Building Startup Teams and Company Culture : Ahmedabad Edition

Happened on June 27, Friday, 2025
6:00pm — 08:00pm (GMT+05:30)
Ahmedabad University
69 slots booked.
Aenik Shah - CEO, Wizzy.ai Abhishek Acharya - Co-Founder, Theka Coffee Shalin (Shawn) Parikh - Founder, MyCPE One Dr. Purav Gandhi - Founder & CEO, Healthark Insights Shrijay Sheth - Founder at LegalWiz.in and Hire4Higher Consulting Jatin Chaudhary - Co-Founder, eChai Ventures Khitab Mankad - Sr. Software Engineer at Bliss Labs Riddhi S Joshi - Enspirit Technology Priyanka Vasant - iOS Developer Kopal Gupta - Business Development Manager ,EnSpirit Technologies Ltd Satyen Engineer - Founder, YHonk Tech Pvt Ltd Ashutosh raval - Cyber Security Professional & Founder RedHacks1 IT Security Brijesh Parmar - Founder & CEO at Favourite Motors Jignesh Thakkar - Cofounder at LoudRevel Amit Savaliya - Building, Bozarro Er. Pranav Veerani - FSIDM.in and Unity Sangam, Founder Veeral Pajwani - Founder, Vptronics.in Jay Gajjar - Co-Founder, Digivana.co Jasmitaba Jadeja - Senior Digital Marketing Executive Umang Rajyaguru - Founder c³ Tanvir Vora - CEO (Blouse of zardozi) Rohan Verma - Founder's Office, Bummer Kalp Sanghavi - Tech Entrepreneur | Building Tech Products That Impacts. Nandan Shukla - Founder and CEO, Dicot Innovations Shubham M. Singh - Associate Engineer, Redicine Medsol Pvt. Ltd. Meet Patel - Senior Software Engineer Mayank Agrawal - Business Analyst and Project Manager, DataSlush Sumit Kasardekar - Business Manager - SAP Sales at SAR Digital India Kailash Suthar - Software Engineer @6sense Parth Agrawal - Managing Director, Subharambh Tea Manav Saxena - Founder, Unravel Minds Manasvi Kothari - SAP BI Package Specialist, IBM Arjav Shah - Founder, Impixal Media Drisha Mehta - Business Analyst, Brexa Gajendra Singh - CEO, Lantern-Digital Moin Vohra - study & working on my social media Vishal Patel - Software Engineer Hitesh Paunikar - Define - The Camera Rental Aarsh Dhokai - Senior Software Engineer at Crest Data Naresh Bordia - Founder, Softnet Synergy Deenpal Rai - Founder and CMD, Chai Hai Na Harsh (Harry) Prajapati - Business Development Executive Komal Bhojani - Founder, DigitoSpark Keval Trivedi - Chartered Accountant PARTH BAVALIYA - Co-founder of Nexus Agency Yash Leuva - Founder of Kraze Aayush Shah - Founder, ADspire marketing Kunjan Thakkar (Atara) - Exploring new opportunities in UX/UI & visual design. Niraj Harlalka - Co-Founder, Eduberance Kunal Harjani - Co-Founder, Sip of Hope Nidhi Ramanuj - Business Specialist Rahul Rathod - Building Superfan Smit Prajapati - Co-founder,superfan Harshil Jani - Mobile app developer Nirav Patel - Founder Pranay Damor - Neevnaav Pvt Ltd CA Jatan Vyas - Partner, Harjani & Co Nishit Mistry - Founder at Anahat Design Ankita Dobariya - Startup Founder Parth Jala - Founder 'TheNiche' Jainil Sheth - Co-Founder, Piqoid Manish Maheshwari - Founder & CEO, APNA GHAR Tushar Kumar - Software engineer, Solera Inc Aditya Sundaresan - Co-founder, Piqoid Robotics sagar  jethi - My skills include building DAPPS on Ethereum Mainnet, setting up private blockchain, building smart contracts, launch
Snapshots from the Event:
Event photos Event photos Event photos Event photos

Event Highlights from Participants:

The Hard Truths of Startup Team Building — As Told by Founders at the eChai x VentureStudio Event at Ahmedabad University

The Hard Truths of Startup Team Building — As Told by Founders at the eChai x VentureStudio Event at Ahmedabad University
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.

What Today’s Founders Taught Me About Teams, Culture & Letting Go



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:

“People don’t watch what you say, they watch how you act—especially in difficult moments.” Whether it's resolving disputes or making tough calls, your reactions shape your company's real DNA.

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

“If someone wants to leave, they will. But if they feel heard, they might not even want to.” An open-door culture with real feedback loops matters more than retention bonuses.

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:

“AI isn’t about tools. It’s about readiness—organizationally and mentally.”

5. Sometimes Leadership Means Saying Goodbye

“If someone repeatedly blocks progress, you must choose mission over momentary peace.” One founder shared how hard, but necessary, it was to part ways with senior team members misaligned with long-term goals.

 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.
Featured Participants:
Agenda:

This eChai meetup brings together founders and operators to share how they’ve built and scaled their teams, and how company culture is shaped through everyday decisions.


We’ll discuss early hires, defining team values, retaining key talent, and how roles evolve as the company grows. It’s a practical conversation rooted in real-world experience.


Designed for founders, operators, and team-builders focused on getting the people part right.

Share the link:
Copy

The eChai Effect - In Their Words

"We found eChai to be a force multiplier throughout our startup journey. Through it, we connected with folks from DevX, Allevents, Plutomen, and more - many of whom became friends of IndiaBizForSale.com and even part of our clientele."
Bhavin S Bhagat - Co-founder of Indiabizforsale and IBGrid, TiE Ahmedabad President
Bhavin S Bhagat
Co-founder of Indiabizforsale and IBGrid, TiE Ahmedabad President
"eChai has played a truly pivotal role in HummingBird’s journey — even before Day Zero. From ideation to establishment and into growth, it’s been a constant source of support. It connected me with incredible people who’ve become more than just friends. One of the biggest reasons I chose to stay in Ahmedabad is because of the eChai community. It has shaped my growth — both personally and professionally — in ways that are hard to articulate. Honestly, words fall short when I try to express what eChai means to me. I’m deeply thankful and forever grateful to eChai for being such an integral part of my journey."
Harsha Bhurani - Founder, HummingBird Consulting Group
Harsha Bhurani
Founder, HummingBird Consulting Group
"For me, eChai is a second home. I've been associated with it since the early days, when it was already setting a different tone for how startup communities could work. As a traditional business owner entering the new-age D2C space, eChai supported me in every direction. Over the years, it became my window to the startup world — and also gave me lifelong friends who continue to show up, for business and beyond."
Pankaj Bhimani - Founder, 58miles
Pankaj Bhimani
Founder, 58miles

eChai Partner Brands

eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner - working together to explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.

Customer Engagement Platform
Interakt

Transform your business with Whatsapp Business API.

Logistics
Riddhi Corporate

Efficient Logistics Solutions

Climate Tech
Oizom

Oizom offers Environmental IoT and Environmental Ai solutions for a sustainable future.

HR Tech and Agencies
Mantras2Success

Hiring and Talent management across multiple countries.

Healthcare
ES Healthcare Centre

One-stop solution for medical essentials.

Creative and Marketing Agencies
Tej SolPro

Result-Driven B2B digital marketing agency.