Observations – 2
This was an almost all-digital payments trip. I probably spent less than a hundred dollars in cash throughout the entire trip. Between my three Indian credit cards and a Thomas Cook prepaid travel card, I didn’t need cash.
While weekdays were busy with meetings, the weekends would get a bit lonely. The cold weather ensured walking around NY was not something I could do a lot of, though I did make the most of the few days the sun was out, and the temperatures were relatively higher. Strand and Barnes & Noble around Union Square are two places I love. Following a recommendation from a friend, I also went to the Museum of New York – and got an amazing history of the city’s 400 years.
The one mishap I had was when I tripped on the pavement in New York after exiting from the subway at Spring Street. I did not see the indentation in the pavement, lost my balance (“sudden change of my centre of gravity, as a friend described it), and fell. Luckily, I escaped with bruises on my knees. As I was telling Bhavana and Abhishek, it was a near-miss – I could have broken bones and that would have been a disaster.
I had a very wide array of meetings: from old friends to customers to potential investors. Most went well, but a couple taught me the value of time and story-telling. In one of the meetings, my long-winded stories about Netcore’s past and my background were cut short (“tell me why exactly you are here and what you want from me”). Another was cut short because the other person did not see any value, much to my chagrin. I now come to the point very quickly and have learnt to make every minute useful for the attendees.
From a business standpoint, the absolute amazement that I saw time and again when I showed the demos of search and payments inside emails was most heartening. The challenge now is to convert this “wow” to a “win”. It means switching brands away from their existing ESP and martech stack to Netcore. I am hopeful because what we have is a real game changing innovation which can do wonders for conversions.
The best memories of the trip are the times I spent with my colleagues at Netcore and Unbxd. They are the ones who have had faith to join a startup in the US, because that is what we are. Seeing their enthusiasm and passion gives me hope for the future of Netcore US.
As I write this a day after my return to Mumbai, the month gone by is a blur. So many conversations, so many ideas. I have 800 pages of notes from the trip – with plenty of ideas for future blog posts! Most importantly, I have a plan to grow Netcore in the US. It is a 0 to 1 play – something I really like. That for me is my next challenge, the new mountain to climb.
