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1. 

   Yunus Dange April 1, 2014, 7:18 am

   Guys I have added the Video also regarding this…have a look and if possible speared it in your circle ..Thanks

2. 

   Rishi April 2, 2014, 5:10 am

   Yunus – I have some thoughts/suggestions but I’d first like to ask two questions before I say something: 1. What is your business model and how do you make money (note: they are not the same)? 2. When you say “validated”, what is the kind of validation and what is the associated traction so far?

3. 

   Yunus Dange April 2, 2014, 9:57 am

   Hi Rishi

   Thanks for the reply

   you are spot on ..yes our business model and revenue model is different we have some related revenue models, we have already started implementing that & also Validated means..we have already launched the experimental version on oct,2013 through which we have got connected with more than 1K organisers and many govt. bodies….and got the positive response apprx from everyone…you can say 1K organisers are ready to list there companies on our portal today…and much more

   would love to hear your suggestions and thoughts on this and mainly on finding a suitable tech guy

   Thanks 

4. 

   Rishi April 3, 2014, 4:59 am

   I was hoping for a more definite answer. If it’s a marketplace, or you get paid for listings from vendors and users contact the vendors directly, or if it’s a simple info. aggregation platform and you plan to generate money through ads etc. These are some obvious things that come to my mind when I see your website, but I wanted to be sure before I suggested something. 🙂

   I personally think most of us mis-estimate the need for a tech. co-founder. It’s always good to have one, but is it always required? I know many people might not agree with me on this, but here’s what I believe for software startups:

   #1 Platform products (high tech. complexity + tech. is the product – e.g., Heroku, Cloudera) — NEED tech. cofounders; ideally both are tech. guys, and can find a business guy later on.

   #2 Products (medium-high tech. complexity + tech. is one of the key enablers – e.g., WhatsApp) — NEED at least one tech. co-founder

   #3 Services (medium – low complexity) — depends on what you’re building, but if it’s tech products for others, need a tech. TEAM that can execute. Nice to have a founder that is tech, but getting business is equally important.

   #4 Channels (for lack of better word;  med – low complexity initially, can get complex later on – e.g., marketplaces, pizzahut.com – your core product is not tech, it’s just a channel to sell things) Nice to have a tech. co-founder but not required, can outsource initially and/or hire a small tech. team to do it.

   Suggestions:

   Although in real world, there is a overlap between all 4 categories. I think your case is #4 and that’s why I feel you could outsource it initially (which I guess you already did? great move!), now focus on making some (lots?) money. It’s much easier to attract/afford tech. talent then. If you have some runway, you can hire an web developer on salary and see how things go. At least it’s easier than finding a tech. co-founder. 

   Apps? I’m not sure if that is an immediate priority. You’re 3 business/sales guys, you have some version of the product, so may be you could focus on making money first. Attracting tech. talent in India are much easier if you already make some money. In case you already do, may be that should go in your video rather than just saying “validated”.

   As a user, once I’m on the current website, how do I book for a trip/attraction? Call up the vendor? That’s not very useful. May be you could think of some market place model where users can book stuff right from your portal. With few changes to UI (hire a freelancer or a web developer) and some refinement to business model, I think you can move much further on the path to making it a successful startup and then things become much easier. 

   Hope this helps, and I haven’t assumed things that are not true in your case. 🙂

5. 

   Rishi April 3, 2014, 5:35 am

   and if you still need a tech. cofounder (you know the best), you should try AngelList, hasgeek, hackathons etc. that’s where most of them are!

6. 

   Yunus Dange April 3, 2014, 10:28 am

   Hi Rishi

   First of all…Thanks a Lot for giving such a brief suggestions , its awesome and cleared some of my doubt. 🙂

   Yes..we basically fall under #3 Services category…as apart from a online portal (the main product) we will be creating many apps & tech solutions for this sector , so i think having a Tech guy in a team will give us that confidence & clarity

   The Present website is just a 10% of our actual concept , so i think whatever points/suggestions you have given are already taken care of …actually we have just done with our UI design for new website.

   We have outsourced the present website and also some part of the new website but had a bad experience specially after realising the fact that we dosent have any tech background…we had tried to learn things in tech but we come to the conclusion that…we can’t judge the quality , speed & requirement of tech easily by depending on some other outside guy/company…so i think having a co-founder is what best we can think..

   And Yes as far as business part is concern we are into that from last 3-4 year having good knowledge & experience, so we are confident enough to make a mark as far as revenue generation is concern…the scene is that we are very much confused as far as tech thing is concern.

   But i think it will be shorted out soon and we will come up with our beta version 🙂

   It will be great if you can can refer this tech opportunity/requirement to someone from your circle who may be interested in this, at the same time if you can help us in promoting this requirement in Tech circle then it will be a great help.

   Thanks

7. 

   Omkar Nisal April 3, 2014, 10:11 pm

   Loved your reply Rishi!

   🙂

8. 

   Rishi April 4, 2014, 6:00 am

   Thanks Omkar.

   Yunus – I’m honestly confused with what you’re trying to do if you’re into services (as you say). Like I mentioned, it’s great to have co-founder, but if you can’t find one, hire some one…if technology is not your core business/product.

   As far as bridging the gap related to lack of technical knowledge etc., you can always find an advisor who knows technology and can validate/challenge what the tech. person says. 

   P.S. I’m not trying to prevent you from finding a co-founder. I was just suggesting alternatives till you find one. 

9. 

   Yunus Dange April 5, 2014, 5:53 am

   Sure Rishi….that will be the alternative till i find someone..

   Thanks for your advice about finding a advisor for tech related stuff, i think that will solve many confusions.

   cheers 🙂

10. 

    Abhishek Rai April 5, 2014, 7:29 pm

    Hello Yunus,

    Till you find a suitable guy, if you have any query or you need any help in deciding matters technical or interacting with your development team, I can help you.

    I am still learning programming and computer science, but now I am able to understand meta of most of the stuff.

    I cannot code for you, as of now, but I can definitely help you.

    And all this, without any consideration, in either cash or kind.

    Let me know, if this suits you and if it does, you can start with your questions…

    Cheers !

11. 

    Yunus Dange April 6, 2014, 7:43 am

    Thanks Abhishek 

    nice to hear that ….this is a beauty of being a rodinhooder…helping each other..:)

    will surely ask you if i stuck anywhere…right now i have 2-3 close friends from IT and development background..who are helping me as far as advising is concern…but its great to received a helping hand from you…

    Thanks…cheers

12. 

    Yunus Dange April 13, 2014, 2:57 pm

    🙂

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