Growth Story of Supermorpheus: India’s first community driven fund
I had the opportunity to speak with Sameer, the founder of Supermorpheus Community, which evolved from 200+ members to over 1000+ in the last 3 years, with investments in 100+ community startups
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I've been following Sameer and Supermorpheus for quite some time and I am truly impressed with how they are building a unique startup community made-up of founders and other important contributors of the startup eco-system. Not only enabling & encouraging community members to help each other in a natural and agenda-less manner but also investing funds (from community members) into selective community founders.
Remarkably, the community has grown from 200+ members to over 1000+ in the last 3 years, with small investments in 100+ community startups.
Sameer's philosophy of community building is evident from his journey and the choices he has made:
Launched Morpheus Accelerator (India's first accelerator) way back in 2008, to help founders 1:1.
Expanded focus to become a Community-led accelerator to impact on a larger scale.
Despite getting lucrative offers, he decided to build a community holistically.
He is creative in approach, collaborative in mindset, and prioritizes long-term impact.
Let's delve deeper into our conversation. We touched upon the following topics:
Background and Genesis of Supermorpheus Community
Sameer's journey from being a software engineer to a monk building a community for founders by founders
Top 3 identified challenges that he has taken a mission to work upon.
Top 3 challenges he has faced in the journey
Words of advise and takeaways for Founders and Community Builders
Insight into Supermorpheus: Supporting Founders & Its Origin Story
Key Takeaways:
- Supermorpheus is a community built on the foundation of mutual support among founders, evolved from India's first startup accelerator, Morpheus.
- The community thrives on a peer-to-peer support system where founders from various backgrounds share their expertise and experience.
- The core of Supermorpheus is the integration of personal growth and consciousness into the fabric of the startup ecosystem, fostering a new wave of conscious founding and collaboration.
You see, Supermorpheus isn't just a new initiative; it's the evolution of two journeys my co-founders and I embarked on, which merged to become what we have today. It all started with Morpheus, India's first startup accelerator, back in 2008. Quite by accident, we became a cohort-based system for startups, but we quickly realized we couldn't do it alone – founders needed to support each other with their diverse experiences and knowledge.
Now, onto the heart of our community. We began as the Morpheus gang, a simple Google mailing list before the days of WhatsApp. It was all about founders helping founders, a peer-to-peer support network. We nudged them to share their questions and answers with the group, and it just took off! It turned out that there was this innate desire among founders to connect and support one another, which was both natural and necessary. For six years, this was our world, traveling to different cities, meeting founders, and building a community that resonated deeply with us.
But things changed around 2014. The startup scene became too focused on fundraising and valuations, losing touch with the essence of building a business. So, we took a step back and embarked on inner journeys, focusing on personal growth and consciousness. Fast forward to 2016, we formed the Oneness community, not for business, but for personal evolution. Then came the integration of our two worlds: consciousness and startups. Supermorpheus was born, growing organically to a thousand members who share a genuine connection to our purpose. We're not just about numbers; we're about maintaining a pure intent, a community where success is measured not just financially but in personal growth, where everyone contributes and grows together.
Sameer's Journey: From Early Days to Founding Supermorpheus
Key Takeaways:
- Career Paths are Often Unplanned: Despite my engineering background, I found my true passion by staying open to new experiences. It's crucial to be willing to leave your comfort zone and embrace the unknown.
- Growth is Key: My restlessness and desire for constant learning led me to startups. The lesson here is to pay attention to what keeps you feeling alive and growing. If you're not learning, it might be time to move on.
- Creativity is Everywhere: I discovered that creativity isn't limited to the arts. It's about problem-solving and can be found in any field, including the startup ecosystem. This realization can be empowering and can help guide career choices towards fields that fuel your creative energy.
Back in '98, fresh out of engineering college, I found myself in a job that just didn't fit. It was in a factory, and I knew right off the bat it wasn't for me. I wanted out, but to what? I had no clue. Eventually, I left for a software job, bounced around cities, and landed in Bangalore with a big multinational firm. But, let me tell you, I've always had this itch, you know? Whenever the learning curve flattened, I needed to jump ship to stay alive—alive in the sense of growth and learning.
That's when startups entered my life. In 2000, someone suggested that if I craved constant learning, I should work for a startup. I didn't even know what a startup was! But once I learned, it hit a nerve. I ended up in a startup and discovered a dynamism that kept me engaged and growing. It was a match for my restless spirit. Interestingly, it was during this time that I also dabbled in theatre and filmmaking, which I thought was my true calling. I even went to the US, aiming to return and be an independent filmmaker. But fate had other plans. I never got back into film; instead, I found myself starting a company inspired by my filmmaking dreams and my startup experiences.
And that's how I really settled into the startup world. I realised it wasn't just a stop along the way; it was where I belonged. The creativity I associated with filmmaking, I found in startups too. It's not just movies and music where you can be creative; building a business is a canvas too. That revelation? It felt like I'd come home. My engineering days, my dreams of a creative career, all of it culminated in this love for startups. And from there, the journey to Morpheus, and eventually Supermorpheus, began—though I never could've known it at the start. It's been 15 years now, and I guess it's true what they say: life has its own plans for us.
What are the top three challenges for founders that you are trying to address?
Key Takeaways:
- Ignore the Noise: Popular startup advice is often not universally applicable. Most startups that follow these "successful mantras" still fail, indicating that this guidance isn't the golden ticket it's made out to be.
- Seek Relatable Guidance: Advice from those at the same level as you, who are facing similar struggles, is more valuable than distant success stories. It's essential to build a network where experiences are shared and advice is practical and grounded in current realities.
- Embrace Community Success: The health of the startup ecosystem depends on moving away from a mindset that celebrates individual success stories to one that promotes the collective growth of all its members. Success should be a collective achievement that benefits the community as a whole.
When you ask me about the challenges founders face, I'd say the first big one is navigating through the noise. You see, the startup world, it's a tiny community, and there's this popular mantra about how you should do things. But the truth is, this 'one-size-fits-all' advice is mostly trash. It's not practical. Most startups fail even with access to the same knowledge, which tells you something's off. When we were building Madhouse, we tried to follow these popular notions, but they just didn't fit our reality. This mismatch is something I've been keen to address.
The second challenge is about perspective. It's about the importance of relatable guidance. What's missing is the voice of someone who's in the trenches with you, someone who understands your context because they're part of it. With Morpheus, we tried to create an ecosystem where founders could get advice that's grounded in the reality of their own experiences, not some distant, disconnected success story. It's about connecting with peers and deriving insights from within the community, not just from the top.
And the third, perhaps the most profound, is fostering a community that thrives together. It's about shifting from the 'power law' mindset, where only a few succeed at the expense of many, to creating a collective where everyone's growth feeds into the community. This vision stems from the idea that individual success should contribute to and be supported by the collective's progress. We're trying to build this at Supermorpheus—where the success of one can buoy the success of all, reducing the disparity and pushing the whole group forward.
To sum it up, the top challenges are: first, cutting through the generic startup advice to find what truly works; second, seeking wisdom from peers rather than distant idols; and third, fostering a community where success isn't a solitary peak but a shared plateau we all can stand on. This collective approach is what I believe can truly revolutionize the startup landscape.
What are the top 3 hurdles you faced in building Supermorpheus?
When I think about the journey of building Super Morpheus, it's kind of surreal. It's been a very smooth ride, which is a bit unexpected, honestly. Between Morpheus and Super Morpheus, I went on this personal transformation, an ongoing inner journey. It's like I've merged into the universe's flow, where my individual self sort of dissolves into the greater collective consciousness. Once you're in that state, it's not really 'you' doing the work anymore. I'm more of a passenger on Super Morpheus's journey, not the driver. The universe and our community are the true navigators, and because of this, I can't really say I've hit any challenges. When you're not driven by specific goals or agendas, where's the room for challenges or disappointment, right?
In the early days, I won't lie, it was intense—days stretching into nights, clocking in 12, 14, sometimes 18 hours. But as Super Morpheus took shape, it found its rhythm and so did I. Now we've got a fantastic group of people, about 8 to 10 in the core team and then some in the wider community, all sharing the load. And this journey, it's not a race for us. We're not in a hurry, no rushing about. Our pace is measured, rhythmic, avoiding late-night rushes and last-minute panics. The work is smooth and collective, and honestly, there haven't been any challenges. It's been a peaceful and surprising evolution.
And what a surprise it's been! I mean, if we had just a hundred people sharing this mindset and collaborating, I would've been content. But here we are, a thousand strong. It's beyond what I, or anyone, really could have envisioned. We've even managed to raise a modest fund—a beacon of our philosophy in a world still so often driven by greed. And it's allowed us to invest in over a hundred rounds for companies that share our vision. It's almost like living a dream, Ayush. Hard to believe sometimes, but it's the reality. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Where do you see Supermorpheus in the next 3 to 5 years?
We're on this journey where we're just flowing with the universe's rhythm, but practically speaking, it's all about depth for us. We're planting seeds right now—seeds of consciousness in individuals and companies. This whole deal is a long game, especially since we're doing it in a world that's, let's say, not built for patience, right? The first five years for us are like laying down the groundwork, putting in the effort without worrying too much about immediate outcomes. If you're part of our tribe, you'll feel the change internally, but it might not be super obvious to an outsider.
Then, give it about five to seven years, and I reckon that's when you'll see the real magic happen. The companies and people nurtured in the SuperMorpheus ecosystem will start making waves, making an impact that's visible on a larger scale. It's going to be a bit like watching a tree you planted grow—you don't see much at first, but one day you look up, and it's giving shade and fruit to everyone around. And that success? It'll draw more people in, not just to SuperMorpheus but also kick-starting other communities that vibe with us in their own unique ways. We saw a similar pattern with Morpheus, but SuperMorpheus? It's a bigger, more complex beast, and we're all in, prepared for the long haul.
If you had to give a piece of actionable advice to founders and community builders, what would you suggest?
You know, if I were to dish out some real talk to my fellow founders and community builders, it'd be this: I can only really speak to those who vibe with the idea that success tastes sweeter when shared. If you're all about hoarding the fruits of success for yourself, my words might not hit home. But for those who get a kick out of collective wins, listen up. Stick to your convictions like glue. Sure, there'll be plenty who'll call you a dreamer, tell you that your head's in the clouds because you're not out there just for your own gains. Don't you buy into that; don't lose hope, and definitely don't switch tracks just because you feel left out.
Now, let's get to the meat of it. Rally others who share your mindset. One or two might just be your squad, but ten? That's a community, my friend. Forge ahead with them, and don't be tempted by the shiny stuff meant just for you. When you're all about sharing and supporting within a community, you're setting yourself up for a win in every sense. Look at it this way: in a dog-eat-dog world, maybe one or two out of ten make it big. But in a world where we lift each other up? All ten have a shot. And what's next? You push the boundaries together, conquering new heights one after the other. That's the real deal. So, stay true, collaborate, and keep that ego in check. Attract what you want by being who you are—trust me, it works like a charm. I read something today that really nailed it: "By his way of thinking, feeling, acting, each one emanates vibrations which constitute his own atmosphere and quite naturally attract vibrations of similar nature and quality." That's the stuff right there. Keep that vibe right, and you'll draw the right crowd.
Alright, let me break it down into some golden nuggets for you:
1. Embrace Shared Success: If you're the kind that finds joy in mutual success, stay on that path. Don't get swayed by the mainstream hustle that preaches solo wins.
2. Hold Onto Your Beliefs: Expect to be called naive or foolish because you're not playing the cutthroat game. No matter what, cling to your principles and keep grinding.
3. Build Your Tribe: Seek out folks who get you and your way of thinking. When you have a solid group that shares your vision, you're not just building a network, you're creating a force.
4. Resist Short-term Temptations: Don't let immediate gains distract you from the community's long-term journey. True growth and success are shared and sustainable.
5. The Power of Collaboration: Remember, going solo might get you fast results, but a collaborative effort ensures everyone moves up together. This way, no one is left behind, and the collective success far outweighs individual achievements.
In essence, maintain your core values, find your community, and nurture the spirit of collaboration. This isn't just good karma; it's strategic. It enhances your personal growth and amplifies the group's potential. Keep this ethos alive, and you're not just building a business or community—you're building a legacy.
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