Manik KinraCo-Founder of Pin Click Published On: Thursday, March 03, 2016 Views 4108

We are an online real estate platform with full-service agents and buyer focused technology solutions to deliver more value to customers than pure real estate listing platforms

I don’t think we started this because we personally went through trouble renting or buying a home or even if we did that was never the eureka moment. For us, it was more about building something valuable from both customer perspective and stakeholder’s perspective and we felt real estate as a vertical had/continue to have enough issues while at the same time being a big enough vertical for someone to hustle the way through.

When I started Jade Magnet in 2009, the struggle was very different from finding the first customer to even getting recognition as an entrepreneur. The startup ecosystem was in very early stage so all the support and reach that comes with being a startup today was not there. Then the switch from Jade Magnet to Pin Click after running that for 4.5 years was a great experience of letting go. Now as we scale it comes with a different set of challenges unlike running a business with an extremely tight control of all activities.

I think it is about continuously evaluating options and solving issues by the day. The challenges keep changing depending on the stage of the business and it is critical you keep a close track of each of them and not ignore any of them to is solved at later stage because by then it would have created a huge dent

We had raised a round of seed fund in 2013, and the amount was used to build a “process driven” distribution network for property advisory vertical in both Bangalore & Pune. The current infusion of capital will be used to build the rental vertical across both cities and at the same time work on technology and product development.

We are a very people dependent business and like any startups we have had our share of a problem on retention but as we grew and gave a platform for people to grow the problem started to reduce. It’s not just about money but more about the quality control at entry stage and I think our hiring has been fairly solid that ways and then it is about the growth that people can see/feel and attain internally. As a startup, anyone with an appetite to grow has found umpteen opportunities

Ability to quickly learn, unlearn and relearn because things change so quickly in today’s world and more so in startup that you can’t just stay in a constant mode

• One tip to success:

Work really hard and put in your best

• One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:

Don’t underestimate anyone, anything

• One most important lesson that you have learnt till now:

Times change very quickly, both for good and bad. Don’t take it for granted.

Work hard and continue to build on the platform we have in the form of Pin Click. There is enormous opportunity in both the vertical and the country and I would love to be a part of that growth.

“When I work for fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, I get lucky.”