Ishan Sinha, Point72 Ventures: Investing Globally in Startups, Ep 101

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-size: 24pt;">Ishan Sinha, Point72 Ventures: Investing in Global Fintech Startups, Ep 101</span><br /> <br /> Originally from New Delhi and Kathmandu, Ishan Sinha grew up on the move. Due to his Dad’s job, he lived in six countries in three different continents until finally settling down in Connecticut. Today, as Vice President of Point72 Ventures, he still spends a lot of time on planes, however his usual travel plans are currently on hold in light of COVID-19. In normal circumstances, he travels several times throughout the year to explore markets in the Middle East, Northern Africa, South East Asia, and Latin America. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Point72 Ventures is the independent, early-stage investment arm of Steve Cohen’s $16B hedge fund Point72 Asset Management.  The fund –always seeking to be at the forefront of new technology– naturally contacted a lot of startups, which eventually turned into investable businesses. Their first investment in Latin America was in Pierpaolo Barbieri’s fintech Ualá. Ishan, with his international background, immediately jumped at the opportunity to lead the fund’s new global endeavors.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode, I sit down with Ishan to talk about his nomadic upbringing, Point72’s core thesis and decision to explore outside of the US, and his insights on the differences between traditional investing and venture capital. We also discuss how Latin America compares to South East Asia, and Ishan gives advice on how to approach the Latin American market.</span></p> <h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">A cultural education at a young age</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ishan reflects on the valuable lessons he learned from growing up all over. He explains that being a foreigner in a lot of places taught him how to quickly connect with people, a skill that comes in handy at Point72 when he travels abroad to meet entrepreneurs from different co