Examining U.S.-India Relations: Naren Gupta Legacy Series Half-Day Conference

The Naren Gupta Legacy Series: Year One, Program 2 of 4

1-June 23

Tanvi Madan kicks off the conference with an opening keynote.

2-June 23

Tanvi discusses U.S.-India relations with the Asia Society audience. 

3-June 23

Barry Taylor pays tribute to Naren Gupta (1948-2021) and their time together on Asia Society Northern California's Advisory Board.

4-June 23

The audience watches a tribute video for Naren. 

5-June 23

Anita Manwani, president-elect of TiE Silicon Valley, introduces the first panel discussion featuring TiE speakers. 

6-June 23

TiE Silicon Valley panel on cross border investment. From left to right: Venktesh Shukla, Kumar Ganapathy, Satya Bajpai, and Priya Rajan.

7-June 23

Full house at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

8-June 23

TiE panelists take questions from the audience. 

9-June 23

The audience enjoys a networking and tea break featuring Indian-inspired snacks! 

10-June 23

Indiaspora panel on the future of India-Silicon Valley ties. 

11-June 23

The Indiaspora panelists share a laugh on stage. From left to right: Priya Rajan, Sumir Chadha, Jishnu Bhattacharjee, and MR Rangaswami. 

12-June 23

Nikhil Pahwa gives the closing keynote on the evolution of digital business and policy in India.

13-June 23

Tanvi Madan.

13-June

Barry Taylor.

14-June 23

TiE panel from left to right: Kumar Ganapathy, Priya Rajan, Venktesh Shukla, and Satya Bajpai.

15-June 23

Indiaspora panel from left to right: Jishnu Bhattacharjee, Sumir Chadha, MR Rangaswami, and Priya Rajan.

16-June 23

Nikhil Pahwa.

18-June 23

The Asia Society Northern California team from left to right: Margaret Conley, Nathalie De Spiegeleire, Rexille Uy, Nina Udagawa, Angela Chung, and Rahul Devaskar.

19-June 23

Asia Society held a post-conference VIP dinner at Amber India Restaurant in Los Altos.

20-June 23

Asia Society guests enjoy social time before the dinner program.  From left to right: Barry Taylor, Nitin Mehta, AGK Karunakaran, and Consul General T.V. Nagendra Prasad.

21-June 23

From left to right: Nitin Mehta, AGK Karunakaran, Margaret Conley, and Barry Taylor. 

22-June 23

VIP guests help themselves to a delicious dinner of Indian cuisine! 

CG Prasad

Ambassador T.V. Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of India in San Francisco, opens the dinner program with a few words about Naren Gupta and U.S.-India relations. 

Ajay Bhutoria

Ajay Bhutoria, Silicon Valley tech executive, discusses his work as part of President Biden's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI).

Sumir Chadha

Advisory Board Member Sumir Chadha closes out the evening with a few words about Naren Gupta and his legacy at Asia Society Northern California. 

Enlarge Hide captions

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, June 23, 2022 — Asia Society Northern California hosted a half-day conference in Silicon Valley as part of its Naren Gupta Two-Year Legacy Program Series on the topic Examining U.S.-India Relations.

Asia Society Northern California's Naren Gupta Legacy Series pays tribute to the life and legacy of its late Advisory Board Member, Naren Gupta (1948-2021) and is a two-year series of programs focused on the topics closest to Naren's heart: business, entrepreneurship, and cultivating the next generation of innovative leaders, especially those hailing from India.

Conference topics included examining the current state of U.S.-India relations, cross-border investments and social entrepreneurship, the future of the India-Silicon Valley corridor, and the evolution of business and digital policy in India.  

Speakers: 

  • Satya Bajpai, Managing Director, Technology Investment Banking, Citizens Bank
  • Jishnu Bhattacharjee, Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners
  • Sumir Chadha, Co-Founder and Managing Director, WestBridge Capital
  • Kumar Ganapathy, Founder, Enterprise Labs and CEO, Akridata
  • Tanvi Madan, Director of The India Project, Brookings Institution
  • Anita Manwani, Founder and CEO, Carobar Business Solutions and President-Elect, TiE Silicon Valley
  • Nikhil Pahwa, Founder and Editor, MediaNama
  • Priya Rajan, Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank
  • MR Rangaswami, Founder, Indiaspora and Co-Founder, Sand Hill Group
  • Venktesh Shukla, Founder & Managing Partner, Monta Vista Capital
  • Barry Taylor, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Asia Society Northern California Advisory Board Member
  • Margaret Conley, Executive Director, Asia Society Northern California

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Westbridge Capital, Sumir Chadha, Nexus Venture Partners, Jishnu Bhattacharjee, Sandeep Singhal, Melissa Ma, Jack Wadsworth, Asia Alternatives, Rob Cox, SVB, Bill Draper

Conference Videos

Tanvi Madan, director of The India Project at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., gave the opening keynote. In her speech, she focused on how the impact of geopolitical dynamics — particularly India-China tensions and the resultant deepening of India-U.S. ties and the Quad — are shaping India’s strategic, economic, and technology choices, as well as the potential opportunities and challenges this presents for U.S. businesses. (52 min., 37 sec.)

Advisory Board Member Barry Taylor gave remarks honoring Naren Gupta and reflected on their friendship and business relationship. (3 min., 19 sec.)

Community partner, TiE Silicon Valley, organized a panel discussion on cross-border investments. Participants include Venktesh Shukla, founder and managing partner of Monta Vista Capital; Kumar Ganapathy, founder of Enterprise Labs and CEO of Akridata; and Satya Bajpai, managing director of technology investment banking at Citizens Bank. Priya Rajan, managing director at Silicon Valley Bank, moderated the discussion and Anita Manwani, president-elect of TiE Silicon Valley, gave introductory remarks. (49 min., 34 sec.)

Community partner, Indiaspora, organized an expert panel discussion on the future of India-Silicon Valley ties. Participants included Jishnu Bhattacharjee, managing director of Nexus Venture Partners; Sumir Chadha, co-founder and managing director of WestBridge Capital and Asia Society Northern California advisory board member; and Priya Rajan, managing director at Silicon Valley Bank. MR Rangaswami, founder of Indiaspora and co-founder of Sand Hill Group, moderated the discussion. (56 min., 4 sec.)

In the final session, Nikhil Pahwa, founder and editor of MediaNama and Asia 21 class of 2019, gives the closing keynote on the evolution of digital business and policy in India. Pahwa is a journalist who has covered India for the past 16 years. He shared his point of view on investment, IPOs, finance technology, and digital policy from inside India. (58 min., 38 sec.)

View all Naren Gupta Legacy Series Programs:

  1. April 14, 2022 — Asia Game Changer West Awards Gala 2022: The Naren Gupta Legacy Series: Year One, Program 1 of 4
  2. June 23, 2022 — Examining U.S.-India Relations: The Naren Gupta Legacy Series: Year One, Program 2 of 4
  3. August 24, 2022 — The Past, Present, and Future of U.S.-India Relations: Marking India's 75th Anniversary - The Naren Gupta Legacy Series: Year One, Program 3 of 4
  4. September 28, 2022 — Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Investment in India: The Naren Gupta Legacy Series: Year One, Program 4 of 4