Sonakshi Nathani talks about pivots, premium pricing, rebranding, conflict management, the role of her co-founder, facing discrimination as a female founder, differences between Indian and US markets, and launching multiple products, in this fascinating second part of our 2-part conversation, with Abbhinav (founder, 123 of AI) and co-host Debayan (from Microsoft).

SONAKSHI REVEALS:

• The origin story of BIK and rebranding
• How they pivoted from an online store builder called Bikai to an AI-powered conversational commerce platform.
• How a sales-led model was not sustainable for them, leading to the decision to target larger enterprises with higher-value contracts.
• Challenges and learnings as a founder: Sonakshi shares her experiences as a founder, including the importance of adaptability, having a co-founder, managing a team, dealing with conflicts, and the challenges of being a woman in tech. She emphasizes the value of harmony, trust, and unity within the team.
• How she faced discrimination as a female founder
• The differences between the Indian and US markets in terms of technology adoption and value perception.
• The launch of ManifestAI

BEST MOMENTS:

• "Pivots are part of the journey. You have to evolve"
• "We went through a lot of ups and downs during that transition - people interpreted it very differently in media, so we went through those phases, but internally we were very strong. We were very happy we saw us moving in the right direction because there was this harmony, there was this unity." - On the value of harmony and unity within the team.
• “We'll only operate in quality, we'll only operate in premium so we started charging a Lac a month and mostly, also very upfront quality." - On the decision to position BIK.AI as a premium product and target high-value customers.
• “Definitely, I cannot control what you think, but I can control who my customers can be. And with what you're saying today, I choose to reject you as a customer." - On standing firm on her values and not compromising for customers who undermine her company.
• "You have to be a good communicator that is a little bit more fundamental as opposed to being an extrovert. Communication is what is key. Can you convey whatever you want in the most effective way?" - On the importance of effective communication as a founder, rather than just being an extrovert.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Abbhinav Venkat, is the founder of 123 of AI, an ed-tech company enabling working professionals upskill in AI/ML. He is an entrepreneur, AI researcher, and podcaster. Prior to starting 123 of AI, he spent several years at multiple Silicon Valley startups as a Computer Vision Scientist. His academic career involved AI research at IIIT-H and Stanford University with several top-tier publications in BMVC, ICCV, ACPR. For his research, he was awarded Qualcomm’s Innovation Fellowship, felicitated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), GOI, as well as invited for talks in 4 continents.

123 of AI’s official website: https://www.123ofai.com

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/abbhinavvenkat