Pause the Story

0:00 - Introduction . . 00:59 - What is Leverage Edu ? . . 3:40 - Inspiration behind starting LeverageEdu ? . . 5:55 - What does it take for a non tech person to start a tech enabled company ? . . 10:10 - MBA in India vs. Abroad, considering if one wants to start a business in India . . 14:00 - Transitioning from a 9 to 5 job to entrepreneurship ( savings, family support, right time to make the transition ) . . 18:30 - Tim Drapers experience . . 22:55 - Was there a pilot phase before you made a substantial investment in Leverage Edu ? ( IdeaValidation) . . 27:30 - Leverage Edu wants to democratise the mentoring, counselling space. How do you spread awareness about the importance of mentoring which has not really evolved in India ? . . 31:10 - There is also a significant % of population that may not even have access to a stable internet connection. Are they part of your target customer base ? how are you trying to make your business more inclusive ? . . 34:20 - How do you get the sales going initially when you’ve just launched ? . . 36:00 - The process of getting funded . . 43:00 - When did you know you have the right business idea ( Q&A ) . . 44:40 - Plans to tailor services to a post-covid world which will be somewhat financially constrained and challenging for students. Does that mean in a shift in price points ? . . 50:30 - Your expectations about the future of education technology ? ( Q&A ) . . 53:30 - Challenges faced in your entrepreneurial journey and your mindset to face them and survive the journey of entrepreneurship . . 57:00 - Favourite Book & Podcasts on entrepreneurship . . 59:30 - Where do you see your business in 5 years ? . . 1:01:00 - One thing you wish you had done differently in your start up journey . . 1:03:00 - One golden piece of advice to entrepreneurs starting out

Ullas Samrat is the founder of Triton Foodworks, a hydroponic farming venture. They also sell their produce in retail stores under the brand - Chop Chop. 5:30 - What is Hydroponic Farming ? How is it different from traditional farming ? 10:20 - Price of traditionally grown produce vs price of hydroponically grown produce 12:15 - Who are your target customers ? How do you convince them to pay a premium for a product that is price sensitive ? 16:15 - Placing your product on a retail shelf ( think nature’s basket, reliance fresh ) and dealing with completion in a new market 18:30 - Research process - data crunching vs personal observation/experience 22:40 - Getting help on the technology behind Hydroponic Farming 22:40 - Limitations in hydroponic farming in terms of produce that can be grown 26:00 - Managing demand and supply for a perishable item 28:22 - Providing consultancy in same field of business - counter intuitive - as clients may emerge as competition ? 32:45 - Capital requirement for hydroponic farming and Fund Raising 35:00 - Getting the first 100 customers 36:30 - Growing the team vs micro managing 37:10 - Competition expected in the coming 5 years and strategy to deal with that 38:40 - Dealing with a lack of data and pre existing benchmarks when starting out in a “ new“ field 41:30 - Q&A- How do you manage the supply chain considering it is a personable product ? 42:30 - Mindset to face everyday challenges in your entrepreneurial journey 46:50 - One thing you wish you had done differently in your journey 48:35 - One golden advice for entrepreneurs starting out 50:13 - Q&A - How do you deal with a situation where you are not able to send the product to your customer in time 51:25 - Q&A - What do you imagine your company to look like in 10 years ? 52:20 - Q&A - Have you had any political/local trouble in setting up your business ?

Minute 00:07 - Introduction of guest for the day ! Minute 00:35 - Inspiration behind starting a shoe brand Minute 

Minute 00:35 - Inspiration behind starting a show manufacturing business

Minute 02:42 - Starting a shoe business with no education in design/shoe making

Minute 3:58 - Research Process

Minute 5:52 - What is a vegan shoe ?

Minute 7:09 - Inspiration behind starting a " vegan " brand

Minute 9:03 - Creating awareness about a brand being " sustainable and vegan " 

Minute 10:50 - Role of social media in a young direct to consumer brand & Influencer marketing

Minute 12:50 - Impact on sales when marketing through influencers 

Minute 14:05 - Getting the first 1000 sales

Minute 16:20 - Till what point were you managing your own social media, photography etc and when did you outsource the same 

Minute 18:25 - Creating innovative designs to differentiate from industry trends and competition

Minute 20:22 - Importance of having a co-founder in a new business

Minute 21:40 - Navigating through challenges at work

Minute 23:50 - Setting up a delivery system and getting the products to customers in time

Minute 25:20 - Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years  ( Q&A)

Minute 25:50 - Striking the balance between personal and professional life - specifically for women and working mothers

Minute 29:10 - One  thing you wish you had done differently in this journey

Minute 1:00 - Switching from Science in grade 12 to Law for undergrad Minute 3:40 - Journey from Law to Entrepeneurship Minute 8:10 - Inhibitions about quitting the stability that comes with a degree like Law and taking the entrepreneurial plunge Minute 11:20 - How Sleepy Owl Coffee happened ! Minute 12:40 - At what point of ideation/execution was Sleepy Owl Coffee when you decided to quit your job ? Minute 14:10 - What is cold brew coffee ? And why did you think of Cold brew coffee since it’s not so popular in India ? Minute 15:39 - Building the courage to take the entrepreneurial plunge when you don’t have a financial safety net from your family. Minute 17:23 - Did you start sleepy owl coffee with a plan b in mind, just incase this didn’t work out ? Minute 18:12 - Market Research process. Minute 19:50 - How to get the initial sales right after launching a product ? Minute 23:00 - Getting your business funded. Minute 25:15 - Till what time were you micro managing your business and when did you start consulting agencies/hiring experts etc ? Minute 26:30 - Consulting Financial Analysts and Experts for your business. Minute 29:30 - Expanding product range from cold brew coffee to bottled coffee and hot brew coffee. Q&A Minute 30:40 - How did you manage the supply chain - since over all user experience is also very important. Minute 33:44 - How do you go about product development? Minute 35:47 - How important is the role of a co-founder in a start up ? Minute 36:50 - Turn around time for cold brew coffee is 12-14 hours long ( time taken to brew coffee ), was that a challenge and how did you deal with it ? Minute 38:04 - Mindset for facing down days at work. Minute 42:00 - How did you go about branding ? Did you hire an external agency for this ? Minute 44:40 - How did you go about the pricing of your product ? Minute 46:25 - Coming up with the name “Sleepy Owl”

** THIS EPISODE WAS RECORDED LIVE - SOUND QUALITY GETS BETTER AFTER EP02 ** from investment banking to entrepreneurship: challenges faced, building the courage to quit a 9 to 5, turning a passion project into a business - building a business: funding, role of social media, importance of having a co-founder on board - the right time to start a business, micro managing vs macro managing your own business - golden advice for entrepreneurs