Sahaj NalgirkarFounder of GetSetGig Published On: Monday, October 05, 2015 Views 3648

"Life is a mysterious thing, you never know what's going to happen next. So why live it normal?"

A hobby turned Sahaj into an entrepreneur. Like many others, he too found the sector he was working in has many redundancies and it was becoming difficult for musicians like him to connect to clients. While the music industry was increasing at an exponential rate, Sahaj felt that there was a void, which needed to be filled. This is where he got the inspiration of starting GetSetGig.

Sahaj has also received several awards with Vocation excellence awards being one of them. This award was conferred in recognizing efforts in the field of Entrepreneurship for promotion of Music. He completed his graduation Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and then went on to pursue his career in Music. Now he has a team of four people working with him. As a founder, he now works more on the lines of CEO.

Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.

The number of musicians in India has been increasing exponentially in the recent years, but so has been the number of music shows or as we call them, Gigs. Still artists complain of lack of shows and organisers aren’t satisfied with what is being offered. Why the gap? Why the bridge? This is where GetSetGig swings into action.

We provide ‘Music as a service’. This means we understand the requirement of organisers, connect them with best suited musicians, monitor the playlist, take care of production(Sound system, stage etc), and payment.

We ensure you get the right musicians for your event. Clients/organisers get everything about live music at one place and musicians/bands can concentrate on their performances and get paid by doing what they love.

What inspired you to build the above product/ service?

I am a musician myself. I am a composer and I can play 6 instruments. While I was developing myself as a composer, I was not sure what path I must take, where to showcase my skills. Internet being an option, you still cannot earn, because at the end of the day, you have feed yourself. Moreover, having an inclination towards entrepreneurship helped me to look the pain point that can be solved. It took many efforts to analyses the problem and come up with solution. Which is now called GetSetGig.

What is your life mantra?

Life is a mysterious thing, you never know what’s going to happen next. So why live it normal? I always believe in going ‘upstream’.

What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?

Well, to be honest, nothing but everything. I believe the challenges are still yet to come. But if I look back, my biggest challenge till now was to start a startup without any knowledge, experience and network. I started this just as I got out of engineering. No job experience, nor did I know anybody specific in this industry. And I just took the leap.

How did you overcome those challenges?

Only thing that got me through it I think is my motivation. That includes my will and never give up style of work, my family, friends and specially my elder brother who has supported me more than I can even think of.

Research, meeting and networking, trying and failing, then trying again with more energy, learning, and hoping that one of these tries will result in something. This went on for more than year and half and finally we are here with a startup which we launched in September 2015 with 500+ musicians and more than 50 gigs under our arms.

Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business till now.

As I said earlier, My elder brother has helped me more than I can even think of. He is officially the first seed investor of our startup.

How do you protect yourself from the problem of Brain Drain?

Brain Drain is completely logical given that in India, marksheets are more important than passion/talent. Give opportunities for talent and you protect yourself from Brain Drain. And I think that’s precisely what my is startup about. About attrition control, hire really interested and suited people at the first place. We make sure that we hire musicians in GetSetGig even if it is for internship. I believe in enjoy your work principle, so I make sure that there’s some enjoyment and light mood when you are working.

According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?

Extreme positivity
Acceptance of failure and try again harder attitude
Never ending thirst for knowledge

Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?

Evernote is like my best friend. And Any.do is my saviour.

Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.

This is an interesting question. I would say, ‘Not thinking’. By that I mean, ‘Meditation’. Meditation which is a state of being thoughtless but aware, helps me in filtering my thoughts and stops me from over thinking and energises to ‘do’. Basically it helps to find the middle point between thinking and doing.

Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.

Laziness. My mother would hundred percent agree on this. I may be the laziest entrepreneur in the world.

Answer in less than 50 words

One tip to success:

Success, I think is not a destination, rather its a journey. The road/route is going to take you to the destination anyway, you just worry about getting into right vehicle. Define goals(destination), get into right mindset(vehicle), and let life(route) take you there.

One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:

Not taking decisions is worst mistake I think one can make. It doesn’t matter if decisions are wrong or right, but not to take any, is what I call a failure. It may be about anything, take a decision and be ready to face it.

One most important lesson that you have learnt till now:

Have a good heart. You will be surprised to see world is filled with good people. The biggest lesson I learnt is that the world reciprocates your personality. So be good, to be treated good.

What are your plans for next 3 years?

I want to make GetSetGig a big brand in coming 3 years. Also I am obsessed with startups, so I hopefully will start another one in coming 3 years.

If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?

Not at all. I think I did the right thing at the right time already.

What are your top three getaway destinations?