The Journey So Far

As we move into our private beta launch, we thought that our first blog entry should share the journey so far at LetsVenture. If someone now told me that his startup was born “over a mug of beer on a warm Sunday afternoon” or “at a coffee shop with friends brainstorming on a paper napkin”

As we move into our private beta launch, we thought that our first blog entry should share the journey so far at LetsVenture. If someone now told me that his startup was born “over a mug of beer on a warm Sunday afternoon” or “at a coffee shop with friends brainstorming on a paper napkin” I would find it hard to believe them. Having gone through the idea iteration, I believe that pivots don't happen only with products – they happen with thoughts, ideas and discussions. What eventually gets built as a product, after many rounds of whetting and validating through discussions with customers, friends and advisors could be very different from what we envisioned when we first began. I first encountered crowd funding in a very different context. I volunteer at a non profit, working with orphanages across Bangalore. After a stint of teaching kids at the NGO, I realised my real strength as a corporate professional lay in fund raising for the non-profit. I set out on a quest to leverage the online world for fund raising, an adventure which led me to crowd funding. Crowd funding seemed such a new phenomenon around the world – one would think India, with it billion would be the place for “crowd” funding. We are the crowd, but relatively new to funding and the two still have some time to converge. At the NGO, I struggled to initiate the process of connecting to potential donors easily and with confidence. As I worked with the idea to enable easy funding, my journey led me towards the startup ecosystem. I am continuously surprised as how every potential customer we meet believes that this is the right thing to do for an ecosystem that is still nascent and on the brink of growth. The belief that this will eventually create value for the ecosystem is what brought the three of us founders together! Sanjay Jha, our tech geek founder had just left a high profile corporate job and was looking to work in an exciting startup. Manish Singhal, our in-house Investor, Mentor, and Expert found the idea so closely aligned with his own passion of working with Indian entrepreneurs that he decided to come in as a Founder. Looking back , I can safely say that there is truth to Paul Coelho’s words: : “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” This is just the beginning of an exciting journey ahead!