View from the Top — by Avataar Venture Partners
View from the Top brings you conversations with the people who power venture capital — the Limited Partners. Hosted by Ganesh Nayak, who leads Global Fundraising and Capital Markets at Avataar Venture Partners, the podcast explores how global investors view India and emerging markets, what drives their conviction, and how they navigate opportunities, risks, taxation, and portfolio construction.
Each episode features insights from leading LPs, fund managers, and allocators from around the world, offering a rare inside look at the dynamics shaping venture capital beyond the headlines.
For LPs, VCs, and founders investing in or building from India to the world, View from the Top offers strategic perspectives, grounded in real capital conversations.
🎧 New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe to never miss an episode.
View from the Top — by Avataar Venture Partners
EP2: Conviction-Driven Investing & India’s Growth Decade with Lee Tilghman of The Dietrich Foundation
In this episode of View from the Top, Ganesh Nayak, Head of Global Capital and Fundraising at Avataar Ventures sits down with Lee Tilghman, Managing Director at The Dietrich Foundation — one of the most respected U.S. foundations investing substantially in VC and PE.
With over 15 years of experience leading manager selection and portfolio strategy across continents, Lee brings a long-term allocator’s lens to investment.
They discuss what conviction-driven investing looks like in practice, and how India is being places in global capital conversations.
This conversation goes beyond the typical LP-GP dialogue — exploring how long-term institutions assess risk, patience, and performance in markets that are still evolving.
Lee shares how The Dietrich Foundation approaches manager selection, the qualities that separate enduring partnerships from short-lived ones, and how mentorship, military discipline, and process-driven decision-making have shaped his approach to investing.
Together, Ganesh and Lee dive into:
- How long-term investors balance conviction and patience across illiquid portfolios
- What separates exceptional GPs from the rest — passion, curiosity, and humility
- How allocators like The Dietrich Foundation built conviction in India long before consensus
- Lessons from military leadership that apply to investing: initiative, accountability, and ownership
- Why “getting on the plane” remains a time-tested diligence principle for global LPs
Candid, and deeply human, this episode offers an inside look into how one of America’s leading foundations thinks about global capital deployment — from Pittsburgh to Bangalore.
For founders, VCs, and investors alike, Lee’s perspective is a masterclass in long-term thinking, conviction, and how disciplined capital fuels the next generation of global category leaders emerging from India.
