As part of our quest to get you meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world, we invited another yet another passionate entrepreneur – Preetham Keshav for an exclusive interview with BrilliantRead Media. Preetham is the Founder and CEO at tyutee. He is a promising Edupreneur building India’s first and one of a kind SaaS based peer to peer ecosystem purely focussed on addressing all the needs of learners. Let’s learn more about his incredible journey, his background and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Preetham:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
I always had the entrepreneurial spirit in me and the urge to build something of my own. I graduated as an Aeronautical engineer and went on to work in a number of organisations in different industry domains like Aerospace, Automobile and Information Technology.
The entrepreneurial bug had bitten me way long when I was studying and I did have some small entrepreneurial stints as well during this time period. These were the years that definitely gave me more clarity and I could give my entrepreneurial ideas some proper shape. Sales were something that I totally loved and was decently good at.”
After working in several 9-5 jobs, I accordingly decided to act as an Independent Consultant for a number of startups and small companies helping them with their targets and transform business solutions to clients. All the hustling over these years finally helped me materialise my long-cherished dream of opening my own company into reality.
Today tyutee, my brainchild, has been possible because of all the support I have got from my family and close friends. All the experiences that I have had in my professional career and the people I met in this journey have been instrumental in helping me achieve whatever I have today.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
Entrepreneurship is something that is exciting and enables you to push your limits. Yes, along with the exciting things come to a host of challenges as well, however, there is a certain level of an adrenaline rush when you come across challenges and building my own entrepreneurial venture definitely infused in me a similar feeling. Having a comfortable corporate career would have been wonderful but I always felt that I could push my limits and build something of my own. I would say this has been the best decision for me.
‘tyutee’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving with the help of your startup?
Our product is extremely student-centric and we strongly believe in “Changing the way students Network as well as Learn”. We named it tyutee because we wanted to portray this vision of our product being a platform that could solve all student problems.
We wanted a name that was easy to understand and could ring a bell in the minds of people and also be a clear indicator as to who would be the end-user.
As of today, there isn’t a single platform which facilitates or meets all the necessities of a student at one go. Why should a student go through the hassle of visiting various different websites or platforms for their various needs?
tyutee is a SaaS-based EdTech platform, built keeping in mind that a student is the core user and acts as a true one-stop solution to all student problems. Our next-generation platform boasts of core features such as Notes Sharing among peers, robust Knowledge Base creation, Reskilling of a student making them Industry Ready as they graduate, seamless Networking and Alumni Connect.”
Just not this, it also comes equipped with a web of ancillary modules such as, Internships, Jobs, Career Counselling, Workshops and Education Loans etc., all that are capable enough to provide students with a plethora of opportunities required for aiding a holistic career growth.
We want tyutee to become an end to end ecosystem for students.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
We totally adapted to the situation understanding that business in the current scenario was more about survival and less about scaling metrics. We accordingly allowed all our employees to work from their homes.
Some plans had to be downsized, for example, we cut down on new hiring and made use of the present resources. We used this time to improve our platform and research on bringing better offerings to people especially during these tough times.
Incidentally, we found out that many of the Institutes/Colleges in Tier 2 and Tier3 cities lacked proper digital classroom delivery infrastructure or even Notes Sharing / Learning management system. So we proceeded to brainstorm on how we could further better our plans to serve students better and make their life easy. Yes, COVID-19 did deviate our plans a little bit but at the end, we found ourselves a step ahead in offering end to end solutions to students.
How do you manage yourself and keep on going despite the challenges? What drives you?
I always try to surround myself with the right set people from who I can learn and also help. Having a positive influence around you every day is extremely important and it keeps me going.
The constant urge to know about new things and know more people constantly drives me. I always try to adapt to the situations and reinvent myself with the changing times. My family, close friends and colleagues have been constant pillars of support.
In your opinion – As a founder of an Edtech startup, do you really think re-skilling of a student at an institutional level is possible in the present education system in India?
Most college students enter the corporate space with no actual industry knowledge and companies have to spend extra effort and resources in order to train them.
This is an extra burden on the companies as well as students. It would be great if students could be made industry ready while they are in college. Not only will they be capable enough to tackle challenges at the corporate level later but also get placed on a core focussed role with a higher CTC.
With tyutee, we are just trying to bring about this change by making it student-centric and making education delivery relevant as well as accessible. We initiated an ISA based course offering in both Tech and non-tech areas where a student can get Re-skilled to Industrial standards at ZERO upfront cost and also get a placement guarantee from our end.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for an entrepreneur in your opinion?
Patience, eye for detail, quirkiness, ability to effectively lead, a never give up attitude & last but not the least utmost faith and confidence in the vision of the product/company.
We would love to know your advice for all those starting out as an aspiring entrepreneur?
I would advise them to never play safe and be ready to play risks. This is one approach that has always helped me in life. They should always believe in themselves and in their idea, not bothering about what others feel about it. There would be a fair share of successes and failures in any entrepreneurial journey. Let the failures not bog you down as they are great opportunities to learn.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
