Satish Dharmaraj - Q&A

Biggest learning as a founder?
Every day and every week is a massive roller coaster of high highs and low lows so it's good to find balance and keep an eye on the long game.

How do you view your role with portfolio companies?
A lot of times when you’re running a company it feels like whether it succeeds or fails is on you and you alone. I don’t want you to feel that. We are with you in this journey. I want to be a partner that you can lean on like a co-founder. I would like to help you with your strategic decisions but not ever be in the tactical weeds of running your company.

Proudest professional moment?
When I wrote the first JSP compiler and the first servlet class loader while at Javasoft.

Favorite quote or saying?
I think human consciousness, is a tragic misstep in evolution. We became too self-aware, nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself, we are creatures that should not exist by natural law. We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self; an accretion of sensory, experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody is nobody. - Rust Cohle, True Detective

How did you get your first job in venture?
I was part of the founding team of two companies that Redpoint invested in. Tim Haley, one of the founders of this firm, who was on my board both times, sprung this VC thing to me one day at lunch. And here we are!

And what do you love outside of startups and venture…
I love Nine Inch Nails, Football, HipHop, Trap and, TV shows like True Detective, Twin Peaks and Breaking Bad. I love being a Vegetarian and I enjoy cooking. I am in love with dogs. I am super passionate about the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. I love what the Kapor Foundation is doing with the SMASH program. I am also on the board of The Harker School.

What's something people might not know about you?
I began my journey in the US as an immigrant with $5k in debt at a trailer park in South Carolina.