The Story:
Learn from the successful entrepreneurial journey of Raghav Chandra, Co-founder of UrbanClap (now known as Urban Company) about bootstrapping vs funding and the right way to find investors to grow your startup.
Minute 1.00
Raghav discusses how initially during their ‘bootstrapping’ days all they had was a ‘badly shaped‘ website and they would go to Khan Market in New Delhi and try to find customers who would want to book their services, like yoga. That’s how they bootstrapped the marketplace.
First marketing expenditure was around INR 4,000!
DR Pro Tip: Seed round = The initial funding used to develop your business ‘idea’ and ‘model’.
Minute 4.12
Raghav states that there is no actual science behind receiving investment. You find connects through family & friends and sometimes even do cold reach-outs (lots of emails and phone calls). “What is crucial is showing investors value addition.”
Minute 5.49
“UrbanClap was never obsessive about funding.”
Minute 7.30
Raghav says, build a high-quality experience for your end-user. The money will flow in when you have a promising product. Once you do this, getting investment won’t be that hard but if your goal is to raise funding, then you may be in trouble. Your goal should be to build the right product and company.
Dialogue Room questions discussed in the video:
- What was the bootstrapping strategy of UrbanClap?
- When did UrbanClap decide to get funding?
- How did UrbanClap reach out to investors?
- What advice will you give young entrepreneurs regarding funding?
A brief on UrbanClap:
UrbanClap is India’s and UAE’s largest home service provider. Do you want a yoga teacher? A plumber? A manicure? Chose from over 25,000 trained and trusted professionals to take care of all your needs. Booking services through their app is quick, easy and hassle-free.
Watch Raghav speak about the learnings from his mistakes here!