In startups, allies matter more than rivals

At eChai Ventures, our Unforgettable Lessons series captures the stories founders carry with them — the moments of rejection, resilience, and realization that change how they build and grow.

For Ishani Upadhyay Dave, Co-Founder & CEO of ShaadiVibe, one such lesson unfolded in a café in Ahmedabad, just weeks before her official launch.

Here’s how she tells it:

My path to building this platform has been filled with unexpected twists, but one story from early on taught me a lesson I'll never forget: the importance of community over competition. It unfolded in a bustling Ahmedabad café in March 2025, just weeks before our official launch.

I was there to meet a potential investor, a well-known name in Gujarat's startup scene, hoping to secure funding to scale ShaadiVibe. ShaadiVibe was still a bootstrap operation, and I had sunk my personal savings into developing the website and onboarding our first 100 verified vendors.

The meeting started promisingly; he praised our focus on Tier 1 and 2 cities, where 55% of Gujarat's weddings happen. But then he leaned in and said, "This is great, but you're too small. WedMeGood and WeddingWire dominate, why not sell your tech to them instead?"

It felt like a gut punch. I'd quit my corporate job to build something that empowered offline vendors, not to hand it over. My face burned with a mix of anger and disappointment as I shook his hand and left, wondering if I was naive to think we could compete.

That rejection lingered for days, making me question everything. But it also sparked an idea: instead of chasing big money, why not lean into the local network?

I reached out to a small group of vendors we'd already connected with, florists and decorators who had shared their pain points about 10–40% middlemen fees. I talked to vendors not to pitch or sell our subscription plan, but to listen and collaborate.

To my surprise, one vendor, a young photographer named Aarav, offered to introduce us to his network in Surat. "We're all in this together," he said. That single gesture snowballed: within a month, we onboarded 200 more vendors through word-of-mouth, and our site traffic hit 1,500 couples.

It wasn't investor cash that fueled our growth. It was genuine relationships.

The lesson hit hard: in a cutthroat market, building a community of allies beats going it alone. That investor's “no” pushed me to prioritize trust and collaboration, which has grown ShaadiVibe to 490+ vendors today, saving couples 20–35% on planning costs.