Prachi, who graduated from Anand, a relatively small city is a now a Program Manager with the Indian arm of Zone Startups, an international start-up accelerator. She shares, “I was one of the very few in my undergrad years to have utilized each of my semester breaks for a corporate internship. I experienced working with start-ups, corporates, CSR wings, and a startup incubator.”
She talks of her journey with Zone Startups, “It was right after my graduation, I reached out to Zone Startups seeking an opportunity to learn and work in the startup ecosystem. It has been an enriching and amazing journey, wherein I have got to work closely with early stage start-ups, experienced founders, as well as corporate and international organisations.”
Being surrounded by great people and solving real problems has always excited me, reveals Prachi. She adds, that having explored multiple work cultures and roles through internships, she knew what she loved to do.
She is motivated to keep working with start-ups because she feels, “I have had the opportunity to work closely with founders, mentors, industry experts and investors. While on the one hand I get to understand from Founders, their perspectives, I also get to see the other side during my joint sessions with potential customers, partners and investors. This helps me understand businesses more holistically.”
“Working with startups that are initially 2-3 member teams, and seeing them grow to as much as a 30-40 member team, has given me the opportunity to experience first-hand how Founders and businesses evolve in 6-12 months. All of this is great learning for me, and preps me should I follow my aspiration to become an entrepreneur later in life,” adds Prachi.
As Prachi shares her tips for start-ups she adds a disclaimer: “Not sure if I am experienced enough to give any tips but I always suggest one thing to entrepreneurs - don't try to create a problem statement. Find a real one, give it your best shot and aim to be a category leader. Also, entrepreneurs should always be open to collaborate, share and give/take feedback.”
After working with Zone Startups for nearly 18 months, She feels, “As I get to work each morning, the awareness of the fact that someone could break a barrier today or someone could breakdown today and my presence could help in some way or other makes all the effort worth it.”
This is her driving force, enabling her to succeed in her chosen field and guide others to their own success as well.
In collaboration with Women’s Web, the media platform that enables women to tell their own stories.
Written by Inderpreet Kaur Uppal