Anupam Acharya - Entrepreneurs Should Be Able to Associate With the Cause They Are Working for (Co-Founder - Workex)

                                

As a startup founder, the most difficult part is to hire a good team who will bring the vision to fruition. It's toughest when you don't have initial funding and just starting. How do you then convince people to join you? that I believe Is the hardest part. Of course, achieving product-market fit for a tech-based startup is also the key to success.

Tell us about your background, journey, and upbringing.

My Name is Anupam Acharya. I come from a humble background. I was born in Vrindavan, UP and grew up in a middle-class family in Mathura. My father is an Advocate and my mother is a school (science) teacher. From childhood, I have been very curious about science and was always an active participant in school in various events like debates, drama etc. 

I have been an avid reader from childhood and grew up fascinated by the world of comics like Chacha Chaudhary, Archies, Famous five etc (all Enid Blyton series), Panchtantra and tinkle. 

I believe my version of the future was actually made by reading these and many other books. When I was 12, my passion for reading shaped me into writing my own comics and I remember I used to go around my neighbourhood to sell each copy for 10 rupees.

I have always been more interested in creating things from scratch and observing how they shape up as they evolve. I am a firm believer in science and technology and was good at my studies right from childhood. Post 10th Standard, because I was in a tier-3 town, I didn't have much idea about IIT's and other competitive exams. 

I read about competitive exams like JEE and AIEEE in the newspapers and my family encouraged me to move to Bhopal for further studies as my grandparents live there so I did move out with the permission of my parents. I prepared for competitive exams and was able to clear JEE and entered IIT Kanpur.

When and how did you get clarity on what you wanted to do?

During my college days, I attended multiple lectures from entrepreneurs who used to come during tech fests and share their vision of what they are doing. This really inspired me and motivated me to work on my own ideas as I always full of them. 

E-commerce was still taking shape back then and I was really excited about this so I started a company with my batchmate from college. We ran in for almost two-and-half years and this period was the biggest learning phase for me. Honestly, I could learn more from actually doing stuff than reading about it in the classrooms. 

I have always wanted to create something and this venture gave the wings to my thoughts. I was also involved in a lot of events, being a coordinator of my entrepreneurial activities in the college, gave me an opportunity to connect with people overall.

I believe that grandiose visions are more overrated in movies and literature but at least for me, ideas have always been simple to-do lists. It only becomes grandiose when they are worked upon over long time frames as a compounding magic output. I believe in doing simple stuff and I have learnt that on doing these simple things, and a lot of reading will give you incremental ideas to work upon. That's how my journey has been.

After our first startup shut down, I was really clueless. It was that time when a lot of startups were coming up in the logistics space and I decided to join Delhivery to get some professional experience in a fast-growing startup. There I literally worked day and night without worrying about outcomes overall. 

I was completely focused on understanding the entire logistics space end to end. Over time, I observed a lot of problems in dealing with the workforce which gave me the confidence of starting another venture with my co-founders Nimish and Tarun. We started Workex because we believed that this workforce management space is pretty devoid of tech as our experience has been but honestly, it wasn't enough.

The idea of Workex actually stems from my personal experience of meeting an Auto rickshaw guy in Varanasi who showed me his resume and told me that he is in fact an engineer and wants a job in a corporate setup. The conversation started as he saw me playing around on my mobile talking to someone on a call about Jobs. 

That guy was not happy with his current lifestyle and wanted a change but didn't have any idea how to find a job that best suited him. This experience totally broke me apart as I could relate to his helplessness. I was now sure that this sector needs tech.

I have been on this journey of enabling jobs for people and grateful to share that we recently crossed 2 Lakh hires! It has been a tremendous journey so far and I feel grateful that I was able to help people and learn more about our country.

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What does your typical workday look like?

Given the current WFH setup, my day typically starts with review calls. As everyone is working remotely, it's important to connect with fellow workers and understand if anyone is facing any challenge anywhere. 

I ensure that I spend not more than 5 hours on calls connecting with others and would like to keep at least 5 more hours for my own research, thinking time and putting a lot of time into documenting. We prefer to use task management tools like Trello / JIRA and a lot of time goes into reviewing changes into projects, evaluating progress and communicating over emails.

It's definitely quite a journey as we all shifted from office to WFH suddenly. People are now though used to it and we have found ways to efficiently communicate with each other and feel at peace while also being able to give time to family.

Several global companies have come out and thrown their support behind not needing a formal education. What is your opinion about this?

I have a dual view on this. See, there are some skills which aren't being taught in colleges anymore. For eg, coding. Most developers you meet would tell you that they are self-learners. Almost 95% of people who are coding as part of their living learnt it on their own as part of their interest/hobby. Coding does not require you to go to college. 

So if you can reach that level where you can clear the interview process of companies, honestly, there is no need to go to college. So most companies that are saying this which are not going to evaluate a formal degree for Job are mostly going to consider this for developers profile.

What about other Jobs? I believe a formal degree serves as an entry gate. These jobs are mostly in management/admin and they require communication skills, project management skills and much more which is something you can learn properly through networks. 

Colleges are more useful for building networks as well. We can't discount that part. Such jobs require social skills as well and one can then get it through a good college or working hard in a few companies over a period of time.

How do you handle someone who has lied on their resume?

I will share my experience on this. Resumes are mostly used as an entry to the application process these days. They do not really hold too much when it comes to hiring because companies have evolved and they have created interview processes where the skill set screening is now mandatory. 

Hence, even if someone has lied on a resume, it will eventually become clear during the screening rounds. Today skillset matching is the biggest criteria for joining/hiring decision.

                               

What are some of your typical challenges and how have they evolved over time?

As a startup founder, the most difficult part is to hire a good team who will bring the vision to fruition. It's toughest when you don't have initial funding and just starting. How do you then convince people to join you? That I believe Is the hardest part. Of course, achieving product-market fit for a tech-based startup is also the key to success.

What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs or those eyeing the top job?

Entrepreneurs should be able to associate with the cause they are working for because if they don't, it would become very difficult to continue in the long run. Don't get into entrepreneurship if you want to earn money, focus on the cause, not on the outcome.

For top job people - most part remains same but one thing is that you need to have faith in what others have built and now it's your responsibility to make it big.

Patience is important for any good thing to take shape. Read a lot and be aware of progress happening in your domain. It's very important to read a lot about what you are interested in.

Which is your favourite book and why?

I have many favourite books - Bhagavad Gita (must for everyone), Chaos Monkeys (if you want to learn how advertising tech evolved), Principles by Ray Dalio (good to understand frameworks of business approach).