Kshitij Mehra is an engineer in Biotechnology and a serial entrepreneur who has been actively engaged in delivering turnkey solutions. Right from the college days, he has been actively involved in the startup arena. This is evident from the fact that he floated his first two startups while studying at the college. During this time he was busy handling the operations side of these startups. This allowed him to gain much needed credence.
Other than startups, he was also actively involved in extra-curricular activities, where he served his Cultural Council as the Dance Head and was an active member of university’s Sports Team, Biotech Society. Currently he is working on his latest Business Startup – Pocketin. It is a new-age reservation system bundled in bargaining app which facilitates diners to not only book their tables at a restaurant in Delhi-NCR area, but also bid their desired discount at multiple restaurants at one go. Kshitij is responsible for the day-to-day operations, hiring and most of the financial parts. Within a short span of few months, Pocketin has gained huge popularity among consumers with around 3000 active users.
Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.
Pocketin which is a Real time Bargaining App (currently operating in the restaurant space). This is the only app in the world which can help a user get live quotes from any number of restaurants in seconds and book the table in a very quick and user friendly manner. Now the problem of calling up 10 restaurants and negotiating with them manually is completely eliminated, it can be done with a hundred restaurants through our app in a few minutes using our unique Bidding system. With more than 250 Transactions in less than 45 days, we have proved that our model is the best.
What inspired you to build the above product/ service?
Being a big foodie, i always thought that the restaurant industry for some reason is still not living up to its potential- be it table occupancy, fragmented technology, no direct connect with the diners. We after working in this space for more than 2 years, figured out most of the issues and built this product that as of now has delivered what Pocketin stands for- Desired and best discounts, ease of booking, increased table occupancy and that real time personal touch that as a diner i always felt was missing.
What is your life mantra?
My life Mantra has always been- Be good, Work hard and never let the word complacent come near you in any form. Success is the only thing i work for.
What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?
The most challenging part of a startup in my opinion is raising funds because this is the only thing i personally hate. I love to work on my startup – Adding in clients, acquiring customers, providing high quality service. Raising funds can make the whole process a little slow.
How did you overcome those challenges?
We are trying to divide our time so that we can give enough for both- Fund raising as well as operations. My Co-Founder is doing most of the fund raising part and i handle the day to day operations. So far, we have been able to do it quite successfully.
Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business till now.
At this point of time, we have not raised any external Capital. We are looking to raise our first round soon.
According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?
- Patience – That never ending driving force – And the goods to back that force
Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?
Pocketin all the way!
Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.
I thing the habit of trying to be the best at what i do and then working hours/days to achieve that, has and in my opinion will always be my greatest strength!
Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.
I can be a better listener!
Answer in less than 50 words
One tip to success:
It might sound a little cliche, but the fact is You just cant give up on your dreams!
What are your plans for next 3 years?
After we consolidate the Delhi-NCR market, we are planning to take this unique model of ours to different cities. We believe that our model can fetch you better discounts- be it in Restaurants, Gyms, Salons, Spas because of our real time bidding system!
What are your top three getaway destinations?
- I don’t have any getaway destinations as such
- but to gateway from my day to day work and to relax
- I surely thank my Playstation!