Startup Learnings from a Serial Entrepreneur, Gaurav Singh

This article is contributed by Gaurav Singh, Founder & CEO, Verloop.io

Gaurav Singh is the founder and CEO of Verloop.io, which is a leading customer support automation platform. Singh knew early in his life that entrepreneurship was his calling. Coming from a humble background, finding his footing was not an easy task. However, despite the obstacles in his path Singh tasted success right from his first venture.

He is a serial entrepreneur and shortly after his first company, GoDeliver was acquired by MagicTiger, Singh founded Verloop.io in 2015. Singh had observed that the biggest challenge that tech companies face in this age of instant gratification is engaging customers and building loyalty. As per him, these challenges become even more pronounced in the markets that are mature. Verloop.io was established with the objective of bridging this need gap.

During the course of his entrepreneurial journey, Singh had to face challenges that almost every start-up has to go through. Here are some of the learnings that he has picked in his journey -

Work on the core

He believes that every entrepreneur should build their core team early. Most startups put off hiring till they have found a footing. While some believe that this may help them save costs but it may not be the right move as the founder may end up micromanaging everything or have no time for the big picture stuff. As per Singh, it is better to have specialists for every function that can help the founder to decide the best course of action. A good team is also a great asset to bounce off strategic ideas and decide the best course of action. Here's a guideline on how to build a great startup team.

Time is of great essence

Most entrepreneurs are in a rush to make a mark. However, there are times when it is best to have patience. Singh believes sometimes the only thing missing in cracking a problem is time. Given enough time and resources, every problem is solvable.

Know which problems to pick

In a startup, there are always a million problems to fix. However, if the founder goes about solving each of them, then his team and his product will be headless. It is thus advisable to choose the problem/problems that deserve attention and solve them well.

Also Read: 8 Best Time Management Tips for Startup Founder & Business Owners

Employees and Customers are your biggest stakeholders

Another key learning that Singh shares are that in a startup, the goal should be to build for the customers as well as the employees. In his opinion, most times startups end up ignoring employees, which has a hugely detrimental effect across the organization. He believes that the founders should ensure that their employee experience and customer experience is top-notch.

Hire, train and scale

Everyone that is hired may not fit the bill 100%. Hence, organizations need to build in processes to help people reach their potential.  Onboarding and constant learning can help employees to scale to become the leader in their field. Companies need to nurture the talent and put in practices that inculcate a culture of learning.

Mistakes to avoid in a startup & learnings from Ajayya Kumar

Investor & Startup Mentor, Ajayya Kumar shares his insights on ‘Startup Mistakes to Avoid’, along with it he imparts his learnings on the same.

StartupTalkyJeenal Jain

Data-driven and experience led

A mistake that a lot of startups make is that they are driven just by the data. While being data-driven is good, but most of the times data may not paint the whole picture. Hence, companies need to make some bets with experience and intuition and back it with data.