Millionaire Mondays by Backstage with Millionaires

In this episode of Millionaire Mondays, featured in Startup Spotlights, an initiative by Google Play, we sit down with Anshul Kamath and Rohan Arora, founders of Evolve, a mental health platform, with a special focus on the LGBTQIA+ community.

Since its inception in 2017, Evolve has helped over 1 million people across the world, in the uplifting and well-being of their mental health.

00:00 Intro

03:51 Story of Anshul

08:47 Rohan's Story

12:36 How Both of them Met

17:32 Evolve's Early Days

21:28 Early Financing

23:20 First Fundraise

27:29 Recognition by The Google Play Store

29:36 Building for the World

31:39 Evolve's Business Model

35:24 Decision to build for LGBTQ+ community

45:55 Is Evolve B2B or B2C?

50:18 Future Roadmap

53:09 Looking Back

58:31 Founder's Future Ambitions

1:04:24 Outro

When Anshul and Rohan initially started Evolve in 2017, it was a mental health app for everyone. However, in 2021, the team pivoted towards an LGBTQ+ first app after seeing some early signs of traction.

The reason according to the founders is that “the LGBTQ+ community is one of the fastest growing user segments globally and research shows that members of the community are almost 4 times as likely to experience serious mental illness compared to the general population”.

Evolve’s core team comprises people from diverse gender identities and sexual orientations and this helps them understand first-hand the struggles and challenges of the LGBTQ+ community when it comes to mental health and wellness.

What makes Evolve different from the other mental health apps in the market is its focus on community building. So while other apps focus primarily on virtual content, Evolve has a thriving community where users can discuss and share their experiences to normalise stressors.

(Social Links

Google India’s IG:

https://www.instagram.com/googleindia/

Google India’s X:

https://x.com/GoogleIndia

https://x.com/googledevsin?lang=en

Google India’s YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopersIndia

https://www.youtube.com/GoogleIndia

Google’s Global Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers

Google India’s LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/googleplaybiz/posts/?feedView=all

Evolve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/evolveinc/

Evolve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolveapp_/

Evolve’s X: https://x.com/evolveapp_

Anshul Kamath’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anshulkamath/

Rohan Arora’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohan-arora5/

Anshul Kamath’s X: https://x.com/anshulkamath

Anshul Kamath’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anshulkamath/

#mentalhealth #StartupSpotlights #GooglePlay

[This podcast is sponsored by Google Play.]

In this episode of Millionaire Mondays, featured in Startup Spotlights, an initiative by Google Play, we sit down with Tito Aby Idicula and Nigel Crasto, founders of Programming Hub, one of the largest apps to learn programming.

Since its inception in 2016, Programming Hub has taught coding to more than 40 Million people, reaching almost every single country in the world.

00:00 Introduction

03:41 Inception at L&T

04:34 Transitioning from Employment to Entrepreneurship

08:21 Financial Struggles and Creative Solutions

20:51 A Turning Point: Google Launchpad Accelerator

25:08 Understanding Userbase and Monetising them

34:32 Benefits of Bootstrapping

36:29 Project X

46:45 Insane Growth During Pandemic

54:05 AI: Boon or Bane?

1:04:29 Video Game Suggestions

Tito Aby Idicula and Nigel Crasto started Programming Hub in 2016. The company was founded with the vision of addressing the growing demand for programming skills in an increasingly digital world. Recognising that traditional education systems often fall short in providing flexible, up-to-date, and comprehensive coding education, the founders set out to create a platform that would democratise access to high-quality programming instruction.

At the heart of Programming Hub's appeal is its extensive library of courses, which covers a wide array of programming languages and technologies. From foundational languages like Python, Java, and C++ to specialized fields such as data science, machine learning, and mobile app development, Programming Hub caters to both beginners and advanced learners. Each course is meticulously designed to ensure a seamless learning experience, featuring interactive lessons, hands-on coding exercises, and real-world projects.

The platform also offers courses in emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, ensuring that learners are well-prepared for the future of tech.

Both Nigel and Tito see AI as the biggest advancement in tech till now and see it as a big opportunity for Programming Hub in the future.

Among many things to take away from this podcast, their journey of building a bootstrapped profitable startup is something I am most impressed about.

(Social Links)

Google India’s IG:

https://www.instagram.com/googleindia/

Google India’s X:

https://x.com/GoogleIndia

https://x.com/googledevsin?lang=en

Google India’s YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopersIndia

https://www.youtube.com/GoogleIndia

Google’s Global Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/@GoogleDevelopers

Google India’s LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/googleplaybiz/posts/?feedView=all

Programming Hub’s LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/programming-hub/

Programming Hub’s Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/programminghub.io/

Programming Hub’s X:

https://x.com/Prghub

Nigel Crasto’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-crasto-a2306547/

Tito Idicula’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/titoaby/

Nigel Crasto’s X: https://x.com/Nigelcog

Tito Idicula’s X: https://x.com/KillerCrosser

Nigel Crasto’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nigel_crasto

Tito Idicula’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tito_aby

#programminghub #StartupSpotlights #GooglePlay

[This podcast is sponsored by Google Play]

Today's episode of Millionaire Mondays is extra special - because it's also the first episode being featured in #StartupSpotlights, a Google Play initiative, where inspiring startup founders share their

It all began in late 2008, amidst Abhinav Das' GATE exam. In a pivotal moment of realization, he abandoned the exam midway, recognizing that pursuing a master's degree wasn't his true calling. Instead, he crafted a business plan on the spot, birthing the concept of 'Evomo - Evolving Mobility'.

00:00 Intro

01:50 From a Bedroom, to a Basement

05:53 Hiring in 2005: a Big Challenge

10:26 Building Culture, Organically

11:10 Running a Global Company in India

14:16 Being Profitable and Bootstrapped

16:16 Three Near-Death Experiences

22:40 Milestones and the Path Ahead

Pallav Nadhani founded FusionCharts at the age of 17 in an effort to earn himself some extra pocket money. He succeeded in doing so, and now, 17 years later, he has more pocket money than he knows what to do with. The data visualization company has over 28,000 customers as of December of 2019, some of which include Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Adobe, Walmart, NASA, and many, many more. In this video, Pallav explains how he built FusionCharts from his bedroom and turned it into a multi-million dollar company over the course of the last 17 years.

From a Bedroom, to a Basement: Pallav Nadhani was able to run FusionCharts for three years on his own before he realized that he needed help. He onboarded his first employee, a friend of his cousins, and together they worked out of Pallav's bedroom for about a year and a half. By the end of this period, they were working with over 1,000 customers, and couldn't handle to workload on their own anymore. They shifted into a basement office and started hiring more employees.

Hiring in 2005: a Big Challenge: Hiring wasn't a very easy thing to do for a startup in Calcutta in 2005. India's startup ecosystem was still in its infancy, and the startup ecosystem in Calcutta was nonexistent. Employees were hesitant to join the startup despite the fact that they were already working with a number of Fortune 500 companies. However, with time and experience, Pallav was able to assemble of solid team of engineers.

Building Culture, Organically: Even as FusionCharts was scaling up and the startup was onboarding more and more employees, Pallav really didn't know anything about building strong culture. Instead, he simply focused on instilling values like pride in the company, a strong work ethic, and the desire to learn and grow on the job. As a result of these values, FusionCharts was able to establish a strong culture organically.

Running a Global Company in India: Less than 1% of FusionCharts' customers are Indian. This is something that Pallav takes pride in, because going global from India was a pretty big challenge when FusionCharts was first starting out. In spite of this, FusionCharts has been able to build quality products that are good enough not only for India, but also for the world. What is more, they have done so as a bootstrapped, profitable company from day 1.

Being Profitable and Bootstrapped: Because FusionCharts has always been profitable and bootstrapped, they have very rarely struggled with money problems. In fact, the biggest money they have faced is a surplus of funds. The challenge for them has been to figure out what to do with these funds. Part of the reason that they are able to be profitable and bootstrapped is that FusionCharts is a very lean company: they have 68 employees serving 28,000 customers!