🦄 Thank you for joining us in the eChai Ventures gathering on 'Building Startup Teams and Company Culture' at Urban Vault HSR, Bengaluru! 🚀
Sharing glimpses -
🌸 Ankita Shree is the Managing Director at Mamacoco Hospitality and runs the restaurant Moglu on St. Mark's Road, Bengaluru with her husband Kiran Narayanan, PhD. "My heart was not in bureaucracy and my partner needed a co-founder. So I moved out of my role as an IRS Officer and moved in to the startup world as a co-founder at a deep tech startup", she says. She strongly believes that Kiran has a gift for food and flavours. Moglu is Kiran's nickname! Their golden rule to hiring is to have people with an attitude to learn and grow. She loves the word 'nurture' because it captures everything she does beautifully. Some of the hardest decisions have included shutting down a Quick Service Restaurant - Matka Junction, and moving from a veg only offering to one that will serves veg and non veg, starting mid-September. People aren't willing to pay a premium for good vegetarian food, as yet. "Food and flavours have no boundaries. We create them', she sums up. She highly recommends reading Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
🌸 Jaitee Wazalwar 🐉 is the co-founder at Credfino which enables transformational growth for accounting/tax firms through remote staffing and consulting. She believes her highs and lows. revolve around the people she works with, in their victories and setbacks. While building the startup, a lot of disruption happens when moving from one stage to another. They recently let go of a big client that contributed to 45% of their business, while retaining all the people who worked on it. This was hard but needed for the company's growth. Having worked in the manufacturing industry in a previous avatar, she recalls how people would want to talk a man instead of her. One of her female founder mentor shared the hack she used by 'hiring a guy for 15K monthly' so that the suppliers could talk to a guy. Her book recommendations include Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You by John Warrillow, and Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman.
🌸 Nida Sahar is the founder Nife Labs which is Interconnecting Cloud & Edge Infrastructure to help customers deploy, manage and scale applications anytime anywhere. Her brand name has a backstory that's as beautiful as her poetry. Nickel and Ferris form the core of the earth and they'd like to be the core of your cloud, hence Ni + Fe is Nife! She has been a fan of checklist and games ever since she was a teenager. As she gamifies and plans the next set of moves for herself and her startup, she continues to remain inspired by the poem 'On his blindness' by John Milton. She strongly believes in independence and creating a way to achieve what people would like to do and grow. She recommends reading The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf.
It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a community to raise a startup.
Grateful to have found eChai Ventures community & Jatin Chaudhary and an incredible network of people who continually inspire me and team at Digipple to push boundaries and strive for more.
As we open the doors to our new office, we’re excited to celebrate this milestone with our Founder Friends & Mentors at an exclusive eChai Marketing Social.
At Digipple, we believe the best is yet to come.
Let's continue to inspire, innovate, and co-rise.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us for this special evening:
Recently, I had the opportunity to pitch at eChai Ventures demo in Surat. Thanks to Manoj for being such a wonderful host and volunteer. Huge shoutout to Jatin for building such an amazing community worldwide!
It was amazing to share what we are building at CalendarFix with everyone. I am glad to have received some great feedback and questions from the event. It was amazing to see what others are building and more importantly at what age!
What was most unexpected was the media coverage it received. Sharing it with you all.
Looking forward to more such events in the future.
P.S.: If you are a business, and want to have your appointment booking system on WhatsApp, ping me or signup using our website calendarfix.com
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! 👏
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
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!
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.
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!
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!
Our first-ever "Anybody Can AI Socials - Product Manager Edition" was a blast! We brought together brilliant minds from across industries, all eager to infuse AI magic into their products. The room buzzed with interactive discussions, groundbreaking ideas, and the shared excitement of shaping the future of tech.
From AI newbies to seasoned PMs, everyone left inspired and armed with practical knowledge to revolutionize their workflows. Who knew learning about AI could be this fun?
Missed out? Don't worry - this is just the beginning! Stay tuned for more Anybody Can AI Socials. Because in this AI revolution, everybody's invited to the party! 🎉🤖
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting and engaging with incredible minds at the eChai Ventures Ahmedabad event at IIMA Ventures.
As a speaker, I had the opportunity to share my journey of building Cargar, diving into how and why we’re tackling the EV charging problem the way we are. We also explored the life of an entrepreneur, from day zero to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Looking ahead to 2030, I envision standing in the same place, among the same brilliant individuals, and thanking them for switching to green mobility and thanking them for using Cargar services. The future of green mobility is bright, and together, we’re driving the change.
I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Jatin Chaudhary for founding eChai Ventures and for the incredible work he’s doing. eChai has become a platform that amplifies voices, motivates individuals, and helps many make better career decisions. The impact of this initiative is truly inspiring, and I’m excited to see how it will continue to empower and guide people in their journeys.
🦄 Thank you for joining us in the eChai Ventures Product Growth meetup at Urban Vault Headquarters in HSR, Bengaluru! 🚀
Glimpses -
Aditya Agrawal is a product leader at Cuemath. He left no stone unturned to remind all of us in the room about our math marks and tuition classes from school days! There are over 4,000 tutors on the platform, largely women who consider Cuemath to be a source of income and identity. He believes that the two most important deliverables for a product manager are the value to the customer and the viability to the business. He recommends reading 'Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value' by Melissa Perri. Shout out to Amal Mishra for the warm welcome extended to his college senior 😊
Ashish Singh is not just a product leader at Paytm, he is also certified to climb the Mount Everest! He shared titbits from his days at Swiggy sprinkled with buzzwords like customer lifetime value, churn score, priority support and the icing on the cake - customer satisfaction score which witnessed a massive jump during his tenure. He believes that 70% of product management is identifying the right problem and knowing when to solve it. His go-to book recommendations include 'The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact' by Chip Heath, and 'Principles: Life and Work' by Ray Dalio.
Madhurita M. is a product leader at Meesho, a board games enthusiast, F1 fan and a globe trotter who has been to 35+ countries! She shared insights from building her favourite products and activating people on return. She believes it's important to understand your customer really well at the n-th level. The skill to ask the right questions to know what they truly want is critical. This will ensure that the need for iterations and pivots drastically reduces. Whether you are looking to break in to product or get better at it, what gets you anywhere is curiosity! Go through apps from start to finish. Think through why someone would add these features and how that impacts your experience.
Sameer Mandge is a product leader at GoKwik. Recalling his days from Amazon, he says when Amazon launched in India, the default check out option was COD. They went through a journey of introducing changes for the new users and the existing users to eventually reduce COD. While Cash On Delivery is a growth lever, they aimed at reducing it owing to higher return to origin, frequency of purchase and more reasons. Return To Origin is an important step as it adds to merchant cost and operations to bring the undelivered orders back. He believes that customer keeps evolving and so do their needs. It's important to do your customer research well and put a clear persona to your user. He recommends reading 'The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business' by Charles Duhigg and 'The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you' by Rob Fitzpatrick.
At the eChai Ventures AI Day with GUSEC, one of the panellists, Chirag Patel, Chief Strategy Officer of Rysun Labs, emphasized the critical importance of embracing AI. He remarked, "In the future, there will only be two types of companies: those that embrace and adopt AI, and those that are shut down."
This resonates with the recent survey titled "Labour force perception about AI: A study on Indian white collar workers" done by Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad faculties & industry experts. It was released last day.
The survey reveals fascinating insights into AI adoption in India across industries like education, IT, manufacturing, and healthcare. • 𝟨𝟢% 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘈𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝟧𝟥% 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. • 𝟩𝟢% 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘐 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝟨𝟨% 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘈𝘐 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴. • 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘛 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝟥𝟤% 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘐 𝘫𝘰𝘣𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢.
With AI making inroads across sectors, India’s AI market is expected to grow from $4.2 billion in 2023 to $8.3 billion by 2025. While AI adoption is rapid, caution is advised as the workforce gears up to upskill and adapt.
It’s clear—AI is transforming industries and creating both challenges and opportunities. Continuous learning and upskilling will be crucial to harnessing the potential of this AI-driven future.
Professionally, I have been using AI tools and it has enhanced my productivity and also helped in do mundane jobs while giving me extra time for creativity and complex problem-solving.
However, there can't be any replacement for Human Intelligence or maybe it is wishful thinking. Only AI can tell 😀.
Would love to hear your opinion & insights on this.
As we are working on product development at Binary Infura. I always had questions related to "Selling the product before or while building it". I was fortunate to have the opportunity to discuss this with Panelists. Luckily panelists are also tech product founders and so, they shared valuable insights from their journey.
🌟 Had a blast at the Startup Social in Bangalore organised by eChai Ventures & moderated by Chaitanya last Saturday, where the conversations were as energetic as a double-shot espresso! During one of the discussions, I casually mentioned "ICP," and someone in the audience asked, "What's that?" 🤔
Well, ICP could stand for Ice Cream Party" 🍦🍕 but that’s not quite right. 😄
ICP actually stands for 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲—not as fun as an Ice Cream Party but arguably just as essential. 🏆
Let me break it down for you: (some gyanbaji ) 😬
Imagine you're in the business of selling custom superhero capes. You could try selling to everyone, but wouldn’t it be better to focus on those die-hard superhero fans who can’t wait to put on a cape and feel invincible? These are your ideal customers—the ones who not only need your product but are also excited about it, ready to buy, and might even show up to work wearing one!
Your ICP is that dream crew for your product or service—the people who need what you offer, will benefit from it, and will love you for it. When you know who they are, you can focus on speaking directly to them. No more guessing games, no more "shouting into the void."
Why is this crucial for product managers and founders? t’s like having a superhero’s map 🗺️ that guides you toward the right customers, knowing your ICP helps you avoid the classic startup trap of trying to be everything to everyone. 🎯
Instead, you can zero in on those who truly need what you’re offering. This means better product-market fit, more effective marketing, and ultimately, a happier customer base.
In short: Know your ICP, and you’ll spend less time chasing the wrong customers—and more time delivering value to the right ones. 💡
P.S. Still craving that Ice Cream Party though... 🍨
Considering every startup confronts this question at some point, I was surprised by how little has been written about it. Particularly anything actionable. So I decided to do my own digging. I spent the past month personally reaching out to founders, scouring interviews, and tapping the Twitterverse. Below, you’ll find first-hand accounts of how essentially every major consumer app acquired their earliest users, including Tinder, Uber, Superhuman, TikTok, Product Hunt, Yelp, and over a dozen more. Enjoy!
Today’s Mumbai Start-up Meet with eChai Ventures at DevX Andheri was nothing short of inspiring!
No panelists this time – just a fantastic group of startup enthusiasts seated in a circular setup, sharing their unique stories. We heard everything from innovative startup ideas, the inspirations behind their entrepreneurial journeys, and the real challenges they’re facing at work. It was a truly collaborative and insightful session!
A huge thank you to Jatin Chaudhary, the driving force behind eChai Ventures, for organizing this incredible event. And a big shoutout to our venue partner, DevX for providing the perfect space for these meaningful conversations!
Lastly, a special thanks to everyone who attended and asked such thoughtful questions – your engagement made today’s meetup extra special.
The preferred eChai Partner Brands program offers businesses increased visibility within the eChai Network.
Prominent Listing: Feature on the Preferred eChai Partner Brands page for a full year.
Engagement Opportunities: Participate in approximately five highly relevant in-person eChai Meetups annually, providing direct engagement with potential partners, customers, and investors.
Feature Spotlight: Feature on eChai.Ventures feed, highlighting the brand's story, achievements, and offerings to a founders community.
Connect with Jatin Chaudhary, Co-Founder of eChai Ventures, to learn more about how brands are leveraging this program. Reach out via WhatsApp or via email [email protected].
