Working on a Startup, Session at Techmeet Mumbai, 22nd March 2014
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Aakrit Vaish, co-founder and CEO of Haptik, discusses the roles of employees, investors, and founders in startups, emphasizing the unique challenges and motivations of each role. He shares his personal journey from working in consulting to leading a startup, highlighting the learning experiences and risks associated with being a founder. Ultimately, he notes that while each role has its merits, being a founder offers the most significant rewards and challenges.
Working on a Startup, Session at Techmeet Mumbai, 22nd March 2014
- 1. Working on a Start Up Three Sides of the Triangle: Employee, Investor, Founder Aakrit Vaish Co-Founder & CEO, Haptik aakrit@haptik.co Techmeet, 22nd March, 2014
- 2. Who am I? • Born, raised in Mumbai • Moved to USA in 2004 for undergrad engineering @ UIUC • First job out of college with Deloitte Consulting in San Francisco • Hated it, loved the idea of starting up • Joined a startup Flurry in 2010 to lead biz ops, #20 overall hire • Moved back to Mumbai in 2011 to start and run Flurry India • Started investing in Indian startups, have made 6 total investments • Quit Flurry in 2013 to start Haptik, and co-founded Flat.to
- 3. Today 3 distinct roles at a start up and story of each side Founder
- 4. Why? Founder To help better understand the dynamics of a start up
- 5. Why me? Founder Fortunate to have experienced all 3 sides
- 6. Some Definitions for Today* • Start Up Any tech company in business for <3 years, with <Rs. 10 Cr funding or <Rs. 5 Cr annual revenue • Employee Amongst the first 25 people to work for the company • Investor An individual who has given any amount of money in exchange for equity • Founder Originator of the idea, there since inception of the business Only for companies started in India *only for referencing this discussion, these terms could mean different in other situations
- 7. Employee Least risk, least reward
- 8. Employee But a lot of work
- 9. Employee You work at least 50% more than a regular job
- 10. Employee But get paid at least 20% lesser
- 11. Employee What about stock ownership? Unless it’s a Google or Facebook, does not mean much
- 12. Employee So then why do it? •Want to make a bigger impact •Believe in the business idea •Most important: to learn
- 13. Employee So then why do it? “My 3 years at a startup going from 20 people/$0 revenue to 150 people/$70m was an MBA+Phd+MS”
- 14. Employee Do NOT do it because •Want to make money •Don’t like working for a “big” company •Think you may have room for error
- 15. Investor High Risk, High Reward
- 16. Investor Primary Prerequisite: Have the Money
- 17. Investor Secondary: Can add some Value
- 18. Investor Seems like not much work But can be stressful, especially if company is not doing well
- 19. Investor Hardest part is to stay out of the way of the Founders
- 20. Investor Why do it? •See the potential for a successful return •Believe in the founders •Want to make a bigger impact
- 21. Investor Why NOT do it? •Because its “cool” •To become popular and command respect •Want to give back to society or as a “hobby”
- 22. Founder Highest Risk, Highest Reward
- 23. Founder Most amount of work
- 24. Founder Most fun type of work But highest amount of uncertainty
- 25. Founder You start out not at 0, but negative
- 26. Founder You are always selling yourself
- 27. Founder You don’t work for yourself, but for everybody else Customers, Employees, Investors
- 28. Founder Hardest part is to stay motivated At some point you will ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?”
- 29. Founder Things that have worked for me •A great team to work with •Limited focus, getting one thing at a time right •Celebrating small wins
- 30. Founder Mistakes I have made • Think I am special and standard rules don’t apply • Tried to build an overnight success • Scaled too fast
- 31. Founder Why do it? • When you have an idea you can’t stop thinking about • Have a validated business model • Prepared to spend at least next 5-7 years working on it
- 32. Founder Why NOT do it? •To get rich •To work for yourself •Because you have a great idea
- 33. Thank You! Three Sides of the Triangle: Employee, Investor, Founder Aakrit Vaish Co-Founder & CEO, Haptik aakrit@haptik.co www.haptik.co Techmeet, 22nd March, 2014