Vish Narain is sitting in the middle of all the action between India and the Gulf. At the conference room of one of his portfolio company offices in Dubai, he says it like it is: that the two geographies may have a lot in common, but entrepreneurs have often faltered when it comes to reading these markets. 

Narain is a private equity man, who has spent more than two decades investing in companies across healthcare, technology, financial services, and consumer sectors. He is known for having led TPG Growth in India for more than six years, and working for the …