Vawsum | Aditya Maheswari | Start Up

The idea originated when I was getting ready to welcome the arrival of my child. I wanted to be actively involved in my child’s education and upbringing, but my work commitments left me with little time. I explored available options in the market and realized that they were all either too expensive or too complicated, or simply ineffective. Vawsum was conceived out of this stubborn desire to be an active participant in every event, throughout my child’s education, with minimal time and cost investment.

Name: Aditya Maheswari
Designation: CEO
Company: Vawsum Schools Private Limited

Links
Website: https://www.vawsum.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vawsum/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vawsum-schools-pvt-ltd/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vawsum/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LtdVawsum

1. What gets you out of bed in the morning i.e what’s your source of motivation?
Imagine a grandmother’s smiling face, seeing her granddaughter crossing the victory line.

Imagine a father’s concern knowing that he needs to spend extra time with his child over mathematics because of a one to one feedback by the teacher.

Imagine a mother’s relief knowing that her child reached school, knowing that she can pay the fees online and not give cash to a child.

Imagine a principal’s joy when his small school, which never saw a computer, go toe to toe with posh schools in the world in terms of learning amenities.

Vawsum is the reason why hundreds of thousands of teachers and parents take pride in how they are raising the children.

Vawsum helps parents and teachers partner with each other to ensure Awesome learning for the child. This is what keeps me motivated.

2. Why should people choose your product/services?
Vawsum is an app made in India, made for India!

Vawsum is associated with the most important need for the social being, that is communication.

Here are some points on why should people choose Vawsum over others:
(i)We have employed the most cutting-edge technology:
a.Instant communication at the click of a button-capability at par with Facebook, WhatsApp.
b.Our mobile phone-based GPS tracking capability is at par with UBER, OLA.
(ii)We have a strong Management Team having extensive work experience across leading organizations and education from leading institutes of the country.
(iii)We are heavily focused on providing the best possible customer service with on-ground Customer Service Teams across all locations where Vawsum operates, and enjoy a high degree of trust among our clients.
(iv)Not only the English language but keep in mind about the geography of India, we support many vernacular languages.
(v)Vawsum can be accessed at the remote locations with 2G network.
(vi)Even if a parent doesn’t have a smartphone, he/she can get the notification through SMS.
(vii)Vawsum is startup India and DIPP recognized and one of the fastest growing startups in the Indian Ed-Tech sector.
(viii)We are adding 2 schools in a day and providing service to more than 600 schools all across India, and expanding business in Nepal, Myanmar and USA.

3. What’s your competitive advantage and why can’t it be copied?
Vawsum has been creating cutting-edge innovative solutions which Clients love. Our deep product and features pipeline launched at frequent intervals have always kept the competition guessing. This has ensured that others always play catch-up.

Also, we have our ears to the ground and are quick to turn around new requirements. This has helped us to remain relevant to our clients.

Above all, our extensive on-ground training and support to stakeholders have ensured extensive engagement inside the app. This ecosystem of happy users comfortable in use of Vawsum is difficult to emulate and replace.

4. What risks are you facing?
Currently, we are facing 2 risks:
1. Change in SMS tariff rate by TRAI could increase usage costs for clients.
2. Creating a monopoly in the telecom industry might adversely affect telecom tariffs.

5. Have you considered any alliance/partnership?
We just entered into partnerships in Myanmar and USA. We are actively scouting for more partners.

6. What comes first for you money or emotions?
I had the choice to lead the Tea Procurement team for Unilever, USA. Financially, I was doing very well for myself. It was the desire to make a difference in the lives of millions of Indians which moved me to start Vawsum.

7. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths:
1.An amazing management team that includes pioneers from top MNCs with a great education background.
2.Professional and trained IT team where all the developers are qualified from top rated engineering institutions.
3.Great understanding of the market and on ground sales and service team of 50+ Vawsum Heroes.

Weakness:
1. As we are a bootstrap startup, we have limited funds from friends and family. Fundraising will help us grow more.

8. Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of.
We were recognized by the DIPP (GOI) as a Start-up for our cutting-edge technology, scalable business model and employment creation.

9. How do you handle the pressure?
I have two amazing children. Every minute spent playing with them equals an hour of meditation for me. This keeps me focused and stress-free.

10. If you sold your company today, what would be the tone of the conversation? What would you want to gain? What would you want to avoid losing?
I have no plans to sell the company. Vawsum, my dream journey has just been started. We have a long way to go.

11. What advice would you give to someone starting out?
There is never a right time to Start.