Building a Personal Fast 50 India Startups Research Report
Designed and built an end-to-end startup ranking report independently, applying a multi-factor methodology and stress-testing assumptions
Jaswanth Kumar B.
Associate Analyst at Deloitte
From their time as
Associate Analyst
Deloitte • 2024
Overview
Outside his day job at Deloitte, Jaswanth built a personal research report modeled on the Fast 50 format: a ranked list of top India startups across sectors including consumer, SaaS, and enterprise automation.
The Story
Outside his day job at Deloitte, Jaswanth built a personal research report modeled on the Fast 50 format: a ranked list of top India startups across sectors including consumer, SaaS, and enterprise automation.
He pulled data from multiple sources: company financials where available, quarterly performance signals, public perception indicators, and news coverage. He did not rely on any single source or any single factor. He built his own multi-factor ranking methodology, weighting revenue, customer count, growth trajectory, and public market presence.
Where data was incomplete, he made explicit assumptions rather than ignoring the gaps. For companies that had shipped a significant product but were currently in R&D mode, he placed them on a watch list rather than the front runners list. His reasoning: historical performance was a signal, but consistent current numbers were the bar for a top ranking.
He stress-tested his assumptions by building in counter-arguments. For each watch-list company, he asked what would have to be true for the company to move up the list, and what would have to be true for it to fall off entirely.
He used data visualization tools to produce the final output, building the end-to-end research and presentation muscle he is now applying to investment research.