Thanks to eChai Ventures, I had the privilege to witness the creativity & dedication of budding entrepreneurs along with the opportunity to engage with influential minds during the inspiring panel at IIMA Ventures.

The conversation between Vishvajit Sonagara & Parin Sanghvi on how they started their own ventures even after coming from strong business families was fascinating. Listening to their stories & experiences from Milapsinh Jadeja on setbacks, necessary pivots and achievements in their respective fields was a great motivation.

Really fortunate to have been a part of this productive session & looking forward to others in the future.

A week that was :)

It started by watching the movie #article370 and learning how the events progressed.

Movies such as Border, Uri, Gadar, Bhagat singh etc always lift that “Patriot” within us. A political thriller that Article 370 is, once again lifted that spirit in me. I was so proud to have such leaders who make things happen. Most of us “”speak” and dont “act”. We like to be on those postions and posts to “show off”. The key is contribution. Giving our 100%.

Gujarat Blockchain summit GIFT City Mehsana startup mahotsav with and eChai Ventures meet at IIMA Ventures, IIM Ahmedabad.

Had a super time with fellow members from the startup ecosystem. From Block chain to a Tier 2/3 city. Startups everywhere ! So Glad to see this evolution in Gujarat and super proud to be a part of this.

🌟 What a weekend! Had the privilege of engaging with amazing audiences on two different stages, discussing startups, brand building, and product marketing.

On Saturday, I shared the stage with esteemed founders Ankita De
and Rapti Gupta at an eChai Ventures event, moderated by the fantastic Penchala Tharun 🚀. We delved into topics ranging from marketing and communities to startups and product marketing, with a special focus on the fintech space. A big thank you to eChai and Jatin Chaudhary for this opportunity! 🙏

Simultaneously, I had the pleasure of interacting with numerous entrepreneurs who are passionately building their own ventures. The insights gathered from diverse industries, from healthcare to the evolving Indian solar market, were truly enlightening. 🙌

On Sunday, the learning journey continued at a MyCaptain event, where I connected with over 80 individuals exploring the intricacies of Product Marketing.

We delved into the different strategies of product marketing, and I had the opportunity to walk them through a real-life campaign from Cashfree Payments, viewed through the lens of product marketing. Witnessing the participants' demos and the depth of insights they brought to the table was inspiring. 🎊

A huge shoutout to everyone who attended and engaged in these discussions. Your enthusiasm and curiosity made these events truly memorable. Special thanks to Tejaswi Vuppula and the entire MyCaptain team for this opportunity. 🙏

Looking forward to more such enriching events and interactions in the future!

It was great fun moderating the panel discussion on 'Blockchain for Banking & Fintech' meetup in Mumbai for eChai Ventures (Jatin Chaudhary) in association with DevX.

Rohan Sharan (Timechain Labs) & Mahesh Jadhav (One UPI) have
👉 Elucidated nuances around Web3.
👉 Use cases that would gain traction in the BFSI space.
👉 Ways inwhich regulated entities can foster adoption of blockchain tech.
👉 Stance of govt on the regulations around blockchain & crypto.
👉 How CBDC can bring the impetus required to Web3 in India.
👉 Hardware and Software requirements for Web3 applications to function at scale.
👉 What theoretical concepts in Web3 as on date can transcend into reality over the next few years.

Neucron Big Blockers Community

An enriching weekend at IIMA Ventures at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad 🌱

Organised by eChai Ventures Delighted to be part of an insightful meetup featuring candid panel discussions with visionary founders and leaders. Reelo Quicko Iroller Capital Pvt Ltd Vishvajit Sonagara Milapsinh Jadeja Parin Sanghvi ☕️

The meetup showcased the passion and innovation of early-stage founders through inspiring open pitches. The networking session was equally rewarding, connecting with like-minded individuals, sharing experiences, and building valuable connections. 🙋🏻‍♀️

Grateful for the opportunity to be immersed in this dynamic entrepreneurial community!

Exclusive Product Growth Meetup at Draper Startup House in Bengaluru hosted by eChai Ventures🌟.

Thrilled to share that I had the incredible opportunity to participate as a panelist at the meetup delving into the dynamic world of Product Management!

It was a pleasure to join fellow industry experts Sanjeet Kathuria, Harneet Kaur Chhabra and Sanket Bhatt in a riveting discussion on key practices and strategies shaping the field. The turnout was nothing short of amazing with 50+ product and growth folks and even founders showing up for an engaging evening!

Key Highlights from the discussion:

🎯 Being an advocate for customer empathy is fundamental for translating business needs into actionable insights to drive product growth.
🎯 GTM and product development should go hand in hand with a key focus on adopting early design partners and finding distribution channels that work for your startup.
🎯 Experimentation with product features, pricing and positioning can help unfold unforeseen avenues leading to higher customer engagement and business expansion

📖 Book recommendation: Hooked by Nir Eyal

🙌 Huge shoutout to the organizers and host Jatin Chaudhary and Darshan Suthar for extending the invitation and for orchestrating such a successful event for the community.

Some glimpses from the eChai conversations on early stage fundraising held at HSR.

While I shared my learnings and what we look at Warmup Ventures, it was great to learn from

Shubham Jhuria

  about Aeravati Ventures and from

Raeeza Tameez

on Leo Capital.

Spent a dynamic Saturday morning with a group of dedicated entrepreneurs with eChai Ventures, exchanging invaluable insights and strategies for startup success. 🙌

We delved into key takeaways crucial for entrepreneurial success: 📈

1. Importance of Product Marketing: Emphasized the pivotal role of product marketing in effectively communicating the value proposition and benefits of your offering to the target audience.

2. Understanding CAC and LTV: Discussed the significance of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Lifetime Value (LTV) metrics in guiding sustainable growth and profitability strategies.

3. PLG and SLG Strategies: Explored the power of Product-Led Growth (PLG) and Sales-Led Growth (SLG) approaches, highlighting their respective advantages and suitability based on business models.

4. Finding Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): Stressed the necessity of identifying the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to optimize marketing efforts and enhance customer acquisition and retention rates.

5. Achieving Product-Market Fit (PMF): Recognized the importance of attaining Product-Market Fit (PMF) to ensure that your product resonates with the needs and preferences of your target market.

6. Importance of User Research: Underlined the critical role of user research in gaining deep insights into customer behavior, preferences, and pain points to inform product development and marketing strategies.

7. Significance of Customer Interaction and Insights: Highlighted the value of ongoing customer interaction and feedback loops in refining products, enhancing user experience, and fostering long-term customer relationships.

Here's to the power of collaboration and hustle! 💼🚀

Notes from eChai's DeepTech Startups Meetup at Ahmedabad University

How drivebuddyAi started and what drivebuddyAI does?

DBAI is an Automotive AI startup working in the domain of Automotive Aftermarket in the category of ADAS.

What is AI in drivebuddyAI and what are the challenges about Human AI Interactions?
The drivers are usually in touch with our driver trainer team who talks to drivers and comforts them for their better safety and behavioral issues identified by the technology.

How do drivers react to AI alerts and how the resistance is being handled?

The drivers take 10-12 months of efforts to get confidence and comfort with the AI alerts i.e. a typical human psychological phase of accepting a tech in daily work life.

⁠What are the challenges of getting a customer, investors?

DBAI is funded and was raised before Covid in 2020 and since then have progressed towards becoming one of the major players in Indian market.

What are the challenges about hiring talent, building AI models and how it was handled in the case of drivebuddyAI?

Ahmedabad specifically lacks in talent pool required for AI, dbAI has talent pool available in Delhi, Vizag, Pune, Jaipur and all these are mid experience to entry level engineers working under the managent of domain expert AI engineers to solve daily AI challenges.

Typical challenges of building AI involves data collection, data curation, annotations, training, GPUs, model optimization etc. 

The DBAI journey started at a very early stage by using the pre-trained models for perception module to collecting and annotating data for Indian ecosystem when there was no Indian dataset available for building AI on it. The process of annotations, having GPUs for training purpose and managing a complete cycle of the data generation to updating a model with continuious learning is the journey in building AI.

To build AI/deep tech product startups, first one needs to start with whatever is readily available in the market which can give functional accuracy and then building on top of it by the feedback from the users, customers can help building the product focused on a specific domain.

It was such great fun sharing the panel with Ankita De and Varun Trivedi today talking about my favorite things - marketing, community, and founders.

We talked about user research, validating ideas, product marketing, saas market and more. The crowd was brimming with new ideas and entrepreneurial energy.

Thank you Penchala Tharun 🚀 for asking such great engaging questions. I had fun!

Thanks Jatin and eChai Ventures for having me.

For everyone that asked to join HSR Founders Club please dm me. And for anyone that wants to use Bugasura - go right ahead and give it a try.

Grateful for the opportunity to participate in the three-day event hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering London, for the LIF fellows at Taj West End at Bangalore.

The program, featuring training, networking, and pitching sessions, was truly enriching and insightful. It was a pleasure connecting with fellow entrepreneurs and exchanging ideas.

Looking forward to applying the knowledge gained to drive innovation and growth.
 
Aditya Shukla ♻️🌏 Himmat Singh

Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship Progam: Link

We are looking for senior writers who are passionate about teaching kids essential life skills through storytelling and comic books. You would be working on our TruBuddy comic books (www.trubuddy.me).

Apply if you can craft brilliant scripts and stories to effectively communicate teaching points to your readers.

Location : Ahmedabad

Experience: 2-4 years for experience

Salary: ₹6 Lakhs - ₹7.2 Lakhs a year (based on experience and expertise)

All details about the job position is here: https://lnkd.in/drYcCWB9

We'll be hosting 'Marketing Strategies for Startups' meetup in Bengaluru today morning at Urban Vault HSR Layout 1515 from 11 am to 1 pm.

🎙️Rapti Gupta, Co-Founder & CMO, Bugasura
🎙️Ankita De, Founder & CMO, Utsav™
🎙️Varun Trivedi, Product Marketing, Cashfree Payments and Ex Co-Founder, IconScout

It will be moderated by Penchala Tharun 🚀, Founder, Wanderfly.in.

Free registration at eChai.Ventures

We are collaborating with Timechain Labs & DevX to host 'Blockchain for Banking and Fintech Meetup' in Mumbai today morning (2nd March, Sat) at DevX Andheri East from 11 am to 1 pm.

🎙️Rohan Sharan, Founder, Timechain Labs
🎙️Mahesh Jadhav, Founder, One UPI

It will be moderated by Bharadwaj Kanamarlapudi.

Free registration at eChai.Ventures

Dhandha ya Startup?

My recent family visit to Jaipur would have been incomplete without a quick check-in into the start-up ecosystem. A few conversations with Headstarters and a last-minute meet-up with eChai Ventures helped me understand-

1. Jaipur and Rajasthan as a whole believe in business = profit > massive growth
2. Fundraising doesn't take as much precedence as building a sustainable business
3. Some of the most renowned start-ups and businesses like CarDekho Group, Razorpay, DealShare, and even Dexter Ventures have started and been built in Jaipur
4. The community is nascent, close-knit and growing
5. A lot of talent, very good talent is available thanks to the number of colleges and coaching institutes in the region

A shoutout to everyone who made time on short notice to help me get a sneak peek into Jaipur and the Rajasthan ecosystem - Paresh Gupta, Tushar, Prateek Mathur, Vinay Kamal, Chetan Saini, Rahul Singh.
Jatin Chaudhary and Gautham Sivaramakrishnan Headstart Network Foundation always help me find the best people to connect with across the country and the world.

If you have been to or built-in #Rajasthan, I would love to hear your thoughts. Do tag anyone you would like me to meet the next time I'm in Rajasthan.

Hey Manoj, what do you do?
.
.
.
I had never thought, that this simple question can be so difficult to answer. Here is how my answer to this question has changed in last 3 years.

• Until Feb 2021, before I left my Corporate job - I am a Technology Risk Manager at Barclays, Singapore 👜

• From Mar 2021 to July 2022 - I am Founder of Bizsomia ⚽

• After we stopped working on Bizsomia - I found myself grappling with an Identity crisis as I struggled to define my professional narrative 🌶

• Between Aug 2022 to Dec 2023 - Though I was doing various things such as Consulting, Running Course and Hosting podcast, still I had no definite answer 🤐

• Jan 2024 onwards - I am Director at WebOsmotic and Co-Founder at narad.io 🚀

Transitioning from a Corporate job to the Startup world isn't just about starting something new; it's about persevering through the challenges and maintaining your sense of identity along the way.

P.S : Today marks my 3 year anniversary in Startup Ecosystem and I am proud of my journey 😎

I'll be hosting the fireside chat with

Nisarg Pandya

, Founder & CEO, drivebuddyAI at DeepTech Startups Meetup in Ahmedabad today evening (1st March, Friday) at Ahmedabad University (w/ VentureStudio) from 6 pm to 8 pm.

Free registration at https://echai.ventures/events/deeptech-startups-meetup-in-ahmedabad-mar-01-2024

This is what we live for @cricheroes #Cricket

Back at eChai Ventures tomorrow chatting about marketing at early stage startups. 🚀

Bang in the middle of COVID - I remember Jatin reaching out for a session on content and I got to join a really rich panel of experts with Sujata and Taniya from Suta, Riddhi from Avenue Ecom and Smita from Delloite, ex Duroflex.

I learned so much from their diverse opinions and experiences.

I’m joining another panel tomorrow with Ankita De and Varun Trivedi to chat about marketing at early stage companies in HSR Layout, 11 AM onwards.

Join us if you’d like to catch up. Im looking forward to learning from this panel as well.

Details ⬇️

Join us for our upcoming event in collaboration with Azure Society of Excellence & Microsoft Azure, and explore how AI accelerates idea generation, refines concepts, and optimizes strategies, reshaping the path to startup success!

Mark your calendar - March 1, 2024, 6:00 pm onwards.

Register now at  https://ahmedabad.iimaventures.com/event-details/microsoft-day-at-iima-ventures/form

eChai's Singapore Startup Meetup is happening today (29th Feb, Thursday) at Draper Startup House Singapore from 7 pm to 9 pm.

🎙️

Monika Mehta

, Co-Founder, TrillionSale
🎙️

Tushar Tejuja

, Founder, Scout - AI Powered Talent Hunter

It will be moderated by

Smitha Saravanan

, Business Development Manager, IKIGAISG.

Free registration.   

Congratulations to BonV Aero!

Exciting news from Meet the Drapers Season 6 Finale - BonV Aero emerged as the champion, securing a whopping $1.6 million in funding! 🏆

I had the opportunity to be part of the selection panel along with Devesh Ramchandani, Dr. Barada Prasad Panigrahy and Sarika Batra, we witnessed more than 300+ Startups from across India, Srilanka and the MENA region, and least mention the Sri Sri University, Bhubaneswar, certainly was tough call to pick one startup to be represented from each region.

I would like to thank all our judges who were at MEET THE DRAPERS-season 6 India, Madan Padaki Nikhil Kamath Nupur Hemant along with Tim Draper.

BonV Aero’s groundbreaking mission to transform critical logistics with innovative electric aerial vehicles, tailored for demanding terrains, has garnered them well-deserved acclaim from our distinguished panel of judges.

Many congratulations to the team BonV Aero Satyabrata Satapathy Gaurav Achha the winners and 1st Indian startup to be funded at Meet the Drapers seasons.

This season witnessed a total investment of $2.8 million, underscoring the extraordinary promise and commitment of our contestants to propel innovation and change.

If you're convinced your startup can make a significant impact, seize the opportunity to apply for Season-7 of Meet the Drapers. Embark on this journey to leave your imprint on the global entrepreneurial landscape. https://lnkd.in/gWuVsvJF

Thank you GUSEC for this felicitation and recognition. I cherish my association with your esteemed incubation centre since the time of its inception.

These years have helped me groom myself as a mentor and I am pretty sure I could contribute a little in the growth and success of those early stage #startups that approached me for mentorship and guidance. 

Looking forward to further this relationship and nurture more entrepreneurs in the times to come!

It was a super event hosted by Malav Warke at DevX Andheri in Mumbai.

Honoured to be part of the speaker Panel. It was Great to meet Udit Goenka - and I realised that there is a lot to learn from him.

Keep Up the good work eChai Ventures.