I am excited to have Ajith Govind, the founder of Cravd, an online marketplace to book a home chef to visit and cook right in your kitchen. He earlier co-founded Turing Labs, achieving Series A funding backed by Y Combinator and top investors, including Insight Partners, raising over $20M.
In this episode, Ajith Govind, co-founder of Cravd, an online marketplace for booking home chefs shares his entrepreneurial journey, including his experience with Turing Labs. He discusses the challenges of launching a startup, the importance of product-market fit, and the significance of culture in building a successful company. Ajit also talks about Cravd’s expansion strategy, focusing on empowering home chefs, providing healthy, home-cooked meals for busy families, and much more!
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Learn
How can marketplace founders be strategic in building moats around their business?
What is the single most important metric for Cravd
Does Ajith pay attention to CACs at all?
What is your favourite business book? –Hard things about hard things
What is your favourite online tool? –Sunsummer
If you could go back to when you started working on Energy Capital Ventures, what is the one thing you would have focused on? – Focus on culture
Timestamps
3:30 Ajit shares insights from his experience co-founding Turing Labs.
6:30 The significance of Y Combinator in Ajit’s entrepreneurial journey.
10:30 Ajit’s thoughts on the importance of mentorship and Y Combinator experience.
12:30 The concept behind Cravd , an online marketplace for home chefs.
14:30 Crave’s initial model and its evolution based on customer feedback.
17:30 The unique selling point of Cravd in providing healthy, home-cooked meals.
20:30 The importance of GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) as a key metric for Cravd .
22:30 Crave’s ideal customer profile: busy, working families with disposable income.
25:30 Ajit discusses the challenges faced by home chefs in the marketplace.
27:30 The importance of building a moat around Cravd ’s business to ensure defensibility.
29:30 How Cravd ’s low take rate (10%) differentiates it from other predatory platforms.
33:30 The importance of launching products quickly and iterating based on user feedback.
34:30 Ajit’s advice for founders: Focus on culture from the beginning to drive success.
Ajith’s Links
LDN– https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajith-govind
Website – https://cravd.com
My Links
Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes
YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal
5-day email course: www.enterprisesalesexpertise.com
Newsletter:
Building a Marketplace for Home Chefs with Ajith Govind from Cravd