How An Introvert Chef became A Tech Founder | Techpreneur | Avi Arya

Actually, I did not know I want to be an entrepreneur. At some point, I wanted to be an astronaut. That did not quite pan out. So I became a chef. And it was a lot of fun. But then I sort of got bored. It just felt like that technology is moving so fast, and I am stuck in a very stable hospitality kind of environment. And there are exciting things happening in technology. So how do you become a part of it? And that. That was turning point, I think, almost eight years back, where I decided that I need to figure out that how can I enter into technology since I do not have that kind of education. And guys, it doesn't matter what kind of education you have, because there are so many resources out there available for you to study from so many people who are ready to teach you. And lear from that's what I did. I figured out a mentor. I figured out a company who would allow me to work with them while I learn more on the technology side. So I joined this startup which was creating a software for hospitality.

Thank you so much for taking the time to be part of this. This is a daddy daughter venture. Dad has just given us the responsibility for this interview. So he'll. But basically. So I'll explain a little bit about our story. We started when we were about 10 and 7 and dad would tell us bedtime stories. And we were very interested about his business and what he did, the struggles he faced. But we would. The point was to teach us a story. Every night when he would tell bedtime story, we would fall asleep because it was so boring. But we didn't want to know every little detail. So he was like, okay, I'm gonna make. Make it about them. So he started shipping the story about us. So he made the story inside his business. He would make it Raviana chocolate factories. Raviana is my name is Raya is Saviana. And when you combine the names, you make it Raviana. And our favorite thing is chocolate. So chocolate factory, that was our business. And so any struggle that he faced at work, he would say, so today, Ryan and Vienna face this struggle. And so it would intrigue us more. And so the more and more we did that, we were like, why don't we share this with the world? And so we wrote a book called bedtime stories. Do you have a book? A copy? I think we have one. Actually, I'm just grabbing it. A van. Do you have one? Okay, maybe I'll pop one at the end of the interview. But we have a book called Bedtime Stories for tomorrow's entrepreneurs where we basically wrote out all these stories and each one was written by either myself, my dad or Abhiana. And our goal with that was to impact young entrepreneurs or young children who don't really who want to learn something, you know, like in a bedtime story, might as well learn about entrepreneurship. And, and so that was our first goal and we made an awesome profit of $550 from that. So after that we were like, let's take on something more challenging where our audience is more broad. And so we're taking on this venture called IM otw Internet Moguls of the World where we are interviewing our top 50 to 100 idols who we as a family adore. And we feel that they would really help our audience learn because it become a school and like an online program that people sign up for and whatever they want to learn about, if they want to learn from you or they want to learn from a YouTuber or from whoever, they watch these interviews, they take their notes and they go through quizzes and all that. And by the end they're experts on whatever they want to learn about. So that's a quick summary. Thank you so much for taking the time out and being a part of this.

Absolutely. I was very surprised to get your email actually and I wasn't sure like, you know, everyone should feel like, oh, I should ask a question, I should figure out if my business is doing good. And that's why we introduced nlp. You know, where you can, how you use Google or Alexa. You simply ask a question like can you book me a cafe or can you give me a recipe of certain things? Right. So it is as simple as that. We wanted you to ask questions, we wanted me to be able to ask questions who did not know technology that well. And we figured out that no, none of the existing companies are going to take a new technology and disrupt what they're already doing because they are just huge in size. They are just huge in their. The companies they cater to already, they do not need innovation, they need more sales. It's only entrepreneurs who can afford to do innovation before they can they sold anything. Just like you guys did.

Awesome. Okay. And explain a little bit more about what your business about just for those who don't know.

Absolutely. So Alpha AI is where we enable business users to ask English language questions on data. You know, data is the new oil. It is here huge. Everyone is collecting a lot of data and they're trying to figure out that, how we can make sense of it. For example, you have seen that Netflix Gives you a lot of recommendations, right? And most of the time you go with the recommendation because they are that good. So they use a lot of data to determine what kind of recommendation they should give to a user and also what kind of episodes or what kind of series they should be creating. It is all based on the data of people who are consuming their content. So this is something, if I ask you to do this, you will feel like, oh, that is, you know, I need a data scientist for it. I need a really complicated technology and good team to put something like that kind of recommendations together. But trust me, today with where technology is, where AI and machine learning is, it is quite just a matter of asking the right questions. And that's what we give you. We give you a simple platform where you can ask questions and understand how you can simply, you know, see where your business is lacking and where you can make certain changes to make it better.

Awesome. Amazing. All right, Ivana, do you have a question?

Yeah. So my first question is, do you ever feel unmotivated at times? Like, like you don't want to do something or you're like not in the mood? And if. Yes, how do you get out of it?

Okay, please answer this to me first. Do you feel unmotivated at some time? Yes, all the time. Right. So I think getting demotivated is so, so easy. You know, even if a little thing happens, your day gets ruined. And you know, even if you spill milk in the morning, you just get demotiv. Happens to us all the time, you know. But I, I think at certain point after school, after college, you realize that there is no one standing behind you. There is no one who's going to come and motivate you. Parents will not force you to study hard because they do not know what you're doing anymore. They are trying to guide you, but you are on your own, sort of. So at that time, I personally do this to myself. I just keep telling myself, be brave. You know, if you don't do it today, tomorrow in the same situation, you will again be stuck. You will just feel that you cannot move ahead and then you'll be stuck at the same place forever. So whenever I feel demotivated, I just tell myself, you know, be brave and move on. It'll get over.

Wow. That's definitely my new motivation. Alright, so I'm sure there's a lot of young people watching this and I know that your parents were the ones who told you kind of focus on something else. Don't focus on this, on being a chef and Cooking and all that. So at what point do you stop relying on your parents? Because a lot of people, you know, they live with their parents. They. The parents make their food, all that. And their parents are also saying, I don't want you following these dreams. I don't follow. What point do you stop listening to your parents and you do what you want?

I think I'm gonna get a lot of calls from the parents after this. Okay. So I think at a certain point, you know, once you're a teenager, once you are in high school, you sort of already have your own mind. You try to figure out that what works for you, what doesn't. But. And parents, especially Indian parents like mine, they will keep telling you, you know, this is what you should be doing, this what you shouldn't be doing. And they told me almost like till the time I proved to them that, no, I can take care of myself. You know, it was many years after college itself, actually. But at certain point, I think this will happen sometime in high school or in college, where you realize that where they are coming from was a different era altogether. Where you are today, things are changing very fast, which was happening to me as well. Where my parents were. They were coming from this mindset of, you know, you need to have a stable job, you need to have fixed salary, you should need to have some kind of, you know, security in your life. But at the point where they realize that she has a mind of her own and when she's trying to do few things, she makes sure that she goes, it gets true, she's not abandoning it. So they took a chance on me, which I think I was very thankful to them that they took that chance. They gave me couple of years to figure things out and I couldn't do it. You know, I. This is my second startup, so before that, I sort of couldn't land where I wanted to, but by that time, they were very understanding because they understood what I am trying to achieve is beyond what they cared for. In fact, which I think parents today have very wide knowledge of what's going on and how things are progressing and what is the pace. So a parent like me, a parent like yours, probably would expose you to as many things as they can, and at certain point, they will let you take your own decisions and it will happen somewhere in high school or college. So, you know, use it wisely.

Okay, awesome. Great. I really like that answer. So, you know, my parents bring my sister and I, they bring us up in a way that everyone is equal, everyone has equal opportunities and anyone can do anything. What Although you know there are challenges faced by women entrepreneurs today with inequality. So what challenges if you have faced any have you faced as a woman entrepreneur?

I think the first comes first pull back comes from the family, usually in Indian families. But I think I did not have a lot of trouble over there because my father is an army and he always brought me up making sure that I am independent and I can take care of things myself. But once I entered the entrepreneurship, this was few years back, I think today things are quite different. The women were looked not down upon, but especially if you are doing a technology startup, you will be heard last. You will not get a piece to say in a discussion till the time you don't come with very heavy preparation.

If you have faced any, have you faced as a woman entrepreneur?

I think the first comes first pull back comes from the family, usually in Indian families. But I think I did not have a lot of trouble over there because my father is an army and he always brought me up making sure that I'm independent and I can take care of things myself, you know. But once I entered the entrepreneurship, this was few years back, I think today things are quite different. We women were looked not down upon. But especially if you're doing a technology startup, you will be heard last. You will not get a piece, a piece to say in a discussion till the time you don't come with very heavy preparation and bring data with you. But I think this is changing now. I remember this one time I was talking to our clients with very early days and previous startups and I had a new colleague with me who had just joined the same day and the client refused to talk to me. Every time he's posing a question, he would make sure that he's posing the question to my male colleague. And I felt a little, you know, it was embarrassing, it was demeaning in a way that, you know, I am here, I'm trying to create something and I have done very so much hard work on this and I have come all the way to meet you and you refuse to talk to me. You are still posing all the questions to my mail counter part who is not yet aware of situation. So I tried to, you know, overtake the conversation a few times but then I realized it was a lost cause. But you know, since then things have changed a lot. Changed a lot in the sense what I have done, what any woman can do, can show their work out, show their work to more people, share with, connect with the network which values what women bring on table. Right. Apart from the core technology. Because that I think, I won't say that men is better than men are better than women or women are doing better, but I think overall the kind of stability, the kind of mindset female brings on table, you know, you all have seen you at your homes, how smoothly things are planned under a female leadership. So I think the same thing happens in business as well. So that certainly holds some points. But today I don't think there is much of resistance that are seen for women. And whether with businesses or with investors, I think things are pretty equal now.

Awesome. That's amazing. Yeah, for sure. Because, you know, like our parents say, like, you are as capable as anyone else. And as long as you put your mind to it, anyone can do anything. Okay, so my next question would be tell us a story that you have heard or on a podcast someone has told you you've read in a book, which really inspired you and that you feel would inspire our audience by sharing. Sure.

It is not a story, but it is something that I have been told. Okay. When I started, initially when I was doing the, I had just joined the new job of sales and technology company, I was going and meeting people every day. You know, going from restaurant to restaurant because our software was in hospitality. And I used to go meet 10 restaurant owners every day. Sometimes they wouldn't even let me inside the door. They'll just, you know, tell me to come some other day. That happens to a lot of sales people and that's fine. But as a young girl, I felt very demotivated. I used to feel like, oh, you know, because I think it was wrong on my part to think that because I'm a girl, they are not letting me in or because I do not know technology, they are not hearing me out. But essentially, I think at that point I lacked a lot of skills, which, you know, I cultivated later on. And I would come back every day and get a little bit sadder. And after fifth day, I started crying profusely. You know, I just couldn't hold my tears back. And I felt that I'm useless coming out of a very stable, very different kind of job. I'm trying to figure something out. And within five days, my spirit was broken. And I don't know where to go now because it felt like I have made a mistake. If I go back to my parents, that means I'll have to listen to what future they have planned for me, which was a scary thought because, you know, you have just gained your independence. So my then boss told Me. You know, Preksha, you are at zero. You know, you literally have achieved nothing at this point. So no matter what you do, you know, whatever you are doing is gonna be, you know, an improvement over whatever you achieve. So you are at zero, whatever.

Especially now as teenagers. Try new things.

Try new things. Try everything that comes your way. And, you know, something will just click. Something will just feel right at some point.

Awesome. That's amazing. So explain to us, when you think of a business, is it better to start your own business that everyone is doing? So if I want to start a business today, would I start a grocery store business that everyone is doing, but do it better or start my own business that no one is doing?

See, it's a very complicated question, actually. So I think both the ways are correct to go, but there are. They both have their own complications. If you are doing a business that no one has done before, that means your chances of failure are much higher. Okay. You need to be prepared for it. You need to be experienced enough to understand if that is something people are not doing because it's not required. And there's a very fine line. It is. It's not like that. People do not eat chili chocolate. So I should not make that. No, some people do. Right. There is an exclusive following of that. So someone tried it, someone tested the market and then created it. Right. So it is. So if you're doing something new, you need to first figure you do. It's gonna be one. It cannot be negative because, you know, it's not just math, it's just an experience. An experience never goes in negative. It always add something to your character, your personality.

Amazing. Okay. Wow. Awesome. You always get 1% better.

Yeah.

Awesome. Aviana, do you have a question?

Yeah. So my next question is, how do you know what you're doing is right for you and you're meant to do it?

I think you don't know that to start with. You just gotta try. You just gotta try a couple of things. In past five years, I have tried zillions of things. You know, I know that we are creating this to empower business users. And within that, you try multiple different things every week. You try something new every week. You try a new content, a new direction, maybe a new conversation with an investor, a customer. You just try to figure it out for yourself. You know, you are basically decreasing the probability of failure by trying as many things as you can do. It is same as, you know, doing your calculations in school. You just try to figure out all the multiple combinations and you see okay. This one is what is best for me.

Okay, awesome. Yeah.

Try enough experience working with someone or training or education to understand that this is what can be a unique proposition. Okay. Now when you do something which everyone is doing, I think it's a very good way to start. When you are a young person trying to see that how can I build a business? You don't necessarily need to go for something that no one has done. Don't do that, it's not required. What is required is pick a model which is very good, which can be done locally, which you can personally execute. You can do it very well through your network, through your marketing, through the conversation you have with people you know, try that out and if it has worked for everyone, it will work for you. And if you can do it better, you probably will build it better than everyone else as well. You know, same goes for Amazon has built an amazing e commerce business where ebay already exist and there are a couple of other providers, right? But they are doing it much better with help of data. They are figuring out better products of their own, better ways to collaborate with your vendors so you don't have to figure out a unique idea. Chances are someone, someone has tried it and fails. You probably will have a better chance of success in the first time venture when you see that, okay, these are the things people fail doing. So for this business to be successful, I will do 1, 2, 3, 4. Because the market is proven, people invest in that, you know what kind of revenue will be generating. So it will be kind of predictable but a good first business to go for.

Amazing. That's a great answer. Okay, Aviana.

Okay, so my next question is we use the term Internet moguls a lot. Internet moguls, the definition to us means someone who spends quality time with their family but also works hard on improving, growing and growing and keep working on their business and works hard. So what would your definition of an Internet mould be?

My definition would be that someone who is up for anything crazy to make sure that people who are in their network, people that they like to bond with, they get value from whatever they are doing. And you know, being brave, because that's the, that, that's the underlying definition of Mughal. They were very brave and fierce warriors. Right? So be a warrior, be brave and be ready to try out anything weird.

Awesome. All right, so our last question to you today is we always speak about micro videos and how important they are to reach across to other people. Dad has micro video mastery course as his main thing. So we know that you're very consistent with your social media game, with your LinkedIn. So do you think that micro videos are very important and they help you get sales and help you get leads?

I absolutely think that because I built our business or hypothesis based on that. Okay, so micro videos, when you're creating those, one of the one important thing to understand is that you are not selling really. And what you're doing is you're trying to educate or show something cool that people will like to see and they shouldn't miss out on. So anyone who's not creating videos for their business today, you know, any kind of video. First of all, if you're not creating it, you're losing out a big chunk of captive audience. And if you are not creating micro videos, you are giving out all those little opportunities where you could have had a little piece of their attention. It's absolutely important because one, you create familiarity with your product, your face. Two, you are creating trust with your customer where they understand, okay, this is the person I see regularly. It is not an unique, you know, it is not just a name brand where you keep seeing a brand, but it is you, a person who's trying to connect with you, who's trying to putting put a lot of work in building that trust. Customer kind of like it. They have had a lot of good conversations. In fact, you know, one of our first connect was with Google Home CEO and it came to LinkedIn itself. And I have, I love to have that conversation. I probably wouldn't, it wouldn't have been possible for me to reach out to someone like him, but just because he took time to see our videos, our micro videos, which, you know, a lot of people were liking, we got that chance. So that could be you as well.

Awesome. This has been amazing. Thank you so much for taking the time out and giving us such educated and definitely such educated answers that we definitely have learned from. And I'm sure the audience watching this has learned from anywhere. Anywhere that the audience can find you.

Yes, I am on LinkedIn by my name, Preksha Kaparwan. You can look me up. And I have recently started posting on Instagram as well. And I go with the handle bossiness. I share that with you. Probably you can put this with the video link itself.

Awesome. Thank you so much. And we hope to stay in touch.

So great talking to you guys.

Thank you as well. Thank you, Sam.