3 Startups that know what persistence means [Startup Watchlist]

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Starting up is a hard journey. Only the entrepreneur knows the tribulations behind the screen which portrays a life which does not have any boss or all the glamorous media coverage or the seemingly abundantly available VC money. Behind all this, entrepreneurship is a hard grind- not knowing where to go, whom to approach, the problem of nurturing a team, bringing in revenue to pay the salaries and many other such issues which keep the entrepreneur thinking about the business 24*7. And to sail through all of this, persistence is a key! Here, we look at three startups in different domains that have showcased this virtue of persistence in abundance:

1. Watchy

The above image just looks like any other street in Bangalore but right in the middle of the image, the topmost board reads 'Watchy'. I visited the office back in 2012 when the company was more than a year old and was working on live streaming technology. Founded by Sriramkumar, Watchy is a Morpheus gang company and their solution enables professionals (videographers & event managers) to connect their clients to a wider audience using live streaming even with unreliable Internet speeds using multiple wireless broadband dongles. This particular solution is being used for corporate (redBus is a client) as well as family (weddings, birthdays, etc) purposes.

With a hardware play involved, Watchy hasn't been able to scale but they have sustained till now and their next move might just help them cross the line. They have recently come up with Bond007- a link aggregation network device that can bond bandwidth of up to 7 internet USB dongles! The device is still in pre-order but if all goes well, such a device has huge potential. And if the device works, the technology behind it can then be applied to many other use cases. Sriramkumar has persisted with the idea and followed his vision for around 4 years, surely a story of grit! Read more.

2. Surgerica

Founded by Amit Bhagat, Surgerica is a Kolkata based company that aims to bring transparency to healthcare. It was back in 2010 that Amit's father suffered from a heart condition from which he recovered but the entire process was full of anguish for Amit and the entire family. There was hardly a way to find out which city and which doctor to consult and how much would the approximate cost be if a surgery is to be undertaken. This is what led Amit to start up Surgerica.The initial journey was very hard and hospitals were not willing to divulge any information but it was sheer persistence and tenacity from Amit and his team that has led to 400+ hospitals and 750+ doctors coming on board (read their story). Surgerica has also managed to raised a seed round and is now expanding quickly towards its vision of transparency in healthcare.

3. Dogspot

Rana Atheya started Dogspot.in back in 2007 as a portal for dog lovers. There wasn't any commercial angle behind it and the sole purpose was to give a platform to dog lovers to discuss and exchange thoughts. The community built slowly over time and as a natural progression, the forum took the shape of an eCommerce company dedicated to products for dogs.

We first covered them back in 2010 when they had just started getting traction with about 2300 unique visitors every day. Over time, they kept growing and the numbers were promising enough to interest VC money. We visited their office in 2013 at which point in time the company was doing around 100 deliveries a day from where they have grown consistently and did a turnover of INR 4 crores in the 2013-14 financial year. Rana's wife and good friend are his co-founders and the trio has shown immense determination to stick to the idea and keep on growing. They have also launched Fishspot and are slowly widening scope to pet supplies. Dogspot is one of the quiet eCommerce success stories in India.

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