I grew up in the family of TATAs (4 Generations working for TATAs). I have been brought up with machines from a very tender age. My Grandfather and Dad used to do all kind of home appliances repair at home. In my childhood days I used to spend vacations sometimes doing door to door selling of Ice Candy Sticks with one of my Uncle and sometimes working at a Restaurant owned by another Uncle.
In a nutshell, TATA Culture imbibed the importance of creating sustainable value, and the principle of Leadership with Trust. Problem solving & Frugal Innovation was a necessity and always part of my day to day life at home. Vacations were a ground to test operations and execution.
Having a Vision + Solving Problems in a Frugal Way + Excellent Execution, is what life had made me do so far. That is what my life is and that is what I am doing.
Helping startups solve problems while being extremely frugal is what excites me.
I have miserably failed after a whopping success with my past company that puts me in a sweet spot to share a few words of wisdom with anyone who is struggling with similar challenges.
Me and my friend came up with this idea in his dorm room when plastic was officially banned in State of Maharashtra, India in the month of May 2018. We tied up with manufacturers who were certified by Central Pollution Control Board to manufacture 100% Compostable and Biodegradable bags made up of Corn and Potato Starch.
Roles and Responsibilities:
• Define the vision and road-map, business model for the company to build an organization that is profitable and sustainable in a highly competitive, unorganized and a stringent regulated market. We were able to build strategic alleys and gain first movers advantage due to our execution ability
• Design and development of the company website and SEO: The website was ranked on very high page ranks on web and the listing was on top searches on marketplaces like Indiamart.com (non paid organic rankings)
• Configuration of CRM Like Bitrix24: This improved operational efficiency, collaboration between teams and better tracking of customer requirements
• Branding and positioning of the product
• Developing alliances with manufacturers, channel partners, distributors: We were able to build channel partners in 16 districts that had an outreach in 220 villages and towns in Maharashtra. We did sale of 1.5 Metric Ton in less than a month.
• Creating a supply chain and distribution framework to ensure minimum holding of inventory and reducing the turnaround time of consignment
• Handling customer grievances and complaints and taking corrective actions
On one fine day, environment minister came on air and allowed plastics above 51 microns, introducing a loop hole. Our sale bottomed down to zero since the product was 4x costly as compared to plastic.
Prior to starting this I was with with BNY Mellon Technology for around 5 years with majority of experience around Full Stack Development, Product Management, Innovation Life Cycle Management, Lean Development and leveraging AI/ML to improve system resiliency.
In addition to this I also trade in Equity Derivatives and have few trading algorithms.
Walk in with your frustrations, I would help you to contemplate and understand your own thoughts.
You have to build your own company, perhaps I will teach you how to think and solve your problems. No doubt I will give you aspirin to relieve your head ache, but mind you I will also suggest some vitamins that have to be taken for long time along with some meditation and exercise.
Building companies is not a get rich quick scheme, it requires time, effort and dedication.
