Founder of Apna lives in US, flies first class, has hired his best friends at huge salaries. More in the link below!
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nishantmittaltt_yesterday-i-posted-an-analysis-on-apna-activity-7136198472654897153-hMwv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios Damn. This is serious.
This represents the worst of the ecosystem
All of it happened during the peak bull market. Creating a blue collar marketplace made sense in the bull-bharat era.
The rounds happened in a peculiar way too, most top investors didn't even get the chance to evaluate. It was all too quick. Tiger came in quick succession.
Ultimately, we're now saying "The VC's were terrible negotiators & left him with 50% board seats so they cannot fire him". Well, of course.
VCs created the hype. VCs face the brunt.
donna
Stealth
10 months ago
Do you see them surviving or are they going to crash and burn like others in the ecosystem?
Apna - nope
They’re too over valued
They have barely any revenues
Even if they come up with the best new business idea or pivot, fitting into this valuation is impossible
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Wow. This is a weirdly detailed post:
- lived in the usa for 80% of the company's life. (Building for Bharat, mind you)
- always flew only first class on the company's money (his family did too)
- both these best friends are the only senior folks remaining in the company, all the other 8-9 seniors have quit
- is mostly absent from all company platforms like slack or emails. Never reads anything sent to him, only speaks to his 3-4 best friends or yes-men and conveys feedback through them. Rarely has direct conversations.
I am not able to read the post. Can u name these 3 or 4 best friends mentioned ?
ValidFibre
Stealth
10 months ago
Yeah, I don't understand why they're criticising a founder's lifestyle, it's as if they don't know what it takes to be a founder. And what's wrong with having people you trust and are competent working for you?
The only complains I have is that it's grossly over valued and underdeliverling on its promises and vision. I've been in the company and he needs to setup a better work culture and try to bring about strategic alignment in the org.
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The US bit is very commonly known within the ecosystem.
I'd also heard once he's "run away" to the US. But I guess this is all with the understanding of stakeholders.
Looks like the author had to take down the post. Most likely got served a legal notice I imagine.
Can just find this post now https://x.com/ravihanda/status/1730453950485401872?s=20
MightyLazyGeekStar
Stealth
10 months ago
Another one where they wont get a successful exit
Sabre
Student
10 months ago
Remember working as an intern for an older competitor when apna had just launched very early stage,and somehow they had raised a lot more money than the competitors combined which weree a lot bigger than that. I could never understand how can a company raise so much when their users and revenues are clearly a lot lesser than us. But then I thought maybe it's the story that they must have sold to the investors, fast forward around a year and they have raised a gazillion dollar at gazillions of valuation, yes they got bigger but not proportionally bigger than us and certainly not the kind of valuation they garnered when we know the paying power of the customers they serve. Still don't know how these valuations are made up when they are just another commoditzed app in the space
Assuming you’re referring to WorkIndia
It’s crazy how much better their business is vs Apna despite not even 10% of the capital
Yeah, work india is a really good company, many of my seniors joined in the very early phase as the startup was incubated in our college.
PresidentBiden
Student
10 months ago
Another day of Startups KontRibUting to Indiaah'z GROwTh Saaar!
JackRod
Stealth
10 months ago
Its the same shit, lookup any CEO of Indian startups. Long term move there and work done here. Kuch toh YC mein apply karte he, shift to US, get work done here and are long India. Hypocrisy is unparalleled
This post made my day. Apna never deserved to be funded and doesn't deserve to remain funded. It's plain idiotic from VCs not to demand thier unused funds back.
They never had a monetization plan, nor a tech stack. company is just based on nepotism with multiple CTOs quitting. All "revenue" is either interest income or related party transactions with the US entity staffed with relatives. Their initial media articles implied some 5-6% of India's population, not working population but the entire population (don't remember the exact number) interacted thru thier app!! Sheer madness!
On the ground, brand awareness is zilch amongst the blue collars. There are so many other deserving startups in this space that were deprived funding because of Apna.
And yea, the founder may not be dumb but Sequoia and Tiger certainly are!
Nerdybird
Stealth
10 months ago
Not surprising, one interaction and he felt like the biggest elitist di*khead
Normiesandy
Stealth
10 months ago
All of this is apparently true. And the guy is actually kinda dumb.
Dunno how he raised that kinda cash.
Min 20cr toh kama hi liya hoga
SabChangaSi
Stealth
10 months ago
40-50 cr
Search LinkedIn for Aryan Kenchin. Bigger problems, still not out in the news. Ye to tip of the iceberg hai.
Biskoot99
Stealth
10 months ago
Oh wow, Aryan Kenchin, now the soup thickens 😀
Biskoot99
Stealth
10 months ago
I don’t see anything that adds to the drama though. He was the cofounder and he silently moved on much before Apna hit unicorn. There are stories :)
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What was Apna doing differently than its competitors? Say LinkedIn or Naukri. What was the USP of their product/service? How could the investors see a differentiation in their offering? I have so many questions about this
For anyone wondering, The best friends are -
1. Karna choksi
2. Tanmay Desai
3. Priyank Mehta
Biskoot99
Stealth
10 months ago
Tanmay and Priyank live in Bangalore. Karna and Ronak are the expensive US friends.
The post talks about 3-4 best friends, NOT necessarily best friends living in the US.
chief
Student
10 months ago
How’s Apna doing now?
MetalMan20
Stealth
10 months ago
Almost feel bad for the 10-20 amazing resilient founders that could've been funded with this Money!
Been personally spending months speaking with multiple folks, all echo the same thoughts of the disparity despite having built sensible businesses and churning through their own life savings to build their venture!
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