Shreyam is a founding member of Lightspeed’s India and SEA Growth Investment team. Before entering the world of venture, Shreyam was a Buddhist Monk, where he spent a year in silence practicing Vipassana meditation.

 “Vipassana taught me that in every second, there would be an inherent null hypothesis, waiting to get proved or disproved to get to the truth of a moment. I, therefore, see venture and growth equity as the ultimate expression of unearthing the subtle truth of companies,” he says. 

Shreyam attended Stanford for undergrad and studied Philosophy and Economics. Before he could finish, he had to drop out because a close family member had become ill. “That experience taught me the power of adaptability that we possess in the face of duress. True growth for me has always occurred when there’s a trial by fire, never when it’s been easy,” he says. Later, he went to the London School of Economics where he received an MSc in Finance and Private Equity and was simultaneously exposed to and inspired by the rigor and creativity of some of the most prominent venture and growth investors in the world.

After graduating from the London School of Economics, Shreyam worked in Investment Banking at UBS for two years, where he advised several rapidly-growing, new-age Indian tech firms before joining Lightspeed in Mumbai. “My favorite part about Lightspeed is that everyone brings considered thought brought about by a deep curiosity to find out “why?” When he’s not meeting with founders, you can find him on the tennis courts or pondering many of life’s paradoxes: learn more to know less. Slow down to speed up.

“My journey’s a bit non-linear. And that’s okay. Straight lines have no nooks to reflect and grow. Non-linear paths, full of jagged peaks and deep troughs, do. Choose non-linearity.”