YourDOST was something I have dreamt of with open and closed eyes. It is not just a market opportunity, it is a movement, something which the country needs, a change that I am passionate to bring about.
I was working on it for years. I have thought about hundreds of ideas but nothing could ever replace YourDOST. It was Nov 2014 that I knew I have to give it a fair shot to have my mind be able to even acknowledge any other idea.
This idea was giving me sleepless nights and I told Satyajeet about it and it gave him sleepless night too and our journey started. We started by trying to work with our full-time jobs, it didn’t work for me and I decided to quit my job and from there the most precious journey of my life started. Other than anything else, I use to feel lonely, me and my parents both use to doubt my intentions, my acumen, but I was determined about one thing ‘give it a fair shot or move on’ and I needed it for myself. Satyajeet and Puneet were a strong support and made me feel that we can do it.
The first month was about finding about process of company registration, to understand how to market, how to get special friends (psychologists, counsellors and experienced individuals) onboard. My day included, going to every possible PG that would let me in, begging the care-takers to give me 5 mins to talk to the girls/boys. The breakthrough was when we got our first message and I was super thrilled. Days passed, I had visited almost all PGs and now I decided to take on social media marketing.
SMM worked for us, we started getting users, many users and that is when YourDOST passed its first litmus test. Now we needed to add more special friends, out of my surprise, more and more people became ready to volunteer and I got more confidence. Now it was the time, when my bank account was draining and I didn’t have much backup. We started our first fund-raising campaign on Milaap and again to my surprise, we got a whooping response. 120 people supported us! That is when I knew it can go long way…
We started recruiting some interns, tech consultants and so on. Initially my room was YourDOST office, then it was the outer room of my house with multiple tables followed by 2 rooms of my house. I could feel that we are onto something bigger, something meaningful.
I was fortunate to meet some really kind people who stood beside me and helped me a lot to understand about various things – funding, how to do a business, approach the target users and made numerous introductions. They are my go-to people, for everything.
From there, the biggest turning point was when my other co-founder decided to quit McKinsey and come join YourDOST full-time. It gave me immense power. Then we had our first in-house psychologist, an extremely great person!
We started meeting investors, they were listening to us, now our idea was not just in my head and in my imagination. It was real, there were people other than me who were living the same dream. The day when some big names from the industry decided to support us, we knew we were on right path.
Our next milestone was when we met our 4th co-founder, Prakhar who connected with the idea and had put all his strength to make it happen. Yes, again it felt that it is true that the world conspires to help those who have a dream.
Now we were 5 people working out of our home-office, users were increasing, we were able to hire more people, investors were showing interest and more special friends were signing up. It was a tremendous feeling. More people were listening to us, more people were connecting to our dream and it was giving us the kick.
Soon we outgrew the capacity of my house office and we had to move to a bigger place. We are 9 now, all dreamers who were passionate about creating a place where people going through tough times can seek support. The company has just one focus to reach out to more and more people and break the stigma.
It was one of the greatest day when I got a call from INK founder, Lasksmi Pratury, acknowledging the work we are doing and encouraging me for applying as INK fellow. After few rounds of interviews, I did get through the prestigious INK fellowship. Another milestone for YourDOST, something which I am so looking forward to. INK is a place where people from all walks of life, various disciplines come together, a community of believers who want to make a change in this world. It will be such a wonderful experience to share with them, learn from their experiences and grow. I am so looking forward for this fellowship!
Richa
My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style.