Every day billions of travel photographs, reviews and suggestions are being shared on the internet. Since all this data is fragmented and generated primarily for social consumption – the real commercial value, measured in billions, is being lost. This is a huge loss to the industry.

Today, we have a chat with Mayank Gupta, Founder & CEO of Triplived that addresses this problem by automating trip recording in a well defined structure that travel seekers can easily discover and consume. The app was founded in August 2015. So let’s start of with the Q&A.

Can you give a small background about you, your start-up and it’s founders ?

I started my career in 2005 with Computer Associates after my engineering from NIT Allahabad. Worked with Computer Associates for 4 years before opting for MBA from CUHK Business School and Chicago Booth. Triplived is my third start-up. We are a founding team of 4 from NIT/IIT with 2 members from MakeMyTrip. We started Triplived in August 2015 from an Oyo property in Gurgaon.

Every idea is born out of a problem, what was the trigger for starting TripLived ?

Being an avid traveller, I have always been looking for authentic travel experiences from fellow travellers. Unfortunately most of this information was shared over social media that was difficult to discover and reuse. A platform that could structure all this data and give me insights was badly needed.

Travel memories are a collection of photographs, moments, places, conversations, romantic experiences and a lot more. However, over a period of time, all that remains of these memories are scattered photographs, lost acquaintances and vague recollections of travel details, thereby ruining the fun in reliving and relishing them.

While the traveller enjoys her trip, Triplived intelligently detects moments to be captured and makes them a part of the travel story. An awesome feature of the application is location based crowd sourced suggestions to help the traveller make better travel decisions. The application scans thousands of suggestions, and shares those that are most relevant to the traveller and suits her taste. Once the trip is complete, the travel story is converted into a short video that can be cherish for a lifetime.

Can you touch upon the features of TripLived ?

Instantaneous capturing of travel experiences in real time through completely automated trip recording. Real time suggestion and experiences from fellow travellers that can enrich travel experience and help make right travel decisions.

The application comes as a big respite for travel partners such as OTA’s and travel agents who rely on standard 5/6 Days holiday packages. Triplived gives life to their solutions by linking them to authentic, real time travel stories. The application provides a strong marketing platform for these travel partners to showcase their services to the larger world, directly from their customers’ smart phone.

Is TripLived bootstrapped, VC funded or Angel Funded ?

We are angel funded.

What are some of the stand-out features as compared to other apps like TripAdvisor etc. ?

TripLived is the first proactive travel platform that intelligently analyzes travellers behaviour and preferences, creates his travel story, enriches his travel experience and interactively captures reviews and suggestions in real time.

What is the revenue model of TripLived [Tie-up with hotels/transport agencies etc.] ?

Triplived will evolve into an authentic, structured content platforms and consumption of content will drive revenue down the line.

How has been the feedback so far for TripLived on Play-store. Any plans on releasing the iOS App ?

We have got a warm response from users and travel partners. Yes, we will be releasing the iOS app in the next 4 months.

Does TripLived use Freemium Model [or it free for life-time where user can upload infinite trip memories] ?

Yes, the application is free for users.

What are the major changes that you experienced when you took the entrepreneurial path ?

No changes, just learning. No job is good or bad. There is a task that needs to be done. You may choose to innovate, simplify and learn along the way or you may choose to crib and change. Industry needs the former. Change your attitude first, before changing your job.

What are your key advice(s) to people who want to start-up ?

The term ‘risk’ is wrongly perceived. Our lifestyle has changed; our value for money has gone down. The real risk is not as high as the perceived one. Stop comparing salaries or the time value of money and you will realize that you are ready to start.

Importance of Design in Mobile App Development ?

Most important! They are the blueprints, of your thought process. You get them right, you’ll get the product right. Designs beautifully depict product – business alignment.

What are some of the Growth-Hacking strategies that can be applied for an App-Based startup ?

Again a misused term! Every app is not WhatsApp! Every product has a use case and a target audience. Solve the problem and customers will use it.

How important it for startups especially web, mobile to follow Lean Methodology ?

Very important! Being lean is the way to succeed, be it the product or the business.

Can you give some pointers on Scaling Up & Customer Acquisition [some take-away for entrepreneurs]

Solve the problem and solve it right. There may be a need for it or a need may be generated. Later one is a little tough though. But till you have the solution right, word of mouth will follow. I do not know of any other way to scale.

Some hiring tips for entrepreneurs [especially the core team] ?

This is the most challenging part of any start-up. Look for those with right attitude. Skills can be outsourced.

Any parting words from you for budding entrepreneurs ?

Entrepreneurship is the most exciting journey and the best learning experience. You mature as a professional; you start respecting people and money; you become a better decision maker and above all you generate employment. Go for it.

I have been using the TripLived app and we loved the problem that it tries to solve!!

Salient Features of Triplived App

Record Of Past Travel Experiences
Provides a timeline view to your travel stories to relive those memories that are half-forgotten or lost.

Live Trip Recording
While you enjoy your trip, Triplived creates your travel story on your smart phone. It automatically detects your activity, captures your location, does automatic check-ins, and tags your photographs. Your reviews and suggestions complete the story, that can then be shared with friends and family.

Targeted Suggestions For Better Planning
Your friends, relatives or travellers you follow may have been to the place you are visiting. Based on your interests, Triplived scans through hundreds of suggestions, and shares those that are most relevant to you and suit your taste.

Social Connect
Triplived allows you to share your travel experiences with friends and family in real time.

Trip Video
Once your trip is complete, Triplived converts your travel story into a short video that you can cherish for a lifetime.

We are sure that you would have got some handy tips from the discussion we had with Mayank Gupta of TripLived. The Triplived app can be downloaded from the Playstore from here. If you have any questions related to TripLived or have any general query, please leave them in the comments section.

When we talk about Real Estate Portals, there are very few [or should we say none of them] that focus on ‘Commercial Real Estate’. There are portals like CommonFloor, 99acres, Housing etc. that mostly target retail customers.

Today, we interact with Mr. Ajay Rakheja, Co-founder, CEO – creindia.com that aims to solve that problem. CREIndia is a commercial real estate platform that integrates the physical and technological world with the gel of research into it, making the outcome more meaningful and intelligent.

We have a chat with him about his startup, Commercial Real Estate Market, entrepreneurship etc. So let’s start of with the Q&A.

Can you give a small background about your startup and it’s founders

With decade of experience and expertise in commercial real estate enabled me to offer services to leading corporations, MNC’s, promising startups and high net-worth individuals. Some of the companies I have worked for Birla Sun life, ICICI bank, Anant Raj Developers, IL&FS & Colliers International.

Our co-founder team comes from commercial real estate industry itself. Their consolidated experience is more than 75 years, successfully executed more than 2000 commercial real estate deal of different nature and complexity

We are an informed integrated platform for commercial real estate with Online & Offline services. We founded creindia with the vision of creating a robust online commercial real estate landscape, where we wanted to simplify the search of commercial real estate and offer the business fraternity with a hassle-free process of locating their ideal property and maximizing reach to get best possible solutions

It is said that startups arise due to problems, is it same in your case ?

Yes, that holds true for us as well. As said, we all co-founders come from the commercial real estate background and have individually faced problem, creindia has thus been incepted as a solution to those problems.

What is the Total Addressable Market [TAM] of the ‘Renting/Leasing commercial property’ ?

Last 5 years of commercial market have recorded approx. 130 million sq.ft of office space leasing from key markets, whereas 15 Million sq.ft of leasing in retail spaces and 30 million sq.ft of leasing in warehousing spaces. These numbers are only from the recorded transaction whereas un-recorded numbers are much higher.

What are the various factors that your algorithm takes into account while keeping track of particular property’s valuation ?

Our process is the combination of algorithm and actual site visit by the team. The algorithm tracks various property characteristics and its detail whereas the site visit captures the market scenario and comparable of neighbourhood properties.

Valuation is done by combining both the aspects, that is property characteristic and market scenario which is further finalized by the approved private valuer or government valuer after going through the details.

Which are the cities where CREIndia is currently present ? [i.e. it tracks properties of how many cities ?]

We are currently showcasing properties from Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad, Lucknow and Chandigarh. Work in Progress has also been initiated at Kolkata and Jaipur.

Can your throw some light on funding, whether CREIndia is bootstrapped or seed-funded or angel-funded ?

We generated the Bootstrap fund traditionally by doing advisory services and sustain the model wherein we realized the next level of staffing and external advisor’s will have to empanelled and have some Seed fund on the table to structure and accelerate our growth and therefore  we went ahead took Seed fund  from HNI’s in September 2015.

What is your revenue model of CREIndia ?

We are an informed integrated platform for commercial real estate with online & offline services.  Property listing is absolutely free for landlords & brokers. However in case the landlord  or seeker wants to be facilitated by our offline services, our team does the same. Having said that in order to unlock complete property  details we do charge the seekers in two forms i.e. either  Subscription and /or  Individual property.

The revenue in current scenario is based on traditional formats for visibility and lead generation. Lately CRE Valuation has also been introduced to add another revenue stream to the existing traditional ones.

What is the kind of verification that gets done when some Retail/Office Space etc. is put for lease on CREIndia ?

Any property listed on CRE undergoes 3 levels of check before it goes live. Once the property is listed it goes under fist level of macro check by the Customer Relations team followed by  physical check  by the fleet on ground and finally the cycle ends with the Head of Verification department checking for content and other mandatory fields.

Can you share more information on CREBazaar ?

CREbazaar is an additional product feature with the idea of showcasing those properties which are under “best deal format”, “Discounts” or have some frills attached to them for both  sale and  lease offered by Owners/owners representatives.

We have experienced that with our ongoing aggregation strategy ,the BAZAAR will transform the way how the commercial real estate buyers & sellers used to traditionally behave. We have also observed that Delhi/NCR investors have been more interested towards the same kind of property.

How different is CREBazaar from the Real Estate Expo’s that happen in various cities ?

The very difference lies with the fact that its virtual exhibition, which is at the ease of seeker. And another difference is that the idea behind the CREbazaar to consolidate those “Best deal formats” at one place is something unique and never seen before.

It gives clients a complete informative way to confidently explore his options as per needs, budget and location. In a typical office or Retail scenario owners were never comfortable with the idea of deals and discounts on their assets and holdings but this approach & initiative from CRE has brought forward direct discounts from owners.

We believe that except for due diligence, this process has shortened the first level of negotiation and provided complete property details for an informed decision making.

Does CREIndia plan to provide End-To-End services [right from Estimating Valuation, Listing Property, Getting Buyers, Getting Legal Work done etc.] ?

We have a vision  beyond that. Our micro learning of our industry has given us some innovative thoughts of providing solutions at various levels.

Who are the potential competitors of CREIndia ?

Frankly, we don’t see any competitor as such. This is a complete fulfilment platform in making. There are many portals and apps which are attempting enter online real estate space but not much in commercial real estate except for large numbers now entering to co-working spaces.

What was the trigger point for you to become an entrepreneur ?

How do innovative ideas come into existence? They germinate when there’s a sense of restlessness that keeps prodding a person every day. They pluck you from your comfort zone, steady income, forthcoming promotions or promise to increase the bandwidth in a reputed organization & give you monotonous life and its style.

Probably that is not a common phenomena, I felt the same when the idea of  CREIndia sow into my head. It led me to leave my high performance and comfortable job from Colliers International, and my experience of 19 years in Commercial Real Estate, made me lay the foundation of CREIndia.

After quitting, me and my other co-founders came-up with a concrete, innovative and inevitably challenging business model of CREIndia. This project was incepted with the vision to spearhead revolution in the commercial real estate industry. They combined the challenges of real estate with the solution of the inability of the existing current online & offline models

Nowadays VC’s prefer to fund younger team(s), what is your take on it ?

There are two combinations that can really work out great together, either Ideation paired with experience or out of box thinking backed up by a great team. VC/PE’s of the world are now becoming more active on evaluating experience and execution capabilities.

What are your key advices to people who want to startup ?

Don’t be in hurry to be just an entrepreneur create sustainable and realistic revenue model, don’t simply rely on valuation and funding.

There is consolidation in Real-Estate sector, what is your take on the same since fund-raising was much easier in 2015 ?

We believe if consolidation is making any sense to the solution you were trying to give or M&A was the only strategy before you scale, than it is absolutely understood but if the same is just for the sake of valuation or in interest of investor’s sake, your purpose of existence gets defeated and then you drive the business for others.

Lately it has been seen and realized too much of spend on tech to influence and bring customer delight through social media which does not assure to give you a sale. The product is always hungry to actually attract clients to view and feel before it actually gets a conversion. So the flip side real estate conversion to sale will always have to be blend of offline and online.

We believe business through digitized way does need a scalable platform but with cautious and testing at all small steps. Revenue with start-ups are always on hits and misses and have to try out all possible options to get the ROI.

Fund raising has never been easy, investors always believe in the sustainability of business and have always been smart and calculative with their investments. Its just they have tried with many ideas and ventures, they have become more experienced with the industry and market move.

There has been a valuation bubble, what is your take on the same ?

We are not in a hurry and nor in this race. We believe in being clear with your product and know your customers by showing minimum tech and more of practical based services. Realistic revenue projections and sustainable model will eventually enhance  your valuation.

VC Funding or Bootstrapping ? Your thoughts on the same ?

Sustain with a bootstrapped venture for as long as you can and when you start feeling the need of extended resources because you are showing traces of tremendous growth get in there for the VC funding race.

How important for Entrepreneurs to have good mentors ?

For any successful venture, it is very important to have good mentors who can guide you with their experience . We are lucky to have good mentors around us.

Any parting advice from your side to the aspiring entrepreneurs ?

As they speed thrills but kills, so for all budding young entrepreneurs be cautious before speeding up your entrepreneurial ventures while all the others use your experiences to deliver and maintain high service standards thus justifying your role.

We are sure that you would have got some handy tips from the discussion we had with Mr. Ajay Rakheja of CREIndia. If you have any questions related to CREIndia or have any general query, please leave them in the comments section.

[Image Credit* – Metrorealtymagazine]

Public Transportation is one of the most discussed topics & connected transport is still one of the issues that needs to be fixed in India. Today we have a chat with the founders of a Mumbai based startup TransitPedia that aims to Transform city travel by use of this smart app making it a Smart City

TransitPedia was co-founded by Mehul Sutariya & Vaibhav Vasa who quit their cushy jobs in USA to make Daily Commute Smarter in India. Without further ado, we start our Q&A with them.

Can you give a small background about you, your start-up and its founders ?

Mehul Sutariya and Vaibhav Vasa [Co-Founders of TransitPedia], having been friends for 15 years and having studied and worked in the USA for over half a decade, decided to launch an application that would change the public transportation scene in India, helping the 55 million commuters travelling daily by clubbing all user specific needs in an all-in-one app.

TransitPedia has been operating successfully for 4 months now with a team of 8 people operating from Mumbai and a user base of 9,000 already. The app is designed to cover time, cost, distance, and mode of transit as well as onward route displaying the most effective solutions to reach a destination. From informing a commuter about how to get from ‘Place A to Place B’ using the easiest and shortest routes, to helping one out with information about the most appropriate transportation vehicle, this app gives the user one platform to connect with the people travelling to and from their location and how!

The primary idea behind our venture is to compile multi-city data in a single application and provide a multi-mode transit solution in order to turn the public transportation scene in India to a “well-organized technology aided system”. The app currently covers data for Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad.

Mehul, a sports and coding fanatic, completed his MS in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and worked for Google and Amazon, USA as a software engineer responsible for creating scalable and distributed solutions. On the other hand, Vaibhav completed his MS in Operations Research from Case Western University, Ohio, followed by a job as a planning/project manager at Avery Dennison for over 5 years.

Together with Mehul’s vast experience in software development and Vaibhav’s managerial skills in Operations Research, who also happens to have a Six Sigma Black Belt certificate in it, we have managed to set up a rather interesting venture and hope to see the changes we wish to bring about in the transportation system across the country.

Every idea is born out of a problem, what was the trigger of starting TransitPedia ?

Having studied and worked in USA for over 5 years, there was always some discussion about new technology and solution that we could bring about in India that would make life much easier. As we continued using public transport there like anyone else, we were amazed by the organized efficient nature of it.

Comparing this to what we experienced in India, there was a huge gap which also meant that there was immense room for improvement. Thus came up the idea to rectify the dismal state of public transportation in our country. We decided to quit our jobs, come back to India and venture into a startup.

We noticed that when people travelled to new cities, they had no idea about the routes or the best mode of transport to pick.  We also saw that people liked to travel in groups, may they be college students or office employees. Some travelled together because it was fun, while others to share their cost.

Unfortunately in India, people have become so used to the ongoing haphazard way of travelling that their daily commute hardly accesses technology, which could help them make better transit decisions in real time. This is where we thought we could help by providing the solution in the form of an application. We thought of building a platform that could help everyone travelling everyday anywhere in India, which led to the creation of TransitPedia.

Transport being an un-organized sector, what are some of the initial challenges face while working on TransitPedia ?

There are more than 1500 apps across the country that cater to the transportation sector, providing static/dynamic, mode specific/multi-mode information. Many of which comply with the needs specific to their city. The initial challenge was to figure out which way of presenting the results of the transit problems to the audience would be easy and most effective in helping improve travelling as we know it.

Mapping the exact timings of each transit was the toughest task and in the beginning the results were static and not very satisfying, but we realized that we must show people the next step in travelling by working on this and coming up with results not just related to the best transportation vehicle to opt for but also telling them of the shortest and easiest routes and the cheapest form of transit.

Which are the cities where TransitPedia is currently operational ?

TransitPedia is currently live in 5 cities, namely Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi.

What is the revenue model of TransitPedia ?

As our app provides information about all means of public transport to the daily commuter, it is and will always be free to use. There are several revenue generation streams that we are looking into, like cab/rickshaw bookings, featured destinations, car-pooling etc. We are also lining up with an update for national transit soon, which is when we are going to decide the revenue stream that we’d follow.

How do you keep your app updated with latest changes in train/bus timings as they are dynamic in nature ?

We keep a keen eye on websites and government agencies which cater to mass transportation in every city that we are present in. We keep a constant tab and refer to pre-existing data published by governmental bodies and get our live stream of information via Twitter, which has become our savior of sorts. All of this helps us keep our application and our users updated.

Do you plan to solve the issue of “Onward Travelling” with TransitPedia [Like take bus from Andheri and then have association with Ola for onward journey] ?

We are a multi-mode transit app. From bus to train to a rickshaw to your home – all such information rests within the app already. Associations with cab aggregators are under progress in order to make travelling simpler.

How has been the feedback so far for TransitPedia on Play Store? Any plans on releasing the iOS App ?

The response in the past 4 months we have been able to reach 10,000 downloads. Looking at our rate of growth, we will soon be launching an iOS application as well.

How does TransitPedia stake up against competitors like M-Indicator [in Mumbai] or startups catering to similar segment ?

M-Indicator is a front runner in Mumbai currently. This app has been really helpful for daily commuters in Mumbai and is somewhere installed in the Mumbaikar’s subconscious as the go-to app for public transport.

TransitPedia as compared to M-Indicator is providing a lot more when it comes to features, as the latter provides static timetables and single mode A2B which means one can search from ‘Point A to Point B’ in a city only for any one medium of transport. As compared to the others like ZopHop, Ridlr and other city specific apps, TransitPedia provides more of a consolidated platform that gives the most comprehensive information about your complete transit in major Indian cities which includes mode comparison, time adjustment, sorting of results, fares and maps, all under one roof.

What are the major changes that you experienced when you moved from US to startup in India ?

Startup culture in India has grown rapidly over the past few years and they are now preferred over the traditional corporate companies. This will definitely help India turn into a country that innovates and not a country that does outsourced work as far as tech is concerned.

What are your key advice(s) to people who want to start-up ?

One of the most important things while starting up is setting your expectation right in terms of what you are signing up for. This includes your finances, your relationships, social pressures, etc. When you have your startup you are working all days of the week even if you are not at your desk. This will help you have a right mindset and in turn enable you to create great businesses.

What are some of the Growth-Hacking strategies that can be applied for an App-Based startup ?

App virality is one of the key features for any app. Right from the ability to share the content from your app to incentivising the users to install the app. The key factor is to find out by trial what marketing works for your app, what your target audience is and then doubling down on that. Finding the balance in long term vs short term marketing strategies is important.

Can you give some pointers on Scaling up & Customer Acquisition ?

As entrepreneurs, scaling up vs doing things right is always tricky. So, scaling fast while keeping existing customers happy is very important. Defining a target audience is very important for customer acquisition, spreading out thin makes it difficult to focus on what you want.

Bootstrapping or External Funding, what are your views on the same ?

Both are appropriate in their own phases. If you have an idea, you will have to bootstrap it or secure funds for it from your relatives. If you have a hyper-growth startup and your product has a market fit, you will need more funds to grow your business. If your business can grow without funding, even better. Managing the cash flow is more important in the early stages than profitability.

How important it for startups especially web, mobile to follow Lean Methodology ?

Talking about lean methodology is far easier than actually following it as it needs to be inculcated in your daily actions. You need to have a culture where every employee knows and follows it rigorously. I feel 1 startup month is equivalent to 1 corporate year and hence you want to validate things fast. Lean principles will help you to iterate faster without spending significant time in developing.

Any parting words from you for budding entrepreneurs ?

Entrepreneurship completely changes the way in which you think about businesses as opposed to doing a job. One is forced to wear multiple hats especially when the startup is young and that is quite educative. To stay focused is very important.

We thank the TransitPedia team for sharing insights into their entrepreneurial & providing useful tips to the budding entrepreneurs. If you have any questions for the TransitPedia team or want to share feedback about the TransitPedia app, please let them in the comments section.

[Image Credit* – IndianExpress]

Each one of us wants to make our loved ones feel special 🙂 So what comes to our mind – Gifting, Holiday, Partying etc. But what if someone could make that “Special Day” or occasion unique & memorable!! This is where Oye Happy can come to your rescue.

Oye Happy is a startup that provides a unique platform for making special occasions memorable through gifts, experiences or even simple wishes of the day.

We caught up with Varun Todi & Harshvardhan Khemani, Co-Founders of Oye Happy who shared their thoughts on Oye Happy, Startup mantras & Entrepreneurship.

Note : “I” in the conversation refers to Varun Todi.

Can you give a small background about your start-up and it’s founders?

I worked as a copywriter and creative consultant for several advertising agencies and Harsh was a strategy and operational efficiency consultant at KPMG before Oye Happy.  We are cousins.

Oye Happy was started as a passion project by us in 2009 while we continued working in our respective fields. It wasn’t till 2014 that it evolved from a fun project to a serious business. We launched our e-commerce portal last year and soon grew into a team of 12 delivering surprises across the country.

Every idea is born out of a problem, what was the trigger of starting Oye Happy?

Harsh and I have always been great at making special occasions extra special for our loved ones. A friend once requested us to surprise her boyfriend at the airport as he was flying in from the US. We actually held a mock swayamvar to welcome him! We had a blast getting it together and they couldn’t have been happier. This led to a whole bunch of similar requests coming our way from friends and friends of friends who wanted to pay us.

It didn’t take us long to realise that the Indian customer had evolved. People don’t spend enough time with their loved ones so the time that they do spend together, especially on special occasions, matters a lot. Buying a gift is a form of expression and people look for emotional connect in the gifts they get.

We noticed that unique experiences were valued much more highly than traditional gifts and various studies backed up our observation. People chose to create memories rather than invest in expensive material presents. Our surprises helped in building that connect in a way flowers and cakes simply couldn’t.

How did your team come up with the name Oye Happy?

We considered a lot of names at first. We wanted it to be bigger than gifts or even surprises because, as we like to believe, what we’re ultimately delivering is happiness. Harsh came up with “Oye Happy” and I thought it was perfect.

What are some of the unique services offered by Oye Happy?

At the moment we have two distinct products – our gifts and our experiences. These gifts are unique ideas conceptualised by our in-house product development team. We then create them ourselves and have it mass manufactured by external vendors or tie-up with professionals who handle end-to-end making of them. Experiences too are similarly conceptualised and executed.

This essentially makes the majority of our products unavailable elsewhere. Our customers are usually more than impressed with what have to offer considering they have never encountered similar services especially in India. You can treat your loved one to a play date with puppies, get a pani-puri stall set up at a chaat lover’s doorstep and do so much more beyond the usual cakes and flowers through us.

Which are the cities where Oye Happy is currently operational?

We have delivered our gifts to more than 50 cities and towns since our launch. Our immediate plan is to have a physical presence in every metro to start offering the experiences as well since we have already gotten queries from across the country, including smaller towns for them.

Does it cater to enterprise segment or Oye Happy only caters to B2C segment?

Besides our retail operation, we have launched Oye Happy ‘Excite’ which are experience boxes for businesses. This will allow companies to gift a memorable experience to their employees and clients instead of conventional gifts. Employees can choose to do what interests them from a host of options like wine tasting, horse riding, Zumba classes, etc. available in the experience box.

What are some of the customer retention policies followed by Oye Happy as special moments for every person might be few.

70% of our repeat clients order again with us within 3 months of their first order. They do not necessarily employ us for special occasions that only involve their inner circle [spouse, best friends and kids/parents] but also beyond that like valued colleagues and relatives with typically lower cost products.

The key customer retention policy we have followed so far is only limited to good and prompt service. Even without customer referral or loyalty programs we have seen a steady increase in repeat and referral customers.

How does Oye Happy stake up when compared to other startups in more or less similar market segment?

We are the only company that not just creates our own unique gifts but also creates experiences. While companies like Giftxoxo, etc. are essentially curators, we go a step beyond by also creating products that fit our customers’ need perfectly. What is currently and widely available in the market no longer cuts it for the customer and we constantly provide them with more options that are not otherwise available.

What are some of the factors that entrepreneurs should consider while naming their start-up?

Two important questions to consider would be – “Does this work for the brand I’m building and will customers be able to relate the name to the service I provide?” and “Is this a name my target audience will like and be able to recall?”. And they should also probably ask themselves, “Is this a name I can repeat over a hundred times a day for a long time to come and not cringe?”.  We’re glad “Oye Happy” fit all three criteria!

What are the major changes that you experienced when paved your way into entrepreneurship?

Both Harsh and I were leading our teams in our respective workplaces before we started Oye Happy so running the show wasn’t new to us. And as far not having a boss is concerned, we’re still answerable to each other so it helps having a co-founder. You keep each other in check.

What are your key advice(s) to people who want to start-up?

The only advice we have for entrepreneurs is that they should be truly passionate about the industry they are getting into and to be able to admit it when they are wrong. If you’re willing to invest several years of your life in an idea, you need to enjoy every moment of it and constructive criticism is always more helpful than blind agreement.

Can you give some pointers on Scaling Up & Customer Acquisition?

Every entrepreneur must acquire the first few customers themselves for proof of concept. It is imperative that the business grows organically in the initial stage through repeat purchases and word of mouth marketing for an objective view of your product in the market.

How important it for startups especially web, mobile to follow Lean Methodology?

The idea behind using technology aggressively is to make a business process-driven. Scaling up a business need not to be in proportion to scaling up the manpower. A company that follows the lean methodology from the beginning allows you to focus on perfecting the process without it being dependent extensively on manpower, especially applicable for startups that use web and mobile platforms.

Thanks Varun & Harsh for your time and sharing your thoughts with us. We hope that Oye Happy grows leaps and bounds to make ‘Gifting’ unique & memorable.

If you have any questions for Oye Happy or their founders, please leave them in the comments section…