“It’s about finding people who love solving problems”

Snaphunt, whose only full-time employee was Tulika herself till early last year when they raised USD 1 million in a seed funding round led by BEENEXT, currently has 15 staff.

And, unsurprisingly, all 15 staff were hired on their very own platform. But what does she look for in her candidates?

“You need different people for different stages in the start-up journey. We are now at a very early stage where each person plays a big role. But one thing I realize is that I can’t expect candidates to be as passionate with the product as a founder. But what you can do is hire people who love solving problems,” she noted.

“We are building a first-of-its-kind product, we need to create a new path and not just follow what someone else is doing. In a start-up it’s not about how much experience you have but how much talent you have.

“We want people who like to speak their mind and don’t want to be a hierarchical environment. Another attribute we look for is adaptability. What kills a lot of start-ups is stubbornness.

“We can’t be stubborn about an idea in a start-up. We need to see whether the way we solve a problem is working and if it needs to be tweaked. So we need to keep trying to find new approaches to things,” she added.

And it’s been a wild but fulfilling journey so far – one she wants to bring her team on every single step of the way.

“As a founder, instead of just going on a journey where your team doesn’t really know why you’re doing it, it’s important to take everyone along on a journey with you and getting involved every step of the way,” she added.

“So it’s important to get their inputs and feedback and be transparent about everything. This will make them take ownership of their roles because they understand how it’s tying into the company’s success.”