Wishup: A remote employee platform for Entrepreneurs

Wishup is a Delhi based company started by two friends, Neelesh Rangwani and Vivek Gupta. Wishup is started with the concept of providing remote employees for Entrepreneurs so that they get the assistance of professionals for the repetitive task which is time-consuming.

“People mistake us for Virtual Assistant Bots. The fact is we are a remote employee platform. The most exciting thing about Wishup is the kind of user base that we are building. Our customers are the most talented professionals”, says Neelesh. 

We got an opportunity to talk with Neelesh, one of the founders of Wishup. And I am sure; his story will inspire you. Let’s look at his journey as a startup founder. 

 

Give a brief info about your startup?

Need part-time employees?

Are you slogging 10 hours a day?

Need a project manager?

Unable to manage sales leads?

Admin tasks killing your time?

If the answer to any of the above is yes, you can now hire a smart shared assistant/employee at just INR 10999 per month.

At Wishup, we hire, train and manage very talented and experienced remote employees/assistants to help Enterpreneurs/CXOs with repetitive and time-consuming tasks like:

• Managing leads,
• Project management,
• Online Research,
• Build Email database,
• Manage LinkedIn (new clients, build network:),
• Follow up with clients, leads, employees,
• Social media updates
• Manage schedule/calendar,
• Manage inbox,
• Track expenses,
• Set up meetings/reminders

 

 

What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?

Modern urban people are very busy and unhappy.

We’ve always wanted to make their lives hassle-free, productive and satisfying.

We do that by using available human helpers who can take up part of their work.

With a perennial work pressure on entrepreneurs and top management on one side and high availability of generalist quality employees on another side, it made sense for us to connect business owners to available smart assistants who could help them online without becoming a liability.

 

 

Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?

Myself, Neelesh Rangwani, 27, Bhopal, IIT Madras and Vivek Gupta, 28, Jaipur, IIT Madras, IIM Ahmedabad;

We both know each other for last 11 years since IIT Madras days. Close friends and dorm neighbours.

• I did management consulting at KPMG & digital marketing experience from his stints at Rocket Internet (India & Germany). Became head of marketing at com, then moved to Germany to join Shopwings – a hyperlocal delivery venture.
• Vivek: management consultant at BCG – experienced in operations, setting up processes, team-building across retail & procurement.

 

 

Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?

• New Delhi
• Advantage: 1) One of the biggest startup hubs in the country (at par with Bangalore in terms of startups, investors etc.), 2) Great Sales and Business development talent
• Disadvantage: Getting good tech talent. Bangalore has more talent.

 

 

As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?

Processes! Better processes/tech leads to faster growth. We always keep on thinking about how to make world class processes at Wishup. How to take the user from point A to Point B in smoothest possible way. Right now, we work in a very ad hoc way. We need to improve it. Smoother experience will also improve our retention.

 

 

Who are your competitions and how are you better than them?

• None in India – only Indian company providing this service to small businesses
• Zirtual, TimeEtc in US; differentiator: 1/3rd pricing for the same quality

 

 

 How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?

Work-life balance is a myth. Either you work hard and get speedy growth. Or you live your life and have a peaceful job. I get to visit my parents in Bhopal only once in a couple of months. I had a huge network during my IIT Madras days, but I have lost touch with a lot of friends lately. I know I am paying a huge cost to get my venture working. But since I have started it,  I have to make it valuable for our users, employees, and investors.

 

 

Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

We raised funding for a different business model 2 and half years ago. Yes, at the moment we are looking to raise more funds. We have already closed the second round of funds as we speak. I’m not allowed to share the exact details right now.

 

 

What’s the biggest misconception people have about you? Why do they have that? What’s the reality?

Many misconceptions.

1) People mistake us for Virtual Assistant Bots. The fact is we are a remote employee platform.

2) People compare us to Haptik, Donething, Dunzo and similar ventures. Actually, we are completely different. We are focussed on a niche customer segment and we want to add a huge value to their lives. We want to give them an affordable remote employee who can free up their extremelyly busy schedule.

 

 

What gets you excited about this company?

The most exciting thing about Wishup is the kind of user base that we are building. Our customers are the most talented professionals in the industry ranging from Entrepreneurs, Top managers, CXOs, SME owners, consultants, Bloggers, YouTubers, Comedians, Instagrammers, Travellers and everyone who is self-employed and busy.

 

 

Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.

My day starts with checking the number of leads we got overnight, primarily from the US market. My Wishup Assistant generates leads for me through my Linkedin account. Then I spend my time in Marketing campaigns, Recruitment of Sales/BD personnel, Assigning product development tasks to the tech team, Analysing Sales report/ Repeat Revenue reports, Cohorts, And by Evening I start taking up sales calls in the US market.

 

 

Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?

Vivek is my co-founder and we have known each other for more than 10 years now. We were room neighbours since IIT Madras days.

 

 

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