Startup Stream

I just love this audience! The energy, the curiosity, the questions - you all made this session truly special.❤️

It was such a pleasure hosting this morning’s fireside at eChai Ventures with Pras Hanuma, General Partner at NextUnicorn.Fund | VC, Accelerator, NextUnicorn Global StartUp Awards Fund.

We had a packed room, some super interesting founder pitches, and a whole lot of wisdom and warmth.

Huge gratitude to Pras Hanuma, who literally came straight from the airport after a delayed flight - thank you for showing up with such presence and generosity 🙏

Thank you to the amazing team at DevX for the vibrant work space, and to Jatin Chaudhary and eChai Ventures for giving me the opportunity to host this incredible session!

We need more mornings like this in Mumbai! One where founders show up, ask better questions, and leave a little more inspired than when they walked in.

Just a few hours ago, I had the opportunity to attend one of the most grounded and honest startup conversations I’ve experienced in a while. Hosted by eChai Ventures, the focus was clear: Building Startup Teams & Company Culture — but the takeaways went far beyond titles.

Here's what I learned today from founders who’ve been in the trenches:

1. Culture Isn't Built in Docs. It’s Built in Reactions.

One founder said it best:

2. Want Loyalty? Build Open Channels, Not Just Pay Hikes

3. Hire for Alignment, Not Just Resumes

One founder shared how their average cost per hire rose from ₹3.5L to ₹12L in under a decade. The shift? Not just inflation—but a focus on mindset alignment over skill matching.

4. AI Is Coming—But Adoption Is a Culture Shift Too

Some brands, like Theka Coffee , are still experimenting. Others are integrating AI into internal workflows and CX. The consensus:

5. Sometimes Leadership Means Saying Goodbye

 Personal Reflection:

As someone who works closely with teams across marketing, sales, and product, this session reinforced a key truth: People strategy is business strategy. Whether you’re scaling a startup or running a digital campaign—how you build matters just as much as what you build.

Gratitude to the stellar speakers:

If you’re building a team, culture, or vision—let’s connect. And if you’re curious how AI, leadership, marketing and digital culture can intersect—DMs open.

Grateful to be part of Ahmedabad’s buzzing #founder ecosystem. If you're building teams or culture—or just figuring it out like the rest of us—this one's for you.

The heart of any startup is its people. They’re the ones who bring a startup to life, infusing it with energy, values, and character. Founders can only go so far without a solid team behind them.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending “Building Startup Teams and Company Culture,” an event organized by eChai Ventures at Ahmedabad University. The panel featured some amazing voices from the startup ecosystem in the city: Abhishek Acharya, Aenik Shah, Dr. Purav Gandhi, Shalin (Shawn) Parikh, Shrijay Sheth, and of course, Jatin Chaudhary.

It was a power-packed discussion filled with fresh perspectives on building and nurturing teams — covering everything from first hires to off-boarding. What struck me the most was how each founder had a unique approach, yet the principles guiding those decisions had a lot in common.

One of the most powerful moments was a story shared by Shalin, about resolving a team conflict — a brilliant reminder of how real leadership is tested not in planning, but in the messy human moments.

Another thing I really admire about eChai events is how open and generous the speakers are with their learnings. There's no gatekeeping — just a room full of people who genuinely want to help each other grow. As a relatively new founder, that kind of environment is rare and energizing.

Here are my 5 key takeaways:

1. Be crystal clear on who you're hiring — even for early roles.
2. Hiring no one is better than hiring the wrong person.
3. Don't try to clone your personality across the team. Let the team evolve its own culture.
4. In conflicts, defuse tension first. Only then begin the conversation.
5. Every team is different. The hiring process must reflect that.

It is easy to find help for tech for any founder, but there are very few conversations happening around the non-technical aspects of a startup. Grateful to be part of conversations like these. There's always something new to learn when founders share openly.

Marketing for Startups ≠ Big Budgets. It’s about Big Clarity.

At the #AhmedabadStartupDay hosted by eChai Ventures and @iHubGujarat , our panel on "Marketing" dived deep into what marketing truly means for startups & or anyone interested in taking "business to a brand".

Some golden nuggets from our speakers :

1. Choose your medium wisely. Tools don’t replace thinking, clarity does. Get feedback from audience and keep improving.

2. Great marketing isn’t about selling a product. It’s about telling a compelling story. Build resonance, not just reach.

3. If you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to nobody. Peel the onion, define your real market, and speak to them with relevance.

4. Behaviour before branding. Understand your audience’s motivations, fears, and desires. Anchor your storytelling in their reality.

5. “Does your brand even need a voice?” Maybe it needs empathy first.

6. Embrace AI tools, tinker with it, learn and experiment. The rules of the game are changing, so dont get caught on the wrong foot in the market.

7. Marketing is a bridge between real value and real people. And no, your distribution strategy can’t be an afterthought, content needs proper distribution. Just creating a content piece is not the end but a beginning of your marketing effort.

Thanks to all the brilliant minds and marketeers who joined the discussion.
NEHA SINGH Shrijay Sheth Vani Herlekar Priyanka Challa Kudos to Jatin Chaudhary & @Kunal 
Let’s continue making marketing smarter, not just louder.

O7 panels 
25+investors 
35+speakers 
350+startup founders & enthusiast & insane energy. 

We honestly didn’t know how it would go.

The first Echai Women Entrepreneurs Meet in Jaipur was a let’s try and see moment.

But what happened last evening blew us away.

The event wasn’t just successful, it was deeply interactive.

The audience had endless questions. The panelists were vulnerable, raw, and bold.

We had funny moments, inspiring stories, and so many nods from the audience that said, “Yes, I feel that too.”

Alpana ma’am called her son back from his job in Bangalore to build Nuskha with her.

prabjyot is raising 2 sons, 7 and 14 years old and managing her startup like a pro.

CS Radhika Balasaria left Kolkata at the peak of her career, locked herself in a room for 6 months after moving to Jaipur, and now she’s absolutely killing it.

My biggest takeaways

→ You need to have deep passion for your startup. Your customers should feel it.
→ Talk to your customers. Every single day.
→ Decide your priorities daily—some days it's family, some days it's work.
→ Don’t give up. Ever.

Also so happy to see more women in the audience this time. That made my day.

This was just the beginning. Jaipur has so many powerful women building quietly, we’re here to make more noise now.

Until next time!

J Startup House l  eChai Ventures l Jatin Chaudhary