Dale Vaz, Founder & CEO of Aaritya discusses his entrepreneurial journey, building a trading platform and upcoming trends in the industry.
Indian is a country with great
potential considering its population size, open global economy, and increasing
digital adoption. India’s startup ecosystem is the driving force for India's
economic growth.
The "Crafting
Bharat - A Startup Podcast Series" powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association
with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’
journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with
invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed
for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting
editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.
Financial independence awareness is
rising with the increasing young generation of India, and passionate and astute
founder, Dale Vaz, Founder & CEO Founder of Aaritya, is on a mission to
make financial independence seamless. In the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series,
Vaz talks about his entrepreneurial journey, building a trading platform and
upcoming trends in the industry.
Explore the tales of Indian startup
founders' transformation from dreams to reality, navigating challenges to seize
opportunities through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series.
Video Link: -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNLfEdC4EPA
Segment 1: The Incubator
What
was going through your mind when you put in your papers around this time last
year as the CTO of a (reclaimed) decacorn to lead a startup of your own?
There were a couple of factors that
were running through my mind back in December of the 1 year. One factor was
that I have always seen my career in chunks of 5 years. Every five years I
would take out time to relook at what I am doing and plan the next 5 years. I
believe that 5 years is a good chunk because it gives you enough time to build
something meaningful and at the same time it’s a good enough chunk where you
can then think of the next 5 years as a certain plan. So, I was coming up on 5
years at Swiggy and one option was always open which was to continue. But I
have always had this itch at the back of my mind about taking the experience I
have gained in working at a consumer product company and applying it to some
transformative space. That itch was very strong, and it became even stronger as
I was thinking about the next phase of my life.
How
did you sync your expectations with the investors for Aaritya?
My journey with the VC Community has
been a revealing one because from the outside it would appear that they would
just give the money away. But interestingly what I learned is that the VC
Community is very well educated about the space and so they have their own
perspective and belief on what will work and what won’t. In terms of aligning
the investors with my vision, it was largely mutual agreement, where we both
came to a place where we both felt that we need to focus on the long-term goal
and the long-term is really looking at the new age generations of users coming
up, as more than half of our country is 29 years and below.
Considering
your vast tech experience with Amazon, how do you think AWS could be an
effective partner to help you scale up?
I have a history with AWS due to my
past work at Amazon and Swiggy, we have chosen AWS as our partner for Aaritya.
There are a few reasons why we prefer AWS; one, they give us the ability to
scale but in a very cost-effective manner; second, some of the AWS managed
services allow us to take away some of that operational load and give it away
to AWS.
Segment 2: The Accelerator
Considering
your experience, what would you say is the key to a good working relationship
with the venture capital folks, for all the newly minted founders listening in?
It’s very early for me to give
advice as I have been doing it for a year now, but one thing that has really
worked for me so far is being transparent.
What’s your view on dealing with tech debt that some startups face
when they scale up too quickly?
I have this model which I have used
which has kind of helped me. I see debt as two different types, one is a
short-term mistake that is expensive to fix like a credit card debt and second
is the kind of debt you consciously take like a home loan which is not too bad
to have it around. As a leader you need to balance on when you are taking conscious
debt which you can pay off over time versus when you are taking a poor decision
that can lead to a big pain. As a leader if you can manage conscious calls then
you can achieve the balance between debt and speed of execution.
The Indian startup ecosystem has
been booming making its mark at the global level. With increasing digital
adoption and passionate entrepreneurs, the future of the Indian startup
ecosystem is promising.
Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat
Podcast Series as we bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful
and candid discussion with Gautam Srinivasan.
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