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 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