Chapter-1: Aashish Pahwa, Founder and Chief editor of feedough.com
15 Oct 2019
5 minute read
Aashish launched a business in 2016 with the hopes of helping entrepreneurs and startup enthusiasts learn more about the startup ecosystem by providing them with articles related to but not limited to business models, brand study, marketing essentials, branding essentials, startup essentials, startup resources and startup process.
ABOUT FEEDOUGH:
Feedough is currently ranked as the 19th best startup website in the world and is paving its way to the top. So far they have served over 5M+ satisfied users and counting. Visit https://www.feedough.com to know more
In this day, an online interview doesn’t seem odd and when you hear about who we interviewed it will make even more sense.
Meet Aashish Pahwa (PGDAV’16) Founder & Chief Editor of Feedough.com
1. You spent 3 years at PGDAV and you must have made quite a few memories. Tell us about your experiences.
Being in a Delhi University college and its society surely results in tons of memories. I got selected to be a part of the street play society of the college on my third day of the college itself. The rest was a rollercoaster ride. The college supported the society very well and we visited (and won in) almost every college in Delhi, and even went to Mumbai, Kanpur, Goa, & other states to attend events.
I loved how supportive the teachers of commerce department were at that time. I aced the class because of their help.
But the real struggle was juggling between college, society, and internships. At the time I graduated, I had almost 18 months of internship experience. Leaving the house at 7 in the morning, heading to college, doing society work, and heading to the office before going back home at around 10 was totally an uphill struggle but I embrace every memory of it now.
I guess, unlike school, college teaches you to be self-reliant more than anyone else. It’s you who go out and find the opportunity. PGDAV being a liberal college almost never said no to accept every opportunity I was provided with during my college tenure.
2. What did you do after completing your graduation?
I started interning with Ogilvy & Mathers in my third year of college and the internship went on even after I graduated. Besides that, I even prepared for CAT and other post-graduation entrance examinations because my family wanted me to. I eventually got placed with Ogilvy and flunked CAT because I started working on a startup idea…which also failed eventually.
You know, corporate life isn’t as ‘cool’ or ‘interesting’ as it seems. So, there’s only one way out to all this, find your own opportunity you can capitalize on.
And I did.
Ever since I started working with Ogilvy, I used my free time to learn more about startups and why my idea failed.
The findings?
There wasn’t a one-stop information resource on the internet which helped new entrepreneurs launch. Hence, after gaining some experience and learning content writing and graphic designing in Ogilvy, I left the company to work on my own venture – Feedough.com.
3. How did you convert you Startup dream into a reality?
Startups are hard to master. You have to find the problem-solution fit first and then validate your hypothesis of the problem-market fit. I played safe with my cards. Released the MVP and Beta version of the website during my days in Ogilvy. I had a hypothesis that if I failed because of lack of knowledge on startup ecosystem’s intricacies, there must be many like me who look up for such information. While I waited for these hypotheses to be validated, I learnt a lot from Ogilvy and also took many online courses to add to my skills.
I left the world’s best advertising agency after working there for 1.5 years to start my own website, but it was worth it. Feedough is currently the #18 best startup website in the world and my work is now cited in many institutions like Harvard Business School, University of Washington, etc.
4. Can you provide some tips on how can one improve their communication skills?
No one can excel in swimming just by reading about it, you have to take your first dive and learn while in water. It’s the same with communication skills. What I suggest is to not stop with a course. Go out attending networking meetups, take part in competitions, and talk about the topics you love to people you don’t really know. It’ll help you a lot.
5. There are students who pursue professional courses like CA, CS, MBA beside their graduation. Would you advise them to sit for campus placement for experience purpose?
Honestly, if you’re pursuing such professional courses just because your family wants you to or because everyone else is doing it and you think you don’t really have a choice, I strongly suggest you to sit for placements and widen your horizon as I believe many of you still don’t know what you want to actually do in your life.
Getting placed gives you a different perspective of what skills are actually needed in the market and where you can fit.
6. What is, in your sight, more advantageous when it comes to placement? On- campus, off-campus or walk-ins?
College life is all about finding your own opportunities. Do take part in on-campus placement drives (even I did) and go for off-campus interviews as well, but don’t limit yourself to them. Make contacts, add people on LinkedIn, and attend networking events. Just don’t think you’ve settled yet. Always look for ways to enhance your skillset. It’ll be a great help eventually.
7. What role, according to you, do Internships play in today’s scenario?
Internships are vital in today’s competitive environment. Try to learn as much as you can. Go for brand names, but then go for interesting profiles as well. Take part in fellowships, be a volunteer, there’s so much to do and learn.
You actually learn most when you’re on-job, not when you’re sitting in the class.
8. Lastly, do you have any message or advice for the current students?
College life is about having fun in everything you do. Things might get tiring but as long as you’re having fun, you are on the right track.
Just keep one thing in mind – if you’re spending more time at home during your college life, you might actually be wasting the most productive years of your life.