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

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