From there, they’ve come a long way to receiving Series A funding from VC fund Kalaari Capital by 2015 end and having Ratan Tata come on board as an investor in January, 2016.
Networking was critical to the entire process, says Swati Bhargava.
Social media has helped, so have conferences such as IAMAI, TiE and AdTech; student events at IITs and ISB; community events like POPxo fest where the couple speak; even a WhatsApp group formed by Kalaari Capital for all its portfolio company founders, which, Swati says, is “a great way to connect and help network”.
The Bhargavas now hold quarterly networking dinners at their place where 10-15 start-up founders meet to talk, share best practices and explore business synergies.
“Every successful entrepreneur will tell you how important his or her connections had been,” says Swati. She shares how even the conversations with both their investors go back to connections they had made through networking.
“Even after we secured a meeting with Ratan Tata, I contacted other start-up founders who had previously been funded by him to ask if they could share any tips. Both these events were big milestones for us and we owe a large part of their success to us being well connected in the industry.”
Start-up founders across the board — newbies and established — vouch for how crucial networking is to the entire process of building up their ventures from scratch. Getting out there and mingling; brainstorming and ideating, networking has never been more important: for ideas, best practices, hiring and raising funds.
“Networking facilitates learning as well as growth, and simply put, is the key to success in skyrocketing your venture. Entrepreneurs need to understand that the skillset which got them till here might not be sufficient to take them to the next level, or the one beyond that. Networking definitely fills a large part of this gap,” says Ashvini Jakhar, Co-Founder of edtech startup Prozo which raised a pre-Series A round funding in September.
Events organised by entrepreneurship organisations like TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) and Nasscom have helped Jakhar connect with investors and talent. “We have also been able to hire some key employees — like our Product Manager, Dhruv Sharan — through such events,” he says.
Startup-focused alumni events/network of ISB and an informal network of his previous organisation (McKinsey & Co) have also facilitated some great introductions.
For Varun Khurana, CEO of Agritech Venture Crofarm, which recently raised $1.5 million in seed funding, connecting — be it through social media, entrepreneurial groups or even a co-working space — is more about a possible business opportunity or a potential learning space.
“There is a pool of opportunities one gets through networking like client leads, partnerships, resource allocations,” says Khurana.
He should know. In his last company Mygreenbox, he got connected to Albinder Dhindsa, founder of Grofers, through a common entrepreneur-friend. They met a few times to discuss the e-grocery space in general and eventually this led to the acquisition of Mygreenbox by Grofers.
Khurana has recently been inducted into an IIT Delhi alumni founders’ WhatsApp group through a founder-friend and swears by the advice he gets from it, especially in these stressed times. “Checking the messages on this group has by default become the first and the last thing I do every day,” he says.
Nikhil Kamanth, Co-Founder of online broking firm Zerodha, looks at networ king as a breeding ground for new ideas where industry peers can collaborate, help each other improve and bring on higher levels of efficiency.
Paisabazaar.com CEO Naveen Kukreja looks for knowledge sharing, insights on common or similar issues that founders face as well as references or feedback while hiring or getting any vendors on board.
“As an entrepreneur, building a venture can be a lonely journey. It is also one where you constantly want to move faster and it definitely helps expedite growth to learn from another person’s successes or failures and not repeat a mistake done before,” says Naiyya Saggi, CEO of BabyChakra, a social discovery platform for young parents in India which raised its Series A funding from Seattle-based RoundGlass in October, 2016. She adds that tapping into her large network has helped her shape the venture very strategically.
“We were introduced to our institutional investors by Mudit Vijavargiya, Co-Founder of Curofy, who I had helped with crafting out his pitch deck,” she says.
Partnership opportunities, learning opportunities, hiring opportunities and investment opportunities — networking offers it all, says Chinmay Agarwal, Co-Founder of Chandigarh-based autorickshaw hailing app Jugnoo.
“To survive, you need friends who aid you in different aspects and challenges you face from time to time. Networking helps you gain mentors and also helps you in getting references when needed,” says Agarwal.
He recalls a talk in Mumbai where the Co-Founders of Jugnoo spoke about their work culture and experiments they were undertaking. “One of the analysts in a VC firm was listening to our talk and realised that we had plans for our presence in some other domains as well. That’s when he connected us with the partners of that firm.”
Swati Bhargava sums it all up. “Unless you are flush with cash and will never need anyone’s help with anything, I’d say networking is very, very important.”
Source: The Economic Times