Anirudh is a serial entrepreneur with several startups under his name. He has an expertise in entrepreneurship, content writing, and android development. After completing his B.Tech in computer sciences, he started his career working as a content writer. Soon he changed his trade to become an android application developer.
Later the entrepreneurial bug bit him and he launched his first startup called scootr app. However, he came to the forefront with his latest venture called FasDeal. It is a mobile application to help users discover the best offers on Restaurants, Spa, Saloons, Bowling, Health checkups and much more around their location with a fast, smooth and seamless experience.
Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.
Fasdeal provides the best deals and discounts around one’s location on Restaurants, Pubs, Saloons, Spas, Bowling Alleys, Movie Tickets, Health Checkups, Sports Coaching, GRE, GMAT Courses and many more services
What inspired you to build the above product/ service?
Fasdeal popped up when we were looking for deals to go to a buffet only to find that the places were available 20 KM away from our location and there was no way for us to search for the nearest ones. We also observed that the education and short delivery time for non-grocery items were untapped markets. We wanted to find out how many people would use a location-based deals app and found that overwhelming number of people would use it if they had such an option. This exercise helped us develop Fasdeal to offer best deals around one’s location.
What is your life mantra?
Don’t take life too seriously. We may miss out on all good things in life.
What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?
We faced hiccups in every part of our journey from registering the company to marketing the service to the development of the product with the specific niche features we wanted. The most challenging part, however, has been (still, is) educating the merchants on adoption of our technology to create a dynamic deals platform for customers.
How did you overcome those challenges?
The challenge of adoption of such niche technology takes time as the results take time to flow in. Although we would pat ourselves on the back for successfully helping 30% of our merchants use a self-serve platform, the task is only partially done.
Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business till now.
We are currently bootstrapped
How do you protect yourself from the problem of Brain Drain?
We have a very relaxed office atmosphere and ensure that the fun element never runs out. We incentivize our employees for good performance and ensure they get great deals whenever they outperform.
According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?
Perseverance, Self Belief and Positive Attitude are key qualities for success of an individual in any stream
Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?
I would like to recommend Fasdeal to all of you. On a little serious note, I’m a regular on Reddit and Quora. I would recommend Slack for team communication and Saavn for keeping us happy all the time
Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.
Every day before I go to bed, I think about what I was able to accomplish on that day and what I could have done to do it faster. This has gradually helped me improve pace of work and assists in prioritization
Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.
Obsessing over perfection.
Answer in less than 50 words
Hard/Smart work
- One mistake you believe every individual must avoid
Believing that we know everything. We must not forget that we are students all our lives.
- One most important lesson that you have learnt till now
Hiring People and finding great talent is not as easy as it sounds
What are your plans for next 3 years?
I would like to see Fasdeal grow to at least 10 cities in India and simplify the pricing aspect for students in selecting their coaching institutes
If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?
I would keep a close touch with Entrepreneurs from the very beginning and understand the ecosystem faster than I did till now
What are your top three getaway destinations?
French Polynesia, Fiji and Egypt
Share a quote that inspires you the most.
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the word are the ones who do