Rishi Chowdhury is on a mission to create a better environment for startups to survive and thrive. As well as doing this via his companies IncuBus Ventures and Momentum Startups, he is an avid speaker and mentor at various global events and startup programmes. Welcome to Business Spotlight Rishi. Tell us all how you started your business and what inspired you? I started my first business while I was studying for a Business Management degree. That was relatively successful and I was able to sell it after 9 months. I then went into business with a friend in my second year but unfortunately we were unable to make a success of it and closed the business after around 9 months as well. By this time I was hooked - and after graduating I decided to join a startup called Huddle. They were growing rapidly and figuring out their product market fit with large enterprises at that stage and before you knew it, 3 years had passed, the company scaled up operations with enterprise customers across the world and opened up offices in the US as well. I met my co founder of IncuBus Ventures, George at Huddle and over a few beers after one of our events we used to host for founders, we discussed starting up an incubator. After a few of these beers we decided buying a bus would be a good idea (which it was!). We bought the bus, renovated it into an office and started incubating entrepreneurs around the country and Europe! We soon expanded out of the bus and started running our programmes from 'proper' offices. This freed up the bus to host activities, events, pop ups and roadshows with startups and corporates. As it still does to this day. After running 10 programmes (including ones with the likes of PwC, Camden Market and MarketTech) we took those learnings and started Momentum London to support B2B startups make the shift from selling to SMEs to acquiring corporate clients easier. At Momentum London we connect industry agnostic B2B & B2B2C startups with our corporate ambassadors to validate markets and open commercial opportunities. We also work closely with our corporate members benefit from market insights and access to the latest disruptive technologies to ensure they stay competitive in current markets, as well as future proofing themselves in the years to come. What were your first few weeks of launching the business like? In one word; Shattering. The whole week was a whirlwind of well wishers, press and buzz, client meetings, visits from friends and adrenaline! Surprised I didn't lose my voice by the end of it. But it was fantastic and was such a lift for both myself and my co founder to see this come to life. It also was the point it dawned on us that we had to now go make it work! How did you fund our business? Funding is something which seems to be lauded in the media as a success metric and therefore that's what companies strive for. Many spend so much time focusing on funding that their business suffers and therefore so does any meaningful funding hopes. Unfortunately many forgot that that time can be better spent on finding customers (mainly focusing on B2B here). Funding can be a double edge sword, once you raise a round the pressure is on to hit very ambitious milestones in order to be able to raise again before you run out of cash to further accelerate growth. Often it comes before fully finding product market fit which can hinder growth - at that point it becomes a question of how to use that money to validate your proposition whilst still acquiring new clients to continue that growth curve. When funding is used correctly (which I'm sure you all think you're doing) it can be the jet fuel to your rocket ship! When just starting out I'd say focus on finding that product / market fit before anything else. It will make everything easier (still hard) after that. Who helped you the most during the first few difficult months of starting a new business?
My co founder - we wouldn't be here today if we didn't have each other. It's super demanding running your own business and having someone to play off keeps momentum up and on top form. Also my family for their continuous support. We have also had numerous mentors and advisers at different stages that were fantastically helpful. There were also many bad mentors, but we were able to take all feedback and apply what we thought made sense for the business being the ones that knew the ins and outs. How did you gain your first few clients? How do you get clients for your new business now? We gained new clients but using our network, hitting LinkedIn, attending events, generally shouting about what we do wherever we go and actually finding those that would benefit from what we do and asking for an intro for mutual connections that knew both parties well. I must have sent many thousands of emails over those first few months! How do you make a business succeed and exceed the 12-month mark? Really understanding the industry was key for us as it allowed us to adapt and ensure we were ahead of the game and offering the best service we could. it played havoc on marketing as our proposition and wording would ever so slightly shift very often meaning everything had to be continually updated but it was worth it. There was a lot of hustling in the first 12 months. Really having to find a way to do what seemed impossible. I can't even count the amount of times we managed to save ourselves from what seemed like an impending disaster at the last minute! And of course things did go wrong, but we were open and transparent about it and always looked to keep good relationships. Above everything we were very commercially minded and astute when it came down to this aspect. Making sure we properly forcasted cash and ensuring we were paid on time was key to survival. After all no cash in the bank, no business. Rishi Chowdhury is on a mission to create a better environment for startups to survive and thrive. As well as doing this via his companies IncuBus Ventures and Momentum Startups, he is an avid speaker and mentor at various global events and startup programmes.
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