Bootstrapping Using Services from Pune: Mindbowser CEO Ayush Jain (Part 1)

Services companies are easy to bootstrap, but often, they grow slowly in the beginning. How do you accelerate? This discussion is about the levers of acceleration.

Sramana Mitra: All right, Ayush, let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, what kind of background?

Ayush Jain: I was born and raised in a city in India called Agra, which is famous for the Taj Mahal. I was born into a middle-class family; education was the focus of the choices that our parents made. They always made sure that we were in the best of the schools possible. I did an integrated post-graduation course in computer science and management from Gwalior. It was a unique program, where you learn both tech as well as management. In introspection, it was a great program and it was a good experience.

Sramana Mitra: What does that bring us up to, Ayush? When did you finish that program?

Ayush Jain: I finished it in 2010.

Sramana Mitra: What did you do immediately after you finished that education?

Ayush Jain: During my college itself, I was more of a person inclined towards building a company or a business, especially I was in an integrated program with some valuable business courses. I was also really into books. A lot of my learning—both during college and throughout my life, even today—has come from books. They’ve been a constant companion for me. Early on, I read books like Rich Dad Poor Dad and No Money Down Marketing. I was clear that I wanted to do something beyond the typical linear career path. I knew I had to take risks and make my own opportunities.

After graduating in 2010, I took a job deliberately at a startup because I wanted to learn and grow. Even while working, I was building websites and launching small projects on the side—hustling, essentially. Looking back, I feel lucky because when you hustle early in your career, you don’t have much to lose.

Sramana Mitra: Where was the startup located?

Ayush Jain: In Pune.

Sramana Mitra: Oh, so you moved to Pune from Gwalior?

Ayush Jain: For my first job, I came to Pune. It is one of the best livable cities in India with good weather, and everything is pretty accessible geographically also. So I started my job with the startup in the city. The good thing about joining a startup was that I was working directly with the CEO. I was the first hire in their marketing and sales. So, it was a good learning curve and I strongly recommend this path.

Sramana Mitra: What did the startup do? What kind of domain did you get expertise in?

Ayush Jain: They were more plain vanilla tech services, basically. My learning was more around sales and marketing of a technology company, like how to build a plan for the company – right from designing brochures to getting on call with customers.

Sramana Mitra: Okay, tech service. How long did you stay there?

Ayush Jain: Around a year.

Sramana Mitra: What happens after that?

Ayush Jain: Within six to eight months, I already got my calling. In fact, over the course of twelve months, I think I resigned a couple of times. Kudos to my boss for still sticking with me. In a way, I was either working on my own projects or on company work—I definitely wasn’t wasting time. I was still able to create enough value for the company, which I think is why my boss was like, ‘OK, you’re working on this idea, but if it fails, you can stay for a few more months.’ Essentially, I could keep doing my job to some extent while working on my own projects.

To be precise, the job lasted about a year and a half. After the first year, I was pretty much in exit mode, spending the last six months both doing my job and building my own thing.

This segment is part 1 in the series : Bootstrapping Using Services from Pune: Mindbowser CEO Ayush Jain
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