Naman Sarawagi is an entrepreneur who has worked with multiple startups over the past 4 years. He started his career with Freecharge. He was part of a small team that took Freecharge from an idea to it’s first 100K users. He later joined ZipDia, a Bangalore based user engagment platform as the first hire. All this while he has been an active contributor on NextBigWhat – India’s leading blog on startups. Late last year he founded his own startup, FindYogi.com – a platform that helps consumers make better buying decisions. Here at the Asian Entrepreneur he shares his thoughts on entrepreneurship that might be helpful to a lot of youngsters looking to startup.
Whats FindYogi all about?
FindYogi.com is shopping decision platform that lets you compare products. The site lists detailed specifications of each product and quantifies the aggregate value in order to make it easier for consumers to decide. We also serve a value for money index that helps you understand if the current price of the product is justified, considering all other products in the market. We currently serve 3 categories, viz. mobiles, laptops and tablets.
Where did the idea for FindYogi come from?
To be honest, the basic idea for FindYogi came in from the temptation of making quick money through SEO. Product comparison was one of the many things we mulled over before jumping in. But once we started working on it, we realized there is a bigger problem to solve in the space of shopping decisions. The players who existed were only scratching the surface with price comparison or aggregation.
How is working on business development for FindYogi?
It’s been tough. Managing every aspect of the business in the initial days is challenging, both mentally and physically. Though overall I believe the personal and business growth is all worth it.
Was human resource ever a problem in your experience?
Making the right hiring decision has been a challenge for us. I believe at times we were gave in to temptation and hired without giving much thought about attitude and aptitude, both are important. We now spend more time with a potential hire before releasing an offer.
How was the reception for FindYogi?
The new version launch in June has been really encouraging. We’ve got lot of appreciation mails, there’s buzz on the social media and bloggers recall us when they write about the industry. The acceptance rate is growing.
What is the current market situation?
There’s a race to acquiring users on the net. Some of the competitors are well established in the market. We are concentrating on improving the product, that’s the only goal.
What is the long term plan for FindYogi?
We want to be the platform for any buying decision. For now we have started with consumer electronics but ultimately we want to be able to influence every planned purchase.
As a personal opinion, how do see venture capital fitting into the Asian startup scene?
High growth startups that can have international impact are very few, though this is growing. The Asian community at large has been entrepreneurial but the idea of taking venture capital to grow one’s business is still new here.
What is your definition of success?
It’s a moving target. If you, your team and your stakeholders are happy with their and organization’s progress, that’s success.
Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
It’s a virtue. Everyone I know, am friends with are entrepreneurs. I believe the world will soon be only entrepreneurs and freelancers. Nobody would want to under-write someone else’s risk by making making them an employee.
Any words of advice for entrepreneurs out there?
An entrepreneur should be a people manager first and everything else will fall into place for her. The hires, investors, early clients should all be chosen carefully.An entrepreneur should be a people manager first and everything else will fall into place for her. The hires, investors, early clients should all be chosen carefully.
Connect with Naman Sarawagi and FindYogi today:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/findyogi_IN
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/company/2786023
Website: http://www.findyogi.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/findyogi
