By Ritu Jha-
A boy from a remote village in Rajasthan who once dreamed of going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is on a dream run today.
Ashmeet Sidana is one of the most sought-after venture capitalists in Silicon Valley.
Sidana is the Chief Engineer of Engineering Capital, a firm dedicated to managing venture capital funds and serving on multiple boards of directors. Sidana has helped build industry-leading products such as VMware ESX Server and Silicon Graphics Webforce.
In an exclusive interview with indica, Sidana reflected on his journey, aspirations, and thoughts on how the new U.S. government could support startups and entrepreneurship.
“My dream was to go to MIT,” Sidana recalled. “The Ford Foundation and MIT were instrumental in converting Birla Science and Arts College into what became BITS Pilani — a pride of academics in Rajasthan. MIT loomed very large in my consciousness as a child. But studying at Stanford was a stroke of luck. I didn’t get admission to MIT and ended up here at Stanford. I think education and health are the two greatest gifts you can give anyone.”
Sidana holds an MBA from Wharton, an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University, and a BS in Computer Science from USC. He credits much of his success to his Indian roots, saying, “We lived in a mud house at my father’s farm in our far-flung village in Rajasthan. There was no running water, and it was very isolated. What propelled me was education. India culturally favors education tremendously, and it is considered a virtue. India does a good job of preparing you, there’s no question about that.”
As a venture capitalist, Sidana’s current investments include Prismo Systems, Menlo Security, Kentik, YotaScale, Nexla, and vFunction. His previous investments include Azure Power, which went public with a $2.5 billion valuation, and companies such as Netsil (acquired by Nutanix), Palerra (acquired by Oracle), and Freewheel (acquired by Comcast).
Sidana describes his entry into venture capital as accidental.
“I used to work at VMware. When VMware was sold, I decided to start a new company. But I met Mike Schuh, Kathryn Gould, William Elmore, and Jim Anderson, who were the founders and senior partners of Foundation Capital. They taught me the business and eventually helped me start Engineering Capital.”
On his transition from running companies to becoming a VC, Sidana said, “Angel investors come in two flavors. Some are doing it for entertainment, while others are trying to make a profit. The most dangerous are those who think they are in the second category but are actually in the first.” He emphasized the competitive and intellectually stimulating nature of the venture capital industry. “It’s great to meet young entrepreneurs with great ideas who want to change the world,” he added.
Sidana also spoke about his professional philosophy.
“As a venture capitalist, I run a fund and work for university endowments and foundations. When I make profits, those universities and foundations have more money to use. I’m very proud of the fact that I get to do that,” he said.
Reflecting on the differences between being an operating executive and a venture capitalist, Sidana noted, “As an operating executive, you make hundreds of decisions a day. In contrast, a great venture capitalist makes two or three great decisions a year.” He added, “Investing is a balance between greed and fear. Every investment you make, you’re always terrified that you may be making a mistake. But the potential for returns—five, 10, or even 50 times your money—gives us the courage to make those investments.”
Sidana has been a long-time advocate for AI investments, having backed AI companies such as Evinced, Cognitos, and Robust Intelligence.
“AI is a generationally powerful technology. It’s the next wave, like the internet or the smartphone,” he said, adding that AI will continue to offer significant investment opportunities in the coming years.
However, Sidana dismissed fears of AI leading to widespread job loss. “History has proven that when a technology improves productivity, the total number of jobs actually increases,” he said. “AI will follow that trend. I do not believe in the doom-and-gloom scenarios.”
Turning to policy, Sidana expressed concerns about the challenges of taking companies public.
“What it costs to take a company public and run a public company is so expensive and unattractive that CEOs don’t want to run a public company. The number of public companies is going down. We need to have thousands of IPOs to catch up with where we used to be 20 years ago,” he said.
He believes that regulatory reform could boost innovation and help the venture ecosystem.
“Fixing the regulatory regime would tremendously help innovation and indirectly address the antitrust problem.”
Sidana’s story is a testament to the power of education, perseverance, and the right opportunities. His meteoric rise from a remote village in Rajasthan to the heights of Silicon Valley underscores his belief in the transformative potential of entrepreneurship and innovation.