Three sides of the Triangle: Varying perspectives of working on a startup from an employee, investor, and founder.
Opening session at Techmeet Mumbai, 22nd March 2014. Audience was a mix of students, tech enthusiasts, and young entrepreneurs. Goal of this discussion was to give a better understanding of the dynamics of a startup, based on personal experiences in the different roles.
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
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
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