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Shashank JoganiFounder of Bananabandy Published On: Thursday, June 23, 2016 Views 6511

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"Creativity is contagious. Pass it on."

The urge to do something useful and the ability to lead is inborn in ShashankJogani. After completing his bachelor degree in commerce in 2014, instead of going for a 9 to 5 job, he came up with a unique business idea and turned it into reality within a year.

Launched in early 2015, BananaBandy is a dedicated online platform for creative professionals (web designers, photographers, graphic designers, animators, interior designers, architects, product designers, etc.) of India that helps them in showcasing their work and gives them exposure at global level. Shashank is also a student member at Institute of Actuaries of India, which helps him lead his team and grow his startup more tactfully.

Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.

BananaBandy is an online network for India’s creative professionals. Founded in February 2015, is already India’s largest such network with 10000+ registered professionals. BananaBandy allows creative professionals such as graphic designers, photographers, animators, product designers, interior designers, fashion designers, etc. to showcase their work so that they can find relevant full-time/part-time work opportunities. So far we have been able to facilitate over 700 job listings from more than 450 companies.

 What inspired you to build the above product/ service?

The Indian creative community is one of the largest in the world. However, despite being a huge community of creative people, India’s creative professionals are yet under-appreciated and their massive potential still untapped. But with internet’s penetration continuously increasing in the country, now they have a better chance to present their creativity at the global level. The reason behind BananaBandy’s inception was just that, to help Indian creative ecosystem reach the world market. With BananaBandy, we are planning to create an integrated creative platform for students, professionals, institutes and design focused companies.

What is your life mantra?

Work with a purpose.

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

The biggest challenge we faced is the elusive chicken and egg problem. Creative people need monetization and opportunities to join the website, whereas companies need a good list of creative professionals to post jobs.

 How did you overcome those challenges?

Constant communication with our users, novel website features, and persistent meetings have ensured that we have significantly overcome it by forming a strong community of creatives and attracting over 100+ companies within a month of launching our jobs module.

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

We started off as a fully bootstrapped company. However, within a month of launching our MVP, we received exceptional traction which helped us attract investors. We raised a seed round at a 2.5 Cr valuation from Mr. SrinivasaAluri (MD, Morgan Stanley Private Equity) & Mr. ChaitanyaDeshpande (Ex-M&A Head, Marico). The funds are being used to enhance the product, marketing, innovation and setting up the correct systems and processes in the company and to scale.

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

Sincere, Honorable, Tactful

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

Google Apps, Zoho, Slack

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

Automate everything possible.

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

Prioritizing tasks.

 Answer in less than 50 words

  • One tip to success

Work hard.

  • One mistake you believe every individual must avoid

Losing hope.

  • One most important lesson that you have learnt till now

Keep trying.

 What are your plans for next 3 years?

In the next 3 years, we intend to become the go-to-place for any creative requirement in the country. Be it a person looking to upload and manage their portfolio or even a small business looking for a logo, BananaBandy would be the first place that would come to their mind.

 Share a quote that inspires you the most.

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.”

Inspiring Entrepreneurs

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