Vade Mecum V2: My Handbook
EP 022 | aka how to work with me without chasing ghosts
It’s almost mid-2025, and the year’s been anything but boring.
2024 felt stagnant, like everything was frozen in place. But 2025? Movement. Momentum. Milestones.
There’s been real progress across what I set out to build and it’s been exciting to watch things take shape.
Writing The Hungry Pig has been a big part of that.
The feedback has been humbling, the learning curve steep, and the act of distilling my day-to-day into meaningful, actionable insight has done more than just help others; it’s helped me get sharper, clearer, and more deliberate in how I think and work.
But here’s what happens when you share regularly: you start showing up in different places, to different people, at different times. Some folks follow me for the consumer brand work. Some for the investor POV. Some for the spicy one-liners.
And that’s great but it also means I spend a lot of time explaining what I actually do.
So I decided to write it all down again.
A playbook. A personal guide. A how-to for getting in touch, collaborating, investing, or working together.
This isn’t new. I published the first version of this 3 years ago, inspired by Zach Coelius. It worked. Now, it’s time for an upgrade.
Here’s Vade Mecum V2 → my handbook.
Who I Am
Hey, I’m Manish.
I run a venture studio + soon-to-launch consumer accelerator fund. I’ve spent 15+ years across private wealth, tech startups, and VC → a decade in Dubai, now across India.
You’ll find me building consumer brands, writing here on The Hungry Pig, and helping founders sharpen their pitch, GTM, and story.
Why This Exists
We all agree LinkedIn has replaced the traditional business card. But with that, it has also brought a flood of DMs, intros, cold reach-outs, and “got 5 minutes?” requests.
I try to respond to as much as I can but my calendar and inbox are sacred ground. To make sure I can be helpful without burning out, here’s my updated personal handbook (vade mecum) on how best to engage.
If you’re a founder, investor, collaborator, media person, or just curious about what I do, this should help set context.
Getting in Touch
I live off my calendar. If it’s not scheduled, it won’t happen.
So here’s how to reach me:
DM me on LinkedIn with context (see formats below):
Tell me what you’re working on, why you’re writing, and what you need from me.If I’m interested, I’ll share my email and that’s your green light to proceed.
I don’t check email on weekends. If it’s urgent, it can wait till Monday.
I travel a lot and get a truckload of messages. I don’t respond just for the sake of it. I look at every deck, proposal, and note deeply before replying. That takes time.
But I do follow a zero inbox strategy, so if you don’t hear from me in 7 days, feel free to bump the thread. I probably missed it.
What I’m Working On
OutNorm Studio
We co-build consumer brands with exceptional product founders.
You bring the product. We bring capital, distribution (our moat), GTM, and all things brand.
If you already have all that, we’re probably not the right partners.
OutNorm Capital
We’re launching a consumer-first accelerator fund for early-stage brands that:
Are culturally relevant
Don’t fit the VC stereotype
Need hands-on support to scale
→ If you’re an investor/LP, drop me a DM for our thesis note.
The Hungry Pig Newsletter
This newsletter is my lab where I decode consumer behavior, brand trends, and startup signals from an investor POV.
If you're building or betting on the next wave of consumer brands → this is your cheat sheet.
Working On...
Some exciting projects in the pipeline:
Culture-led F&B concepts
Creator-backed consumer experiments
Some things I can’t talk about… yet 😉
Stay tuned.
For Fundraising Founders
If you’re pitching for investment, include this in your first DM (keep it super brief):
What your startup does (in one line)
Traction so far (users, revenue, PMF signals)? Anything to show that you have tasted the market
Founders’ background and why you?
Fundraise status (ask, committed, previous rounds)
If it aligns, I’ll take it forward over email. If not, you’ll still hear back with a clear “no”.
For Collaborations
If you want to collaborate or partner, shoot me a quick intro on:
Who you are
What you do
What kind of synergy you see
Same rule: If it fits, we’ll take it to email and schedule a chat.
If You’re in Bangalore
I enjoy sharp meetings, clear conversations, and good coffee.
Want to meet in person?
DM me with:
Your intent to meet (first line)
What you’d like to talk about
If it makes sense, I’ll set up a time.
Need My Help, Directly?
I offer 1:1 consulting for founders via Topmate on:
Reviewing pitch decks
Fundraising strategy
GTM and brand-building
Investor readiness and narrative
If you want serious, focused help → book a session.
Investment Philosophy
I invest in:
Consumer-first brands (D2C, F&B, lifestyle, fashion, wellness)
Founders obsessed with product
Stories that are clear, real, and scalable
A "no" doesn’t mean you’re not fundable. Just that it’s not the right fit for us right now.
To Prospective LPs
If you’re an angel, family office, or institution looking to explore consumer brand investing from the ground floor, drop me a note. The accelerator fund is designed to give you high-leverage access to early brands we’re actively building from scratch.
Connect & Follow
You’ll find me often sharing thoughts, links, stories and dumb humor here:
Let’s build something real and let’s have fund doing it.