#14 A healthy and balanced founder is less likely to build a massive company, w/ Sheel Mohnot [BTV]

Sheel Mohnot is the co-founder of Better Tomorrow Ventures, one of Silicon Valley's favorite fintech investors. Previously, he built FeeFighters [acquired by Groupon], Innovative Auctions, and Thistle while having angel invested in companies such as Ramp, Flexport, and Mercury.

Timestamps:

00:00 - In this episode

01:29 - Introduction

03:33 - First liquidity event $$$: selling Fee Fighters to Groupon

08:37 - Building a cash-cow business leveraging ICANN auctions

12:13 - Does Sheel 'add value' for his portfolio founders?

15:58 - VCs = master manipulators?

18:29 - Great investments he wouldn't have made if he knew better

20:14 - The nature of the game rewards unbalanced founders

21:51 - Teaming up with a polar-opposite business partner

23:52 - Difficult fundraise despite the past successes - what LPs wanted to see

25:58 - The reason BTV will become less active in emerging markets

28:48 - Investing in IndiaGold in India, and BRKZ in Saudi

31:51 - Winning competitive deals against giant firms dropping term sheets

33:43 - Businesses Sheel isn't excited about + my contrarian opinion

35:09 - Are your 'work friends' real friends? founders, co-investors, etc

36:22 - Sheel's aspiration post-retirement [take a guess]

References:

IndiaGold - https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/26/indiagold-raises-12-million-for-its-gold-focused-digital-alternative-credit-platform

BTV raises Fund 3 - https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/01/better-tomorrow-ventures-closes-140m-remains-bullish-on-fintech

Sheel Mohnot - https://mercury.com/blog/sheel-mohnot

About Cauridor [sponsor]:Cauridor is connecting businesses to a continent of payment opportunities. They’re building the payment rails across Africa to enable companies to process money transfers and payments to, from, and within the continent through a single API integration. With market-beating exchange rates and dedicated customer support teams on the ground, Cauridor empowers its partners to deliver a seamless and competitive payment journey to customers throughout Africa. For more info, visit: www.cauridor.com

About OmniRetail [sponsor]:OmniRetail is a unified commerce company transforming how manufacturers, distributors, and retailers across Africa connect, trade, and access finance. Through its product suite (Omni One (manufacturer OS), OmniHub (distributor OS), OmniBiz (retailer OS), and OmniPay (embedded finance)) the company digitizes the entire B2B commerce chain, enabling smarter distribution, faster payments, and inclusive growth for small businesses. Operating across Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire, OmniRetail is building Africa’s largest connected supply network for everyday essentials. For more info, visit: www.omniretail.africa

Listen on all platforms:

Youtube - ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeluluPodSpotify - ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/3vUDH5yEH6pvRkqM1TVaxS⁠Apple Podcasts - ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rally-cap-podcast/id1731710244

⁠Where to find Sheel:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smohnot

X/Twitter: x.com/pitdesi

Where to find Kyane:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyanekassiri

X/Twitter: x.com/kyanekassiri