How to open another door, when the previous one closes
Stories of Role Models
I knew - even in my sleep - studying was the 1st step to breaking out of financial mediocrity.
I came from a lower middle class family near Nasik. We were farmers for generations. Both my parents were in government jobs.
I knew - seeing my parents - that real wealth won’t happen through a job.
So I had it planned out. Join the best institutes. Then get into entrepreneurship.
I was the contrarian.
They said to not drive a 2 wheeler. So I did. They said not to dance. So I did.
Everyone was supposed to become a doctor or an engineer. I decided - not me.
I loved maths. I landed up at IISER in Mohali to do my MS in Maths.
The ISB campus in Mohali was across the wall.
Somewhere in those 5 years, the MBA experience became an aspiration.
From my 2nd year in Mohali, I started trying my hand at the CAT entrance test.
Every year I would write CAT, for practice. I knew I was going to do a MBA after I graduated.
Then start on my own. But it had to be something Agriculture related.
My maternal uncle runs a farmer-cooperative.
Thanks to him - I wrote my thesis on how commodity prices affect farmers.
It gave me an opportunity to interact closely with farmers and work with data - both at the same time.
While everyone else was pursuing programming careers - I made Agri-tech my love.
Maybe the contrarian in me was at work again.
After I graduated, I worked for 2 years in a sales job - with a frozen food startup.
I learnt sales, ground up.
I went to IIM Kozhikode for my MBA in June 2019.
I admired NinjaCart - a tech driven supply chain platform that connects farmers of fresh fruits and vegetables to retailers.
I was pursuing them for an internship opportunity, on my own.
Perchance, I met Revant Bhate - a senior from IIM Kozhikode.
He sold me to the idea of interning at their startup - Mosaic Wellness - instead.
They were just starting and he felt I would have the full view from the pilot's cockpit of a nascent startup rather than a funded established one.
So, I interned with them.
Apart from the exposure, I arrived at a key insight during those 4 months.
Both our founders were experienced with stellar blue chip records. McKinsey, IIM A, VC background and all that.
Yet a startup required them to figure things out afresh. That is the nature of the startup beast.
So, I thought to myself, why not take the plunge? I have little to lose.
Why not start making the mistakes I was supposed to make, as early as possible?
Brave thoughts - but I would pay for it later! :)
At this stage in life - just after passing out from my MBA - my parents were yet to retire. Financial stress was low for the family. It could change later.
I founded NashAgri shortly before I finished my MBA. We were based out of Nasik - the onion capital of India.
I wanted to build an online B2B marketplace - connecting onion producers to buyers from across the country.
The next 15 months were a struggle as we slowly found a toe-hold and then realised that this is a credit heavy market, with high working capital requirements.
The vagaries of the market did not help. Last year Nasik failed to have a price-advantage over the rest of India.
The pressure built up for me.
Not only at professional but at personal level.
I was at wits end.
Any VCs I spoke to - would ask me to show traction and improve my story.
In June - barely 3 months ago - we pivoted out of desperation.
A Mandi (APMC) agreed to let us help them take their market online and bring various offerings to their farmer base. We did it for free.
In return for easing their operations, we got access to more than a 25000 farmers.
We got similar interest from 2 more Mandis after that.
As our access to farmers grew, we knew we can unify them as a buying force for others who want to sell to farmers.
A new door opened for us. We now have traction. We now have a better story.
I learnt that when you are ready to continue the good fight, another door surely opens, when the old one closes.