#13 Interviews - Anil Agarwal

Anil Agarwal LinkedIn Profile

InCruiter Website URL

Anil has an interesting story that I wanted to share in this newsletter. His background is related to the aerospace industry and he wanted to enter the startup world. He looked for ideas for a while and found one at the end of the day in 2018. For 2.5 years, he worked 8 hours for his product although he has been working as a full time.

At the moment, he has 250+ customers and he has been selling the software from India to the world.

Posts of the week:

• Jason Lemkin from SaaSTR shared that there is a 3rd way instead of bootstrapping or VC-backed. Which is Just Raise One Round.

  Here are the more details. And at the same time Greg Head also mentioned a similar term on his LinkedIn post - One and Done.
  

• One of the players in the digital adoption space - Userflow - had been acquired by Beamer. I hosted the co-founder 4 months ago and at that time they were generating $4M+ ARR with 3 people. Check the interview from the link here.
  

• If you are active on Twitter, you probably see some posts of Jon Yongfook. He is also known as a Bannerbear guy and he decided to not share his revenue publicly. I believe many people will continue like that because for readers MRR is nothing. We don’t know their real journey behind reaching that MRR including marketing, sales, churn, retention, and all similar things.

• Vlad is the co-founder of UI-Bakery and on his LinkedIn post, he shared how they survived, and became profitable in the competitive market.
  

• For those planning to apply to Tinyseed, the application will be opening on February 12th.

It seems like your primary interest lies in the aerospace industry, yet you ventured into the video interview solutions sector with your business. Could you provide more insight into your background?

Certainly. After completing my aerospace engineering degree in 2011, I secured a position in India's defense sector, primarily involved in the manufacturing and design of aerospace vehicles. Despite coming from a family with a business background, I initially pursued employment opportunities.

However, my entrepreneurial drive persisted, and over the course of seven to eight years, I actively sought the right idea to launch my own startup. This quest led me to establish my business in 2018.

Could you elaborate on how the idea for your business came about?

It all started when my co-founder went for a job interview in Bangalore. During her visit, she discovered that there was nobody available to conduct the interview for a chartered accountant position, despite the candidate's significant experience. This highlighted a common challenge faced by many startups and small to midsize companies: the lack of resources or bandwidth to conduct interviews effectively.

Whether it was companies from the FinTech sector hiring technical personnel or those from the IT industry struggling to find qualified chartered accountants, the need for interview solutions was evident. Recognizing this gap, we conceived the idea of creating a marketplace to offer interview services.

Thus, in 2018, we embarked on building a platform that would provide interview solutions as a service to address this prevalent issue in hiring processes.

Just to clarify, your company conducts interviews on behalf of other companies?

Yes, that's correct. Initially, we began with our interview-as-a-service platform, where we handle interviews for our clients. Since then, our portfolio has expanded to include several other products within the same interviewing domain.

So you've been bootstrapping since the inception of your business in 2018, correct?

Initially, we entertained the idea of seeking venture capital funding to fuel our growth aspirations. However, as we progressed through 2019 and 2020, we began to hear from other founders about potential drawbacks and restrictions associated with VC funding. Considering our profitability at the time, we ultimately decided against pursuing venture capital.

At the moment, you actually have more than 250 clients currently?

We've significantly surpassed the initial projection of 45 clients and now serve over 250 clients.

And, is it a model like a SaaS model or you sell your software for a licence fee?

So we have multiple products. We have six products now. One of the products is conducting interviews for the companies where we charge per interview model. Second, we have a platform that's a SaaS model where companies can buy our product to conduct interviews. 

So is it more AI generated?

Yes. So we have an AI-generated interview also, where AI also can take the interviews. That's the latest product. 

Anil, I'm just wondering, why did you start as bootstrapping? Did you have some savings, or were you also focusing on other side projects at that time? Additionally, are you the only founder, or do you have other co-founders?

I have one more founder, and we started together. So, no. So what I did, I started while I was still working.

Subscribe to our newsletter:

• To receive weekly interviews,

• To get the latest updates about SaaS Bootstrappers.

Although you are an Indian company, you mentioned that 70% of your subscribers are from all around the world. How did you grow internationally? What did you do in terms of marketing and sales?

So basically, the product we're into is very niche, and the market is quite limited globally. Hardly 10 or 15 companies around the world offer similar services, not just in India. Given this niche market, companies from around the world seek out our product. Initially, we focused on networking with HR and CHROs to help them understand our product, its solutions, and its pain points.

Later on, we implemented various marketing strategies such as email marketing, Google marketing, and SEO to expand our reach. We also engaged in networking with HR professionals and implemented SEO practices to generate leads through both inbound and outbound marketing efforts.

And it's a very niche and small market, right? It's not as competitive as, for example, CRM.

Exactly. CRM may have hundreds of competitors, whereas we only have 10 to 15. However, our market is also very niche. While CRM is needed by every company, our product is specialized, and many companies are still unaware of it.

And what are the main questions you face from potential customers or what are your struggles at the moment?

Well, most companies inquire about how they can trust us to conduct interviews for their candidates. They want assurance that our interview process is reliable and qualified. They often ask how we ensure the quality of interviews and the competency of our interviewers.

We've encountered various questions along these lines, but we've addressed them by building our platform to ensure transparency and trust. Every interview is recorded, and clients can review detailed feedback reports and interviewer profiles, fostering confidence in our process and team.

What are your future plans? Are you targeting any milestones in the coming year? Do you plan to expand into other regions or consider venture capital funding?

Our mission is to become experts in the interviewing space, focusing on sourcing, interviewing, and onboarding in the recruitment sector. Currently, our six products revolve around interviews, including exit interviews, video interviewing platforms, AI interview software, and more.

We aim to be a top provider of interview solutions globally. We see a growing demand from international markets and plan to expand into the US, Middle East, and Singapore. While we've been bootstrapping, we're open to exploring funding options to support our expansion plans.

Do you have any advice for bootstrappers?

Entrepreneurs often rush to seek funding when starting a new venture, believing it to be the key to success. However, I believe that if your product genuinely solves a problem and resonates with customers, VC funding may not be necessary. Building a solid product and focusing on acquiring clients can lead to organic growth and sustainable revenue generation.

It's essential to manage your finances carefully, balancing revenue and expenses to maintain profitability. Many startups that rely solely on VC funding find themselves in a perpetual cycle of burning through cash without achieving sustainable growth. By prioritizing profitability from the outset, you can build a robust business that can weather market fluctuations and stand the test of time.

While VC funding can provide resources and support, not all funding opportunities are beneficial. Maintaining control over your company's direction and decision-making processes is crucial for long-term success. Bootstrapping allows you to retain autonomy and pursue your vision without external influence.

In summary, while VC funding has its advantages, bootstrapping offers control and independence. By focusing on building a profitable business model and managing finances wisely, you can create a sustainable venture that aligns with your goals and values.

Yeah. And that's what the thing is. And also, I guess the money they have on their bank account is also important at the beginning of the day, right? They should have some savings or they should be okay to work. Same like what you did for two and a half years.

So we specifically followed one approach we call the bottom-up approach. It involves hiring executive-level employees initially. There's a distinction between funded startups and bootstrap startups. In a bootstrap startup, where funds are limited, you typically start by hiring executive-level staff. As you grow, you gradually expand to manager, director, and VP levels.

On the other hand, in a funded startup, once funding is secured, you may directly hire VP-level staff, who then hire managers and executives. However, this can lead to higher expenditure. Both approaches have their pros and cons, but for building a startup, adopting a bottom-up approach is often more sustainable.

Previous Issues:

• How to Leverage the Shopify App. Marketplace and Building 2 Apps - Erman Küplü

• The Importance of Localized SEO - Calendesk

• Everything you need to know about bootstrapping

Thanks again for reading the interview and don’t forget to share this issue if you want your friends to read.

And follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter to get the latest news and trends about SaaS bootstrappers