This was our second structured meet-up in Delhi. Some new faces and new ideas made their way with so much enthusiasm that we couldn’t resist wondering about the magnitude of passion that exists around us. We settled much easily on the floors, on chairs, on tables and on our feet (the out’standing’ rodinhooders) as usual.
The concept was simple – ‘How you won your first client’. An entrepreneur will never forget his first client meeting, the first deal closed, the first cheque received, the first phase of struggle and the first victory. And so we thought, why not celebrate an entrepreneur’s ‘first client winning’ story.
With thinkers+doers coming from various far-off places in Delhi, we all gathered at a very homely and cosy space of our fellow rodinhooder, Abhik Prasad – a wonderful host.
The presentation kicked off with our very own Mr. Suresh Mansharamani setting the ground for us with tips on ‘things to keep in mind when approaching your first client’. From sharing the importance of networking, keeping the enthusiasm going and focusing on working our benefits for your targeted clients, he had few gems to share with us including his own story. And when an experienced soul speaks, you know what to do – pen it in your brain, etch it in your heart.
Did I mention the presence of our awesome editor, Asha Chaudhry at this meet-up? We caught her just before she flew out from Delhi to make many rodinhooders meet the person behind the scene – the first one to read your posts, suggest you great inputs, direct you to the right place and leave you with goodness in heart for her. You will find her on floor (in pics) reiterating her down-to-earth nature!
Coming to the three awesome presentations made plus two great ideas shared, all I could say is – our eyes and ears took back home some ‘will-never-find-in-books’ lessons which could be applied to any business . From a struggler, survivor to a waiting to be an entrepreneur, takeaways were served hot for everyone in form of ideas, challenges, hurdles, solutions and victory tales.
Our first presenter was Rahul Dev, the co-founder (with Prity Khastgir) of techcorplegal.com. Making his entrepreneurial streak club with technology and law, his business for sure tried breaking the conventional law system that exists. We could sense many start-up people present over there taking a mental note of his company, to make the most out of it. It’s always exciting to watch someone break the conventions and rule at the same time.
Techcorplegal takeaways: Do you remember Orkut? Exactly, the one which finds space only in feeble memories was the medium used by this entrepreneur to reach out to his prospective customers in early days. Using keywords to hunt companies that could relate with his business to cold calling and emailing, he did everything to finally close three deals (2 US and 1 Domestic) during his final year in MSc. He joined a job later on to manage things and save capital for his passion. Today he and his co-founder Prity Khastgir stringently believe in giving human touch to your business relations – no matter how much a typical-business-person you are. Meet them and they will surprise you with their stories.
The second idea was shared by Puneet Kaura. He just got-up, established his presence with his oozing energy and moved on with his each slide one by one leaving everyone of us rolling out with laughter with his ‘magical way’ of presenting. The 26 year old declared his love for talking and addiction for soccer before moving ahead with his venture idea. He is the founder of Unicom TechLabs, a company powering your business with cloud telephony services. For details you can visit Unicom.io and see if that’s what you were looking for since a long time.
Unicom takeaways: Segment, segment, segment and repeat it over 100 times before moving ahead with pitching your first client. He explained his terrible experience with cold calling the untargeted audience, forcing his idea upon his friends and family, praying and ofcourse googling! But what finally worked for him was a harmless ping made on LinkedIn which got responded by someone who was actually looking for his services. Lesson is – use social media properly but not without understanding who actually needs your product/service.
You know you are living in a world of serendipities when you hear a name – Green Apple Solutions, coined in a cafe while looking at the menu and with the logo being a tree colored all orange. No green and no apple – but Akhil Gupta’s company (co-founded with Naveen Gupta & Lakshdeep Rajput) definitely bears fruit where his product, CCE Soft (Continuous & Comprehensive Evaluation System – a regulation made compulsory by CBSE), focuses on making work simpler and easier for teachers of all CBSE Schools.
Green Apple Solutions takeaways: No matter how good you are with your technology and design, you need to moderate your communication according to the knowledge base of your users. With most of the teachers not being adept in using computers, their team used to train them in morning and managed company operations during the day time. Be as simple and as explanatory as possible – leaving no space for any confusion, guess work or self-assessment. Expect least from your end user and direct him properly with your product. A failed communication could ultimately result in a failed product and a failed venture.
Whoaaa!!! I never thought I would go that deep. But before I wrap up – a special mention for two more ideas shared – one by our very own Ashwani Gaur who shared his venture website ‘Playcez’ with some added features. Those who want to know more and stay updated with events happening around you, go to the site and you shall love it.
The event ended up with a magnanimously superb idea shared by Vivek Kumar – Qlicket India Pvt Ltd. Making his vision simple for us, Qlicket aims at ‘MAKING INTERNET FREE IN INDIA’. Solving your wifi issues in public places, whether it’s a cafe or a restaurant or any place willing to provide their customers free wifi services; Qlicket promises you a faster and a safe network on behalf of brands. Want to know more – go to Qlicket.com or simply call him. Thinking big and focusing on playing bigger, he is one promising and absolutely brilliant entrepreneur you would love to meet.
And yes I missed samosas, cold drinks and all the fun in between. But as the saying goes – ‘You should be there to experience it all.’
Keep thinking and excelling. Go for it. Strike hard. Keep the flame alive and you will ultimately ‘hit a Six’ – as Gurpreet Singh Tikku ji says!
