Nao Murakami moved to India in 2014 after a friend convinced him it would be the next big thing, tried running his own startup there, and later settled in the country full-time with his family, meeting more than 2,000 people in person to learn the market and even staying at a founder's home in Indore. Drawing on his years at Nomura taking companies public, he blends an eye for early profitability with Indian founders' drive to scale fast, often reaching out to founders before a funding round even exists, and he sees part of his job as helping young startups land a strong Series A while also connecting them to Japanese corporate partners who can invest further, buy from them, or work with them directly.