Startup Guide: My Journey from being a professional to an entrepreneur

“The whole is different from the sum of its parts” - Aristotle

When we take a macro snapshot of a problem, it seems overwhelming. But when we break it down into smaller parts, it becomes manageable as patterns start to emerge; patterns that unfold a clear path to a solution.

Bitten by the bug

Being a professional market researcher for nearly two decades, I learnt how important it was to listen to the customer. And yet, I often felt that our industry, one that specializes in listening, could do a better job of it with our own clients.

Of course, the industry has evolved over the years since the 1920s from qualitative to computed-aided and then online surveys. Yet, the need to further democratize research by making it easier and cost-effective was something I believed in deeply. Why should market research remain a domain of large companies? Why is it a support function, when it should be an integral part of any core business decision-making process? Lastly, why is market research “a project” for companies- something that is done occasionally?

My years as a market research professional had equipped me with tools and expertise in the domain. What it also gave me was an urge to contribute back to this industry and help it to overcome these challenges.

The sass in PaaS

Over the years, I had seen how research could form the backbone for developing solutions consumers wanted to buy. I had seen how successful teams built customer feedback as an integral part of decision making. At the same time, I had seen teams that needed to drop market research because it was too difficult or too expensive.

When I ventured into entrepreneurship, SEO, SEM and SMM had started becoming buzzwords. E-commerce platforms were building last-mile connectivity to remote parts of the world for product companies. Social Media platforms were giving voice to the previously silent majority. The advent of newer technological tools and platforms was helping brands build for and cater to niches that were earlier inaccessible to them.

There was a desperate need for market research to keep pace with this. We were struggling to reach customers. We were struggling to hear them, even when they intended to talk. This was the inspiration behind the data collection platform we built that would help companies reach their customers where they are and communicate using the mechanism they are comfortable in.

Innovations - driven by social interactions

The reason behind creating a digital-first inclusive platform was the core assumption that people resisted surveys used in any prototypical research because it was not tailored to how they liked to communicate. Yes, the customer today wants to be heard. But no, she does not want to fill in your half-an-hour long survey. And no, she is not intending to jostle with an unfamiliar interface just because some company wants her feedback. This hypothesis propelled us in the direction of building conversational surveys using the platform customers are most familiar and comfortable with and in the language they prefer.

The journey from conceiving a product to building one took me out of my comfort zone. For the former, I could draw from my domain experience and expertise. But converting the idea into a product needed finding technical expertise, communicating vision and passion to the team, managing budgets and timelines- all this without letting myself get overwhelmed.

Need of the digital era - data-driven businesses

59.5% of the worldwide population is now online. Businesses are speeding up to the reality of digital operations since the pandemic hit. The net global spending on digital transformation is expected to cross $2 trillion by 2022. Hence, the need for creating services that smartly capture data via last mile surveys is imperative. Staying ahead of the game in planning and strategizing is crucial in predicting oncoming change and preparing for it.

With businesses going digital on a war footing, data and marketing have assumed a deeper symbiotic relationship. It has the power to elevate products into solutions.

Bringing the customers' voices close to the companies is why I became an entrepreneur. I have gone through the same cycle as I create my own product- building on an idea, strengthening it with insights, and fine-tuning based on customer feedback iteratively. It has been a journey that has brought tremendous joy; the joy of creating, the joy of solving a seemingly intractable problem and the joy of giving back to the industry I have been a part of. It’s not a journey without its challenges- managing teams, cash-flows, regulatory compliances etc., but one that gives immense satisfaction of adding value to someone’s life.

About the author

Sumit Saxena, Co-founder, Merren

Sumit comes with a power-packed background in business and strategy consulting across multiple verticals. He strives to be an efficacious listener and takes a solution-oriented approach to business.  Some include marketing, HR, finance and communications. He manifests great leadership qualities and believes in delivering more than the mandate asks for.

Sumit has expertise in interacting with diversified stakeholders across the value chain. A specialist in functions like analytics, consumer research, ERP and marketing, he has worked across industries with brands like GE, Siemens, Vodafone, Raymonds, Zee, Disney, Sony, Economic Times, RPG Group, Emami as well as on government projects.

With nearly two decades of experience in market research, strategy consulting and business development, Sumit has also established himself as an entrepreneur. He developed Merren, an end-to-end platform for messaging-app based surveys. His other venture includes Sheevi, an ad/promo campaign tracking solution using audio content recognition technology. His companies include Merren, Pixights Consulting and Inxise Data labs.