We all have our own journeys, some relentlessly stick to their plans, while others change routes for a different life. Regardless of the path we take, we're always supported and helped by other people in our challenges, celebrations, and transitions. It is such a journey that took Devesh Chawla from cubicles in a wealth management office to the exciting and dynamic world of start-ups. Here is the versatile experience of Devesh Chawla, from being an entrepreneur in the dynamic startup economy to being a mentor to various budding startups.
It might sound usual, but can you please enlighten us with how it all started?
It all began in 2009, with my idea to start a cab service based on GPS. I had created a working model and reached out to various industry experts. However, when I approached the aggregators of the taxi/cab service companies; I was discouraged from pursuing the idea. I took their words seriously and decided not to further work on the idea as it needed political connections and managing unions. Having dropped the idea, I started working in a firm as a wealth manager and was responsible for managing ultra-HNWI (ultra-high-net-worth individual)’s money, who invested in India and abroad across asset classes. Through this experience, I acquired a huge amount of networking and domain expertise.
However, simultaneously, I also saw Ola’s birth and their journey to the 1000-crore club on the footholds of the same idea that I wanted to initiate back in 2009. This turned out to be an eye-opener for me and caused me to reflect on the decisions I made.
Over the years, I had also spent a lot of time mentoring startups and investing in them, connecting with investors, and gaining a lot of experience and exposure.
As a result, I didn't hesitate to work on this next idea, when I had a new idea. I decided to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and investors/mentors by providing a platform for their interactions and valuable feedback from these dignitaries to these entrepreneurs to help them with their journey. Thus, took place the establishment of Chatur Ideas – which has now become one of India’s leading startup-enabling platforms that acts as a ‘One-Stop Solution’ for start-ups and entrepreneurs.
What was the biggest challenge as you ventured out as a start-up mentor?
One of the biggest challenges that I personally faced was acceptance. I was not sure if people would accept me, as there were already bigger players in the market, doing things similar to our business idea, and even they were facing tough times.
I was not sure, being so young, and entering an already competitive field, if I would be able to achieve what I wanted and if the market would respond to it in a positive way. To overcome that I got into it and gave my 100%. I stepped out of my comfort zone and spent more than 18 hours a day on the start-up, making sure that I put all the pieces together to get the benefits of the mentors and the investors.
Eventually, the hard work paid off, and people started seeing the sincerity and honesty in my work, often foregoing the revenue in it, and thinking of the bigger picture. This is how I overcame this challenge and Chatur Ideas was able to rise up rapidly.
It was a slow and shaky start, and I often thought if I made the right call or not, but we eventually started picking up momentum and received a lot of love and compassion from a lot of start-ups by connecting them to the right investors and mentors.
Have you realized your vision, or is your journey is on?
Today we have surpassed our own benchmarks in helping startups, and have scaled up rapidly in India, and are expanding our reach overseas.
Currently, Chatur Ideas has more than 1100+ startups under its wings. We have also collaborated with 1000+ institutions and have a base of 1500+ investors which is rising gradually. Not to doubt, we have a tremendous lifetime value of people associated with us. From an 18 years old aspiring entrepreneur to a 60-plus angel investor, we are happy to cater to all.
About the Author
Devesh Chawla is the Founder & CEO of Chatur Wealth & Chatur Ideas