Vinayak Bhavnani, co-founder and CTO of Chalo, discusses his entrepreneurial journey, building bus transportation technology, and mobility industry trends with host Gautam Srinivasan.
Vinayak Bhavnani, co-founder and CTO of Chalo, discusses his entrepreneurial journey, building bus transportation technology, and mobility industry trends with host Gautam Srinivasan.
In the last decade, India has emerged as the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. Startups play an active role in driving innovation and job creation in India. The pandemic exposed the negative aspects of all sectors, but it also accelerated digitalization globally, and even more so in India.“Crafting India – A Startup Podcast Series”, powered by AWS and an initiative of Newsreach, in collaboration with VCCircle, uncovers the secrets behind the journey of these successful entrepreneurs, aimed at providing aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. Have to equip. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, who is famous for hosting a variety of TV and digital programs, currently on CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Mint, HT Media, Forbes India and The Economic Times. Is a consultant editor.
India's rapid population growth and urbanization is creating blind spots for innovation, but curious and enthusiastic founder Vinayak Bhavnani, co-founder and CTO of Chalo, is digitalizing India's public transportation system. In the Crafting India podcast series, Bhavnani talks about his entrepreneurial journey, building a bus transportation technology company and mobility industry trends.
Explore the stories of Indian startup founders transforming from dreams to reality, overcoming challenges to seize opportunities, through the Crafting India podcast series.Video Link:
Section 1: Incubator
Public transport has become less of a priority in India due to reliability issues. Take us to the stage where customers started to see the benefits of using Chalo in terms of reliability and convenience. What did they really like? From the customer's perspective we offer two key value propositions. Firstly, due to live tracking, bus passengers have to wait for an average of 15-20 minutes per bus ride, resulting in a time loss of 40 minutes per day. Our live tracking solution has reduced this time to less than 2 minutes, which is a matter of great pleasure.And second, a few years after demonetization in 2018-2019 we introduced tap-to-pay payments and we saw another surge in customer happiness. I think those are some of the unlocks that we were able to take advantage of.
The shortcomings in digitizing and transforming public transportation are significant. So, why do you believe that the challenge of urban public transport remains without a satisfactory solution? A lot has happened including digital payments, digital infrastructure, consumer awareness, consumer habits have changed but still those shortcomings exist.Your thoughts on this?
This is a big question and requires further consideration. The truth is that most of our cities are built for cars, not public transportation. We did it wrong by prioritizing private vehicles over public transport. Apart from this, there are three more reasons I can think of -
1. Lack of focus on this category. Most companies would prefer to build at the top of the pyramid for more affluent high LTV users. So we have products for air travel, intercity luxury bus travel but not as many products for intra-city bus travel. These bus passengers are unfortunately at the bottom end of the pyramid.2. The second one is blindspot. Most people think that buses are run only by governments and are generally hesitant in building a business that is completely dependent on the government. But beyond our metros, most of the buses serving the daily commute are run by small private operators.3. And the third is complexity. People logistics are complex and already underserved, so it will require both time and massive innovation.
You operate in over 50 cities across India and are present in 5 international locations. Overall there is a lot of scaling and your cloud ops are powered by AWS.Tell us about the cost savings and operational efficiencies unlocked for Let's Go with AWS?
Our vision is to solve end-to-end mobility, we want to ensure that your journey is hassle-free and while bus is the best core mile or anchor mile, you need to look for solutions for greater access to the bus network or metro. The requirement is networked and hence, the first and last mile must be addressed. I personally believe in long-term partnerships and AWS has been a true partner. The biggest test comes when adversity strikes, during the time of Covid all mobility was halted and we were in a very difficult situation. AWS helped us massively by helping us reduce costs and increase our commitments, so from a cash flow perspective we are in a better position as a company. These simple gestures go a long way in building trust and respect which are essential for any partnership.Section 2: Accelerator
Tech founders need to know when to take off their developer hat and when to put on their business hat. Your thoughts?
I follow this one principle that I also preach a lot, and that is to maximize the value that you create. Every time you look at a problem or opportunity, think about what is the best way to solve it, and not necessarily what is the best technical way to solve it. In simple terms, we are biased towards using our own tools versus the best possible solution. So one always needs to look at things from the founder's perspective versus the techie's perspective.`Technology is a subset – it is a means, not an end. `Your view on traffic in Mumbai vs Bengaluru?
This is a controversial question. But traffic is increasing in all the cities of Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. If you look at the number of cars on the road in all these cities over the last decade, it has increased. For example, 50% of the road space in Mumbai is consumed by cars. And Bangalore has seen a 2-fold increase in the number of vehicles on the road in the last decade, with almost no increase in the number of buses.So traffic is a nightmare everywhere. We have to find a solution to this. None of us deserve to waste our time and well-being amidst congested roads. And I hope it will be resolved.
India's startup ecosystem is growing rapidly with exceptionally great innovations from visionary entrepreneurs. The adoption of digitalization in various sectors has paved the way for various emerging startups. Stay tuned to the Crafting India podcast series as we bring to you these inspiring entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.Focusing on maximizing value and finding optimal solutions rather than sticking to familiar paths leads to better results.
Follow Crafting India on Instagram instagram.com/craftingIndia
Facebook facebook.com/craftingbharatofficial
x x.com/craftingindiaLinkedin linksin.com/company/craftingindia
(Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by HT Syndication and it will not take any editorial responsibility for this content.)
Vinayak Bhavnani, co-founder and CTO of Chalo, discusses his entrepreneurial journey, building bus transportation technology, and mobility industry trends with host Gautam Srinivasan.
In the last decade, India has emerged as the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. Startups play an active role in driving innovation and job creation in India. The pandemic exposed the negative aspects of all sectors, but it also accelerated digitalization globally, and even more so in India.“Crafting India – A Startup Podcast Series”, powered by AWS and an initiative of Newsreach, in collaboration with VCCircle, uncovers the secrets behind the journey of these successful entrepreneurs, aimed at providing aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with invaluable insights. Have to equip. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, who is famous for hosting a variety of TV and digital programs, currently on CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Mint, HT Media, Forbes India and The Economic Times. Is a consultant editor.
India's rapid population growth and urbanization is creating blind spots for innovation, but curious and enthusiastic founder Vinayak Bhavnani, co-founder and CTO of Chalo, is digitalizing India's public transportation system. In the Crafting India podcast series, Bhavnani talks about his entrepreneurial journey, building a bus transportation technology company and mobility industry trends.
Explore the stories of Indian startup founders transforming from dreams to reality, overcoming challenges to seize opportunities, through the Crafting India podcast series.Video Link:
Section 1: Incubator
Public transport has become less of a priority in India due to reliability issues. Take us to the stage where customers started to see the benefits of using Chalo in terms of reliability and convenience. What did they really like? From the customer's perspective we offer two key value propositions. Firstly, due to live tracking, bus passengers have to wait for an average of 15-20 minutes per bus ride, resulting in a time loss of 40 minutes per day. Our live tracking solution has reduced this time to less than 2 minutes, which is a matter of great pleasure.And second, a few years after demonetization in 2018-2019 we introduced tap-to-pay payments and we saw another surge in customer happiness. I think those are some of the unlocks that we were able to take advantage of.
The shortcomings in digitizing and transforming public transportation are significant. So, why do you believe that the challenge of urban public transport remains without a satisfactory solution? A lot has happened including digital payments, digital infrastructure, consumer awareness, consumer habits have changed but still those shortcomings exist.Your thoughts on this?
This is a big question and requires further consideration. The truth is that most of our cities are built for cars, not public transportation. We did it wrong by prioritizing private vehicles over public transport. Apart from this, there are three more reasons I can think of -
1. Lack of focus on this category. Most companies would prefer to build at the top of the pyramid for more affluent high LTV users. So we have products for air travel, intercity luxury bus travel but not as many products for intra-city bus travel. These bus passengers are unfortunately at the bottom end of the pyramid.2. The second one is blindspot. Most people think that buses are run only by governments and are generally hesitant in building a business that is completely dependent on the government. But beyond our metros, most of the buses serving the daily commute are run by small private operators.3. And the third is complexity. People logistics are complex and already underserved, so it will require both time and massive innovation.
You operate in over 50 cities across India and are present in 5 international locations. Overall there is a lot of scaling and your cloud ops are powered by AWS.Tell us about the cost savings and operational efficiencies unlocked for Let's Go with AWS?
Our vision is to solve end-to-end mobility, we want to ensure that your journey is hassle-free and while bus is the best core mile or anchor mile, you need to look for solutions for greater access to the bus network or metro. The requirement is networked and hence, the first and last mile must be addressed. I personally believe in long-term partnerships and AWS has been a true partner. The biggest test comes when adversity strikes, during the time of Covid all mobility was halted and we were in a very difficult situation. AWS helped us massively by helping us reduce costs and increase our commitments, so from a cash flow perspective we are in a better position as a company. These simple gestures go a long way in building trust and respect which are essential for any partnership.Section 2: Accelerator
Tech founders need to know when to take off their developer hat and when to put on their business hat. Your thoughts?
I follow this one principle that I also preach a lot, and that is to maximize the value that you create. Every time you look at a problem or opportunity, think about what is the best way to solve it, and not necessarily what is the best technical way to solve it. In simple terms, we are biased towards using our own tools versus the best possible solution. So one always needs to look at things from the founder's perspective versus the techie's perspective.`Technology is a subset – it is a means, not an end. `Your view on traffic in Mumbai vs Bengaluru?
This is a controversial question. But traffic is increasing in all the cities of Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. If you look at the number of cars on the road in all these cities over the last decade, it has increased. For example, 50% of the road space in Mumbai is consumed by cars. And Bangalore has seen a 2-fold increase in the number of vehicles on the road in the last decade, with almost no increase in the number of buses.So traffic is a nightmare everywhere. We have to find a solution to this. None of us deserve to waste our time and well-being amidst congested roads. And I hope it will be resolved.
India's startup ecosystem is growing rapidly with exceptionally great innovations from visionary entrepreneurs. The adoption of digitalization in various sectors has paved the way for various emerging startups. Stay tuned to the Crafting India podcast series as we bring to you these inspiring entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.Focusing on maximizing value and finding optimal solutions rather than sticking to familiar paths leads to better results.
Follow Crafting India on Instagram instagram.com/craftingIndia
Facebook facebook.com/craftingbharatofficial
x x.com/craftingindiaLinkedin linksin.com/company/craftingindia
(Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by HT Syndication and it will not take any editorial responsibility for this content.)
