How We Re-launched Our Startup After 1 Year & Didn’t Give Up

Hi, my name is Nakul Khanna and this is my 2nd post on this forum. The Rodinhooders of Delhi Meetup gave us the opportunity to showcase our app-Instago last April. That marked the launch of our app which allowed users to compare prices of different cabs. The meetup was so beneficial that we met a partner company, whose representative was also in the crowd. To be honest, we didn’t expect it at all.

We started out as 6 members, but almost immediately were down to 5. Over 2 months were spent discussing who would get how much equity and we finally came to a conclusion and began work. Since at that time no API’s were available, we had no clue how to go about the development. We still managed to put in day and night and completed the app.

I met the CEO of one of India’s largest taxi companies and showed him the app at an event in Delhi. To make sure he would know who I was, I cold-emailed him the night prior. Surprisingly he read it. However I went back empty handed as a partnership was not on the cards then. More trouble brewed in our startup as owing to disagreements we were down to three from five, and none of whom could code.

Wow, “building a tech company? “, investors said. “Go find a CTO, build the product and come back.” We heard this over and over and gave up on investors. The CEO of India’s largest automobile classifieds company spotted us through a mutual connection and wanted to give us the money we were asking for Instago, $500,000. But he wanted us to come work for another product his company would be launching. We were even guaranteed a massive 9 figure amount on completing 2 years! We thought this was a bigger opportunity and fell head over heels for it. However we were not driven by the passion, only the thought of each of our shares after 2 years. The CEO could see right through us and said he liked us, but we lacked experience and offered us open job offers.

Meanwhile, the three co-founders were left to two. I decided to quit my job at Google and my co-founder Anmol had already opted out of the placement process at FMS. Trying to find technical talent with no cash in the bank is like finding a profitable unicorn. At the Young Turks conclave in Delhi, we bumped into Arun Sarin who was speaking of a very similar vision that we shared for our app. We owe everything to that one conversation with him, as that led the CEO of India’s largest taxi company to email us at 2:30 AM! With that email we had our first partner on board and we set the ball rolling.

We still couldn’t find a CTO so out of frustration we hired a freelancer. It wasn’t an easy product to build and required a lot of time. Development was severely delayed and our parents kept asking us when will the app launch, to which we had no specific answer. Ultimately we did find someone who understood us and our vision. More importantly he knew what we were trying to build and so the dream team was formed: Ex-Googler (Nakul), FMS MBA (Anmol) & Silicon Valley Techie (Aneesh).

Startup India was a great way for us to meet interesting people and investors alike. We decided to give it a shot and show screenshots. One angel investor actually liked us and was willing to invest but we knew we wouldn’t last long with that amount. However things were looking up for once. We also made it to the cover of India Today which allowed us some room to breathe before the app was out.

I am glad to announce, that after almost exactly a year Instago has been reborn. Instago allows people to compare taxis, autos, bike taxis and public transport all on one screen. Users can sort by price, ETA and duration and make a booking.

Our funny video (or so we think)

Our travels last year took us everywhere from Singapore to San Francisco. Everywhere we went we found ourselves shuffling through apps. Not to mention the multiple cities in India we visited. We went on a partnering spree and literally walked into offices of companies because we wouldn’t hear back from them on email. Within 20 minutes we walked out with an API and another partnership. So this Odd-Even and beyond, use Instago to get around your respective cities and see the difference that having information can make. The obvious answer is that you’ll save money and time. If our app does that for you and the billions of people we aim to touch with this product across the globe, we would’ve accomplished our objective.

Search, Compare, Go.

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UPDATE JULY 1, 2016 ADDED BY ASHA 

MANY CONGRATS NAKUL AND TEAM on raising $US500k in angel funding

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