The internship at Explara provided valuable learning experiences. The intern learned about startup challenges with limited resources but also the flexibility to take risks. Through interactions with various teams and leaders, the intern gained insights into marketing, sales, operations, product development, and technical challenges of scaling a platform. The intern overcame communication challenges and enjoyed brainstorming sessions that provided strategic and creative perspectives. Overall, the internship enhanced the intern's understanding of the online marketplace business and technical skills, and the intern hopes to contribute further to Explara in the future.

1. Explara Internship Report
Explara – My internship
Startupcompaniesare the most challenging places,withlimitedresources.Bestthingabout start-up
isthe flexibilitytotake calculatedrisksand setbenchmarks. Startupsworkin theirownstyle and
hack through challenges. Startupsneedtobe dynamicto everchangingmarket.
Sales,Marketing and Operations
Marketing: Marketingis a process of communicatingtopeople aboutthe solutions whichthe
companyis providing.Itplaysa bigrole ingrowing the brand name of the company.Marketinghelps
isgeneratingvaluableleads.
Sales:Once the leadsshowinteresttheybecomeprospects.The salesteamfollowsupwithleads
engage withthem.Theyclarifyall the queries postedbyprospects aboutthe business andeventually
convertthemcustomers.
Operations:Once the salesteamandcustomermake the deal the product/ service needstobe
deliveredtothe customer.Thisprocessisconductedbyoperationsteam.Theymake sure the
customergetsthe requiredproduct.Afterthe producthasbeendeliveredoperationsteamll collect
amount.
Communication
My biggestchallenge was communication. Ihadlittle hindrance whenitcomestotalkingtoa
randomperson.I learnthowto have a conversationwithaprospectandexplainaboutthe product.I
encounteredmanychallenges,like tohave acontinuous engagement withthe customer,beingable
to completelymake themunderstandaboutthe product, respondingtounique queries,some times
whenI didnotknowthe answerhowshouldyoureplyetc. Startingof my internshipI waslittle
reluctantto approacha seniorlevel management,Iwasnot sure how the otherpersonwouldtake
it.Thanks to Mr Venkateshwhohelpedme alot in overcomingmyweaknesses.He encouragedme
to openupmyself andgetinvolvedinotheractivities.
Baskar sir’s brain storming session
I reallylovedthe interactive discussionswithBaskarsir,he came up withunique anddifferentideas
and hisperspective onproblemswasoutof the box.I had little querieswhichI use face workingwith
my peers.So we spoke aboutconflictsbetweenpeopleinateamwithrespectproductdesign ora
feature andhowyou wouldgoaboutsolvingit. Got to know how to calculate marketsize, little
insightongrowthhacking,acquisitionandretentionof customers andwhatall we can doto engage
withour users. Discussionwe hadbetweenUvaise,Baskarsirand me wasveryinsightful,Ilearnta
loton howto come upwithcreative ideas tofitinexistingplatform.He alsotoldabouthisfuture
goalsfor Explara, whatis he lookingtolaunchon Explaraplatform, whatnextcanwe provide to
customeron Explara. Ialso participatedindiscussionwithgrowthteamcontributingfew ideason
whatwe can do inengagingusers.Ialsogot a little introduction onGoogle analytics,how itworks
and howwe can make crucial decisionswithvisual dataprovided bythe tool.I learnthow we can
target toprecise setof customersand make changesinour ad campaigns. We alsohad little chaton
corporate vs startup environment.He toldhow youwill learnmore inastartupcompaniesthana big
companies.Eventhough the salarypaidinstart-upsare relativelylesscompare tobigcompanies but
the amountof challenges,learningandgrowthyouwouldachieve instartup isunmatched.

2. Startup talk with Santosh sir
I got an opportunitytohave one to one chat with Santoshsir.We spoke quite a lotaboutall things
start-ups.We spoke abouthowhe startedAyojakwhichlaterbecame Explara.Explarawashisthird
startup,so he toldabout whathe learntfrom the mistakes.We spoke abouthow Ayojakwas
structuredwhenitbeganand whythe name was changedfromAyojak toExplara.We spoke about
fundingandhowfor close to2 yearsit wasbootstrapped.He toldme aboutwhat does an investor
looksina startup.He toldthat one of the common mistakesall early start-upfoundersdoisnot
gettingassociatedwith rightpeople.Havingagoodco-founderwhosharessimilarvision andstayfor
longrun isreallyimportant.Sothe question“Whyshouldsomeone joinyouinbuildingthe
company?”for that he toldthe personwhocomesup withthe ideashoulddosome work before
understandingaboutthe problem,marketresearch,resourcesavailable, he needstoprovide some
material toconvince thatthere isproblemandpotential marketforit. He toldme how he designed
the product andhow the firstfewcustomers were acquired. Lastly Iaskedhim“What wouldbe the
advice youwouldlike togive toa studentwhowantsstartup“,he told there isnoone straight
answeritdependsonthe problemhe is solving.He hasto identifythe painpointsof acustomer,
give hima small of solutiontotry andask himfor feedback,if itworksoutgive himsome more if not
come up withdifferentsolution. Shouldalwaysdothe marketresearchonlyafterunderstandingthe
customer’spainpointdesignandbuildthe product. The qualitywhichIreallyappreciateishis
firmnesswhenhe talksandthe wayhe conveysideas.He isdirectand straightto the point.Itwas
wonderful conversation andlookingforwardformanymore discussions.
Sajeshsir startup journey
Uvaise and I hada candidchat withSajeshsir.He toldabout hiscareerjourneystartingoutfrom
beingasa programmerto productmanager.He toldhow Indianstage tookbirth,whenBaskarsir
and Sajeshsirhadbeento watcha playinRanga Shanakara andendedupnot gettingticketthen
thoughtof the ideaof an online platformtosell ticketsfortheatre andplay. ThenBaskarsir and
SajeshsirstartedIndianstage takingoverthe entertainmentmarket, goingheadonwithalready
established companieslike KyazoongaandBookMy Show.We got to know how more than the idea
the executionof the ideais important.Hisquote of “Don’tboil the ocean,firsttryto boil little water
and testit” taughtme a lotabout breakingdownthe ideaintofundamental executable steps, testit
inthe market getfeedbackanddo some more. We alsospoke aboutnew technologiessuchas what
isthe difference betweenSaas,Iaas,Paasaboutcloudetc. He has knowledge inversatilefields.Got
to knowaboutlot of stuff.

3. Gettingtechnical with Ashok Sir
I use to sitopposite toAshoksir.So we alwayshadsmall conversationabouttechnologyandproduct
design.He toldme about the technical challengeswhendevelopingaproduct,scalingandmaking
minorchangeswiththe product.Venkateshsir andAshoksirwouldhave these quickbrainstorming
sessionsaboutmouldingthe currentproducttoadapt to the new vertical whichExplarahad
venturedinto.Iparticipatedinthese discussionsandgotto know how challengingitiscome up with
solutionsorsmall hacks inthe product to satisfythe requirements. We spoke aboutif there isanew
feature whichhasto be introduced,how all the techteamwouldcome togetherlate nightwhenthe
trafficwouldbe lowanddeploythe code. Sometimes theywouldencounterabugafterdeploying
and howtheywouldfix themonthe fly.He alsosharedincidentwhenthe wholeUIwasruined and
theyhad to fix iton live site.He alsotoldwhenthe whole sitehadcrasheddue tosome hackerfrom
Canada whowasrunninga script whichkept attackingand it wasreallytoughto block it.We also
spoke abouthowin organisation whenthereisaconflictswithrespect software where he told
“There will alwaysbe conflictsbetweenpeopleinall mattersandwhenitcomesto software design
or developmentthere canbe only 1 or 0, sowhateversatisfiesthe goal optforit”. There isquite a
lotlearnfrom himintech lookingforwardformore techtalks.
What Next?
One monthof Explarainternshipexperience waslikerollercoasterride.EverydayI came to Explara
feltlike comingtoamusementpark.New day,new challengesandnew things tolearn.There are lot
of takeawaysinall aspects.WorkingunderVenkatesh sirwas kindof enlightening, he encouraged
me a lot.He told me manystuff abouthis experiencesandlessonsfromhispastjobsandas a
startupentrepreneur.
My passionistosolve challengingproblems.Ilove programming,soIwill continue tolearnmore
stuff intechnical fieldandtrytoimplementthose.Ibelieve Iamstill arookie whenitcomesto
developingsoftware sofornexttwoyearsI wantget mybase rightinsoftware andacquire stronger
technical knowledge.If Igetanotherchance to workfor Explara,Iwoulddefinitelyliketojoinand
contribute more.Lookingforwardformore Explaraexperiences
Overviewlearning
 Fair understanding of online marketplace business
 Identifyingapotential customer
 How marketing,salesandoperationsworktogether
 How businessproposalsare curated
 How online transactionsare made andhow companiesworkwithpaymentgate ways
 Had good understandingonproductdesignanddevelopment
 Understandingof market,identifyingandcalculatingthe marketsize
 Planning,strategisingandhackingthroughthe challengesandmakingdecisions
 Havinga engagingconversationwithcustomers
 Gyaan on technical aspectslike Explara platformisbuiltonphpwithZendframework,
database MySQL, BootstrapCss framework,IOSswiftlanguage,AndroidwithJAVA andXML,
Clinchpadforsalesmanagement,gottoknow intro about Google analytics
Thank you