Had an amazing time at @WestbridgeCap B2B SaaS dinner event.

Met so many founders building in India 🇮🇳 for the world 🌍 and pretty convinced on “long India” for the next decade, at least.

🇸🇬 Singapore: Unleashing our inner tigers 🐅 It was fantastic to meet a delegation of 18 Startups from India who visited us at Draper Startup House #singapore today

Organised by Carve Startup Labs 🚀
➡ Alisha Davis
➡ Vishnu Nagaraj

Startup Delegation:
➡ Ramees Ali, Founder of Interval
➡ Dipti Sundar Mohanty, Founder of Mo Ambulance
➡ Midhun A kunj, Founder of Vowels 9M Healthcare Private Limited
➡ Soumya Bhattacharya, Founder of SustLabs
➡ Bhavana M., Founder of Bert Labs
➡ Sreenivas Paluvuri, Founder of VEHITO
➡ Bikash Mohanty, Founder of Smaket Solutions Pvt Ltd
➡ Meenu Sasikumar, Founder of AMG Invest Financial Services
➡ Layak Singh, Founder of Artivatic.ai
➡ Rohit Kochar, Founder of Bert Labs
➡ Karan Deep Singh from Anscer Robotics
➡ Sarat Tadanki from JK Nanosolutions
➡ Jitendra Saini, Cofounder of AquaAirX
➡ Prabhu Stavarmath from Bharat Pi
➡ Havish Sreenath from Infiction Labs
➡ Jayasudan Munsamy, Founder of DeepVisionTech.AI
➡ Raghavendra G. Shetty from RDL Technologies Pvt Ltd
➡ Susheel Chilashetty, Founder of Rootstart

Thank you to the wonderful speakers:
➡ Jaclyn Benstead
➡ Ashish Jain
➡ Anna Joke Breimer Bharati

Some moments are captured through our eyes and stay forever in our hearts! A month ago, on the 13th November, I got the opportunity to meet and interact with a legendary football player and UNICEF Global Goodwill Ambassador, David Beckham, during the very first day of his visit to India.

I had never met a humble person like him before! A few minutes of interaction with him about ECOrrect Product and our journey, I felt very inspired. It was a precious opportunity for us.

Whenever I think about that meeting, I still get goosebumps. Thank you GUSEC and UNICEF India, for the opportunity! 💚✨

It takes a village to raise a child.

Synup completed it's acquisition of Clientjoy | Operating System for Agencies yesterday.

Anupama and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the folks who've been our village while we raised Clientjoy.

So, here it goes.

Thank you.

Thanks Ashit Doshi for giving us our first office and thank you Tanvi Shah Rangwala for being the first believer in us and writing us our first cheque.

Thanks Jatin Chaudhary and eChai Ventures for a lot of things - but most of all, for giving us the first platform where we spoke about Clientjoy and thank you tapan kacheria for being our first paid customer. We still have the INR 1800 invoice.

Thanks Gaurav Zutshi for enabling us to get our first enterprise customer and thank you Rohit K. for being the pillar of support you've been through out our journey.

Thanks Anunay Gupta for pushing us - we know we were not the most ideal founders and thank you Sunder Nookala for asking the right questions with the intent to help, always.

Thanks Anil Roy and Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology for giving us access to talent and thank you Pankaj Bhimani for teaching that sales is not a skill, but an approach - polished language can only take us so far and that ultimately, selling happens between people.

Thanks Shrijay Sheth [keeper of all secrets] for always having the right legal advice and thank you Umesh Uttamchandani for being selflessly available to answer any funding related questions.

Thanks Vikas Mundhra for asking me questions that I wouldn't have asked myself and thank you Bhavin S Bhagat for being kind - always.

Thanks Udit Goenka for launching us on your marketplace and thank you Mihir Joshi and GVFL Limited for your trust.

Thanks Ritam Bhatnagar for giving us shelter while we were 30 and office-less and thank you Mitesh Shethwala for helping us acquire our first solutioning client.

Thanks Abhi Ballabh & Vengat Krishnaraj for bringing clarity into everything we were doing and thank you Mrigank Tripathi and Sachin Bhatia for agreeing to support us when chips were down.

Thank you Dveep, Hirvi, Keyur, Nirav and Faizan for believing in us while we navigated through some of the most difficult stages of our company.

Thank you Stripe, PayPal, Payoneer and Razorpay for partnering with a small firm like us. And thank you IIMA Ventures, SaaSBoomi and NSRCEL for your role in building the ecosystem that supported founders like us.

There are so many more people including our team members, family members, friends, stakeholders and customers who have played a pivotal role in our journey.

Founding and running a company is lonely. As first time founders, we did not always know the right way to do things. You people made the ride easier. You people made the journey better. You people made us.

We hope to enjoy your company in the future 😇

Final thank you to Ashwin Ramesh for seeing the value in what we had built.

 

Asian Case Research Journal managed by National University of Singapore has accepted the case about Hearty Mart written by Dr Amarpreet Singh of FLAME University and Prof Abhishek of IMT Ghaziabad, on Corporate Entrepreneurship. 

The case discusses Idea Box strategy of Hearty Mart in detail.

The Road Less Traveled

As I turn 30 today, I couldn't help myself from reflecting on the journey I've taken—one that's been marked by choices often considered unconventional in a world that often favors the well-trodden path. Throughout my life, I've embraced the road less traveled, finding my way through uncharted territories, and learning invaluable lessons along the way. Some may call it the hindsight bias too and maybe it is. But this post is not about calculated risks - this is about the risks which were pure gambles but have paid out well in the end.

1. Army in the stirps, Engineer in the mark sheets.

My journey commenced with a decision that defied familial traditions. Born into an army background where the norm was to follow in the footsteps of generations before, I veered away from convention by choosing engineering. Interestingly, I did take the NDA exam and also passed the written round with flying colors but destiny had something else written for me. I ended up not going for the interview and also, cleared the JEE exams parallely. While my family was two-sided about my decision, they ultimately agreed for me to pursue engineering. This decision not only shaped my academic trajectory but also laid the foundation for my propensity to challenge norms and seek innovation.

2. Old is gold but new technology is diamond

Upon clearing JEE, I once again had a difficult choice to make - which IIT and which branch should I choose? Contrary to the expectations set by many to go for the older IITs, I chose the path less trodden by opting for a relatively newer IIT Guwahati—and an even newer branch of Mathematics and Computing—over the more traditional choices like Mechanical and Civil at older IITs. The branch combining mathematics with the intricacies of computer science & finance, provided me with a unique perspective on AI that later became invaluable in my entrepreneurial pursuits.

3. Jumping into the deep end of the startup ocean

The next divergence from the conventional path emerged as I embarked on my professional journey. Instead of embracing the allure of a stable, high-paying job at a multinational corporation like Visa to dive headfirst into entrepreneurship with Ai Palette. Founding my own company was not just a career move; it was a testament to my belief in taking risks, pursuing passions, and forging my path despite the uncertainties that accompany such ventures.

These choices, though divergent from the norm, have been pivotal in shaping who I am today.

As I step into this new decade of my life, I carry with me the lessons gleaned from the road less traveled—a roadmap etched with unconventional choices, invaluable experiences & an unwavering belief in the limitless possibilities that lie ahead. For, in the end, it's not just about reaching the destination, but about relishing the adventure of the journey itself.

Happy to have spoken at GeoSmart India event held in Hyderabad and share the stage with Prateek Sharma, Shikha Anand and Shantanu Sharma in the Environment and Climate Change forum.

It was a wonderful conversation around the topics of Sustainability, Net Zero Policies and Climate Action. It is heartening and encouraging to see such conversations happening all around; and so happy to join in and be a part of the solution to climate change.

In a year filled with remarkable moments, we are honored to be recognized by eChai Ventures as the Consumer Tech Company of The Year!

This journey has been more than just milestones; it's been about connecting communities and bringing people together through #events. We are thrilled to have touched lives globally, aligning perfectly with our mission of making sure people can discover events whenever, wherever.

We are incredibly grateful to the event organizers and attendees who have been a part of our journey. Your unwavering passion and dedication breathe life into every event, making them truly special. You are the real MVPs, the heartbeat of what we do!

As we enter 2024, let's carry the warmth of shared experiences forward.

Remember: Live. Don't just exist.

Two clients.
Two stalls.
Two awards.
One team - Because 💙💛

#BecauseWeCan #GIHEDPropertyShow

I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as "Director of Growth" at WebOsmotic Private Limited!
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Here is the background story 📖

- June 2022 : I first met Vipul Jain, CEO of WebOsmotic Private Limited in a networking event

- Oct 2022 : I introduced PEPC, a course tailored for growing IT companies, to provide them fundamental principles of Project Management

- April 2023 : I got invited to deliver the PEPC course for employees of WebOsmotic. During the course, I developed a strong connection with Vipul and his team

- Sept 2023 : Vipul recognized the need to streamline the Processes, KPI's and SOP's and I joined WebOsmotic as a Part-time consultant to enhance the company's operational framework

- Dec 2023 : As the collaboration flourished, I and Vipul decided to explore further possibilities for Growth and Synergy

🎈 Jan 2024 : Thrilled to announce the new role and launch of a 

#saas product - narad.io | The Intranet

Vipul - Appreciate your trust in me. Lets Grow together 🚀

Many thanks to all the team members of WebOsmotic Private Limited for giving me such a warm welcome 🙌

Location Courtesy : Skydeck - Rooftop premium lounge 🥂

Little Late Post but full of gratitude for the 2023..


It was a great opportunity for Crooze App to be the part of 40 Fitness, Health & Wellness startups cohort pitching at the 

#FitPitch during TheFitExpo at Kolkata in first week of December.
Thanks to Aaquib Hussain and his wonderful team at FreeFlow Ventures for seamless execution and amazing experience for all of us.. and most importantly making us meet all the founders who are building to make India Fit & Healthy..
Which is by far the most difficult task for anyone.. to make people work towards their fitness and health.. and on the top of it make a sustainable business around it..
Hats off to all the amazing founders I met there - Shweta Thakur Dishita Choudhary Srishti Srivastava Swagatika Priyambada Vishal Nigam, Building WTF , Modernizing Gyms Sahil Pruthi Vipen Jain Manti Pathak Vivek Krishna Karishma Chavan Prapa G. Nilashis Roy Pratik Saraogi Amith Vir @amit k.
@Sriram G from The Whole Truth Foods

it was great catch up with amazing friends from the ecosystem Eashita Maheshwary Vasishta Chary and meeting a great team member of Crooze Deepjoy Ghosh 😊

May the fitness startups tribe go bigger and bigger as we need many more solutions and the market the really big with pie for all ✌️

Wizzy.ai launched query based CTR and Conversions ratios for top trending searchs.

We did pilot of this feature to optimise top search queries in selected brands of India with an estimate sales of ~$10m a month in all together. Deep efforts by our team helped all of these brands to improve query conversion in range of 13% to 27%.

Our feature impacted and in total generated extra sales of ~$1.8m for all of these brands.

“Valay, we got our first cheque”

I remember saying these words, full of excitement & somewhat emotional.

It was 31st Dec, New Year's Eve, almost a decade back. That evening was like stepping into a new life for us.  (Me & my younger brother and Co-Founder Valay)

Entigrity wasn't just a dream anymore; it became a reality.

But before getting this first check, I went on to meet 300+ CPAs/accountants door to door and well nobody wanted to trust us.(Offshoring back then was like rocket science). Also we were new, I probably didn’t know how to present myself.

Each meeting was a story in itself, filled with hope and often met with a polite, yet firm 'no.' With each ‘no’ you feel like giving up. But someone within was not ready to quit, maybe that someone was immensely scared of being tagged as failure in life, (That fear of failure probably kept me going).

Jack Owens, CPA out of Orlando, FL after the 2nd meeting told me that “Shawn, I like you buddy let’s get started” And that’s how he wrote us our first check. A 68 year old CPA trusted us and became our first client.

I will always remain deeply grateful to Jack for that trust and belief that he kept on us. Thank you would never be enough to express my gratitude to him. Jack and his team still continue to work with us.

Never forget people who have put early faith in you when you were nobody. Those people might hold no significance to your size of work and stature today but, I always believed that “Don't forget those who supported you when you were nothing”.

This is where the journey of Entigrity started for me in the US and for my brother & Co-founder Valay in India.

I learned that sometimes being naive is an asset. It allows you to see possibilities where others see dead ends.
When everyone around me said, especially some of my relatives in the US, "It's the holiday season, nobody's going to sign up now, people don’t work ” I chose to listen to the voice that mattered most - my own.

It’s with Immense pride I would say that Entigrity's first cheque wasn't signed by a venture capitalist or an angel investor, but by a CPA and that too on the eve of New Year.

Looking back, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude. Grateful to every CPA & Accountant 

- Who partnered with Entigrity and reposed their trust on us.
- Even those who started but couldn’t continue to work with us.
And lastly who said ‘No’ to us,
- Looking back I would say we got lucky in more ways than we could have ever Imagined.

One such luck was getting your First Cheque from a CPA and not from VC/Angel Investor. 

(In fact, in early days of Entigrity whenever we went to raise some money, we never got it. With the benefit of hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise. Today at this stage fortunately a lot of people are ready to invest in us. Life is strange when you needed them the most nobody gave you and now when you don't really need everyone is ready to write a check). 

In mid 1998 I had joined a vernacular daily based out of Madhya Pradesh, as a resident sales executive in Ahmedabad. Post MBA, this was my first job. As a trainee I was recruited at a salary not worthy of mentioning here. It was my first week in the office, and I was required to pick up my director from the airport and take him to a prominent communications school of Ahmedabad. He was invited by the institute to deliver a lecture on the success story of the newspaper launch in the neighbouring state. 

For a novice and non-entity sharing a dias with my director, I went through mixed emotions. This was a time when power points hadn’t conquered the boardrooms and professionals relied on slide presentations - which were transparencies projected on the screen through a slider. My role was to ensure that the slides were kept in the right order. I had no role in the razzmatazz of the presentation which made me feel small and irrelevant. At the same time, it ignited a fire in me and took my aspirations to new high. Now I wanted to be in the boardrooms of these schools, delivering sessions on my entrepreneurial journey.

Finally, I was invited on 1st October 2019 to be a speaker at #IIMA in The Red Brick Summit, prior to this I had the opportunity to take guest sessions at the #IIMA couple of times and I was also a speaker at their MDP Program. 

But #TRBS experience gave me a new kick as I was on the same platform where many thought leaders and successful entrepreneurs delivered their ideas in the past. And it also made me realise that if you aspire high you achieve new heights. Keep your aspirations high in life and strive hard and you would conquer.

🎉 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁: 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻'𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰! 🎉

Folks, 
I just received some news that is as unexpected as finding an extra crumpled Rs 500 note in your dried shirt after washing– I've been named a LinkedIn Top Voice! Yes, you read that right. No, I didn't hack the system, and no, it's not a paid thing yet! :) 

First things first, a massive THANK YOU to everyone here. This recognition isn't just about my voice, but it's a testament to the incredible community we've built together. It's like being part of the world's most supportive book club, but instead of books, we share ideas, insights, and occasionally, bad jokes.

Unlike X, previously on twitter, I do post some sensible stuff here. But I will try to be more consistent as now I have a badge to take care of. 

I must admit, being called a "Top Voice" feels a bit exaggerated. But here we are, and I'm incredibly humbled and slightly bewildered.

This platform has been a treasure trove of learning, and I'm not just talking about the professional insights. I've learned that no matter how carefully you craft a post, there will always be at least one typo that 95% of commenters kindly ignore. And that no matter how serious the topic, there's always room for a light-hearted comment & and criticism that puts a smile on everyone's face.

So, what's next? Well, I promise to keep bringing my authentic self here – typos, opinions, and all. I'll continue to share, learn, and grow alongside each of you, and yes, I'll try to live up to this 'Top Voice' title without letting it go to my head ( yes, it happens). 

Let's keep making this platform a space for genuine connection and growth. Let me repeat "genuine connection." 

The product hunt :

When I decided to start a consumer product company, the first thing was to think about product. Today I am trying to explain how we decided our first product to go with.

I make sure about one thing that anything we shall do or create shall be different then what everybody else is doing. I studied all d2c brands and decided not to go with fashion, lifestyle and wellness. Also one of my business is B2B corporate apparels so thought to have a product which I can sell in same channel in future and that's how decided to go with bags and backpacks.

Now, there are many brands in that segment also, and all of them focused on fashion, so we decided to focus on function.

One more thing, I like to make sure about any product or service is to find one niche to market so we decided to go with business backpack would be our first product, design process started (There will be a separate post about designing our products) and somehow we end up making first product which is backpack for modern age creators. A backpack to carry your cameras, digital kits and some clothes.

"The reason of selecting a niche is targeting is very easy". When you know your target customer, the marketing becomes laser focused. And here we go with our First backpack designed for Photographers/Cinematographers and Digital creators , named it "Moment". Moment by 58Miles.
https://www.58miles.com

stay tuned, on how we designed this product and why this product became the first to go to market...