Fellow benefactor Of CultureAlley, Pranshu Patni Alerts Tech New companies From Over Promoting

I need to concede that I was going to the CultureAlley office for certain assumptions, and I was shocked.

Expectation: Whitewashed walls that would have gone pale and small cubicles.

Reality: A big glass room with soothing green fluorescent walls (matching green bean bags and yellow high stools at the reception area) and a terrace full of plants. Pranshu Patni, the co-founder of CultureAlley, told us an interesting story behind the inception of the company.

“Nishant, my husband, had to go to China; and not knowing Mandarin and being a vegetarian made it very difficult for him to explain to the locals what food he wanted. So, in 2012, we started with an app for Foreign languages like Mandarin, Spanish, etc. Having a teacher may be effective but it isn’t scalable, so we tapped on to this opportunity where people could learn and have access to different languages on their phones.”

A quick fact: CultureAlley’s product ‘Hello English’ is the No. 1 English learning and speaking app on the India Google Play store in the educational category. The decision to quit a comfortable corporate life came naturally; even when Nishant was pursuing his studies in the U.S., we used to say to each other, ‘Kuch toh acha karna hai.’ We wanted to do something meaningful and scalable.” In 2015, CultureAlley raised a whopping 6.5 million from Tiger Global Management.

Do you think it’s difficult to find investors for women startups?

Pranshu: I don’t think any mature investor would overlook the startup only because it’s a woman. Of course, they’ll grill you to ensure that you are hundred percent into the business but that is regardless of gender. However, if any woman feels that an investor doubts her startup idea on the basis of gender, then I would say she should not raise funds from that investor.

I would advise her to wait and look for other investors.

Pranshu: The one and only time I was questioned for being a woman was, unfortunately, by a woman. She said, “Just because you are Nishant’s wife, don’t even think you’ll be considered a co-founder of CultureAlley.” We both were shocked. I believe the least we the women can do is support each other. 

Women are often less confident compared to men when it comes to technology.

Pranshu: Now, you’ll see more and more women in the IT field. So, I believe that ambition has to be seeded at a very young age and girls should be told and encouraged to take up any profession or any career of their choice.

Women can be and do whatever they want to.

Pranshu: No, we always hire as per their skill set and caliber. I don’t believe in gender discrimination against or for women.

What would you advise to women entrepreneurs who want to startup in IT field?

Pranshu: Firstly, they should try to solve a real problem and not just something that’s in “trend.” She should analyze if their product or service is worth their customer’s time. They should take into the prospect whether it will create a void in their customer’s life if they stop delivering their product or service. The design should be attractive but one should focus initially on the basic package and test run to know its viability and acceptability.

Name five Apps you have on your phone?

Pranshu: Whatsapp, Makemytrip, Grofers, Uber, and a lot of reading apps. My friends name me tech stalker because I just love reading tech books. Apart from that, I read all sorts of books.

The most overrated thing in tech startups right now?

Pranshu: Marketing and promotion are important. However, I don’t think one should spend millions on marketing.

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