Indian couple takes their start-up to Silicon Valley: What they learned

They found that not every successful business needs a unique idea, reports Tech in Asia

When your flight gets delayed by more than three hours (variable to source and destination country), the airline owes you a compensation. 

Being techies, both my husband and I started looking for ways to put this money back in the people’s pockets. That’s when we came up with the idea of Instalocate, a travel assistant that notifies you about flight delays and the money airlines owe you. 

We immediately started working on it and launched a quick prototype. The next logical step was to take it to the land of start-ups—Silicon Valley.

I have had some great lessons. I would like to share my top five here.

Ideas are cheap, execution is everything

In Silicon Valley, I’ve learned that not every successful business needs a unique idea. Rather, what you need is unique execution.

An entrepreneur should be a storyteller

Modern day marketers have crafted the term “story-selling,” combining the art of storytelling with the process of selling. Weave stories around your brand. These stories engage the user and make them come back for more.

Small experiments lead to bigger things

When we launched our app, it had just one feature: getting the real-time location of your plane. Now, after four months, we have added multiple features and even filed claims for people. Building a product is a long journey, but each of these small steps helps us reach our destination.

Metrics are important

Aren’t we well aware of the start-ups that are blowing millions on user acquisition but are not able to monetise? When the cost of acquiring a user is more than the lifetime value you earn from them, your company will eventually shut down. 

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here