Building Startup Teams and Company Culture: Insights from Industry Leaders 🚀

Today, I had the pleasure of attending an inspiring event organized by eChai Ventures in collaboration with Urban Vault, focused on one of the most crucial aspects of any startup—building effective teams and fostering a strong company culture. 🌱

The event was beautifully hosted by Radhika Mohta, who brought so much positivity with her million-dollar smile. 😊 The panel featured three incredible leaders:

Ankita Shree: Managing Director of Mamacoco Hospitality Pvt Ltd and an Isha Hatha Yoga Teacher at Isha Foundation, who shared her unique perspective on balancing business with mindfulness. 🧘‍♀️

Jaitee Wazalwar 🐉: Founder of Incredence and Co-Founder of Credfino, who emphasized the importance of resilience and adaptability in team building. 💪

Nida Sahar: Founder of Nife, who discussed the role of innovation and trust in cultivating a thriving company culture. 🌟

Each of these leaders brought their own experiences and insights, making it a truly enriching session. I walked away with valuable lessons on how to lead with intention, build cohesive teams, and create a culture that not only drives success but also nurtures growth. 💡

Kudos to eChai Ventures for organizing such a wonderful event! 👏

As an entrepreneur, my journey is fueled by a deep commitment to building a strong team, creating impactful solutions for Bharat, and engaging actively with the community. These elements are not just components of a business strategy but are the very essence of what drives me forward. Each plays a crucial role in shaping the path I walk, ensuring that our work is meaningful, purposeful, and grounded in reality.

- Building a team that shares a common vision is the foundation of our success.
- Creating purpose-driven solutions for Bharat gives our work deeper meaning.
- Empowering communities through our innovations fuels our passion.
- Engaging directly with people keeps our efforts grounded and impactful.
- Fostering a culture of respect and trust is essential for collective growth.
- Contributing to Bharat's progress drives our daily motivation.
- Listening to the community helps us refine and enhance our solutions.
- Collaborating with others turns challenges into shared victories.

Attended a sesion organised by #iimaventures and #echai on " scaling star ups " .

#growthmindset

it was indeed entrepreneurial and stimulating and enriching to listen to
founder of TorchIt .

torchit works towards empowering the differently abled community using modern tech and giving them independence.( www.mytorchit.com)

Learnings from the founder of Torchit :

_ attendance to networking events helps find mentors and investors ..keep attending. keep meeting lots and lots of people .

_ alignment with your co-founder at skills and belief level is more important than functional alignment. having a co-founder always helps .

_ your purpose and it's clarity triggers the scale up strategy automatically.

_ innovation engine of a start up business is like a popcorn machine where you need to continuously pop up innovative ideas ..how many pop corn machines Can you instill in your start up ?

_ 18 versions of his prototype has made the company product robust to scale. keep on developing prototypes .fail forward .fail fast. iterate .
_ you can learn anything .anything .including coding even though you are not a coder professionally . keep aspiring and keep learning. he built his program code himself .

_its good to have multiple mentors for every area of your business where you have concerns .listen to all mentors , use your gut and do what feels to you is good. you as a start up owner may need different styles different nature and different type of mentors as you progress along the business journey .having functionally qualified mentors ( as for example legal experts etc ) is more apt .

_ continuously talking to , interviewing with and observing your target audience is the best way to learn about products and innovation. he learnt that visually impaired clients not give " blunt " and right answers ..they always give good answers .so meeting more and more users, one of the users helped in understanding that his product was not up to the mark .and that thought triggered him to go deeper in their lives.
so the founder decided to employ micro blind entrepreneurs who become trainers to their clients for torchit clients.

_ game of start up entrepreneurship is about completing a full cycle of the value chain . once done, and once sorted, your role is now to give the execution of the cycle to your team .your role is to be mentally free. being a innovator your role is not to sit idle, but to create similar such multiple cycles ( new products / new markets / new tech/ new orbits )

_product innovation and business innovation are two sepate types of innovation streams, according to him business innovation is the key trigger for his success

_ community building has been a key success factor for his success.creating a band of micro entrepreneurs who are having partially disability are a key segment for training and marketing their products

Anay Mashruwala

Thrilled to have presented Kuberjee at the Global Fintech Festival (GFF)! 🌍💼

The Global Fintech Fest provided an incredible platform to connect with leading investors and fintech innovators from around the world. It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase how Kuberjee - कुबेरजी is transforming rural India by empowering women through digital financial solutions.

Thanks to the Fintech Convergence Council and eChai Ventures for making our pitch happen, and a special thanks to all the regulators whose innovations drive the fintech ecosystem forward.

Our discussions at GFF highlighted the potential of Kuberjee’s model to scale and create even more meaningful change. We are excited about the future and look forward to collaborating with forward-thinking partners who share our vision of financial inclusion and women’s empowerment.

Thank you to everyone who connected with us at GFF—together, we can make a difference!

The Product Management role thrives on ambiguity; the key is finding and solving the right problem at right Moments, says Ashish Singh.

Meet Ashish Singh, an Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and MBA Indian Institute of Management Bangalore is a seasoned product leader with extensive experience at Swiggy and instamart .

Currently, he is leading as the Director of Product Management at Paytm , where he heads merchant experience and fulfillment of offline payment devices.

At Paytm, Ashish Singh focuses on enhancing the merchant experience and ensuring the seamless fulfillment of offline payment devices.

At Swiggy,
Ashish prioritized enhancing customer satisfaction, especially for high-priority customers. He focused on three key metrics:

✅Customer Lifetime Value: Ensuring long-term value and loyalty.
✅Egregious Issues: Identifying and addressing severe problems quickly.
✅Churn Score: Analyzing past customer experiences to reduce churn.

He has improved the customer experience by reducing cancellations, minimizing order delays, and building solutions for fulfillment exception management. This includes addressing rare but significant issues like delivery executive fraud, such as false delivery cases.

He also worked on improving the retention of the high value customers by creating a differential customer support experience.

At instamart,
Ashish played a pivotal role in designing products to boost customer repeat in the nascent quick commerce market, including adoption of Fruits and Vegetables category and initiated personalization of the journeys on the Instamart app.

Personal Insights and Recommendations:
Beyond his professional expertise, Ashish is also certified to climb Mount Everest—a testament to his adventurous spirit and perseverance.

His go-to book recommendations:
1. 'The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact' by Chip Heath

2. 'Principles: Life and Work' by Ray Dalio, both of which have shaped his approach to leadership and problem-solving.

Ashish's journey is a testament to the power of tackling ambiguity head-on, identifying the right problems, and delivering impactful solutions. 

I had a great time listening Ashish Singh and other panelist Sameer Mandge , Aditya Agrawal , Madhurita M. .

I would like to thank eChai Ventures , Urban Vault and amazing cohost Radhika Mohta for the successful event.

"Aapno Rajasthan, aapno Startup!" 💙

As a proud Rajasthani, I've always cherished the opportunity to visit my home state (though I have become half Gujarati now!), and this time is extra special - I'm beyond excited to announce that our upcoming Startup Meetup in Jaipur has received an overwhelming response with 400+ registrations!

Growing up in cities like Pali, Jodhpur, Kota, and Jaipur, I've witnessed firsthand the incredible talent and entrepreneurial spirit that thrives here. It's an honor to be able to contribute to this vibrant startup ecosystem, again and again!

While the whole objective of this meetup is to meet and interact with entrepreneurs from in and around Jaipur, we also have a super exciting set of Speakers who will be sharing their insights on how to leverage local resources for early-stage growth! Thank you Dr. Sheenu Jhawar, President TiE Rajasthan, Dr. Abhishek Pareek, CEO AIC Banasthali Vidyapith , Pranay Mathur, CEO Realtime (RTAF), Onkar Bagaria, CEO, Vivekananda Global University and Dipan Sahu, Asst. Innovation Director, Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell - MIC and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for accepting our invitation to join the Panel Discussion. 

#Jaipur - Looking forward to connecting with innovative minds, brainstorming and exchanging ideas, networking, and unlocking endless possibilities. 💡

Wadhwani Foundation | Wadhwani Entrepreneurship | ACIC-VGU Foundation| NXG Ventures | eChai Ventures | Swishin Ventures | Startup India Official | MeitY Startup Hub | Atal Innovation Mission Official | iStart Rajasthan 

eChai Ventures and Interakt invites you exclusive event - WhatsApp Mela: WhatsApp Pe Prachar Nahi Toh Vyapar Nahi

🗓️Date : 29th August 2024
🕜Time : 11:00 AM
🏨Venue : Lord’s Plaza Surat
🎙Speakers : Siddhant Agarwal, Oshi Kumari, Harsh Lakhotia and Mustakim Jada

This insightful event is tailored for small & medium businesses, providing attendees with deep insights into the potential of WhatsApp for business growth and learning how to get the festive season ready - from Ganesh Chaturthi to New Year!

👉 Register at : https://lnkd.in/dZ2qmVHB

TiE Surat | Jatin Chaudhary | #d2c

When we were planning to start our air quality monitoring devices manufacturing company, we considered how our technology should work. We wanted it to collect data accurately and exhale pollutants like a human nose, which would improve its ability to detect pollution levels. After all the research and consideration, we decided to patent our own e-breathing technology, which works exactly like a human nose and lungs.
 
One of our amazing features is our e-breathing technology. Think of it as biomimicry inspired by the way human lungs work. A specially designed chamber keeps the air quality sensors safe from harsh environmental conditions while ensuring we get super-accurate data.
 
E-breathing technology allows Oizom to provide reliable and accurate air quality data, even in challenging environments. This accuracy is crucial for effective air quality management and informed decisions.
 
Here's what makes e-breathing technology so awesome:

Active Sampling: Our system actively draws in air for analysis, making sure we collect data continuously and consistently. No gaps, no misses.

High Accuracy: By isolating our sensors from environmental influences, e-breathing tech ensures we get highly accurate air quality measurements. This data is comparable to what you’d find with Federal Reference Method (FRM) grade monitoring stations.

Sensor Longevity: Our sensors are protected from harsh conditions, so they last longer and need less maintenance. This is a big win for both us and our clients. 

The Global Fintech Fest is starting tomorrow at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. 

It has become one of the biggest fintech gatherings. 

eChai Ventures is one of the ecosystem partners with IAMAI for this event.

We often hear VCs saying location doesn't matter for startups. But if that's true, why don't we see more VC firms based in states like Madhya Pradesh?

How many venture capital firms can you name in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, or Jharkhand?

The numbers are disappointingly low and this disparity creates a significant disconnect.

While we preach that great ideas can come from anywhere, the capital and networks essential to nurture these ideas remain overwhelmingly concentrated in a few metro cities.

But things are changing and I recently witnessed this firsthand at an exceptional event in Gwalior organized by Fluid Ventures.

It brought together some of the most innovative thinkers and leaders in India's startup community, all under one roof.

The event was not just another startup gathering. It’s a reminder that innovation isn't limited to big cities. It's happening right here in smaller towns as well.

Experiencing this in my hometown hits me very differently.

It's one thing to read about change, but to experience it is entirely different. And  I'm grateful I could contribute as a speaker, host, founder, and even gifting partner through Amrutam .

A huge thanks to the support and encouragement of Shmt. Priyadarshini Raje Scindia at the Gwalior Palace. It wouldn’t have come to life without your vision to make Gwalior grow and prosper.

A special thank you to Amit Singal and Rakhee Singal for spearheading this initiative in our city. For thinking about start-up ecosystems and building them in Tier 2 cities. 

Let’s continue to work towards a more inclusive startup ecosystem across all of India.