“As a Woman Entrepreneur, I Believe, It’s My Duty To Give Back… We Adhere to Equal Opportunities.” – said the Co-Founder & CEO of SpaceBasic, Inc. Madhavi Shankar about her contribution towards global women’s employment.
Business Upside [BU]: How Did You Get Your Idea or Concept to Establish Spacebasic, Inc.?
Madhavi Shankar [MS]: From the experience I had in Australia as an international student and drawing a comparison to my experience in India, I was inclined to build something in the education space. I returned to India in 2017 with the goal of solving a REAL problem, which customers would pay for upfront. With rigorous due diligence, we discovered that student housing communities within schools and colleges follow archaic manual processes to carry out day-to-day tasks like verbal security permissions for students, handwritten data management, and more. These manual processes were labor-intensive, plagued with problems, and especially could not ensure the safety and security of students. This pattern persisted across big and small colleges.
We knew there had to be a better way! We zeroed in on this problem and, with SpaceBasic, solved it with technology today.
[BU]: What was Your Mission at the Outset?
[MS]: My mission is to solve a REAL problem in the education space.
[BU]: How do You Market Your Business, and Which Method has Been Most Successful?
[MS]: We are a B2B SaaS business. We have a direct sales team meeting universities. Referrals for us have been an effective way to reach new customers.
[BU]: What was Your Experience in the Initial Days of Your Entrepreneurial Journey?
[MS]: I had to overcome the usual first-time founder challenges of finding early adopters and scaling the business from there onwards.
[BU]: What are Some of the Most Important Lessons that Have Influenced Your Work?
[MS]:
- Find a mentor
- Due -diligence is a must – Stay connected with customers to solve a real problem
- Resilience – Don’t give up
[BU]: Share Your Contribution Towards Global Women’s Employment and Equal Opportunities?
[MS]: As a woman entrepreneur, I believe, it’s my duty to give back. As a policy at SpaceBasic we adhere to equal opportunities. We are a part of Pledge1%. Org, where we pledge 1% of our profits towards educating women every year. We have also partnered with NGOs where we fund higher education for girl students every year.
[BU]: What were the Biggest Roadblocks or Challenges You had When You First Started in the Profession, and How Did You Overcome Them?
[MS]: I had to overcome the usual first-time founder challenges of finding early adopters and scaling the business from there onwards.
[BU]: What has Been Your Most Satisfying Moment in Business?
[MS]: The most satisfying moment in business is the ability to simplify our customers’ daily life on campus.
[BU]: What is the Next Goal You Wish to Accomplish?
[MS]: We want to digitize a Million students and staff campus experiences with SpaceBasic.
[BU]: How Would You Define Success?
[MS]: Business success is achieving the milestones we have set, and personal success for me is being able to do what I love every day.
Also Read: Swati Sinha, Founder & CEO of Savanna HR, Shares Her Entrepreneurial Journey
