Validating B-to-C Business Ideas and Building to $40M Run Rate: Shaunak Amin, CEO of SnackMagic (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Now we’re approaching the financial crisis right?

Shaunak Amin: Yes. I could have stayed with ING, but there was another opportunity. There was a family office out of Hong Kong looking to open up in New York. I thought it’ll be a good opportunity. I ended up going there right around January 2008. That taught me a lot about starting a financial services firm in New York.

I was one of the first three employees in New York. 2008 was stressful, especially if you were in finance and in New York. That taught me that things could change very quickly. It’s important to be very aware on the macro level. I stuck it out. I learned a lot.

Then in 2011, I got my green card, which would allow me to start my business. I have a little bit of startup experience, but there was one thing that I was lacking which was sales. I wanted to do a job in sales that will teach me how to sell. There are certain nuances between startups here and startups in India. Sales wasn’t the first thing I was attracted to, but I forced myself to learn sales.

I joined a high-growth startup and I joined them as a sales person. There was a company called Novus based in New York. They used to sell software to hedge funds and investment banks to analyze returns. I joined their team. It was a 33-person team when I joined. I told the founder that I’ll be with them for about two years. During the interview process, I made that very clear. I joined Novus in 2011. I was there for close to two years. When I left, I started my company. 

Sramana Mitra: 2013 is when you started this company? 

Shaunak Amin: 2013 was when I told the founder I’m going to leave. He’s like, “Can you give us six more months until the end of 2013?” I was there, but I was already planting the seeds for my next venture which was Stadium. I had experience in food. I enjoy logistics a lot.

If I could do something that is in the intersection between food and logistics, I would love it. It’s not easy, but I thought it was a very interesting problem. I had three or four ideas at that time. DoorDash wasn’t that popular back then. Postmates wasn’t that big. They all seemed very similar to me. I said, “Is there another angle with food delivery that is different from the traditional point-to-point model?” It would be cool if I could get Italian from one restaurant and my wife could get sushi from another restaurant. And it comes to us at the same time.

I didn’t know how I would go about solving that problem. That was one of the ideas I had shortlisted. The other idea was around healthy food. There were a few other concepts. I had to validate one of those to make it the idea that I would start with.

This segment is part 2 in the series : Validating B-to-C Business Ideas and Building to $40M Run Rate: Shaunak Amin, CEO of SnackMagic
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