Mumbai: Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, has announced its much-anticipated ‘Big End of Season Sale’ (Big EOSS) beginning 1 June 2024. With the stage set to be one of the largest celebrations of fashion, the Big EOSS will offer customers a wide range of trendy styles, ...

Flipkart’s Big EOSS 2024 sets the stage for the largest fashion extravaganza | 1 Indian Television Dot Com

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Flipkart unveils new campaign with Alia Bhatt and Allu Arjun

Flipkart Mobile Offers 2024: iPhone 15 Plus&#x27;s base variant is now available at Rs 12,901 off on Flipkart during the &#x27;iPhone Days&#x27;. The handset offers a bigger screen and larger battery pack than the iPhone 15. This makes the device an ideal choice for buyers who prefer a bigger display.

iPhone 15 Plus Price Down By Rs 12,900 On Flipkart; Check Bank Offers, Discounts, Specifications And More

- Beginning 1st June 2024, this special fashion event will offer customers a personalised..

Flipkart’s Big End of Season Sale 2024 sets the stage for the largest fashion extravaganza

Apple iPhone 15 is currently available at just Rs 16,500 in Flipkart Sale after Rs 53,499 off. For context, Apple iPhone 14 is priced at Rs 69,900 on Apple’s official store.

Apple iPhone 15 available at just Rs 16500 in Flipkart sale after Rs 53499 off, cheaper than Apple iPhone 14

Flipkart Private Limited is an Indian Multinational e-commerce company, headquartered in Bangalore, and incorporated in Singapore as a private limited company. The company initially focused on online book sales before expanding into other product categories such as consumer electronics, fashion, ...

Flipkart - Wikipedia

Find the perfect last-minute Valentine's Day gifts and let Flipkart take the blame for any delays. Enjoy super deals on premium brands and combo gift sets. Order now!

How Flipkart took the blame for bad planners this Valentine’s Day

Speaking at Walmart Growth Summit, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said the government has simplified taxation and adopted ease of doing business as a strategy, which is one of the factors driving growth of the ecommerce segment.

Flipkart: Cost structure of logistics biggest challenge for ecommerce: Flipkart CEO - The Economic Times

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Panchkula (Punjab) bench comprising Satpal (President), Dr. Sushma Garg (Member) and Dr. Barhm Prakash Yadav (Member) held Flipkart and its...

Failure To Deliver Dining Set, Panchkula District Commission Holds Flipkart And Its Seller Liable For Deficiency In Services

Flipkart: "One of the biggest challenges for ecommerce alone to solve is the cost structure of logistics. India, in general is a low ticket price market. Whenever we are able to get to further (lower logistics) cost structure, is when we will be able to further increase the penetration in ...

Cost structure of logistics biggest challenge for ecommerce: Flipkart CEO - ET Retail

Flipkart

flipkart

India is pretty hot most of the year and going to shopping centres is a tedious affair with long queues and traffic jams. And if you are not too careful, one of those two wheelers cutting in from the wrong side could brush your vehicle, and then the whole shopping trips turns into a stressful affair. So I was quite thrilled with the arrival of the online shopping boom a couple of years ago. I could now check out all details of whatever gadget I wanted from the comfort of my living room, compare with similar products, read reviews by actual customers, and have it delivered home. In the early days of online shopping in India, Flipkart was my go-to shop. Credit card hacking was a worry, so my first cellphone was bought online using Flipkart’s then innovative Cash-on-Delivery (COD) feature. But Indian banks soon enforced two factor verification for credit via an OTP to your mobile. After that, I started using my credit card online, taking care to keep my credit limit low, so as to limit my loss in case it was hacked. Then Amazon arrived on the scene. The reviews were more helpful as you could link up to customers on the amazon.com site if there weren’t no reviews on the Indian site. So I started splitting my custom between the two depending on who was offering the better deal on whatever I wanted. At this point, Amazon got serious about India, pumping in around $5 billion, setting up their own distribution centes, launching Amazon Prime at a price of around ₹500/year ($7.50), and so on. Now they seem to be going after their chief competitor, Flipkart. Take the Big Sale business. A couple of times in a year, Flipkart and Amazon have this big sales where they cut prices and sell in billions. The latest one happened with Flipkart announcing its Big Sale 10 from May 14 to May 18. Showing its predatory instincts, Amazon moved in surprisingly quickly to steal Flipkart’s thunder by launching its own Great Indian Sale from May 11 to May 14. It was aggressive marketing warfare at its best, though I’m sure Amazon had planned for this. Basically the goal was any customer with money to spend should spend it through Amazon, and not through Flipkart. I was one of those customers, albeit an accidental one. A bit of background will help. My wife has been using an iPhone 4 for the long time (it belongs to the organisation she works for). She likes the compact size, isn’t very techy, and dislikes spending on gadgets. Also iPhones are expensive which makes it a hard sell with my wife. She has resolutely refused to get herself a new iPhone, saying she would get a low priced Android if need be. And it did seem that the time had come, as her iPhone 4 is now crashing regularly. Anyway, a friend called up to say his Android was dead, and asked me to recommend a good one in the budget of ₹13000 ($200). Now Android phones come in hundreds of models and brands with such a variety of features. However it’s hard to get one phone that has everything you want so I suggested the hot selling Redmi Note 4 or the Honor 6X. While checking the market, I was again struck by how the Android scene is so unlike that of Apple which has just three models to choose from. Sadly, iPhones in India cost more than anywhere else in the world (due to taxes). Out of curiosity, I went and checked out the iPhone’s price anyway. And was stunned to find Flipkart offering the iPhone SE for ₹21000 ($325). I checked the price on apple.com and it was $399. It seemed unbelievable! India which launched the entry level iPhone 7 for nearly $950 in India, was pricing this same iPhone SE for ₹28000 ($450) just a while ago. It’s now selling below US Apple Store prices. I looked closely for a catch. That’s when I noticed that the one being sold in India was a 16GB model. I didn’t know Apple still made 16GB iPhone SE models. What an anticlimax! 16GB is too little for a device which does not allow OTG connections with your USB pendrive. As I quit Flipkart, I casually checked Amazon to see their price. And what do you know? They had the same ₹21000 ($325) offer, but for the 32GB iPhone SE. Flipkart VS Apple VS Amazon Suddenly my wife’s objection about iPhones being too expensive was no longer valid. All I needed to see was if I could reduce the price some more. Can I get an exchange offer for my old Android? (It needs to go as it doesn’t have VoLTE and I’m missing calls too often.) Amazon has an exchange offer but it’s not available where I stay. Flipkart’s exchange offer is. I find I can get ₹3200 off. But I can always sell the Android, and possibly get more than ₹3200. What else? How about cash back offers? Flipkart has tied up with HDFC bank to give a 10% cashback (max ₹1500), while Amazon has linked up with Citibank bank to to give a 15% cashback (max ₹2000). Amazon wins on higher storage and higher cashback. I didn’t have either of the credit cards, but my brother-in-law had a Citibank card. Less than 48 hours later, Amazon delivers the 32GB, iPhone SE in Rose Gold at a cost of ₹19000 ($295). My kid has claimed dibs (whatever that means) to surprise her mother with it. The next day Flipkart had another ‘fail.’ In my investigations on Flipkart, I had noticed that the Google Pixel was going to be selling for ₹35000 ($545) at the Big 10 Sale as against its original price of ₹57000 ($890). I knew a friend who was interested in it, and informed him about it. I also told him to check out the 30% discount for paying via Flipkart’s online wallet, Phone Pe. Misleading ads: Google Pixel isn’t selling at ₹34999 while the 30% cashback has a limit of ₹300 in small type. My friend was all kicked about the deal initially. Then he checked the small type below the price, and called back to say the ₹34999 price included an exchange price of ₹9000 for an old mobile. This exchange value is decided by Flipkart. An Mi4i Android gets ₹3200 while an iPhone 6S Plus gets ₹12000, which means if you want to get the Google Pixel for ₹34999, you have to trade in a premium phone like the iPhone 6S. As for the 30% cashback for buying via Flipkart’s wallet, it has a maximum limit of ₹300. Suddenly Flipkart’s whole offer began to stink. And the stink rubbed off on Flipkart, who came across as a smooth selling salesman out to con me. I know Amazon has a bad rep for exploiting its employees, but in contrast to Flipkart, Amazon comes out smelling like roses. So it’s no surprise that Amazon won the battle for my wallet.

Online battles for my wallet

is an Indian unicorn ecommerce marketplace. Every user who places an order on Shopclues receives a text message with a link to track the order. Shopclues The short links e.g. — , , were actually serially iterable, , .. etc are all valid links which reveals of Shopclues users. A simple script to iterate over all of them can be written as follows: http://sclu.es/3zlVa http://sclu.es/3zlV a http://sclu.es/3zlV b http://sclu.es/3zlV c name, phone numbers, email, home address, order details We reported this to Shopclues in the first week of March 2017. We received no acknowledgment email from them. A separate email sent to their cofounders did not receive any response. We rechecked the issue on 20 March and it was not fixed but we found it fixed on 3 May 2017. The URL now asks for email id & phone number to confirm that the request is made by the authorised user. Important Learning As a developer its important to understand that you do not keep sensitive and private data behind short links without authentication — how short are short links, you ask? Lets do a little math to understand this, if the code is 6 alphabets long (all caps), we have these many possibilities: You may think that this is a huge number, no one can guess any random link. And that would be correct except that depending on how many links you have generated till now, the guessability of links goes on increasing. Lets say you are an E-commerce website which has generated 1 million short links. Now if you divide: On an average, with every 308 wrong guesses one will be able to guess a correct link. So, if you decide to put user personal sensitive data behind short links which can be accessed by anyone without authentication, think again. The vulnerability in case of Shopclues was even more severe as they didn’t even randomize the short links (though it does look gibberish if you just look at a single link and not a bunch of links together), they have merely incremented it serially. Do something to increase the sample space of non-working short links — make the sample space huge that it makes the guessing (almost) impossible. Try a combination of these: Generate short links , not serially. randomly Use longer in short links rather than 5 or 6 characters — determine the length depending on how many active links you will have at a time. id If you really need to put sensitive data behind short links, you will have to use additional layer of authentication and authorization.

Shopclues user data leak via short links

Introduction It is hard to imagine that one small company can completely transform the way we shop. But that is exactly what has done. In 2007, e-commerce was still considered a niche business and most Indians did their shopping offline. Internet was taking over the world and Steve Jobs had just launched the world’s first iPhone in 2007 which was about to disrupt the entire smartphone industry in the years to come. Flipkart Two software engineers in India, and did notice the changing dynamic of technology and realized the potential of e-commerce. Even though there were only 50 million internet users in India at the time, they knew that with smartphones coming into the picture, it was only a matter of time when more Indians will be connected to the internet. They wanted to take this opportunity to create an online shopping platform that would take India’s shopping experience to the next level. Sachin Bansal Binny Bansal Fast forward to today, India has more than and the number of people shopping online has increased significantly. What started as a two-man mission to create India’s most trusted online shopping platform has transpired into Flipkart, which is India’s leading e-commerce platform offering a catalogue of more than 80 million products across 80 categories to more than 100 million customers. 570 million internet users In this article, we will examine the story of Flipkart and how Sachin and Binny were able to build India’s e-commerce industry from scratch. How did they meet? Before we start, you should know that if Sachin and Binny had been better students, there was a good chance that Flipkart would have never happened. Thankfully for us, they were not. Back in 2005, Sachin and Binny were pursuing their B.Tech from IIT Delhi. While most students had gone home during the summer break, Sachin and Binny were stuck in college as they had failed to complete their projects on time. It was while working on their projects in the same lab that the two met for the first time. On a side note, it was probably the best summer for Binny, although he didn’t know it at the time, but not only did he meet his future business partner Sachin but also his life partner Trisha at the same lab. However, Sachin and Binny only became friends after they had moved to Bangalore for their jobs along with a couple of other guys from their college. At the time, Sachin was working at a company called Techspan and Binny was working with Sarnoff. Sachin had started working with Amazon in 2006 and Binny followed him in Amazon later in 2007. Origins of Flipkart Soon the two got bored with their jobs at and started playing with ideas. Being fascinated with e-commerce, they decided to start a comparison-shopping website. Their plan was to create a website that would help users to compare prices of products across different websites and help them get the best value for their money. Amazon As they started looking at different e-commerce websites, they soon realized that all the websites were really bad. They knew that they would never purchase from those poorly designed websites and they didn’t expect others to do that either. While they had to shelf their idea for a comparison-shopping website, they started thinking if they could build a better e-commerce website and provide a better shopping experience to their customers. The duo was confident that being technology enthusiasts they could do it. Without wasting any time, the two quit Amazon, pooled together Rs 4 lakh and started Flipkart in September of 2007. They had decided to sell books on their platform as it was easy to list, ship and find vendors as compared to other categories like electronics or fashion which would cost them a lot of money. The journey begins As they started looking for vendors to list books on their platform, they soon found out that it was not going to be as easy as they had thought. People still did not understand the internet and doing business on the internet was not something that was very popular, so most vendors were highly skeptical and didn’t trust their business model. However, the duo remained persistent and managed to convince a few vendors to take a chance on them. With vendors convinced, they launched their website in October of 2007. By the end of October, they had received their first order from a young techie named VVK Chandra who lived in Mahbubnagar in Telangana (previously the state of Andhra Pradesh). Their excitement from their first order soon made them anxious as their vendors told them that the book was unavailable. After feverishly searching for the book all across Bangalore, the duo managed to get hold of the book and successfully delivered their first order. With that order, Flipkart was officially in business. At this time, there were barely any good e-commerce websites in India and the founders were set on putting their customers first and wanted to use technology to provide them with a better shopping experience. Their efforts to deliver their first order showed their commitment towards their customers and it would serve them well in the future.  Being a two-man startup, they took care of everything from developing their website to delivering books. They had managed to deliver 20 shipments in 2007 itself. Within six months the startup was operationally profitable and in 2008, they had moved into a 2BHK apartment in Kormangala, which would serve as their office for the coming years. Slowly, their business started to boom and by the end of the financial year of 2009, Flipkart had managed to sell books worth 40 million rupees. Flipkart was a hit with book lovers and investors were starting to take notice. In 2009, Flipkart got its first venture capital investment of $1 million from . By the end of 2009, the startup already had more than 150 employees and 3 offices across India. Accel In such a short span of time, Sachin and Binny had managed to grow their company at a tremendous pace and they had also developed their own personalities as entrepreneurs. Sachin was good at dreaming big and was the man behind ideas and vision of Flipkart, while Binny, a shy individual was known as the operations guys. They had found in each other a great partner who complemented each other’s skills. Whatever Sachin dreamed, Binny made it a reality. India’s e-commerce was still a niche business and a large population was still hesitant to shop online. However, Flipkart had built a brand of trust among its loyal customers and continued to instil confidence by providing 24×7 customer support and their growth continued. But things were going to change drastically, once came on board as their new partner with its first investment of $10 million in 2010. Tiger Global Now that Flipkart had already become a platform of choice for book lovers in India, the startup was ready to take its next step. With new partners and more investment, Flipkart was ready to dive into the electronics category. So they started selling mobiles in 2010. But months went by and while book sales continued to grow, mobile sales remained stagnant. It was clear that customers were willing to pay small amounts of money like Rs 500 rupees online but they were not quite ready to pay large sums of money like Rs 10,000 or 15,000 for mobiles without first touching and feeling their products. Flipkart still had a long way to go to build that amount of trust among its customers. This problem forced the founders to think differently. And they were able to come up with a brilliant idea of introducing Cash on Delivery. Flipkart was among one of the first e-commerce startups to introduce cash on delivery option for its customers. The founders were hell-bent on building trust among Indian consumers and they doubled down on that dream by introducing no questions asked return policy and followed it up by a replacement policy. They were willing to sacrifice growth for customer satisfaction. Today, these three features are offered by every e-commerce website in India but it was unheard of back in 2010 or 2011. Customers loved these options as they offered them flexibility in paying and buying products on their own terms. Thanks to Sachin and Binny, Indians who were afraid of shopping online were now warming up to this novel idea of online shopping and getting the products delivered right at their doorsteps. Now just like offline shopping, they had the option of either just returning the product if they didn’t like it or get a complete refund. This was a game-changer and Flipkart’s sales started to grow even more rapidly then they had ever grown. From merely, 40 million rupees in revenues in the financial year of 2009, Flipkart expanded its revenues to 750 million rupees by the end of the financial year of 2011. Almost a 20X growth. Soon there was no stopping Flipkart, they had cracked the code to Indian consumers. They continued expanding across categories and money came pouring in from investors. By 2012, Flipkart had already become a unicorn. It was probably the second unicorn in India after InMobi. In fact, the term unicorn only became popular after it was coined in 2013 by Aileen Lee, who is the founder of Cowboy Ventures.  Flipkart became a company that other startups would look up to in the coming years, while Sachin and Binny became the face of India’s growing startup ecosystem. Competing with Amazon Flipkart was the undisputed leader of e-commerce space in India. The company was a big reason for enabling millions of customers to shop online. However, things were about to change as Amazon entered India in 2013. Apart from Amazon, Flipkart was also going to face some competition from another Indian e-commerce startup . While Snapdeal was still small compared to Flipkart, Amazon was going to be a force to reckon with. Snapdeal This did not deter Sachin and Binny, as they knew their customers intimately and had built a brand of trust which was supported by their technology platform that had been built over years of customer feedback. Their confidence was shared by their investors who helped Flipkart raise nearly $2 billion in 2014 alone. One of their oldest investors Tiger Global and Accel continued to put their faith in the company. Armed with a $2 billion war chest, Flipkart acquired in 2014 to expand into fashion e-commerce. Later in 2016, Flipkart acquired another fashion e-commerce startup to scale rapidly in online fashion commerce. This proved to be a smart move by the founders as they realized they were better off acquiring two of the leading fashion e-commerce platforms rather than building one on their own, which would have cost them time and money. Myntra Jabong With Amazon competing for the market in India, Flipkart didn’t have the luxury of time that it had during the early days. Thanks to that acquisition, Flipkart is now a leader in fashion e-commerce space with more than 60% of market share. Flipkart’s ability to understand the Indian market and the experience of their founders and team in creating a company from the ground had given them the advantage over Amazon which helped them to stay competitive and ahead of Amazon. As of 2018, Flipkart remains India’s leading online retailer with a , compared to 31.2% of Amazon. After adding the sales of Myntra and Jabong, Flipkart’s total market share increases to 38.3%. market share of 31.9% Flipkart Failures With all of Flipkart’s success, the founders had to face a lot of challenges and suffer more than a few failures as well. It was their ability to experiment quickly and scale what worked rapidly, which helped them build Flipkart into an e-commerce giant it is today. In 2011, Flipkart had acquired a digital content platform Mime360 and tried to expand into online music streaming with the launch of its music streaming service Flyte in 2012. Piracy was a major issue at the time and there was no dearth of new torrent websites offering free music popping up every day. With numerous online platforms available for downloading free music, Flipkart’s latest experiment was bound to fail. Flipkart had to shut down Flyte in 2013. Before the company found success in digital payments through , it tried to launch its own payment gateway called PayZippy in 2013. Unable to onboard merchants, its payment gateway was shut down in 2014. PhonePe Then there was Flipkart’s app-only experiment where the company blocked access to its website for mobile users and directed them to download its app. While the majority of their traffic came from mobile users, this move was still unsuccessful and Flipkart had to reinstate its website, giving users back the option of accessing both mobile website and app. Walmart-Flipkart Acquisition Despite all the setbacks, Flipkart founders continued to focus on what their customers wanted and that helped them to make Flipkart into one of India’s most successful startups. However, in 2018, Sachin and Binny’s decade long journey at Flipkart ended after Walmart acquired Flipkart for $16 billion and valuing the company at over $20 billion. Sachin had served as Flipkart’s CEO until 2016 when Binny took over the reins and remained the CEO until their exit from Flipkart in 2018. While their exit was seen as controversial by many media outlets and people in the Indian Startup Ecosystem, the two have moved on to start their own ventures. Sachin went on to start to focus on India’s growing fintech space, while Binny is using his experience at Flipkart to help startup founders scale and grow their business through his latest venture called . Navi Technologies xto10x Technologies Now that Flipkart doesn’t need to look for outside investment, there is no doubt that the company will continue to grow tremendously and help Walmart establish a stronghold in India. Conclusion Even though the founders might have left Flipkart, let us not forget that Flipkart wouldn’t have reached where it is today without the long term vision of Sachin Bansal and operational skills of Binny Bansal who worked at making Sachin’s lofty dreams a reality. So what is it that these founders did right that most entrepreneurs do wrong? Firstly, it is clear that Sachin and Binny always put the needs of their customers first. They knew from the get-go that Indian customers lacked trust in e-commerce websites. They built the trust of their customers by understanding their needs and giving them exactly what they wanted. They already had an engineering background, which helped them built a website that was better than their few competitors and which only improved as more feedback they got from their customers. Things were kept simple for the customers by introducing options like cash on delivery, replacement and refund policies. Apart from focusing on their customers, they had kept Flipkart profitable before they went to look for outside investment. During the first two years, they had grown Flipkart out of the revenues they generated from their sales. They proved to their investors that this was a sustainable business, which made it easy for them to get investment. This approach is different from most entrepreneurs, who go looking for investment before they have even tested their business model. However, the story of Flipkart is different today, as the company is losing billions of rupees as it competes with Amazon by offering heavy discounts and cashbacks. Flipkart had its own set of failures but that did not deter the founders to take a step back but they kept on experimenting until they found the winning formula. It was their persistence and bouncing back from failures that helped them discover new and innovative methods to keep building and growing Flipkart. Today, Flipkart is a huge company with massive revenues and thousands of employees. However, Sachin and Binny are still two passionate engineers who are just looking for new problems to solve, even if their journeys have taken them on different roads after a decade of building Flipkart. Originally Published on The Indian Wire.

Books to Billions: How Sachin and Binny Bansal Built Flipkart to 100+ Million Customers 

Hey Hackers, 91Ninjas has been nominated in HackerNoon's annual Startups of The Year awards in Singapore. Please vote for us here: https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-singapore-singapore?stup=66f31d976ea4677e23dcd777&embedable=true Read more about us below to understand why we deserve your vote. Meet 91Ninjas We are a Singapore-based B2B SaaS marketing firm, specializing in strategic growth solutions for startups, growth-stage companies, and enterprises. Acting as an extension of our clients’ teams, we provide a blend of strategy and execution to drive results. Our global clients include notable names like DevRev, Flipkart Commerce Cloud, Yellow.ai, Qapita, among others, trusting us to elevate their B2B marketing efforts across PPC, SEO, content, and social media. How 91Ninjas achieved product-market fit Achieving product-market fit for us meant recognizing and addressing the unique challenges of B2B SaaS companies at different growth stages. From strategic leadership for startups to unlocking growth channels for established brands, we crafted a model that meets clients’ needs while delivering measurable results. This focused approach established our position as a trusted partner in the B2B SaaS market. The evolution of 91Ninjas Starting with a vision to transform B2B SaaS marketing, we’ve grown into a comprehensive 360° growth partner. Initially focused on core digital channels, we’ve expanded our offerings to include integrated GTM, brand identity set-up, communication strategy, and sales collateral for enterprises. This evolution reflects our commitment to driving impactful growth and tackling the entire marketing spectrum for each client. Milestones and achievements Our milestones include working with leading brands across the U.S., Europe, India, and SEA, establishing predictable pipelines, and helping clients scale sustainably through proven strategies. We’ve developed marketing playbooks that bring clarity and growth, building each client’s brand as a recognized voice in the B2B SaaS landscape. Lessons learned We’ve learned the importance of agility, vision alignment, and data-driven decisions in creating successful partnerships. Every client requires a unique approach, and by staying flexible and focusing on their vision, we help translate goals into tangible success. What Startups of The Year means to us Being recognized as "Startups of the Year" validates our commitment to helping B2B SaaS companies overcome their most challenging growth barriers. This recognition inspires us to continue pioneering marketing strategies that drive the next wave of B2B SaaS success stories. Conclusion At 91Ninjas, we’re more than a marketing partner—we’re a growth ally committed to unlocking your brand’s full potential. Let’s build the future of B2B SaaS, together. Vote for us today! Welcome to HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year 2024 interview series, spotlighting startups from around the world that are changing the way we live, one solution at a time. If you’ve been nominated, create a brand profile and answer these questions here.
Want to nominate a startup? Follow the steps here.Looking for inspiration? Check out how other startups responded to last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions and examples of company responses here, here, and here. Hey Hackers, 91Ninjas has been nominated in HackerNoon's annual Startups of The Year awards in Singapore. Please vote for us here: Please vote for us here: https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-singapore-singapore?stup=66f31d976ea4677e23dcd777&embedable=true https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-singapore-singapore?stup=66f31d976ea4677e23dcd777&embedable=true Read more about us below to understand why we deserve your vote. Meet 91Ninjas We are a Singapore-based B2B SaaS marketing firm, specializing in strategic growth solutions for startups, growth-stage companies, and enterprises. Acting as an extension of our clients’ teams, we provide a blend of strategy and execution to drive results. Our global clients include notable names like DevRev, Flipkart Commerce Cloud, Yellow.ai, Qapita, among others, trusting us to elevate their B2B marketing efforts across PPC, SEO, content, and social media. How 91Ninjas achieved product-market fit Achieving product-market fit for us meant recognizing and addressing the unique challenges of B2B SaaS companies at different growth stages. From strategic leadership for startups to unlocking growth channels for established brands, we crafted a model that meets clients’ needs while delivering measurable results. This focused approach established our position as a trusted partner in the B2B SaaS market. The evolution of 91Ninjas Starting with a vision to transform B2B SaaS marketing, we’ve grown into a comprehensive 360° growth partner. Initially focused on core digital channels, we’ve expanded our offerings to include integrated GTM, brand identity set-up, communication strategy, and sales collateral for enterprises. This evolution reflects our commitment to driving impactful growth and tackling the entire marketing spectrum for each client. Milestones and achievements Our milestones include working with leading brands across the U.S., Europe, India, and SEA, establishing predictable pipelines, and helping clients scale sustainably through proven strategies. We’ve developed marketing playbooks that bring clarity and growth, building each client’s brand as a recognized voice in the B2B SaaS landscape. Lessons learned We’ve learned the importance of agility, vision alignment, and data-driven decisions in creating successful partnerships. Every client requires a unique approach, and by staying flexible and focusing on their vision, we help translate goals into tangible success. What Startups of The Year means to us Being recognized as "Startups of the Year" validates our commitment to helping B2B SaaS companies overcome their most challenging growth barriers. This recognition inspires us to continue pioneering marketing strategies that drive the next wave of B2B SaaS success stories. Conclusion At 91Ninjas, we’re more than a marketing partner—we’re a growth ally committed to unlocking your brand’s full potential. Let’s build the future of B2B SaaS, together. Vote for us today! Vote for us today ! Vote for us today Welcome to HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year 2024 interview series, spotlighting startups from around the world that are changing the way we live, one solution at a time. If you’ve been nominated, create a brand profile and answer these questions here. Want to nominate a startup? Follow the steps here. Looking for inspiration? Check out how other startups responded to last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions and examples of company responses here, here, and here. Welcome to HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year 2024 interview series, spotlighting startups from around the world that are changing the way we live, one solution at a time. If you’ve been nominated, create a brand profile and answer these questions here . Startups of The Year 2024 create a brand profile create a brand profile create a brand profile here here Want to nominate a startup? Follow the steps here . here here Looking for inspiration? Check out how other startups responded to last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions and examples of company responses here, here, and here. Looking for inspiration? Check out how other startups responded to last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions and examples of company responses here , here , and here . last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions here here here here here here

Meet 91Ninjas, Startups of the Year 2024 Nominee

Hey Hackers, Dealscard has been nominated in HackerNoon's annual Startups of The Year awards in Sultanpur, India. Please vote for us here: https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-ghaziabad-up-india?stup=66f322f16ea4677e23e0c75f&embedable=true Read more about us below to understand why we deserve your vote. Meet Dealscard Dealscard simplifies online shopping by curating top deals, helping shoppers effortlessly find the best value for their money. Dealscard is dedicated to helping savvy shoppers score deals on the products they love. With a high number of available products deals and the continually evolving content, smart deals recommendations were a must and so we started Dealscard, the largest online deal aggregator. We provide the top-picked deals that are remarkable for their worth and quality! How Dealscard achieved product-market fit We are still in the process of finding product-market fit as we just started few months back. The evolution of Dealscard The Inspiration Behind Dealscard I, along with my wife, likes to do online shopping and if we ended up saving a few bucks on a deal, it would give us an immense joy and a sense of fulfilment. We realized this is something that we wanted to share with more and more people so they too could save their time and money and don’t miss out on grabbing the best deals. Why We Started Dealscard We always like to save on our shopping and groceries and always look out for current deals, discounts, and coupon codes that we could use and save a lot on various household items & products online. But we mostly tend to miss on a deal and also flipping through hundreds of products from online merchants like Amazon, Flipkart, Ajio and more to find the best deal was a tiring process and we started looking for a solution to this problem. We just wanted to see only the best-of-the-best deals and buy the product, saving on money, time, and effort involves around shopping, making it a less complicated process. But we couldn’t find a one stop shop sort of place online to find the best deals the way we wanted to see them. So, we decided to fill this place ourselves and Dealscard was born. Milestones and achievements None so far other than getting nominated in HackerNoon’s Startups of the Year 2024. Lessons learned The biggest challenge is to sustain in this industry and keep adding value to the lives of our users and help them save a lot of money on their online shopping. Patience is the key and we hope to make a great brand that is here to stay for long. What Startups of The Year means to us To get nominated in HackerNoon’s Startups of the Year means a sense of validation of our work that we are on the right track. Since its a new business, it means everything to us that you recognize us. Not sure about winning, but getting nominated is such an achievement that made us elated, extremely happy. We just need a little recognition and validation of what we are doing is right and on the great path of making our users happy. We can not thank you enough already for this selection. We hope to win. Conclusion We are already very much glad that we got the nomination and really looking forward to win this title. It will be an honor and a great morale boost for the entire team. Dealscard will keep working in the direction of helping savvy shoppers get maximum discount deals on their favorite products. Vote for us today! 👉 https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-sultanpur-up-india Welcome to HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year 2024 interview series, spotlighting startups from around the world that are changing the way we live, one solution at a time. If you’ve been nominated, create a brand profile and answer these questions here.
Want to nominate a startup? Follow the steps here.Looking for inspiration? Check out how other startups responded to last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions and examples of company responses here, here, and here. Hey Hackers, Dealscard has been nominated in HackerNoon's annual Startups of The Year awards in Sultanpur, India. Please vote for us here: Please vote for us here: https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-ghaziabad-up-india?stup=66f322f16ea4677e23e0c75f&embedable=true https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-ghaziabad-up-india?stup=66f322f16ea4677e23e0c75f&embedable=true Read more about us below to understand why we deserve your vote. Meet Dealscard Dealscard simplifies online shopping by curating top deals, helping shoppers effortlessly find the best value for their money. Dealscard is dedicated to helping savvy shoppers score deals on the products they love. With a high number of available products deals and the continually evolving content, smart deals recommendations were a must and so we started Dealscard, the largest online deal aggregator. We provide the top-picked deals that are remarkable for their worth and quality! Dealscard How Dealscard achieved product-market fit We are still in the process of finding product-market fit as we just started few months back. The evolution of Dealscard The Inspiration Behind Dealscard The Inspiration Behind Dealscard I, along with my wife, likes to do online shopping and if we ended up saving a few bucks on a deal, it would give us an immense joy and a sense of fulfilment. We realized this is something that we wanted to share with more and more people so they too could save their time and money and don’t miss out on grabbing the best deals. Why We Started Dealscard Why We Started Dealscard We always like to save on our shopping and groceries and always look out for current deals, discounts, and coupon codes that we could use and save a lot on various household items & products online. But we mostly tend to miss on a deal and also flipping through hundreds of products from online merchants like Amazon, Flipkart, Ajio and more to find the best deal was a tiring process and we started looking for a solution to this problem. We just wanted to see only the best-of-the-best deals and buy the product, saving on money, time, and effort involves around shopping, making it a less complicated process. But we couldn’t find a one stop shop sort of place online to find the best deals the way we wanted to see them. So, we decided to fill this place ourselves and Dealscard was born. Dealscard Milestones and achievements None so far other than getting nominated in HackerNoon’s Startups of the Year 2024. Lessons learned The biggest challenge is to sustain in this industry and keep adding value to the lives of our users and help them save a lot of money on their online shopping. Patience is the key and we hope to make a great brand that is here to stay for long. What Startups of The Year means to us To get nominated in HackerNoon’s Startups of the Year means a sense of validation of our work that we are on the right track. Since its a new business, it means everything to us that you recognize us. Not sure about winning, but getting nominated is such an achievement that made us elated, extremely happy. We just need a little recognition and validation of what we are doing is right and on the great path of making our users happy. We can not thank you enough already for this selection. We hope to win. Conclusion We are already very much glad that we got the nomination and really looking forward to win this title. It will be an honor and a great morale boost for the entire team. Dealscard will keep working in the direction of helping savvy shoppers get maximum discount deals on their favorite products. Vote for us today! 👉 https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-sultanpur-up-india Vote for us today! https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-sultanpur-up-india https://hackernoon.com/startups/asia/asia-sultanpur-up-india Welcome to HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year 2024 interview series, spotlighting startups from around the world that are changing the way we live, one solution at a time. If you’ve been nominated, create a brand profile and answer these questions here. Want to nominate a startup? Follow the steps here. Looking for inspiration? Check out how other startups responded to last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions and examples of company responses here, here, and here. Welcome to HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year 2024 interview series, spotlighting startups from around the world that are changing the way we live, one solution at a time. If you’ve been nominated, create a brand profile and answer these questions here . Startups of The Year 2024 create a brand profile create a brand profile create a brand profile here here Want to nominate a startup? Follow the steps here . here here Looking for inspiration? Check out how other startups responded to last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions and examples of company responses here, here, and here. Looking for inspiration? Check out how other startups responded to last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions and examples of company responses here , here , and here . last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions last year’s Startups of The Year interview questions here here here here here here

Meet Dealscard, Startups of the Year 2024 Nominee

Router Protocol is pleased to announce that it has completed an oversubscribed strategic funding round with participation from prominent crypto angels and funds. The primary goal of the strategic round was to thoughtfully expand Router's cap table with crypto operators who deeply understand the importance of cross-chain infrastructure and can accelerate the ecosystem growth as Router evolves into a Layer 1 blockchain. Router Protocol is honored to welcome an exceptional group of accomplished founders and web3 executives as angels and advisors, including Keone Hon (Monad), Parker Jou (Caldera), Amrit Kumar (Altlayer), Aniket (Biconomy), Anurag Arjun (Avail), Amitej (Stader), Ravindra (Frontier), and several others. In a testament to the unwavering belief in its vision, Router Protocol also received overwhelming support from existing investors, including heavyweight players such as Wintermute Ventures, Woodstock, DeFi Capital, CryptoBanter, RavenDAO, and Luganodes. Other renowned advisors and angels include Zaki Manian (Sommelier/Cosmos), Ajit Tripathi (@chainyoda), Gokul Rajaram (Google/Doordash), and Surojit Chatterjee (Coinbase, Google, Flipkart, EMA). The proceeds from this funding round will be deployed strategically to fuel the development and highly anticipated launch of the Router Chain mainnet. Router Chain is set to revolutionize value transfer by abstracting away blockchain complexity and unlocking a new era of frictionless cross-chain applications and user experiences. "Router Chain embodies the evolution of our unwavering vision to build the universal interconnectivity layer between fragmented L1/L2 networks," said Ramani Ramachandran, CEO of Router Protocol. "By abstracting away blockchain complexity, we are laser-focused on delivering the most seamless and intuitive user and developer experience for multi-chain applications. This funding round propels us closer to realising this transformative vision." Router Protocol’s mantra has always been "developers first." Its mission is to empower builders to focus on bringing their groundbreaking ideas to life, rather than grappling with infrastructure complexities. Router Chain will provide a robust suite of flexible interoperability primitives, including its innovative cross-chain intent framework and developer-friendly toolkits, to make this vision a reality. "We are thrilled to witness the rapid expansion of our ecosystem, with trailblazing cross-chain projects like StakeEase, FolioX, and many more leveraging our interoperability primitives to push the boundaries of what's possible," said Shubham Singh, CTO of Router Protocol. In a major milestone, Router Protocol launched Router Nitro, a super-fast, gas-efficient, intent-based cross-chain bridge powered by an innovative reverse-verification mechanism. Nitro Bridge crossed $350M volume in the past 4 months, over 650K+ transactions, and almost 300K unique users. To further accelerate ecosystem growth, Router Protocol is thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of the Router Ecosystem Grants Program, which will provide substantial financial support and resources to promising projects building on Router Chain. Moreover, the project’s recently revamped tokenomics empowers it to aggressively focus on community engagement, ecosystem expansion, and the promotion of exciting new cross-chain primitives that will redefine the landscape of interoperability. The oversubscribed round demonstrates the demand for high-value web3 infrastructure and marks a crucial step in Router's maturation from a bridge solution to a core Web3 connecting layer. Backing from this expanded group of partners will aid in evangelizing Router's vision and unique value proposition to a global audience. Router Protocol is pleased to announce that it has completed an oversubscribed strategic funding round with participation from prominent crypto angels and funds. Router Protocol is pleased to announce that it has completed an oversubscribed strategic funding round with participation from prominent crypto angels and funds. The primary goal of the strategic round was to thoughtfully expand Router's cap table with crypto operators who deeply understand the importance of cross-chain infrastructure and can accelerate the ecosystem growth as Router evolves into a Layer 1 blockchain. Router Protocol is honored to welcome an exceptional group of accomplished founders and web3 executives as angels and advisors, including Keone Hon (Monad), Parker Jou (Caldera), Amrit Kumar (Altlayer), Aniket (Biconomy), Anurag Arjun (Avail), Amitej (Stader), Ravindra (Frontier), and several others. In a testament to the unwavering belief in its vision, Router Protocol also received overwhelming support from existing investors, including heavyweight players such as Wintermute Ventures, Woodstock, DeFi Capital, CryptoBanter, RavenDAO, and Luganodes. Other renowned advisors and angels include Zaki Manian (Sommelier/Cosmos), Ajit Tripathi (@chainyoda), Gokul Rajaram (Google/Doordash), and Surojit Chatterjee (Coinbase, Google, Flipkart, EMA). The proceeds from this funding round will be deployed strategically to fuel the development and highly anticipated launch of the Router Chain mainnet. Router Chain is set to revolutionize value transfer by abstracting away blockchain complexity and unlocking a new era of frictionless cross-chain applications and user experiences. "Router Chain embodies the evolution of our unwavering vision to build the universal interconnectivity layer between fragmented L1/L2 networks," said Ramani Ramachandran, CEO of Router Protocol. "By abstracting away blockchain complexity, we are laser-focused on delivering the most seamless and intuitive user and developer experience for multi-chain applications. This funding round propels us closer to realising this transformative vision." Router Protocol’s mantra has always been "developers first." Its mission is to empower builders to focus on bringing their groundbreaking ideas to life, rather than grappling with infrastructure complexities. Router Chain will provide a robust suite of flexible interoperability primitives, including its innovative cross-chain intent framework and developer-friendly toolkits, to make this vision a reality. "We are thrilled to witness the rapid expansion of our ecosystem, with trailblazing cross-chain projects like StakeEase, FolioX, and many more leveraging our interoperability primitives to push the boundaries of what's possible," said Shubham Singh, CTO of Router Protocol. In a major milestone, Router Protocol launched Router Nitro, a super-fast, gas-efficient, intent-based cross-chain bridge powered by an innovative reverse-verification mechanism. Nitro Bridge crossed $350M volume in the past 4 months, over 650K+ transactions, and almost 300K unique users. To further accelerate ecosystem growth, Router Protocol is thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of the Router Ecosystem Grants Program, which will provide substantial financial support and resources to promising projects building on Router Chain. Moreover, the project’s recently revamped tokenomics empowers it to aggressively focus on community engagement, ecosystem expansion, and the promotion of exciting new cross-chain primitives that will redefine the landscape of interoperability. The oversubscribed round demonstrates the demand for high-value web3 infrastructure and marks a crucial step in Router's maturation from a bridge solution to a core Web3 connecting layer. Backing from this expanded group of partners will aid in evangelizing Router's vision and unique value proposition to a global audience.

Router Protocol Completes Oversubscribed Strategic Funding Round

রাউটার প্রোটোকল ওভারসাবস্ক্রাইবড স্ট্র্যাটেজিক ফান্ডিং রাউন্ড সম্পূর্ণ করে

Router Protocol schließt überzeichnete strategische Finanzierungsrunde ab

Router Protocol completa una ronda de financiación estratégica con exceso de suscripción

Le protocole de routeur finalise un cycle de financement stratégique sursouscrit

राउटर प्रोटोकॉल ने ओवरसब्सक्राइब्ड रणनीतिक फंडिंग राउंड पूरा किया

ルータープロトコル、募集額超過の戦略的資金調達ラウンドを完了

라우터 프로토콜, 초과 구독된 전략적 자금 조달 라운드 완료

Router Protocol conclui rodada de financiamento estratégico com excesso de inscrições

Router Protocol завершает раунд стратегического финансирования переподписки

Yönlendirici Protokolü Aşırı Abone Olunan Stratejik Finansman Turunu Tamamladı

Giao thức bộ định tuyến hoàn thành vòng tài trợ chiến lược được đăng ký vượt mức

路由器协议完成超额认购的战略融资轮

One of the most repeated questions I get is: how do I evaluate whether I should join an early seed-stage startup? Embarking on a journey with a startup is akin to taking a leap of faith. While there's no guarantee of success, conducting due diligence can significantly mitigate risks. Having been in such a position a couple of times myself, I wanted to share the framework I use that may help you make your decision. For a quick background, the first startup I joined after my undergrad, MIME360, was acquired by Flipkart to build out its digital store. The four years I worked at Flipkart, it went through a hyper-growth phase to become India's biggest eCommerce company. After doing my Masters in Computer Science from Columbia University, I was fortunate to find another set of high performers with TellApart. TellApart ended up being Twitter's biggest acquisition, and I was fortunate to be part of that journey too. After spending 6 years building ad products at Twitter, I wanted to get back to early-stage companies, which led me to join Frec as a founding engineer. Frec is a fintech startup, democratizing complex financial instruments which were previously accessible to a wealthy few. Unlike MIME360 and TellApart, where I was very early in my career and also just at the right place at the right time, Frec was a very intentional decision. I had worked with some of the other founding engineers before, so I was confident the team was capable of executing. Josh McFarland (TellApart founder) was the lead investor from Greylock, so that was another huge vote of confidence. When I spoke to Mo Al Adham, the founder of Frec, his thoughts about the team and product-market fit complimented mine, and I was convinced I was making the right decision. Given my prior experience with small and medium-sized start-ups, some of my friends/colleagues reach out to me to help evaluate a startup they’re considering joining. Joining a new company is a big step, both personally and professionally. Making an informed decision is much easier with public companies since a lot of resources/metrics that you might need are already available like revenue growth, median salary for your role, opinion of current and past employees, etc. Such data is generally not available for most startups, especially the early-stage ones (pre-series B) which makes it quite a risky prospect. We know start-ups are inherently hard, and while there is no guarantee of success, you can definitely mitigate some risk by doing your own due diligence. Most start-ups are aware of this and are willing to share information with potential employees within reasonable limits. It's essential to remember that joining a startup is not just about being hired; it's a mutual exploration where you are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. Before saying yes to joining a startup, it's crucial to have a clear understanding of what you aim to gain from the experience. With the hope that it can help others as well, I am sharing some of the things I considered when making my decision to join Frec. Product Understanding the product is fundamental as it forms the cornerstone of the startup's existence. What problem are you trying to solve? What positions you to best solve this problem? Do you have product-market fit (PMF)? If not, what does PMF look like to you? In other words, what metrics will convince you that you've attained PMF? Who are your primary competitors, and what differentiates you from them? What is the biggest pain point for your product/customers right now? Who is the target audience?

As a side note, it always helps if it’s a product you believe you will actually use (now or in the future) Company Evaluating the company's overall health and trajectory is vital for long-term commitment. You don't want to join a company for 6 months for it to run out of money. These questions will help evaluate the health of the company and what are their plans for the next 1-2 years. What's your burn rate and what are your future funding plans? Alternate: What is the current runway?
How much is the current revenue (if any)? Future plans for revenue streams? Team The dynamics and cohesion within the team can significantly impact your experience and success within the startup. Even if there is no financial success, you can still gain a lot by working with a high-performing team. Has anyone already left the company, and if so, why?
How do you facilitate onboarding for new team members?
How do people collaborate and resolve conflicts within the team?
What is the company’s policy on remote or flexible work?
How often do people work from the office? (This might have a significant impact on your decision as well. Early in your career, you want to work with people in the office as much as possible) Founder Understanding the vision and leadership style of the founder(s) can provide insights into the startup's direction. Is this the founder’s first startup or do they have previous exits?


Note: Founders with previous exists (IPO/acquisitions) have done it before and know the recipe well.



For solo founders: Why do it solo considering the percentage of success from solo founders is less? How does the founder brainstorm ideas? For multiple founders: How are conflicts resolved, and how are decisions made? Investors The motivations behind investor backing can shed light on the perceived potential of the startup from a third party. A lot of times startups will let you talk to their investors too. If you’ve already cleared the interviews, then they'll try hard to sell you. You should research the quality of investors backing the company, their past bets, success rate, etc. Why did the investors choose to invest in the founder/company? Are they betting on the team or the product?


What does PMF look like to them?


Hopefully, it’s aligned with Founders vision




Is the press related to the investment? Role Clarifying your role and expectations ensures alignment between personal growth and company objectives. For technical roles, understanding the technological landscape is crucial. A lot of times I’ve seen engineers burnt out by simply using bad tools for the job. How does my role contribute to improving the product?
What does success look like in this role, and how will I be measured? Alternate: Who is your ideal candidate?
What is the technology stack?
What processes are in place for planning, testing, and code reviews?
What is the on-call rotation like? How is deployment managed? As you might have noticed, we're intentionally skipping compensation/benefits in this set of questions, since it can be a post on its own. Not to mention startup compensation gets really complex with ISOs, options, PPU, 409a evaluation, strike price, exercise price, etc. Another aspect not covered that might be crucial to you is immigration-related questions in case you need a work visa. Remember, this isn't meant to be a comprehensive list. You might care about some criteria more than others. By asking the right questions and delving deep into various aspects of the startup, you can make an informed choice that aligns with your career goals and aspirations. One of the most repeated questions I get is: how do I evaluate whether I should join an early seed-stage startup? Embarking on a journey with a startup is akin to taking a leap of faith. While there's no guarantee of success, conducting due diligence can significantly mitigate risks. Having been in such a position a couple of times myself, I wanted to share the framework I use that may help you make your decision. For a quick background, the first startup I joined after my undergrad, MIME360, was acquired by Flipkart to build out its digital store. The four years I worked at Flipkart, it went through a hyper-growth phase to become India's biggest eCommerce company. After doing my Masters in Computer Science from Columbia University, I was fortunate to find another set of high performers with TellApart. TellApart ended up being Twitter's biggest acquisition, and I was fortunate to be part of that journey too. After spending 6 years building ad products at Twitter, I wanted to get back to early-stage companies, which led me to join Frec as a founding engineer. Frec is a fintech startup, democratizing complex financial instruments which were previously accessible to a wealthy few. Unlike MIME360 and TellApart, where I was very early in my career and also just at the right place at the right time, Frec was a very intentional decision. I had worked with some of the other founding engineers before, so I was confident the team was capable of executing. Josh McFarland (TellApart founder) was the lead investor from Greylock, so that was another huge vote of confidence. When I spoke to Mo Al Adham, the founder of Frec, his thoughts about the team and product-market fit complimented mine, and I was convinced I was making the right decision. Given my prior experience with small and medium-sized start-ups, some of my friends/colleagues reach out to me to help evaluate a startup they’re considering joining. Joining a new company is a big step, both personally and professionally. Making an informed decision is much easier with public companies since a lot of resources/metrics that you might need are already available like revenue growth, median salary for your role, opinion of current and past employees, etc. Such data is generally not available for most startups, especially the early-stage ones (pre-series B) which makes it quite a risky prospect. We know start-ups are inherently hard, and while there is no guarantee of success, you can definitely mitigate some risk by doing your own due diligence. Most start-ups are aware of this and are willing to share information with potential employees within reasonable limits. It's essential to remember that joining a startup is not just about being hired; it's a mutual exploration where you are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. Before saying yes to joining a startup, it's crucial to have a clear understanding of what you aim to gain from the experience. With the hope that it can help others as well, I am sharing some of the things I considered when making my decision to join Frec. Product Understanding the product is fundamental as it forms the cornerstone of the startup's existence. Understanding the product is fundamental as it forms the cornerstone of the startup's existence. What problem are you trying to solve? What positions you to best solve this problem? What problem are you trying to solve? What positions you to best solve this problem? Do you have product-market fit (PMF)? If not, what does PMF look like to you? In other words, what metrics will convince you that you've attained PMF? Do you have product-market fit (PMF)? If not, what does PMF look like to you? In other words, what metrics will convince you that you've attained PMF? Who are your primary competitors, and what differentiates you from them? Who are your primary competitors, and what differentiates you from them? What is the biggest pain point for your product/customers right now? What is the biggest pain point for your product/customers right now? Who is the target audience?

As a side note, it always helps if it’s a product you believe you will actually use (now or in the future) Who is the target audience? As a side note, it always helps if it’s a product you believe you will actually use (now or in the future) As a side note, it always helps if it’s a product you believe you will actually use (now or in the future) As a side note, it always helps if it’s a product you believe you will actually use (now or in the future) Company Evaluating the company's overall health and trajectory is vital for long-term commitment. You don't want to join a company for 6 months for it to run out of money. These questions will help evaluate the health of the company and what are their plans for the next 1-2 years. Evaluating the company's overall health and trajectory is vital for long-term commitment. What's your burn rate and what are your future funding plans? Alternate: What is the current runway? How much is the current revenue (if any)? Future plans for revenue streams? What's your burn rate and what are your future funding plans? Alternate: What is the current runway? How much is the current revenue (if any)? Future plans for revenue streams? Team The dynamics and cohesion within the team can significantly impact your experience and success within the startup. Even if there is no financial success, you can still gain a lot by working with a high-performing team. The dynamics and cohesion within the team can significantly impact your experience and success within the startup. Has anyone already left the company, and if so, why? How do you facilitate onboarding for new team members? How do people collaborate and resolve conflicts within the team? What is the company’s policy on remote or flexible work? How often do people work from the office? (This might have a significant impact on your decision as well. Early in your career, you want to work with people in the office as much as possible) Has anyone already left the company, and if so, why? How do you facilitate onboarding for new team members? How do people collaborate and resolve conflicts within the team? What is the company’s policy on remote or flexible work? How often do people work from the office? (This might have a significant impact on your decision as well. Early in your career, you want to work with people in the office as much as possible) Founder Understanding the vision and leadership style of the founder(s) can provide insights into the startup's direction. Understanding the vision and leadership style of the founder(s) can provide insights into the startup's direction. Is this the founder’s first startup or do they have previous exits?


Note: Founders with previous exists (IPO/acquisitions) have done it before and know the recipe well. For solo founders: Why do it solo considering the percentage of success from solo founders is less? How does the founder brainstorm ideas? Is this the founder’s first startup or do they have previous exits? Note: Founders with previous exists (IPO/acquisitions) have done it before and know the recipe well. Note: Founders with previous exists (IPO/acquisitions) have done it before and know the recipe well. Note: Founders with previous exists (IPO/acquisitions) have done it before and know the recipe well. Note: Founders with previous exists (IPO/acquisitions) have done it before and know the recipe well. For solo founders: Why do it solo considering the percentage of success from solo founders is less? How does the founder brainstorm ideas? For multiple founders: How are conflicts resolved, and how are decisions made? For multiple founders: How are conflicts resolved, and how are decisions made? Investors The motivations behind investor backing can shed light on the perceived potential of the startup from a third party. The motivations behind investor backing can shed light on the perceived potential of the startup from a third party. A lot of times startups will let you talk to their investors too. If you’ve already cleared the interviews, then they'll try hard to sell you. You should research the quality of investors backing the company, their past bets, success rate, etc. A lot of times startups will let you talk to their investors too. If you’ve already cleared the interviews, then they'll try hard to sell you. You should research the quality of investors backing the company, their past bets, success rate, etc. Why did the investors choose to invest in the founder/company? Are they betting on the team or the product? What does PMF look like to them?


Hopefully, it’s aligned with Founders vision Is the press related to the investment? Why did the investors choose to invest in the founder/company? Are they betting on the team or the product? Why did the investors choose to invest in the founder/company? Are they betting on the team or the product? What does PMF look like to them? Hopefully, it’s aligned with Founders vision What does PMF look like to them? Hopefully, it’s aligned with Founders vision Hopefully, it’s aligned with Founders vision Hopefully, it’s aligned with Founders vision Is the press related to the investment? Is the press related to the investment? Role Clarifying your role and expectations ensures alignment between personal growth and company objectives. Clarifying your role and expectations ensures alignment between personal growth and company objectives. For technical roles, understanding the technological landscape is crucial. A lot of times I’ve seen engineers burnt out by simply using bad tools for the job. How does my role contribute to improving the product? What does success look like in this role, and how will I be measured? Alternate: Who is your ideal candidate? What is the technology stack? What processes are in place for planning, testing, and code reviews? What is the on-call rotation like? How is deployment managed? How does my role contribute to improving the product? What does success look like in this role, and how will I be measured? Alternate: Who is your ideal candidate? What is the technology stack? What processes are in place for planning, testing, and code reviews? What is the on-call rotation like? How is deployment managed? As you might have noticed, we're intentionally skipping compensation/benefits in this set of questions, since it can be a post on its own. Not to mention startup compensation gets really complex with ISOs, options, PPU, 409a evaluation, strike price, exercise price, etc. compensation/benefits Another aspect not covered that might be crucial to you is immigration-related questions in case you need a work visa. Remember, this isn't meant to be a comprehensive list. You might care about some criteria more than others. By asking the right questions and delving deep into various aspects of the startup, you can make an informed choice that aligns with your career goals and aspirations.

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