Arin Verma

Here is the incredible story of Chess.com that is bound to give you goosebumps:

Erik Allebest, originally from Orange County and educated at Stanford Business School, had a deep-rooted passion for chess.

Before founding Chess.com, he created two chess ventures: a teaching service and Wholesale Chess, an equipment supplier.

At first, he relied on SEO and paid searches to attract customers to Wholesale Chess, but this strategy quickly led to diminishing returns.

Frustated with the results, Erik shifted his approach.

He realized the key wasn't in direct equipment sales but in fostering an online chess community where discussions took precedence.

After selling Wholesale Chess for $2.5M, he invested $55K in the Chess.com domain.

Teaming up with college friend Jay Severson, they set out to create the premier online chess community.

Chess.com began as a social hub for chess fans, akin to MySpace, focusing on conversation rather than gameplay.

However, a surge in demand for online chess playing changed their direction. With no willing partners, Erik and Jay developed their own technology.

They introduced a subscription service teaching chess online, which quickly turned profitable.

Chess.com's major asset was its SEO-friendly domain name, driving its expansion.

This strategic advantage helped the platform grow from 1M members in 2010 to 20M by 2017, and over 100M by 2022.

Incredible company
__
Follow Arin Verma

#india #business #startup #technology

Don't be misled by what you see in the newspapers, and internet.

In general, a software engineer's (Tier 1,2; fresher) in hand salary ranges from ₹1L to ₹1.5L only.

> Software engineers are hired by companies by showing them inflated CTC.
> When people ask them what's their salary, they tell inflated CTC because they want to look cool (why not?)
> Parents and kids think CTC/12 as the monthly figure.
> Parents send kids to prepare for IIT JEE, and pursue CSE.
> Kids realise all this was fake, but now its too late.
> And the cycle continues.

Biggest scam ever.
__
Follow Arin Verma
Subscribe to my newsletter 'BusinessBuzz'. Link is in comments.

#india #hiring #technology #coding #interview #dsa #salary

Former VP of Engineer @ Google (Darin Fisher) who helped develop Google Chrome is now working at OpenAI.

They’re thinking about creating their own web browser that works closely with their chatbot.

Imagine searching the web and chatting with AI all in one place—it could completely change how we use the internet.

But that’s not all.

OpenAI has also been talking to companies like Conde Nast, Redfin, and Eventbrite about adding smarter search features to their websites and apps.

It’s clear they’re aiming high, and their moves might take on Google, the king of search and browsers.

OpenAI has already made waves with SearchGPT, showing they’re serious about stepping into Google’s territory.

Meanwhile, Google is trying to stay on top.

They’ve launched their own AI chatbot, Gemini, and are doubling down on innovation.

But things aren’t as secure as they used to be for Google.

The U.S. government recently argued that Google might need to sell its Chrome browser to reduce its dominance.

At the same time, OpenAI is building relationships elsewhere, like with Samsung, and already powers Apple’s smart features on iPhones.

For now, OpenAI’s browser idea is just that—an idea.

But if they pull it off, it could shake up the internet as we know it.

Follow Arin Verma

Roman Saini is the dream child of every Indian parent.
AIIMS, IAS, Billionaire -> he didn't leave anything :)

He is a bit of a prodigy – he cleared the AIIMS entrance exam at the age of 16.

At the age of 22, he cleared the UPSC CSE in his first attempt and became one of the youngest IAS officers in India by securing an AIR of 18.

Yet the lure of running his own business proved too strong.

Along with friend Gaurav Munjal, he launched Unacademy, a startup that aims to provide coaching to students preparing for competitive exams.

It wasn’t an easy decision though.

His father, an engineer, and brother, a paediatrician, weren’t happy that the he was chucking a perfectly good “government job with security” to pursue a dream.

Yet his passion won through in the end.

Incredible Human
__
Follow Arin Verma
#india #business #startup #marketing

Subscribe to my newsletter 'BusinessBuzz.' Link is in comments.

Speaking English and wearing foreign brands in India is very aspirational.

People think wearing foreign brands will make them look superior in status.

No wonder brands try to keep English names even though they are developed and marketed in India

Just by catering to the aspirations of Indians, Aditya Birla Fashion does ~₹5000 crores in revenue annually.

I imagine if all these brands sold clothes under the name of 'Madura Garments.'

No one would buy from it because the brand doesn't sound 'cool enough.'

Anything that makes its customers look better has to cater to the status needs of every individual in a status-driven country like India.
__
Follow Arin Verma
#india #brands #marketing #business #strategy

Subscribe to my newsletter 'BusinessBuzz'. Link is in comments.

This man from BITS Pilani revolutionized the way how normal people book tickets.

His inspiring story, starting from his birth in a village and leading to the creation of India's largest bus ticket booking company, is a tale worth exploring and cherishing.

Phanindra Sama, an electronics engineer from BITS used to travel by bus to visit his family whenever he could. Phanindra had a job as a Senior Design Engineer at Texas Instruments.

One day, during the Diwali break, Phanindra wanted to go home to see his family. He tried to buy a bus ticket but had a hard time finding one.

He asked nine different bus companies, but none of them had a ticket for him. Sadly, he had to stay in Bangalore instead of going home.

Phanindra couldn't stop thinking about this problem. He believed that he could have found a ticket if he had tried a little harder or if there was a way to check for empty seats on buses.

He realized that this was a problem for many people, and it was time to find a solution.

So, he decided to create a software system for booking bus tickets online. He saw a need in the market for such a platform.

Phanindra, along with seven of his friends, started working on this idea. It took them seven months to build the basic version of the software.

Finally, redBus was born, becoming India's most popular online bus ticket booking platform. Phanindra became the CEO of his own company.

At first, not many people knew about RedBus, but Phanindra worked hard to convince bus operators and drivers to use his software. When they saw the positive results, they agreed to use it.

Over the years, redBus gained popularity, and more and more people started using it.

Customers found it easy to use, and booking tickets became a breeze. RedBus was a much better option than struggling to find a ticket.

They even got MS Dhoni be their brand ambassador.

The company was later acquired by Goibibo in a multi-million dollar transaction.
___
PS: (Heard him speak in an interview)
When he thought of building the first product, he didn't have coding knowledge.

So he and his friends, after coming back from their respective jobs started learning coding again by reading books on C++,C programming.

Learning is not a destination; it's a lifelong journey, and the path is paved with curiosity.
__
Follow Arin Verma
Subscribe to my newsletter 'BusinessBuzz.' Link is in comments.
#india #startup #unicorn #business #growth #economics #bits