‘I listen more than I talk’

Koo’s co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna speaks to CE about his entrepreneurship journey, social media privacy, and what triggers him to new startup ideas
‘I listen more than I talk’

BENGALURU: It all started at one of the restaurants in Bengaluru when IIT-Ahmedabad alumni Aprameya Radhakrishna and Raghunandan G, jotted down the daily woes of a common man including the loopholes in city’s cab services on a paper napkin. As necessity is the mother of all inventions, the duo (after quitting their corporate jobs) embarked on a journey of entrepreneurship. This gave birth to Taxi and Sure in 2010. Interestingly, Radhakrishna had come across the word ‘start up’  and the concept of entrepreneurship only in 2008.

Fast forward-12 years later-he’s the co-founder of the most talked-about Made In India microblogging site – Koo.However, coming this far wasn’t a cakewalk. A drink in a pub, a drive on the roads of Bengaluru, interacting with people in different cities, and drawing case studies from different brands, have sort of become the groundwork for many of his ideas.One of the fundamental principles Radhakrishna follows in entrepreneurship is to listen more and maintain introversion.

“I listen more than I talk. I start making observations rather than expressing my thoughts in conversations. It’s a natural thing to be an introvert and make mental notes. I connect these dots while driving my car. This is where I come up with solutions,” says Radhakrishna, who also guides and advices young entrepreneurs to understand the size of the problem before jumping on the bandwagon.

Meanwhile, the transition from cab service to a micro-blogging platform happened when he worked on another app called ‘Vocal’ which allows a user to share ideas through voice in regional languages.In 2019, the idea weaved into something that many people in India, especially the tier-2 and tier-3 cities were yearning for to share ideas in local languages. This led to the formation of Koo in March 2020, and Kannada was the first language to be enabled. The first version of the app was tried and tested in Mandya, claims Radhakrishna.

 “Social networks take the shape of the majority on the platform. We saw a spike in the user base from a specific like-minded community. But our call is to every Indian, irrespective of what they think or do. I am an apolitical person who looks at development. People did call us names initially, but I think it has died down,” he says.

Meanwhile, with the growing debate over privacy concerns, the home-grown app understands the importance of complying with the law, especially when it comes to issues concerning the national interest.“If the right authority gives in black and white that content needs to be removed or certain details need to be shared because of the national interest, we will have to abide by it,” says Radhakrishna.

Further, he tells us that some new features have been incorporated in the app, such as allowing users to Koo in multiple languages at once.With the increasing popularity of the app, Radhakrishna is planning to apply for a patent for the product and also introduce audio rooms.“However, the USP of the product is always helping people share their thoughts through local languages,” he signs off.

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The New Indian Express
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