Razorpay founder on crafting a winning pitch deck, early rejections, & building a fintech giant

Описание: On this episode of PitchCraft, Harshil Mathur, Co-founder and CEO of Razorpay, breaks down the thinking behind the pitch deck that secured Razorpay’s first investment, at a time when most investors weren’t ready to recognise the scale of the opportunity.

Founded in 2014, Razorpay wasn’t the first payment gateway in India. But what set it apart was a product-first mindset in a crowded category, and the conviction to build infrastructure most believed was already solved.

Joined by Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Partner at Z47 and one of Razorpay’s earliest institutional backers, this conversation explores:

What gave Razorpay the conviction to enter a commoditized market
Why most VCs missed the signal, but founders didn’t
The pitch deck as a window into founder's mindset and clarity
Why great investments require not just a sharp pitch, but an investor primed to hear it

From early resistance to category leadership, this episode highlights how product clarity, customer insight, and founder conviction can unlock outsized outcomes even in markets investors may consider "done and dusted".

Chapters:

01:21 Introduction
02:21 How the idea for Razorpay came about
03:32 The core ideas behind the first deck
04:36 Early experience with investor pushback
06:11 How the pitch deck came together
08:18 What kept the team going through rejections
09:24 Why founders understood Razorpay before investors did
10:39 The role of the pitch deck
12:41 Which assumptions from the first deck held true
13:46 What a strong B2B or fintech pitch needs today
15:08 One of the hardest problems in online payments
15:50 What Harshil would add to the pitch deck today
16:29 Harshil’s view on pitch decks as an angel investor
17:19 Vikram Vaidyanathan joins the conversation
18:21 What Z47 saw in Razorpay that others missed
20:42 The e-commerce cash problem in 2015
21:41 How Z47 first heard about Razorpay
22:33 The first call between Razorpay and Matrix Partners
23:39 What stood out to investors in the original deck
24:25 How Matrix conducted reference checks
25:27 How the best venture bets happen
26:53 The deck as a window into the founders' personality
29:03 How Razorpay’s roadmap was shaped by customer conversations
31:26 Two new focus areas for Razorpay
32:06 What differentiates great founders
32:40 Razorpay’s global expansion roadmap
33:50 Razorpay’s return to India
35:27 The current state of India’s digital payments ecosystem
36:58 Conclusion

Catch Season 1 of PitchCraft:    • PitchCraft | A SeedToScale Initiative  

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Follow the speakers:
Harshil Mathur:   / harshilmathur  
Vikram Vaidyanathan:   / vikram-vaidyanathan-0957572  
Chandra R Srikanth:   / chandra-r-srikanth-6b13a05  

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About PitchCraft

PitchCraft is a series that demystifies what makes a winning pitch. We go behind the scenes with top founders and investors to democratize the art and science of fundraising.