BK Birla’s new venture AdalBdal will help you find your treasure among others’ trash
If you constantly struggle to keep yourself in a positive frame of mind, you will definitely want to know about BK Birla. Birla is quite the personification of optimism. Imagine being ousted from your own startup one (not so fine) day. I’ve known of a few such cases. The founder ends up severely depressed; but not Birla. He had other important and fun things to do and the very next day he went on with his life.He is also a restless soul. “I love starting up and moving on,” he says. He had spoken to us almost a year back revealing that his new venture, at least seven to eight months away then, would be focused on the international market and in the consumer Internet space. He has kept good on his promise and unveiled AdalBdal yesterday.
‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ AdalBdal aims to utilize this same principle. Pronounced as ‘A-Dal-B-Dal’, the platform allows you to upload stuff which you don’t need any more, find stuff you may need, and meetup and exchange.
What is the motivation behind the product?
“At present, we are in a race where we keep producing more, consuming more and depleting the resources available to us. Look around, there are many things you have which are of no use to you but can make perfect sense to someone else. We want people to break away from the whole cycle of equating and evaluating things with just money,” explains Birla.
What can you exchange on the platform?
Anything and everything under the sun, as long as it is not illegal. It could be old books, old mobiles, old clothes, stamps, coins and many more.
The platform is very similar to the Facebook group Second to None where people sell second hand items.
“I am a big fan of the group myself. The group helps people reuse stuff. But, in their case it’s a monetary transaction while AdalBdal facilitates exchange of products,” he says, differentiating the two.
How does it make money?
“I don’t know,” Birla confesses with a chuckle. “The first goal is to build traction. I want to have a million products listed on the site from all over the world. Meanwhile, I am sure we will be able to figure out a revenue model.”
The platform works anywhere. It is built to be location aware. The user will know how far away things are from them. Built-in spam protection ensures that a person interested in someone’s product will not be able to connect unless the user decides to engage with them. A simple message will enable the users to decide upon a common place for exchange.
What are the plans for AdalBdal?
“AdalBdal is meant to be a global product. Hence, the pronunciation. We want to take it to the UK, Spain, France and the world,” Birla tells us. The product will be launched in as many languages and regions as possible.
To acquire customers they have already started working on their PR and getting into the international media. They want to tap into the social angle in the product too. They are in talks with NGOs to help them source old clothes etc from users’ homes.
“The inherent feeling of doing good will help us spread the word,” adds Birla.
Meanwhile, Birla intends to continue in his mentor role at AskLaila and spread the community Bhoole Bisre Geet (BBG), which has over 1 lakh music fans glued to it across the world in over 25 countries. BBG aspires to spread happiness through music.
“Bhoole Bisre Geet is very close to my heart. It is a strict not-for-profit and we don’t charge a single penny for our shows unless it’s a fundraiser, in which case every penny goes to the charity,” Birla explains passionately.
What do you think about the platform? Do let us know. We are eagerly awaiting your feedback.