Podcast Summary: The Investor With Joel Palathinkal

Episode: Ishan Sachdev: General Partner at Deciens Capital
Date: January 14, 2026
Host: Dr. Joel Palathinkal
Guest: Ishan Sachdev, General Partner, Deciens Capital

Overview

This episode features a deep-dive interview with Ishan Sachdev, General Partner at Deciens Capital—a seed and pre-seed VC fund focused on fintech. Dr. Joel Palathinkal and Ishan cover his journey from an engineering background, through trading and policy roles, to building and scaling a venture firm. The discussion centers on career pivots, institutional firm-building, evolving LP expectations, investment strategies, and advice for emerging managers and founders navigating the current market. Throughout, Ishan provides nuanced, practical perspectives, especially valuable for aspiring fund managers and fintech investors.

Episode Structure & Key Segments

1. Ishan’s Educational & Early Career Path (01:40–06:53)
2. Pathway from Trader to Fintech VC (06:53–12:45)
3. Policy Experience at U.S. Treasury During the Crisis (12:45–17:13)
4. Growth Equity at PSG & Origins of Deciens Capital (17:13–20:04)
5. Building from Fund I to Fund III: Lessons for Emerging Managers (20:04–25:37)
6. Institutionalization & Fund Progression: Insights for Managers & LPs (25:37–32:18)
7. High-Conviction Investing: Sourcing, Screening, & Founder Assessment (32:18–39:18)
8. Fundraising Cycles: Advice for Founders & VCs Near Year-End (39:18–43:38)

1. Ishan’s Educational & Early Career Path

(01:40–06:53)

• Background:

  • Ishan shares he began as an engineer, earning undergraduate and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT.
  • Influenced by the first tech bubble during high school, he intended to work in startups but shifted to investing during his final year at MIT.

• Notable Quote:

  "I was in high school as the first tech bubble was building and unfolding. And I think it was just really amazing to see what some of these, at the time, very young founders were building." (01:54, Ishan)

• Coursework:

  • Favorite class: Computer security taught by RSA co-founder Ron Rivest.

    "Ron was. He is the R in RSA Security..." (02:35, Ishan)

  • Least favorite: Challenging introductory electrical engineering courses focused on lengthy formulas across chalkboards.

• Transition to Investing:

  • Despite technical training, Ishan became captivated by markets and investor strategies by reading widely.
  • Entered Goldman Sachs as a proprietary trader specializing in liquid debt and derivatives.

• Advice for Engineers Entering Investing:

  • Supplement technical backgrounds with finance knowledge via formal coursework or self-study.
  • Engineering skillsets have grown in demand as markets become more quantitative and tech-driven:

    "It's maybe easier to teach people who know math, finance than the reverse... If you've got that sort of computer science engineering background, those skills are much more directly applicable in a way they weren't back then." (07:16, Ishan)

2. Pathway from Trader to Fintech VC

(06:53–12:45)

• Transition to Venture:

  • After Goldman Sachs, joined Bain Capital Ventures in Boston, focusing on fintech from seed to growth.
  • Joined iPay, a Bain portfolio company building bill-payment solutions for smaller banks.

• Insights from M&A Leadership:

  • Led iPay through acquisition—highlighted learning from conversations with senior leaders at major payments companies.
  • Emphasized understanding incentives, win-win outcomes, and M&A value creation for all stakeholders (founders, acquirers, investors).

• Notable Moment:

  “It was really interesting to understand, how do you actually create value through an M and A process...to get the best outcome for the company, for the employees, for the investors?” (11:00, Ishan)

3. Policy Experience at U.S. Treasury During the Crisis

(12:45–17:13)

• Office of Capital Markets (U.S. Treasury):

  • Served as a summer policy advisor during business school, joining a SWAT team of market experts created during the financial crisis.

• Key Areas of Work:

  • Dodd-Frank Title II (“living will” bank resolution planning).
  • Derivatives clearing reforms.
  • Crowdfunding & confidential S-1 filings under the JOBS Act.

• Memorable Quote:

  “The teams are...very lean...small teams that are basically working on these huge topics which will impact the entire market.” (15:38, Ishan)

• Lesson:

  • Contrasts between private investment’s narrower focus and the broad, systemic impact of policy work; the agility required of crisis team members.

4. Growth Equity at PSG & Origins of Deciens Capital

(17:13–20:04)

• PSG Experience:

  • Growth buyouts in software, partnering with founder-owned companies at $10–$20M ARR to scale ops and drive M&A.

• Deciens Capital Story:

  • Co-founded by Dan Kimmerling in 2017, focusing exclusively on seed/pre-seed fintech, high conviction, lead investor model, highly concentrated portfolios.
  • Ishan joined in 2021 as GP; now in Fund III with a growing institutional team.

• Why Deciens:

  • Ishan wanted full dedication to early-stage fintech, to build a firm, and to join a partner with a founder's perspective on value creation.

5. Building from Fund I to Fund III: Lessons for Emerging Managers

(20:04–25:37)

• 0-to-1 of Fund Building:

  • Demands much more than investment acumen: “Building a fund...is a lot different than just being an investor at a bigger fund or being an angel because you're building a firm...” (20:49, Ishan)

• Differentiation is Critical:

  • Both founders and LPs seek a clear answer to “What's the new thing?” a firm brings.
  • Track record of strategic consistency matters: “...able to deploy a defined strategy, execute on it, show that it works—that is the most important thing...to show that consistency across multiple funds.” (22:41, Ishan)

• Team Alignment:

  • Enduring partnerships rely on deep alignment around vision and trust; LPs scrutinize relationships among GPs.

6. Institutionalization & Fund Progression: Insights for Managers & LPs

(25:37–32:18)

• Becoming Institutional-Grade:

  • Early steps: upgrading service providers, hiring seasoned staff (e.g., former Vista Equity finance VP), building robust due diligence and reporting capacities.

  “...for us, we wanted to go institutional, we knew that. And so we absolutely started building that out over the course of fund two...” (26:31, Ishan)

• LP Dynamics Over Multiple Funds:

  • Fund 1: LPs bet on team/story, little data.
  • Fund 2: Some signals, but outcomes still early.
  • Fund 3: Hard for seed/pre-seed GPs to show cash returns, but narrative and markups less convincing—focus shifts to underlying portfolio progress.
  • Some LPs only invest by Fund 4+ to see DPI, so cultivating relationships early is critical.

  “If you get to know LPs at Fund 1...they have much more comfort in what you're doing because they've seen you over time.” (29:19, Ishan)

• Transparency in Portfolio Reporting:

  • In volatile markets, more valuable to show real company progress—revenue, execution, traction—than high marks.

7. High-Conviction Investing: Sourcing, Screening, & Founder Assessment

(32:18–39:18)

• Framework-Driven Deal Flow:

  • Pre-seed investing requires a “tight funnel” based on well-defined criteria—too much opportunity cost to diligence every interesting company.
  • Temptation to stretch for near-fit opportunities should be resisted; rate of success falls when criteria not fully met.

• Focus Areas for Assessment:

  • Market Fit: Is the opportunity compelling and timely?
  • Founder Depth: Does the founder have deep industry insight and a record of perseverance?
  • Validation in Pre-seed: Even if company has no product/revenue, conduct reference checks with potential customers/buyers to validate the pain point and founder vision.

    “You can go talk to 20 CFOs in that target market...is the problem the company is solving actually a top three problem?” (37:17, Ishan)

8. Fundraising Cycles: Advice for Founders & VCs Near Year-End

(39:18–43:38)

• Plan for the Calendar:

  • Fundraising typically slows between Thanksgiving and New Year’s; best to launch or intensify efforts right after Labor Day.

  “If you want to do a fundraise in the course of this year...you should just get going after Labor Day.” (40:33, Ishan)

• Best Practices:

  • For founders: Initiate and drive conversations towards commitments pre-Thanksgiving.
  • For VCs: Be deliberate about bandwidth during holidays; focus on high-priority diligence for opportunities you’re truly excited about.

  “If you’re a founder...start that process as soon as possible in September...to get something, if not done, kind of deep into diligence by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.” (42:03, Ishan)

Memorable Quotes and Notable Moments

• On Early Influences:

  “I was in high school as the first tech bubble was building and unfolding...it was just really amazing to see what some of these, at the time, very young founders were building.” (01:54, Ishan)

• On Differentiation in Venture:

  “The best firms and the ones that break out really take a differentiated perspective on how they’re going to create value...” (21:33, Ishan)

• On LP Relationship Building:

  “If you get to know LPs at Fund 1...they have much more comfort in what you’re doing because they’ve seen you over time...” (29:19, Ishan)

• On Staying Aligned as Fund Grows:

  “It’s so critical that the people you partner with as you go from one person to two to three...everyone is really signed up to do the same thing and has a belief in the approach that the firm is following.” (23:40, Ishan)

• On Time-Based Advice:

  “...between Thanksgiving and New Year’s can just be a black hole sometimes.” (40:33, Ishan)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Ishan's Background: 00:02–01:40
• Education & Early Career: 01:40–06:53
• Transition to Fintech VC: 06:53–12:45
• Policy Experience: 12:45–17:13
• Growth Equity at PSG, Origin of Deciens: 17:13–20:04
• Building a Firm: Fund I–III: 20:04–25:37
• Institutionalization & Fund Cycles: 25:37–32:18
• Sourcing, Screening & Founder Analysis: 32:18–39:18
• Fundraising Timing Advice: 39:18–43:38

Tone & Takeaways

The conversation is thoughtful, practical, and honest—balancing strategic frameworks with hard-earned truths from markets, startups, and policy. Ishan emphasizes the importance of integrity, relationship-building, thematic focus, team alignment, and patience in both firm-building and startup investing.

The episode is a must-listen for aspiring GPs, LPs evaluating emerging managers, and founders seeking to understand the investor mindset in highly specialized, high-conviction seed funds.