Jugnoo was in news recently for securing $5 million Series A round funding. It is a platform that offers on demand auto-rickshaw and can also enable hyperlocal deliveries like grocery, food etc at your doorstep.
We spoke to Jugnoo’s cofounder Samar Singla to know the intricacies of his exciting journey.
How did you think of this idea?
The idea evolved from observing problems around us. I am a big fan of keeping things simple, sticking to basics. I noticed that a simple task of delivering a meal or grocery item is complicated by the so called Tech giants. An order is prepared by your favorite store, a biker from the other corner of the city picks it up and delivers it to you somewhere else. Why can’t this be achieved with a shorter turn-around time, in a more cost-effective manner? Jugnoo was the answer. To add to that, there are about 5 million autos in India which are not being tapped to their full potential. The availability of auto-rickshaws in every nook and corner of the city, makes them the most efficient vehicle of delivery and logistics. Use them as a conduit and top it up with technology, seemed to me a perfect yet simple recipe to convenience.
How did you manage working capital of business in the beginning? Have you taken on any additional funding since?
My previous company, Click Labs, incubated Jugnoo. Yes, we have taken on additional funding. We recently closed an Angel round of $1mn and Series A round of $5mn.
Tell us the story of acquiring first five customers?
I personally went to college festivals and got students to use the service. I would stand at an auto rickshaw stand and ask every passenger going on an auto to get a free ride if they downloaded the app.
What would you do differently if you could travel back in time and restart?
Hindsight is always misleading because all the wrong steps are the part of the learning process. I would have done same stuff, made all the mistakes I did make to learn what I have learnt.
What is the one thing that you believe in that very few people believe?
I am not sure if nobody else believes this but I feel people underestimate the power of starting and failing. I always start something I believe in and if I fail, on to the next one and if I succeed, great people join. I believe in owning my failures as only mine and successes as those of teams. In that sense, I always cherish the failures where I tried and failed. They justify my success to me.
What according to you can be called as your mediocre superpower?
I have a few:
- I can work hard.
- I can say sorry when I make mistakes.
- I can walk away from money without thinking twice.
I feel these have helped me a lot.
How did you create hype of your product?
I did not get people talking about the product. The product did that for itself. Its accessibility, its efficiency, its intelligent yet simple interface, these are the few factors that make our product a success. The team, which adopts a proactive rather than a reactive approach to launch more value added features makes the product a success. In a span of only 6 months we are successfully running across 4 cities, that’s all because of the team which envisioned and continues to innovate on the product.
What are the Unique Selling Points (USPs) of your model that other providers/services do not have?
Our value added services clubbed with a significantly reduced turn around time. Scalability is also unique to us. We have a very strong focus on product, which is also the core foundation of what we are doing. All the products have been developed keeping scalability in mind.
At what point did you realize you must hire new people?
If you are smart, can get things done and we can afford you, we are always hiring since day one. Great people are everything in business.
What’s the smartest thing you did in the first few months?
Insist on getting smarter people than me on board.
How did you ensure that they your employees were effective after you hired them?
I have a tendency to push my team members. I always encourage one to take new initiatives. A lot of us still make a career choice basis the society’s expectation. In the journey, we forget what we really want to do. That’s the reason I don’t limit my team members. Yes, they develop skills to be an expert in their domain but I don’t confine them in a box. I have seen the best people want to keep learning and as long as they are learning, they are happy.
What propelled you to get into this business? What gets you excited in the morning?
Hyperlocal marketplaces are the next big thing. I refuse to accept that getting a hard copy of my favourite book should take a week. Jugnoo eventually aims to combat this by delivering things in an hour.
I don’t get excited in the morning, I am always excited. 🙂
What was your “scariest” moment so far and how did you manage it?
The only time I ever get scared is when I lie, so I don’t lie and don’t get scared. Business has its ups and downs but as long as you have a vision and keep moving towards it, things work out.
What part of making your product /platform was the most difficult?
In order to get our drivers use a smartphone effectively, we had to ensure that our apps are intelligent yet simple, easy to navigate, user-friendly interface. There was a lot of to and fro between the drivers and the team to work constantly on their feedback of making things easy for them and yet give quality service to the customers. To get this mix of smile and smart was definitely challenging.
What are your recommendations to new entrepreneurs in your field?
The hyperlocal marketplace has immense potential. In my view, I do see it replacing e-commerce soon. If anyone wants to dabble in this genre, be very patient, have a strong team, be ready to take unconventional decisions.
How would you spend your typical day?
Personally, I do three things – product design, deal making and helping with bottlenecks across verticals. Roughly one third each.
What is your strategy to get new hires?
We are big on referrals. While we do resort to regular ways of hiring through job portals and social media, but we get the best talent through referrals. There is a lot of transparency this way. Expectations setting from both ends is pretty clear and honest.
How do you see your company versus your Competitors?
We already have tie-ups with 100 merchants with an commission which varies from 10% – 25% depending on the commodities they offer. Foodpanda, etc. are mostly providing a technical platform for the restaurants where they prefer delivery being done by the restaurant itself. However, to optimise on delivery logistics, all such players can actually partner with Jugnoo of the deliveries.
Ola and Uber will have a natural inclination to push their cab services more than autos due to the ticket size. This makes the auto drivers feel insecure with such services. We have had a few cases where Ola auto drivers have come to us as they feel threatened working with them. With an ongoing constant fear among autos that cabs are eating their market share, Ola and Uber will find it better to partner with us rather than handling autos themselves. Here’s a more detailed version: http://qr.ae/ztsBc
What’s the most rewarding thing about running your own business?
Touching lives of regular people. Making things convenient. Using technology to do that. Watching my team grow. Get excited on seeing an auto with Jugnoo sticker. Getting queries from established personalities provoking their curiosity- These individual rewards have an immense cumulative impact.
What are the major challenges you face in running your own business?
Fighting ambiguity. So many things fail that you just have to have a lot of grit to keep going. Most people cannot cope with ambiguity so as the CEO I have to shield everyone from it and give them clear goals even though things are very hazy for me. As a CEO you need to own every failure yourself and pass on every success to the team. It’s tough but that’s what will get you respect.
What’s the most surprising thing you have observed in your business?
That very soon the vision you have becomes everyone’s vision. I had my reservations about the team not being aligned with the potential I see in this hyperlocal marketplace. But when everyone got on board, I was surprised to see how quickly they built on this model. Jugnoo is fortunate as every team member has a direct contribution in its success. People believe in the dream.
Which entrepreneur do you admire most?
Richard Branson, that guy can take real risks.
What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs?
Not to compromise on the product, and sometimes just a product is not enough, it needs to constantly be reinvented. Customer wants value.
I would also add that if you are the one that likes structure, then you need to find that in the chaos of setting up fresh. One has to be really aggressive and lack of structure can easily encourage negative tendencies. One needs to be realistic, brutally honest and patient.