What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Hood CEO Jasveer Singh, who paid a 45k electricity bill for two months, speaks to The New Indian. The screenshots of the bill that he shared on Twitter went viral, arousing the curiosity of netizens about his use of electrical appliances. He also discusses his startup and the struggles he faced to reach where he is today.
NEW DELHI: Hood CEO Jasveer Singh, who paid a 45k electricity bill for two months, speaks to The New Indian. The screenshots of the bill that he shared on Twitter went viral, arousing the curiosity of netizens about his use of electrical appliances. He also discusses his startup and the struggles he faced to reach where he is today.
Here’s the excerpt from the interview:
Khushboo: Tell us about Hood.
Singh: Hood is my fourth startup. I started another company before that. Hood was launched in December 2021, but the product was launched eight to nine months later. So the objective was very simple: “Say whatever you want to say, and need not worry about other people’s Judgement.” So we thought of giving masks to people.
Khushboo: But don’t you think there is a high chance of the app being misused as well? The app just takes the number, OTP comes and it opens.
Singh: Everything has a positive and negative side. So, let’s look at the positive side first. Consider why there is a need for anonymity. For example, when you want to give feedback to a friend, you always try to be slightly politically correct. You might say, “Okay, if we say this, it will be right.” As human beings, we are driven by emotions. Due to these emotions, we often feel that it’s better to say something acceptable. Thus, in this entire thought process, your original thought never comes out. Your true opinion is never expressed. Anonymity always comes with baggage, but we have managed to filter it to a certain extent. For instance, we have a feedback mechanism. We know from the algorithm how negative or positive this content is and what type of content it is. Based on that, we decide whether to promote it or suppress it. Take WhatsApp, for example, which limits how many times a message can be forwarded.
Khushboo: Does the Hood app also have AI tools similar to Instagram and Facebook that hide or delete spam comments?
ALSO READ: Gurgaon man looking for an alternative to Rs 45,000 electricity bill
Singh: There are a lot of Inbuilt AI tools running in the app. You may find criticism on our app but not vulgarity.
Khushboo: Don’t you think people will still prefer platforms like Twitter or Instagram for sharing their thoughts anonymously because the audience base is larger there?
Singh: On Platforms like Twitter there is only one anonymous person, other people are not. So if one person says something the other cannot reply openly and the conversation automatically moves to DM.
Khushboo: You said you had struggled before. Can you please tell us about that as well?
Singh: So, if you pick anyone’s story, there are always a lot of failures; success is always just a few of them, and that’s the case with my story as well.
Paid the electricity bill, now thinking of switching to candles. pic.twitter.com/BVuUR7Nu6U
— Jasveer Singh (@jasveer10) June 22, 2024
Khushboo: Was your family supportive when you dropped the job and decided to start a business?
Singh: So I did not tell my parents for two years that I was doing a startup. The reason was very simple: my dad retired from the army. Generally, if I were to say that I was not doing a job but rather starting a startup, there was a very high probability that they wouldn’t agree to it.
Khushboo: Now do they know? Now, are they supportive?
Singh: Yes, someone has said that your family is not against you; they just don’t want to see you poor. In India, middle-class families typically discourage their children from taking risky steps beyond government jobs. This mindset is a part of society. So, if you’re attempting something like starting a new business, they usually won’t approve of it.
Khushboo. When someone starts a new business, managing funds for business and personal finances is always difficult. So, how did you tackle that?
Singh: I think a lot of people deal with that. I’ll tell you what I did. When I was doing a job, I worked for only 11 months. During that time, I noticed that the savings from those earnings were not enough to start a business. So, my objective was very simple: to build a parallel income, just enough to fund myself and sustain myself.
Khushboo: You guys went to Shark Tank also. The valuation that you got, the fund that you got, Did that boost your business?
Singh: We were well-funded before going to Shark Tank. We had raised $3.2 million and had a decent valuation. When the Shark Tank opportunity came, we were confused about whether we should participate in it or not.
Generally, the participants in Shark Tank are at an early stage, with very low funding like ₹1 crore or ₹2 crore. We had ₹24 crores before. However, because Shark Tank has a pan-India reach, we thought we could do decent marketing for free. That’s how we finally got convinced. When we reached there, it was a great experience.
The major benefit was that our customer acquisition cost (CAC) decreased to ₹10 from ₹35. CAC is basically, how much money you have to pay to bring a user.
Khushboo: Do you have any other plans as a backup?
Singh: I think startups don’t work like that. Plan B doesn’t work because there are 90% startup failures and only 10% successes. In that case, you have to put in 100% or even 200%; you can’t do two things together, right? It’s like meeting someone on a first date and discussing divorce consequences. If it works out well, good; if it doesn’t, it’s destiny. So, in startups, I think businesses fail, but entrepreneurs learn.
Khushboo: When a startup fails, how easy or difficult is it to start again after that?
Singh: I think it is very difficult. I’ve seen people talking about ‘failing fast’ on Twitter. This is a common phenomenon in the startup ecosystem. But I can tell you that the person who follows ‘fail fast’ will not be able to rise again. Let me tell you the reason. ‘Fail fast’ means you fail and then start again. Now, imagine someone who has saved 1 crore from a job to start a business, but that startup failed. Can you imagine that they have to work for another 10 years to start again? I know that failure is an important part, but your job is to do your basic math and not fail due to fundamental reasons. So, I don’t believe in ‘failing fast’. If someone is failing fast, there is a very high probability that they will not be able to start a startup again.
Khushboo: So, after your post about the electricity bill went viral, did that help boost your business? Did it help gain traction?
Singh: Yes. It’s an interesting story about that post. I was just scrolling through my expenses one night and randomly put it on Twitter. When I woke up the next morning, the tweet had already gone viral, and then the media started covering it. All of this helped in terms of SEO when people started searching for HOOD and Jasveer Singh.
Khushboo: Netizens were assuming that either you are using a lot of electric appliances or maybe you are very rich. What do you have to say about this?
Singh: Just to clarify, the bill was for two months, and I mentioned that in the post. Netizens were also commenting that I am involved in cryptocurrency mining and such. It’s not like that. It’s a big home with two ACs, and there was also a high heatwave during that period. That’s why the electricity bill was high.
Khushboo: Are you considering solar power as an alternative?
Singh: Switching to solar can reduce the electricity bill by up to 50%.
Khushboo: Or do you think subsidies on electricity are a better option?
Singh: In my opinion, subsidies like those in Delhi are good.
