एक Indian Startup जिसने Global Payments की दुनिया बदल दी, Cross-border payments की चुनौतियाँ, Idea से Skydo बनाने तक का सफर, Global fintech space में Indian startups के लिए किस तरह के मौके हैं? इन सभी सवालों के जवाब जानने के लिए देखें ये पूरा इंटरव्यू.
#skydo #startupnews #startupindia #startup #startupideas #startupbusinessideas #startupjourney #startupbusiness #startuptips #businessnews #startupstreet #businessideas #goodreturns #sucessjourney
Also Read
EF Polymer: Meet the Indian Startup Turning Banana Peels into Crop-Saving Polymers :: https://www.goodreturns.in/news/ef-polymer-meet-the-indian-startup-turning-banana-peels-into-crop-saving-polymers-011-1453415.html?ref=DMDesc
Masai And XLRI Launch Comprehensive Entrepreneurship Program For Aspiring Founders In India :: https://www.goodreturns.in/news/masai-and-xlri-launch-comprehensive-entrepreneurship-program-for-aspiring-founders-in-india-011-1451807.html?ref=DMDesc
~HT.318~ED.148~
#skydo #startupnews #startupindia #startup #startupideas #startupbusinessideas #startupjourney #startupbusiness #startuptips #businessnews #startupstreet #businessideas #goodreturns #sucessjourney
Also Read
EF Polymer: Meet the Indian Startup Turning Banana Peels into Crop-Saving Polymers :: https://www.goodreturns.in/news/ef-polymer-meet-the-indian-startup-turning-banana-peels-into-crop-saving-polymers-011-1453415.html?ref=DMDesc
Masai And XLRI Launch Comprehensive Entrepreneurship Program For Aspiring Founders In India :: https://www.goodreturns.in/news/masai-and-xlri-launch-comprehensive-entrepreneurship-program-for-aspiring-founders-in-india-011-1451807.html?ref=DMDesc
~HT.318~ED.148~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The only good thing that you can do as a founder is set a great vision and bring
00:06great people along in the journey and obviously you know create good systems
00:10so that you know they know what they are doing and you're out of their way. If you
00:14can do these two three things then I think people can deliver outstanding
00:17results. We had a narrow canvas of FinTech and payments to start with so we
00:22always wanted to start a payments company. Obviously there were many
00:24challenges but I would say all good challenges. Most people at that stage
00:28you know in their mid 30s very well settled and so on. Could probably not
00:33want to disrupt everything and then again restart. For me that felt almost like a
00:38necessity. I had to restart. What is different that we are doing here? An
00:43international wire is surprisingly even today very complicated. It's not like as
00:47easy as just making a local payment. Moving money from bank to bank by creating a
00:52network of partner banks all over the world, technologically integrating with
00:55them. Moving that money fast and simple with the least amount of cost and friction and zero
01:02effort for the receiver. This is what we try to do.
01:05Now working with Gen Z's can be beneficial and there could be challenges too. What's your
01:11people strategy? They feel very fearless to me which I really like.
01:16The second thing I like about working with a young team is there are also not too many
01:22conditioned industry biases or you know business biases that they have.
01:26What is your long-term vision for Skydo? We want to be a global B2B payments company with all
01:33interesting emerging technologies like you know cryptocurrency and stable coins and so on.
01:38You know payments is going to look very differently in the next decade. Maybe that you know in
01:45universal instant payments is going to be a reality and we should be one of those
01:49companies that is making that reality happen.
01:51Imagine a world where international money transfers are hassle-free.
02:00Meet Srivatsan Sridhar, founder of Skydo who is making global money transfer easier.
02:08Today in this episode of Game of Growth we are going to speak about his childhood, his journey
02:12so far and his outlook for his company.
02:15Hello Srivatsan, how are you?
02:17I am good, how are you?
02:18I am doing well. My first question to you is what was the thought behind starting this
02:25fintech business Skydo?
02:27Yeah, the first thought was actually to be an entrepreneur. That was the driving force and
02:34obviously within that then obviously we were looking at my co-founder and I were looking
02:38at areas where you know there are still problems that are significant and not yet well solved.
02:44We had obviously had to narrow down and not say that you know okay what is the business
02:48that we can start. So we had a narrow canvas of fintech and payments to start with. So we always
02:53wanted to start a payments company and why so I will talk to you about it in a little bit.
02:59But basically once we were clear that it was within payments then we did a search on what
03:04are the different problem statements that are still not very well solved and that's how
03:07we came to Skydo.
03:10Let's talk about you now. Let's talk about your childhood. How was it? Who influenced you?
03:15Who was your role model? Yeah, so I grew up in Chennai and my father was a businessman and
03:24he had a small trading business when I was young. And I remember that we came from a very
03:31very simple family. My dad is self-made. He didn't go to college. So he went into entrepreneurship
03:36more as a necessity than you know an aspiration. Because for his qualification or lack of it,
03:44he wouldn't get a job. But I think that profoundly influenced me in my childhood. Because I could
03:51see that you know as an entrepreneur even though you are doing a small business, you are a lot
03:57in control of your destiny. You could decide how much hard you wanted to work or how light
04:02you wanted to take it. Win or lose it's up to you. And I also saw while I didn't realize
04:09it at that time. I realized it probably later on when I was in college or maybe high school.
04:15I also saw the power of entrepreneurship to you know shape a family's economic status within
04:20a generation. Like you know we all started at the same place. My cousins and you know all
04:26my other friends and neighbors. But I could clearly see that because my dad was in business
04:30and he was able to also be successful at it. Our economic you know strata, he was able to like
04:36move much faster than you know everybody else around. So I could see the wealth creation potential
04:41and I could appreciate you know the control over schedule, control over destiny that an entrepreneur
04:47had. Obviously, there were also downsides to it. My father always used to work much harder than
04:52others. Many weeks, all seven days. So while most children would have their parents in the evenings
05:00you know after they work in a bank or in a company and come back home. My dad always used to like I've
05:05hardly ever seen my father come home in the evenings. Like most of the times when I was a kid, I remember
05:10that my dad used to come home after we went to sleep. So yeah, there were some downsides too. But I think
05:15his entrepreneurship shaped me profoundly. Right. So you had a comfort zone, your family business,
05:21right? What was the moment when you decided that you know, no, you want to create something and
05:28probably what were the challenges that you faced? So it was about three, four years into my family
05:35business journey. So I right from the time I finished college, I was very clear that I would join my dad and
05:42you know, take his business forward. That was my aspiration in life. And as that was actually
05:49unfolding, I worked for a few years in other companies before I eventually came to my family
05:53business. And while that was happening, it was exciting. It was exactly what I had imagined it to
05:58be. I was in charge and I was able to like, you know, make decisions, really see my thought in action.
06:04But about three, four years into that journey, I kind of started feeling that
06:08the next 20 years are going to be similar. I'm just going to be, you know, running this business,
06:13it will grow five to 7%, 10% every year, just enough to beat inflation. Beyond a point, I felt like,
06:20you know, I want to build a different kind of business where I actually could go global,
06:24could have more leverage through technology, and not be a very operation led people led business,
06:29which had natural constraints to grow faster. Right. So and I spoke to my father about it.
06:36We also tried to see if in that business itself, there were any possibilities to bring in external
06:41capital, and so on. But when that was not materializing, I decided that I know I should
06:46start something on my own. Right. So that's, that's the trigger that led to it. Obviously,
06:51there were many challenges, but I would say all good challenges, nothing, you know, threatening,
06:57it was just about uncertainty. So most people at that stage, you know, in their mid 30s, very well
07:03settled, and so on, would probably not want to disrupt everything, and then again, restart.
07:09But for me, that felt almost like a necessity, I had to restart. Because then otherwise, I wouldn't,
07:16you know, satisfy this aspiration. So I had to restart, move to Bangalore, you know, get a job,
07:21spend a few years in this ecosystem, learning about startups, learning how to build a startup,
07:27how to work with engineers, how to work with product managers,
07:28how to work with folks who are like 10-15 years younger than me, and so on. So I think I,
07:35working in a couple of companies before starting up helped me, you know, get comfortable with all
07:40this. Right. And then, you know, eventually, when the right time came, you know, my co-founder and I
07:45were able to get started. So that's, that's how, that's how things went.
07:50My partnership with Srivatsan started over casual catch up as friends, when I had just come back
07:59from my hometown, back to Bangalore after COVID, and was just trying to get back into the Bangalore
08:05ecosystem and trying to catch up with friends, understanding what's going on in their careers,
08:09and so on. Srivatsan and I have been actually very close friends ever since we worked together
08:13at Ola. He was my boss. And we loved that working relationship. And since then, we've kept on
08:18catching up with each other regularly. So this happened in the middle of 2021, when this was one
08:24of those catch ups after a long time. And we were telling each other about our jobs, our careers,
08:28our families, and our future plans. And in those future plans, you know, coincidentally, both of us
08:33ended up telling each other that we want to start something of our own at some point. So we said,
08:38why at some point, why not, you know, start something together and start something in the
08:42next six months to 12 months. So that's how this partnership was born. And then over the next few
08:49weeks and months, we sort of put that idea to the test and tried to understand whether we really meant
08:56it and whether we could actually make it happen, whether both of us were equally willing to, you know,
09:02put our jobs aside and get into, you know, entrepreneurship. So and I think our enthusiasm
09:08for that idea only kept increasing. So very soon, it was clear to us that we are going to resign from
09:13our jobs, and we're going to start a company together. So would you mention that, you know,
09:18how to work with people who are probably not millennials, but Gen Zs will speak more about that.
09:24But before that, Skydo tackles cross border, you know, payment that that's a platform. What is it
09:33that you found very interesting? I know, I know of PayPal, but what is different that we are doing
09:40here? Yeah, so this problem is actually quite universal, right? I mean, ever since global businesses
09:46started like hundreds of years ago, there have been challenges about, you know, paying each other. So
09:51even we keep listening to news articles about how rare coins of Roman era were found in some village
09:58in, you know, southern India, or some coin from Egypt was found in, you know, some other country
10:03and so on. So cross border trade and cross border currency movement has been there forever. And the
10:09problems associated with them have also been there forever. The problem, the main problem is one of,
10:15you know, convenience. So each, it's almost like, you know, two different languages trying to,
10:20you know, speak together and, you know, understand each other, right? So the banking system of one
10:24country is very different from the banking system of another. So when somebody is trying to make a
10:28payment through their bank, an international wire is surprisingly, even today, very complicated.
10:33It's not like as easy as just making a local payment. So that was the genesis idea of Skydo saying
10:39that, can we make international payments as easy as a local payment, as easy as what UPI has become
10:45for all of us, right? So that's what we try to do. And that is where we are also different from
10:50the traditional payment companies, which typically rely on credit card rails to move money.
10:55So moving money from bank to bank, by creating a network of partner banks all over the world,
11:01technologically integrating with them, moving that money fast and simple with the least amount of
11:07cost and friction and zero effort for the receiver. This is what we try to do at Skydo.
11:14So let's talk about a little bit about people management now. So from what I understand, you
11:19have around 100 employees, and most of them are Gen Zs. Now working with Gen Zs can be beneficial and
11:27there could be challenges too. What's your people strategy?
11:30For us, it has actually been a blessing to work with younger colleagues because they bring the kind
11:38of energy that it's very difficult to get if you hire only experienced people with a certain bias
11:46already set in when they come in. And I also feel that people who are graduating from college now,
11:51like people who have graduated from college 2016-2017 and after, are actually coming into an India
11:58where startups are already very common. Startups are already a very, you know,
12:03a legitimate way to work. And there is no fear for them of a startup shutting down or a startup
12:08going through good and bad times, etc. Because they know that opportunities are there plenty.
12:13So if I if not this, then I'll do something else. So they feel very fearless to me, which I really like.
12:19The second thing I like about working with a young team is there are also not too many
12:24conditioned industry biases or, you know, business biases that they have. So they are able to think
12:30first principles, which is very important in an industry where we are trying to build something
12:34new. It's not like, you know, platforms like Skydo have existed for a long time. It is a creation of
12:39a new industry paradigm. So when you're trying to create something that doesn't exist, then you want
12:46people who don't have biases, who can think first principles. So these are advantages of working
12:51with, you know, younger colleagues. And we typically, as a startup, want younger colleagues,
12:55because we want people who can join when we are young as a company and they are young,
13:00and then grow along with us, right. And we want their compounding to actually happen along with
13:04Skydo's compounding. It, you know, it also brings with it some challenges. So, you know, youngsters
13:11generally want to work, start work late, end work late, whereas we are in a B2B system where I don't
13:17think a customer is going to appreciate getting a phone call from a salesperson at nine in the
13:21evening, right. So you want to also move that working hours to daytime so that it synchronizes
13:27with our customers' daytime or it synchronizes with our bank partners' daytime, all of which are
13:31more traditional business hours. So those are some of the challenges, but those are very, very minor
13:36challenges compared to the advantages that we get of getting, you know, really young team.
13:40Right. So Srivatsan, we were also, you know, talking offline where you spoke about that you take
13:47hiring very seriously. So the process, what do you look for when you are hiring people for the team?
13:55Yeah. So we look for some demonstrated, you know, excellence. It could be in the form of, you know,
14:02having gone to an excellent academic institution or having gone to, you know, a couple of colleges
14:10or universities. So that means you have like put in some effort into your academics or if it's not
14:14academics then, you know, some early work experience that shows, you know, your initiative and your
14:22drive, right. So it could be like, you know, for example, we have hired folks who from the first
14:26year of their college have been consistently doing internships. So I can see that, you know,
14:31they really have had that motivation to want to work, want to do things from an early age. So we look for
14:38some kind of evidence of drive. Right. The second thing we look for is first principles thinking,
14:44right. So really problem solving that, you know, that that is not conditioned or biased,
14:50but actually is first principles, right. And third, we look for, you know, attitude or, you know,
14:59initiative rather than like aptitude. Aptitude, I think we can we can teach, but a mindset to excel,
15:05a mindset to thrive in uncertainty that also we look for. And we take our hiring quite seriously.
15:10It's one of the things that my co-founder and I also spend a lot of time on and all the leadership
15:15team spends a lot of time on. So all of us spend at least about five, six hours a week in interviews,
15:21and we take performance appraisals of our team very seriously. We take one-on-ones and regular feedback
15:27for the existing team quite seriously. Because I think the only good thing that you can do as a
15:32founder is set a great vision and bring great people along in the journey. And obviously,
15:39you know, create good systems so that, you know, they know what they are doing and you are out of
15:42their way. If you can do these two, three things, then I think people can deliver outstanding results.
15:48Nice. So my next question to you is about, you know, your journey. Now, see, you were born and brought
15:56up in Chennai, you've studied in the US, you have worked with some really big names in the industry,
16:02and now you're a founder. So have you changed as a person? Yeah, I think so, definitely. I think some
16:09of the core values that you imbibe from childhood always remain. But you keep adding on more layers
16:15to your persona as you grow. And I think that's what would have happened for me also. Probably, you know,
16:21becoming more open to newer ideas because I have now lived so many different places that I know no
16:26longer have, you know, biases on I like this or I don't like this. I always look at everything more
16:33neutrally. Because I have enjoyed my time living in Bombay, living in Hyderabad, living in Bangalore,
16:38living in Chennai, living in the US, that there is something good about every place or there is
16:42something good about every institution or every, you know, system you work in. So I think that open
16:48mindedness is probably one thing that I would have probably developed over these years. The second
16:53thing I think is an appreciation for talent or capable people. I think because outstanding people
16:59make for great work environments or great even, you know, personal environments. So constantly seeking
17:04out excellent people is another thing I would have probably added on to my thing. And also, as you,
17:10you know, work for more number of years, and you get more experience, you also realize certain things
17:14that you do well, which are your strengths, certain things that you generally struggle with, which are
17:19not your natural strengths. And so some of those things, you know, you then learn to account for
17:25or adjust for. Like for example, I know that I have a tendency to leave things till too late, till the
17:32last minute. In my early career, I've missed flights because of that. I've missed deadlines because of that.
17:37So now I actually plan for it more systematically, become a little careful and a little more thoughtful
17:45about your choices. But yeah, these are the changes I can see in myself. Right. So fundraising in Indian
17:53ecosystem is can be competitive and challenging. But do you have any experience or that surprised you or
17:59any insight that you know motivated you? Fundraising is challenging, I agree. I think half of the challenge
18:06comes from, you know, sorry to say this, but half of the challenge comes from, you know, the external
18:13pressure that, you know, media and news and Twitter and everything create, right. So people think that
18:18because only the excellent outcomes are actually showcased, you know, in the common domain,
18:23everybody thinks that fundraising means that, you know, every year my entity's value is going to double,
18:28I'm going to get a lot of money, there's going to be like millions of dollars coming in, etc.
18:32But the reality is 99% of startups actually don't raise more than one round. In fact,
18:38about 70% of the companies are bootstrapped, only 30% of the companies even get even one round of
18:43venture funding, even in that 30%, you know, 99% companies can't get the second round of funding.
18:49And those that eventually get, you know, also go through a lot of struggles and only the rarest of
18:55the rare reach, you know, this unicorn status, right. So I think those then massively distort
19:03people's perceptions about how easy or how difficult all of this is. So I think that's the
19:07first challenge in fundraising, that even as a founder, like I am not a, you know, straight from
19:12college founder, I've spent 20 years working before I started. But even for me to get out of that hype
19:16cycle mentally was not easy, right. It took me a lot of, you know, self coaching, I would say,
19:22and then you know, introspection, chatting a lot with friends, etc. to realize that, you know,
19:26what's happening to me, which is, you know, some rounds of fund raise have been easy,
19:30some rounds of fund raise have been very challenging, is actually the norm. It is not an
19:35exception, but this is the reality. So that is the first thing. The second challenge is understanding
19:42what the investor wants or what they are looking for. Typically, we as founders are actually working
19:46at a very granular level within our business, whereas founders are operating at a very macro level
19:52across multiple businesses. So they are looking at more themes, horizontal stuff, whereas we are
19:56vertically into a pigeonhole, which is deep. So understanding that the other person is actually
20:02operating from a very different worldview than you are, is actually another thing that as founders,
20:08it takes some time to get used to. But once you get used to that, then you're able to also translate
20:13your story into the language that they actually look for. And then it becomes slightly more easy for
20:19us to understand each other. I totally look forward to you becoming an unicorn very soon.
20:25So before I let you go, Srivatsan, one last question and then, you know, we'll jump to the
20:30rapid fire round. It's a fun round. What is your long term vision for Skydo?
20:36We want to be a global B2B payments company. We feel like that that space is still available for us to
20:43go and, you know, build something very unique and very simple for small businesses all over the world
20:48to work with each other. Already the world is quite globalized and I think it is only going to
20:5310x over the next few years. In spite of all the, you know, macro challenges that we see currently in
20:59the world, globalization is a one way street and it is going to keep happening. There are more and more
21:04things that like a simple example, five years back, nobody in India was eating avocado and now, you know,
21:10everybody, all they can eat is avocado, right? So now once you are used to some products that are no
21:15longer available locally, but you are now able to source it, then you want more of it. Right.
21:19That's going to happen everywhere. So in this new globalized world, with all interesting emerging
21:25technologies like, you know, cryptocurrency and stable coins and so on, you know, payments is going
21:32to look very differently in the next decade. Right. Maybe that, you know, universal instant payments is going
21:38to be a reality and we should be one of those companies that is making that reality happen.
21:43So obviously for the next two, three years, we are very focused on India. We want to scale in India,
21:48build a great experience for our customers, both for imports and exports, and then start spreading
21:53our wings to more number of corridors and be a global payments company. Like how, you know,
21:58a PayPal or a Stripe etc. have evolved over the last few years. We want to be that kind of company
22:03coming out of India, but now, you know, available globally. Nice. We wish you all the best. And
22:09now we have spoken about the company and hiring and the technology. Let's have some fun. So I have a
22:16list of questions. I don't have a buzzer here, but I ideally, we would love you to, you know, answer in
22:22three or four seconds. Sure. And the first question is, are you a coffee or a tea person?
22:27What was your first job ever? I was a research assistant in the university. I did my master's
22:33in. Right. Early bird or night owl? Night owl for several years, but I have been forced to become
22:41an early bird because of kids. One thing that you cannot live without? Music. Most use apps on your
22:48phone. WhatsApp. Favourite vacation spot? If I have to pick one, I would say go out. And go to comfort
22:57food? Curd rice. If you had a superpower, what would that be? To erase, you know, unpleasant memories
23:05from the past. Nice. And what was the last show you binged, you binged watched? I think it was
23:11Bosch. It's a police detective series on Prime. Right. I watched that. Team iOS or team Android?
23:18iOS. Last book you read for fun? The psychology of money. Oh, interesting. And if you had to describe
23:27yourself in three words, what would they be? Optimistic, spontaneous and big picture. Favourite ice cream flavour?
23:35What a touch. What an unusual skill or talent you have? I can play
23:41the drums, you know, both left-handed and right-handed. Oh, interesting. So, if you could meet a historical
23:49figure, who would that be? Napoleon. And what's your favourite holiday tradition? Favourite holiday
23:56tradition is, you know, we all try to take a break during the Christmas time. Because that's also
24:03the holidays for the kids. And we definitely do a vacation, most likely a beach vacation. So, that's
24:09been like an annual thing for many years. Are you a beach or a mountain person? Very close, but I would
24:14say beach. Okay. And last question, who was your childhood hero? My dad. Nice. So, thank you so much
24:23Srivatsan for joining us today. Thank you viewers for watching us. Thank you so much. Pleasure.
Be the first to comment