Building a Marketplace in the Construction Industry | Anjani Duddukuru & Rachana Kapadia, Co-Founders of Suppliers Cave

Habibi, come to Dubai. That's a slogan you've probably heard if you've ever been to the Middle East. Boundary Journeys international road trip continues. I am in Dubai and connecting with one of our launch Academy alumni. They are a husband and wife powerhouse, Anjani and Rajana, that are tackling the industrial waste problem in the construction industry through their company, Suppliers Cave. We're going to talk about making the shift from corporate world to startups and black swan events that shake up your startup and the power of meditation to get you through those highs and lows that startup Life brings you.

3, 2, 1.

We are back again with another episode of Founder Journeys. Today we are in Dubai and we're meeting with one of our portfolio companies, Suppliers Cave. Supplier Cave is based here in the uae, but they're also expanding into North America and using our Canadian startup Visa program to eventually get into Canada. Anjani, why don't you introduce yourself and Rachna and maybe just tell us a little bit about supplierscape first and then we'll dive into your journey and the relationship that you guys have with supplierscape.

Sure. Supplier supplierscape is an online platform to connect suppliers and buyers of industrial products. We help contractors liquidate surplus material and we connect suppliers and buyers in general. Whether they are traders, manufacturers, contractors, or service providers. There are several players in the value chain of any industrial sector. These are manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, service providers, and the end user, of course. So all of them have different needs. So each of them buy and sell goods. So we help these people connect and we provide value by cutting out the procurement process, by simplifying the procurement process.

So you're a multi sided marketplace.

Yes.

So not only do you have people that are looking for these raw materials or these construction materials, you have the groups that are trying to sell it. But are there any other stakeholders involved? Like there's, there's somebody that wants to use the construction, build, to build a building. There's somebody that's got excess from when they finish completing their building. But are there any other type of buyer Personas involved here? Recyclers coming in there and saying, can we take recycle or material and just go take a recycle it?

Yes, there are recyclers involved. At the end of the day, they're buying material from these construction companies who have surplus and they're again selling it to somebody else. So we look at connecting each player, you know, whether they are recyclers or whether they are a manufacturing company buying material from these recyclers so depending upon what the application is and what the uses, we leverage our network to connect these players.

Just to add on into this, that is we're trying to create an ecosystem that is around this entire value chains where it is a buyer could be a seller and from you know, the seller seller could be a buyer. So it's not just that is that there's only one role play. It is of a company or a party. It could be, it is a several role plays. It is by different people that is contributing to the entire site per se.

So it could be these are not one off transaction.

This is like it's a day to.

Day in their business process. But one of the reasons why I asked the recycler question is we've had a couple other companies really start to dive into the circular economy. How can you cycle material back and forth and reduce wastage and excess manufacturing in our ecosystem? So I kind of see you guys playing a real instrumental role in that because you're making things far more efficient for all parties here.

Yes. Just to give you an example, we have manufacturer of aluminium ingots. So they are the suppliers of raw material to various manufacturers who use aluminum ingots and supply the finished product. Okay, they are the sellers but they are also buyers of aluminum scrap because they need this crap to make manufacture the ingots. So they both buy and sell from us. So they buy through us and they. Sorry, they. And they sell through us and they buy from us. So that is the kind of ecosystem that we are talking about and talking about circular economy. You know, we can be called as OLX for industrial products. And if you look at the industrial waste, you know, we all talk about food waste, we all talk about say the waste which consumer waste, you know, the plastic bags or even goods which we buy and you know, which we don't use, which in turn turn into waste. But the industrial waste, it is much more huge and the carbon footprint is really enormous. Just to give you an example, say any project, you know, typically the construction projects, there are procurement and design contingencies involved because of which they always buy more material than what they need. And that typically accounts to 1 to 2% of the project value. So if you're talking about a billion dollar project, you have 20 million worth of inventory which won't be used and which would go as waste and it would go as scrap. And if you look at the yield of such material, it is typically between 2 to 8. And this is where we bring value and we, you know, give those contractors a value of 40 to 60% of the cost price.

And how long have you suppliers can been around?

We have been around for five years. I conceived it around 2015, the idea and it took me a good two years to, you know, get it to life. And we started the company in 2017.

So let's talk about that journey. So what was life like before suppliers cave? Like, what were you doing and how did you come up with this idea of like this is what I want to do?

Yeah. So I was working as a supply chain manager with a construction company called Larsen and Toubro. They're one of the biggest companies in India. It's a construction conglomerate.

Was that in India or uae?

I was in the uae, but it's an Indian based company and it has a long history which dates back to the second World War. And there were two Danish engineers who came from Denmark and they have set up the company here in India and they were supplying equipment to British during that time. And in, during the 70s it was completely nationalized. And the founders, they exited. You know, they got out of their stakes from the company, but they were still highly revered. And that's how the name Larsen Turo, who is of two Danish engineers, but it's a 100% Indian company. Yeah.

Has released.

Yeah.

And so you're sitting at the company.

Yes.

And what motivated you to try to become your own entrepreneur?

I was working as a supply chain manager and I was handling the closeout of a project. It was a project for AdMobco, it's a project for Adnoc, it's oil and gas company in Abu Dhabi. And we had inventory worth 20 million from the project. And I was trying to liquidate that material. Excess material. The project was completed and this is the excess material that has been left over. So I was trying to liquidate the material and I could see freshly mint material which is in mint condition, but it can't be used for any project. It has to go back to a furnace to be melted and made into a different product. So that is where I got the idea because I see the value of the material that is being there and the value we could actually get from, you know, by selling it to a scrap dealer. And yeah, that's how I got the idea. And the motivation has been, you know, it's definitely a lot of carbon footprint and we are better off trying to reduce the waste, whether it is food waste or any other waste. And we would save the planet.

And Rasha, how did you get into this?

So since it was his Idea and being a part of his family and being a spouse. This and again, it is being into investments. I found a lot of. Since it is a lot of investment has been spoken around the ECG concept, the environmental, social and the governance. This was a very right and inapt, you know, transaction or a project to so called for me as such it is to look in and then it was more of an entrepreneurial side of journey that I also wanted to explore and you know, cultivate myself into being a founder and you know, find out that what kind of entrepreneurial st like you know, I mean, qualities do I have? So that was one of the reasons that I roped in and then I had performed a lot of, I mean activities that is into the company, say getting into the strategies, finding it as, you know, guys. Yeah, finding the right talent, guiding the right talent, doing the marketing. I mean, you know, trying to scout for funding at times, you know, standing in front of accelerators to explain it is our program, it is beat. Like, you know, we've participated. It has even at 500 startups, several others, YC and stuff. So yeah, I mean that's kind of a journey for us.

You'd say you got bit by the entrepreneurial bug.

Yes, it was, yes.

But what, what was your journey prior to that? What were you doing before?

So I have, I come from a consulting background, so I've worked with Ernst and Young and Deloitte. I've been into consulting for almost like, I mean I've been into mergers and acquisition. So always have been into that M and A and investment field. So I have seen it as other people do it. And so this was my chance, that is of getting into it, that is and seeing it is if you know, some kind of an operational side of it to see that. And then it is eventually it is. Every startup gets acquired or it is become. Becomes big and starts acquisition. So eventually that was a roadmap that I was seeing and that's where I was interested, inclined into this particular business.

And you dove right in.

Yes, I did.

Now, speaking about diving in. Diving in can be scary at times and stressful at others. What, what are some of the. The ups and downs, the challenges? What are some of the things that you wish you had known? What's going to be ahead of you before you dove in?

I mean, there's a difference between knowing and being. There's probably nothing I did not know. Like we all know, you know, the journey will have high highs and low lows, but how high could it be and how Low could it be that you never get to know without actually doing it. So we all know there would be tough times, but how tough? That was really tough. You know, for me, I couldn't imagine till the time I experienced the lows and the highs as well. And I have seen, you know, having worked in the corporate before and having seen so many projects, you know, I have been part of several strategic exercises and risk management exercises, but I have never seen, you know, there are two, what you call big events that happened during my journey. You can call them as the Black Swan. As one was, there was an embargo between, you know, UAE and Qatar. That was one of the instances where we were looking to sell some equipment to, you know, a company in Qatar. And then this happened. So the deal did not go through. And that had an immediate impact on our business. And the second one was, of course, Covid. And it happened all of a sudden. Like, I mean, it happened in 2019, December. We didn't have the effect until March 2020, but we were not hoping that there would be such an effect.

You know, these two Black Swan events back to back.

Yes. Yeah. This. The first one happened in 20, I think 18 or 17. The second one happened in 2020.

Yeah.

So two years. But really got to see, like, you.

Just started recover from the first flat swan. Yeah, here's another one.

Yes. And, you know, like I say, you know, the only way to deal risk with risk is competency. You know, like, you can have a safety gear, you could have the helmets and protection and all those things. They will protect you, definitely. But, you know, for somebody who is doing a tightrope walk, all that could save him is the skill. And if there is wind, a gush of wind, probably the skill would not help. So the journey is something like that.

And so, Rachana, you're sitting side by side in this journey and you're getting the same lows. How do you stay positive or push through those lows and get yourself back on a high note?

So see, again, it is. No, if it's in third party, it is outside your home. It is. It's still okay. It is. It's a family who's part of this particular journey. So you have to be positive. It is, you know, you cannot, you know, have a sad face that is that, oh, this has happened and I need to sit back. No, I need to be positive so that, you know, I can keep him positive. Because, I mean, you cannot just say that, yes, that this has happened, but, yes, it is a tomorrow we have to at least look at the tomorrow and see that if there is any possibility it is of improvement or seeing it is. I mean since it is. You know, I've been into consulting. It is. I've not seen any single. I mean, you know no, no same. I mean no two days have been same. It's always been different. So I mean taking you know, cues from your own own experience. You would actually. It is, you know, try to imbibe in your own life. So I've always been that way. Is that. Is that I've seen him being time pressured being. It is you know like work pressured. I mean, you know and since we have a family too. It is giving time to the family was also one of an important task which I took it up. But is. But I mean it is something. It is like you know, you have to be positive as a mental support. And I think every spouse does that. I mean it could be a founder spouse or beat an ordinary man's spouse.

So yeah like beyond. Beyond that spousal relationship. You're a co founder in this business and so from. From your seat in the business how. I don't want to say keep a positive outlook but like how do you try to look past the lows and when you're in the lower low. It's low.

It's low.

Yeah, we've all been there.

Yeah.

But like how did you push through?

So you basically analyze it is the situation around. Since it is your work, it is your past work. Also gives you a perspective as to see if it's covert. It is. It's covert. It is. It's not just me was into that covert. It's the rest of the world. If it's Qatar it is embargo then it is. That is. It's not just my business into it. So I mean there will be like you, you. You look around yourself at as you see that you're not the only one say you know into that particular particular situation. And of course it is. You wait for it as a times to turn. We are coming out of COVID now. It is so hopefully we're expecting it is by 2023. It is. I mean we'll be out of this particular pandemic. So you know, we have to have patience is what I have realized. It is a period of time other than that I try to meditate a lot because that is. That's how I keep myself positive. I. I get into a zone where I cut down everything it is and I try to regain my positivity and.

Then if you don't mind, let's talk about that a little bit more because that's one of the things that I teach is a healthy body is a healthy mind. But healthy mind is essential in life and meditation is a great way of doing it. Other people like me, I just exercising and having mental clarity. What can you tell the audience about meditation? How do you do it? Like, how do you implement into your daily life and how do you leverage that forward?

Yeah, sure. So, so when I meditate, it is, you know, like I, I mean I have a group of people that is whom I meditate with so that I get positive energy from them as well. And you know, I, I, I try to at least cut down like at least half an hour during a day. It is in case I try to meditate so that, that it is I'm away from the stress. And then it is when I come out, it is, I'm like fresh. And in terms of, I think it is Anjini's meditation. He goes at 6:30 in the morning to play tennis. So that's his meditation. And it's a combined meditation. It is with the sport, physical exercise and it is cutting off, it is from the business and from the family as well.

Cut away from the family.

So yeah, so yeah, he is regular at his tennis. That is, so that's his way of meditating. But yeah, my way of meditating is, I mean, silence and observation. That is your breath and trying to see it is, you know, I mean, not think of anything at that point in time because thoughts keep coming. But yeah, I mean the techniques of meditation which I actually try using and then try to surround myself with positive people to be more precise, because always that is vibes that you are in. I mean it's an energy that you're trying to take. So try to be in pos. In, in company of people are positive.

And again, the whole point of this Founder Journey podcast is to talk about people's journeys and different tools, techniques and resources that they leverage through that journey. And meditation is one one of them that come up a couple times. But I think it's highly underrated how many successful entrepreneurs actually meditate. It is extremely useful tool.

Yes, it is.

Now I can't do it. I tried many, many times, but I try to clear my head. Not an easy task, but a lot of people do leverage and swear by it.

The thing with meditation is, do you know this? Like, don't think of an elephant.

Oh yeah. Brain cannot process negatives.

No, it's not Just about negatives. Like when you say, yeah, don't think about anything, tell your brain to do. So when you don't think of a.

Dark room, don't think of a car, what do you do? Your brain naturally looks at.

Yeah, so that's what. That's where the problem is. So. And I think meditation, it need not just be, you know, sitting in a room and, you know, trying not to think anything. Probably when you even deeply think about something, you are meditating in a way. So you might not call it meditation, but still it is that.

A lot of different forms and a lot of different angles, but it is something that everybody does at some point in their. Their day. Right?

Yeah.

Just sitting quietly or even I know some people that while they're playing a video game, Mario Kart. That's a sense of meditation because they're zoning. They're zoning in and cutting everything. Yes. This has been an awesome conversation. I really, really love learning about other people's journeys, but I also love learning about their. Their roots and their backgrounds and their hometowns. Okay, we're here in the uae. Dubai. Amazing. Dubai. What's the slogan that's going around right now? Habibi come to Dubai.

Yes.

Yeah.

Tell me about Dubai. Tell me about uae. What's. What's the magic here? Why should other people look at this as a region to expand their business?

Yeah, this is one of the safest place with the best infrastructure and ease of doing business because you could just open a company in a day and they have really set high standards for themselves and they are constantly looking to improve, and that's what makes this place awesome. And yeah, I think it's hard for anybody to miss, you know, the moment you come here and you see around.

Other than that, it is because there is influx of so many nationalities here. You get a lot of talent pool that is to work with different kind of people, different kind of cultures that you interact with. So that sub plus that is in Dubai, that is, it's not just one region that you. I mean, in India, it is if suppose, say, tech is a focus, that is maybe it is. In Mexico, it's not the focus. Maybe in Brazil, that is, it's not the focus. And it's maybe sport. So you really understand from the cultural, you know, leanings as to what, you know, that country could offer and you could, you know, maybe I just get a eureka moment of an idea. It is of, you know, clubbing two cultures together, like getting a tech into a sport and then do something. So, I mean, Dubai has a lot, lot of things to teach as a melting pot.

That's one of the most modern or newest melting pots. So you look at Italy, France or.

New York, US Or Vancouver, they've been.

Around for a while. But Dubai is basically a city that's been built for the last 10 years, but everybody's flocked here, and it has attracted so many great companies, so many great people. It's amazing. I've been for a week now and had an amazing time meeting great founders like yourselves.

That's great.

Thanks for joining us on Foundry Journey and sharing your journey. Hopefully we'll see that journey continue into Canada and we'll get to hear more about the suppliers cave.

Yeah, sure.

Ray, as a closing remarks, maybe you can talk something about Dubai and your journey.

Well, so the Dubai is basically, for me, the third trade mission I've done in 2022. We're only in February, so that's three different countries in two months. But it definitely is one of the highlights for the last two years, because being shut out and not talking to entrepreneurs and finally getting out and connecting with entrepreneurs has been really refreshing. And one of the things I do realize every time I travel is it doesn't matter where you are in the world. Entrepreneurs face the same problems. I was at Hub71 yesterday in Abu Dhabi and got to sit in with Founder Circle, and they were talking about marketing challenges, and one of the ladies talked about how her Instagram ad spend is not producing the same results that it did six months ago. And I kind of chimed up. It said, well, it's because Apple's changed its privacy policies and now all the algorithms for every online digital marketing platform is changing. And it just sparked a whole conversation. Everybody's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, like, talking about what's going on and how they're leveraging it or what they're doing to try to adjust. And it just proves that this is a group here in Abu Dhabi that is probably facing the same problems that a group similar is facing, facing in London, facing in New York, in Miami. Everybody's face what you see? Universal problems.

Yeah.

And so it's refreshing to see that no matter how far apart the world is, we're still very close together.

Yeah.

Very similar.

That's true.

And challenges. All right, thanks for joining us in Founder Journey, and we'll hopefully see you back next week with another episode.

Sure.

Ray, thank you. Thank you very much.

Sam.