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YourStory UNCUT aims to explore the biggest challenges and failures startups and entrepreneurs have faced in their journeys. Today, Vinay Singhal of STAGE talks about his journey of building and losing a business and starting up again. 0 CLAPS
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Started in 2014 by Vinay Singhal, Shashank Vaishav, and Praveen Singhal, viral content website WittyFeed was India’s answer to American company BuzzFeed. In an interaction with YourStory, Vinay revealed that by the end of 2016, the website had recorded 120 million unique month-on-month users. Additionally, it generated 420 million page views and 2.5 billion impressions. But on November 26, 2018, the team woke up to a nightmare. The WittyFeed Facebook page was wiped off. “We got killed overnight without any particular reason by Facebook. As founders, we were in denial…we thought it was a glitch. Later, we were ready to fight Facebook. But as time passed, we realised that wasn’t going to happen,” says Vinay. Get connected to STAGE
By February 2019, the team ran out of money and was about to shut shop. “But we somehow believed that this cannot be the climax of our story…We had to rebuild and rethink what we do from here,” he adds. Later that year, Vinay, Shashank, and Praveen set out to build a Netflix for Bharat —STAGE, an artist and dialect-based OTT platform for Indians. Today, the hyperlocal video entertainment platform has recorded more than two million downloads and has over one lakh paying customers. It is backed by the likes of Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Ritesh Malik, Blume Ventures, Venture Catalysts, and Inflection Point Ventures. Get connected to STAGE
“Our team kept saying that they won’t give up, no matter what. And that became the origin story of STAGE,” says Vinay. For this episode on YourStory UNCUT, Vinay takes us through his journey of losing his first company, almost shutting shop, and building STAGE. It takes a team 
Before the deletion of WittyFeed’s official page, the personal Facebook profiles of the founders were deleted from the social media platform. The 150 employees working at the company also had their work experience removed from the platform as well. “We may have violated some policies but we were never informed about it…at these companies, you do not get to talk to humans. You only talk to an email address at best,” says Vinay. WittyFeed was profitable. But soon after its death, the team ran out of money. The founding team called for a town hall with 90 employees remaining and laid out two options. They could either shut down that very day or the team could trust the founder and stick with them for another six months. Stay Updated
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You have been successfully registered for our daily newsletter. To their surprise, 54 people decided to stay back, taking home only 25 percent of their salary. Double of the remaining 75 percent was given as equity. Vinay says, “These 54 employees became our angel investors, came to the cap table, and rescued us while we figured out the journey onward.” 
“How do you kill a company that refuses to die?” he laughs. The pivot 
OTT platforms in India– both global and large Indian players—focus on languages in the name of vernacular content. That is, they make video content in languages like Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi. However, “The moment you go beyond urban settlements in India, everybody speaks a dialect…Language is an urban concept,” explains Vinay. Growing up speaking in Haryanvi led him and his co-founders to think about why there wasn't any content available in the dialect. “A true hyperlocal company built for Bharat would be a dialect-based platform. That is what STAGE is,” he adds. While building STAGE, the team essentially faced three major challenges. “We are more of a category creator. There are no TV channels or OTT platforms in this industry from which we could learn from,” says Vinay. First, the team had to prove that there was actually an audience willing to consume content in local dialects. Vinay says that the first 18-months post the inception of the company went into solving this demand problem. Once it was established that people were willing to consume content in local languages, the startup had to tackle the supply problem. To solve this, STAGE started a production house from scratch, making the very first web series in Haryanvi. Finally, the last roadblock was monetising the content. “There is more money in rural India than we give credit for. All we had to do was create value for that,” Vinay says. Last April, STAGE went from being a fully-free platform to a fully-paid platform, and since then, it has added more than one lakh paying customers. Source: STAGE
Overcoming 500 rejections
While the team had credibility in the market due to the success of WittyFeed, production is no cakewalk. “To build an OTT platform, you need to heavily invest to produce movies and web series. You need to pump crores to build just one good web series,” Vinay says. Thus, STAGE needed to raise more external funding and it did not come easy. The most prevalent model was building a user-generated content application, similar to TikTok or Instagram or YouTube. “We were trying to build something new…There was no parallel to our story in the US or China. So, it became very difficult for investors to understand the model,” Vinay explains. “Anybody who wants to invest in our business has to spend an incredible amount of time understanding our business.” 
“The funny thing about investors is that they want you to build something unique and once you do so, it becomes difficult for them to invest in you because you are ‘out of thesis’ and a category creator,” he says. Convincing VCs to invest in STAGE became another battle. The founding team reached out to the top 25 investors and made more than 100 pitches—and got rejected. In fact, STAGE had to go through 500 rejections before five investors believed in the story . The startup’s first angel investor was Jana Balasubramaniam, who came through Venture Catalysts . While Jana did not attend the pitch, he reached out to the team after watching the recorded video and decided to lead the round for his firm. He continues to remain the single largest angel investor on STAGE’s cap table. “Blume (Ventures) rejected the first pitch as well,” Vinay says. The conversation with Blume continued for over a year before the early-stage VC came on board, and Vinay attributes this to the immense patience Karthik Reddy possesses. Another of the first investors in STAGE is Better Capital. The startup has raised Rs 30.75 crore in funding so far. Final word  
Advising aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, Vinay says, “Keep at it. Do not give up. Persist and negotiate your way out of the struggles. Anyone who has built a successful business had to struggle at one point. They have reached the top because they persisted.”
The entrepreneur says it does get lonely at the top , adding that he had a breakdown the previous night “because it got too much.” 
“We are currently raising funds and still facing rejections. We are doing so much and it still takes much convincing and education to make them (investors) believe in us,” Vinay says. However, looking back, he adds that he would not change a thing. “Jo hua acha hua (Whatever happened, happened for the best). It only made us better entrepreneurs in the process…If you don’t give up, life does give you a way out,” Vinay quips. (This story has been updated to correct a typo in the headline.) Get connected to STAGE

YourStory UNCUT: Vinay Singhal on losing a Rs 300 Cr startup and building STAGE

Top 10 Promising & Scaleable Startups in Indore

Aug 10, 2021—8 min read
Madhya Pradesh, the heart of India, is famous for its history, culture, food, and whatnot. Almost every Indian has seen the advertisement promoting tourism in Madhya Pradesh; the popular tune, "Hindustan ka dil Dekho..." has been etched in the minds of many. What people aren't aware of is Madhya Pradesh's emergence as a startup hub—the credit goes to Indore. Hence, we have shed light on some entrepreneurial ventures in Indore. These startups in Indore are gradually booming in their field of work and coming in front of of the whole India. These Indore-based startups will surely awaken the entrepreneur in you! WittyFeed Logo | Startup in Indore
One of the most famous Indore startups, Wittyfeed is today India's largest viral content company and the second-largest in the world in terms of traffic numbers. The company had a humble start as a Facebook page and has grown into a mammoth entertainment blog. WittyFeed is a modern-day blogging platform for everyone who loves to express and explore stories. WittyFeed was the brainchild of SRM University students who later shifted their HQ to Indore. The website gets millions of page views every day. The company has transitioned from delivering content through a website to app-based content delivery. WittyFeed raised an undisclosed amount of funding in a Pre Series A round from a group of marquee investors in 2017. Brothers Vinay and Praveen Singhal started Wittyfeed in 2014 in collaboration with their college friend, Shashank Vaishnav. They are now among the list of top entrepreneurs in Indore and also the whole of India. The website has established itself on a level where it directly competes with big shots like ScoopWhoop and BuzzFeed India. RackBank Logo | Indore Based Startup
Among the top startups of the Indore Startup Community , RackBank is a server provisioning startup from Indore. RackBank deals with server hosting and the requirements of entities like data centers. The startup has worked with companies like Saavn , MSG91, and imo for their server-related wants. Narendra Sen started RackBank in 2013; he used to work at a photostat shop. If you're under the assumption that Narendra's technical expertise was inculcated through formal education, you're wrong. He is a self-learned programmer . Gradually, Narendra became an expert in web development and started providing services. As time progressed, his services evolved into server provisioning on a large scale. Walkover
EngineerBabu Logo | IT Company in Indore
EngineerBabu is an Indore-based startup that was quick in tasting success after its launch. It provides web and app development services. EngineerBabu has worked with some of the biggest companies in the world: Apple , Fox Sports, Uber , and Samsung , to name a few. EngineerBabu was founded by Mayank Pratap and Aditi Chourasia in 2014. They are childhood buddies. Mayank was working in a Bangalore-based MNC while Aditi was preparing for medical entrance examinations. Mayank was done with his job and Aditi understood that the entrance test wasn't her cup of tea, having taken three unsuccessful attempts at the exam. Mayank came back to Indore, sat down with Aditi, and the duo decided to start an initiative for providing a job to their common engineer friend. And that's how EngineerBabu came into existence. GraffersID - Startup in Indore
GraffersID is a team of design and development veterans founded by Mr. Sidharth Jain in 2017 to help entrepreneurs to bring their stories to life and increase their revenue 10X. The GraffersID team specializes in identifying the loopholes, in the flow of the application and then brainstorming the possible solutions to make the final product robust and market fit
Conclusion
This is our list of famous, successful startups and entrepreneurs in Indore. Hope this list of companies in Indore helps you in many ways. The startups mentioned in the above list were once just an idea, a figment of imagination. No idea has ever transformed into an actual venture without sincerity and perseverance. Add to it constant deliberation and thinking. Unless you are willing to give in everything to your startup, it's never going to see the light of the day. Worship it with your hard work, bribe it your time and see it grow with your co-founders! Contact us to get featured in this list of Indore-based Startups & Entrepreneurs. Must have tools for startups - Recommended by StartupTalky

12 Successful Startups in Indore | Indore Startups [Exhaustive List]

On the launching, Vinay Singhal, Co-founder and CEO, WittyFeed said:
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In this update, we are adapting newer modalities which will not only help users discover more content, but also allow brand to engage with them in the best possible formats
Incepted in 2014, the company is headquartered in Indore (India) and was founded by Vinay Singhal (CEO) along with two co-founders, Parveen Singhal and Shashank Vaishnav, as Vatsana Technologies. The platform has been creating content that is engaging, interactive and has helped various brands by its subtle integration, allowing them to reach its target audience in the best possible formats. On the development, Vinay Singhal, Co-founder and CEO, WittyFeed said:
We have been all ears to our users and advisors and have been receiving constant feedback on the fronted and backend admin, in this new update we have made sure to adapt newer modalities which will not only help users discover more content but also would be allowing brands to engage with the TG in best possible formats
He further added that:
The new Logo, UI and brand punchline is been designed keeping in mind the continued vision and goal to deliver everything beyond!We are very excited to revamp ourselves
The new version of the company modeled on the philosophy of “beyond” truly depicts the same in its new avatar. Apart from being a mere content platform, new platform will showcase thoughts which are”beyond stories”. The upgraded version of WittyFeed will also get to see a new logo and an even more exciting website. The company has been upgrading the interface and technology as per the market needs time to time. Now the brand has decided to revamp the complete UI (User Interface) by acquiring the latest yet futuristic modalities to empower the brands to communicate with its target audience in a more interactive manner. In terms of campaign virality, the company has adopted newer technologies which would further help brands track their campaigns in a more efficient way. With their already existing platform and analytics gathered over past few years, Singhal and his team are sure to get more engagement and help in discovering the content that is trending on the internet and deliver a beyond experience. Share this:

Content Marketing Firm WittyFeed Rebrands Itself and Launches New User Interface

Udacity, one of the leading platform in disruptive learning technologies, has partnered with a few tech startups in India such as InShorts, Urban Clap, Daily Hunt, Wittyfeed and more to help their Nanodegree holders land a high paying job. With rapidly changing technologies, the global demand for new-age skill sets in digital and analytics is largely unmet by traditional education system, which leaves students in a perennial fix. In a bid to bridge this industry-academia gap, Udacity has partnered with these startups to help students access job opportunities easily. ADVERTISEMENT
Students who take up any Nanodegree courses from Android Development, IOS, Full Stack, Front End, Data Analysis or Machine Learning at Udacity will get an opportunity to directly interview with these leading startups. The average salary offered for this would be around 6-18 lakhs for 0-3 years of experience. Students who are in their final year or pre-final year of their undergraduate courses can also take up this programme. The courses offered by Udacity are specially designed by industry leaders AT&T, Google, Facebook, Salesforce, Amazon, Cloudera etc.. The idea is to have industry perspective in mentoring candidates who will soon be available in the job market. Taking the same idea forward, the Get Hired initiative is aimed at connecting industry ready candidates with leading tech startups for jobs with high paying salaries. Vardhan Koshal, Country Manager at Udacity said,
The industry for on-demand online courses is on a rise and there is a significant opportunity for students to upskill themselves. Our Get Hired initiative will help students get first-hand industry experience and knowledge, which in turn will make them ready for real life job challenges. We are very excited to partner with leading startups of the country who will provide Nanodegree graduates a wide range of career opportunities. Commenting on the partnership, Deepit Purkayastha, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Inshorts, said,
At Inshorts we intend to make content consumption and discovery on mobile very easy and technology serves as the strongest enabler towards this goal. We are always on the lookout for top quality tech talent. We are pleased to partner with Udacity to discover candidates who have the right skills and necessary exposure to build world-class mobile experiences. Share this:

Name	Work History	Title	Status
Vinay Singhal		Chief Executive Officer	Current
Shashank Vaishnav		Chief Technology Officer	Current

Name	Vinay Singhal	Shashank Vaishnav
Work History
Title	Chief Executive Officer	Chief Technology Officer
Status	Current	Current

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