Yash Kanoi is Head of Investments at Alter Global. He was also Chief of Staff at Investree, an Indonesian lending platform for SMEs in SEA to access working capital.

🎙  How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

Believing in an entrepreneur's vision of the world and putting capital, talent and product resources to enable them to chase their dream!

🤨  What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

On some days, I talk to entrepreneurs from Mexico to Indonesia, Egypt to the Philippines all in one day! It's awesome to have such a global view of the world.

🏅  What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far, and why?

Believing in the fact that "Non-linear risks leads to Non-linear returns." I could've continued being in consulting to take the partner track in 10+ years. Instead, I decided to live & work abroad in SEA first as an operator in Indonesia and then as an investor with Alter investing in the likes of Bukukas, Ula, Colearn, Kargo and Shipper in the earlier stages. It's exciting to see how much these companies have grown in the past few years!

🤓  What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year? Agritech is one space which I've been fascinated by! So much of the GDP of emerging markets depend on it, and any solutions here could really move the needle!

🎓  What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

To be a great investor, one must build empathy for entrepreneurs. One way to do that is by being an operator yourself - work at a startup or build one yourself before jumping on the investor side!

🗣  What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

Behavioral Science - how do we make our decisions?

🎬  What's your favorite movie/TV show?

However cliché, I can binge on Friends for hours and hours. Some days, I even hear only the audio of selected episodes in the background!

🍨  What's your go-to ice cream flavor?

Chocolate + mint. I guess that's also the flavor of my life — trying to find intersections of two totally abstract things.