — Time to Market and Readiness](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/the-difficult-trade-off-between-time-to-market-and-readiness-3a72a2cc8c0b?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
3. **On Timing:** Ask what has changed in the market to make the opportunity possible now. Somaia points to structural changes in India’s power market as conditions that helped IEX grow. — [YourStory — Listening Without Stereotypes](https://yourstory.com/2017/10/being-fully-present-with-a-curious-mind-is-under-rated-bejul-somaia-iex?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
4. **On Defensibility:** A marketplace can become more defensible as buyers attract sellers and sellers attract buyers. Liquidity, trusted transactions and the platform’s technology can reinforce that advantage. — [Bejul Somaia — Inventory vs. Marketplace](https://www.vccircle.com/inventory-vs-marketplace-model-debate?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
5. **On The Long Game:** An IPO need not end the company-building journey. At IEX’s listing, Somaia emphasized the work and growth opportunities still ahead and Lightspeed’s continuing support. — [Lightspeed — Indian Energy Exchange](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/indian-energy-exchange-iex-968b3cf503e2?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
6. **On Scaling:** Expanding management, sales or engineering teams can increase cash burn before revenue catches up. Establish product-market fit before deliberately scaling the expense base. — [Lightspeed — Product-Market Fit](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/the-importance-of-product-market-fit-in-consumer-businesses-fdf95c655d17?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
7. **On Trust:** Build the founder-investor relationship on trust, honesty and shared priorities. Discuss what matters before investing so that the partnership has a foundation when difficult decisions arise. — [YourStory — Playing the Long Game](https://yourstory.com/2020/09/lightspeed-venture-bejul-somaia-talks-investment-strategies-startup-india-opportunity?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
8. **On Unit Economics:** Examine the economics behind growth, including acquisition costs, retention and capital needs. Somaia warned that capital-intensive ecommerce with weak economics could remain dependent on further funding to survive. — [Mint — Bejul Somaia Interview](https://www.livemint.com/Companies/FXxhwGANTO31WNEK1sAbDP/India-is-similar-to-what-we-saw-in-China-fourfive-years-bac.html?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
9. **On Hiring:** Early people decisions influence more than immediate output. The people you hire help shape the company’s culture and recruit the next wave of colleagues; choose them with that wider influence in mind. — [Lightspeed — Building Your Dream Team](https://lsip.com/stories/building-your-dream-team/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
10. **On Feedback:** Seek information that could challenge your preferred conclusion. In hiring, Somaia advises probing references for what you may have missed and following uncomfortable signals rather than collecting reassurance. — [Lightspeed — Building Your Dream Team](https://lsip.com/stories/building-your-dream-team/?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
11. **On The Southeast Asia Market:** Assess the specific market and its talent constraints rather than importing assumptions from India. In his 2022 interview, Somaia discussed Indonesia’s digital opportunity alongside differences in the available founder and executive pool. — [Moneycontrol — Bejul Somaia Interview](https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/ipo-market-for-india-tech-startups-still-nascent-lightspeeds-bejul-somaia-8929851.html?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
12. **On The Early Days:** Early customer understanding can come from directly observing people use the product and collecting detailed feedback. Keep the team nimble while testing whether the product is genuinely useful. — [Lightspeed — Product-Market Fit](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/the-importance-of-product-market-fit-in-consumer-businesses-fdf95c655d17?ref=antoinebuteau.com).
13. **On The Competition:** Competitive pressure can tempt founders to scale before the product is ready. Do not let a land-grab narrative distract from the question of whether customers actually value what you offer. — [Lightspeed — Product-Market Fit](https://medium.com/lightspeedindia/the-importance-of-product-market-fit-in-consumer-businesses-fdf95c655d17?ref=antoinebuteau.com).