Building a Marketplace for Home Chefs with Ajith Govind from Cravd

I am excited to have Ajith Govind, the founder of Cravd, an online marketplace to book a home chef to visit and cook right in your kitchen. He earlier co-founded Turing Labs, achieving Series A funding backed by Y Combinator and top investors, including Insight Partners, raising over $20M.In this episode, Ajith Govind, co-founder of Cravd, an online marketplace for booking home chefs shares his entrepreneurial journey, including his experience with Turing Labs. He discusses the challenges of launching a startup, the importance of product-market fit, and the significance of culture in building a successful company. Ajit also talks about Cravd’s expansion strategy, focusing on empowering home chefs, providing healthy, home-cooked meals for busy families, and much more!Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on YouTubeSubscribe on iTunesLearn* How can marketplace founders be strategic in building moats around their business?* What is the single most important metric for Cravd* Does Ajith pay attention to CACs at all?* What is your favourite business book? –Hard things about hard things* What is your favourite online tool? –Sunsummer* If you could go back to when you started working on Energy Capital Ventures, what is the one thing you would have focused on? – Focus on cultureTimestamps3:30 Ajit shares insights from his experience co-founding Turing Labs.6:30 The significance of Y Combinator in Ajit’s entrepreneurial journey.10:30 Ajit’s thoughts on the importance of mentorship and Y Combinator experience.12:30 The concept behind Cravd , an online marketplace for home chefs.14:30 Crave’s initial model and its evolution based on customer feedback.17:30 The unique selling point of Cravd  in providing healthy, home-cooked meals.20:30 The importance of GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) as a key metric for Cravd .22:30 Crave’s ideal customer profile: busy, working families with disposable income.25:30 Ajit discusses the challenges faced by home chefs in the marketplace.27:30 The importance of building a moat around Cravd ’s business to ensure defensibility.29:30 How Cravd ’s low take rate (10%) differentiates it from other predatory platforms.33:30 The importance of launching products quickly and iterating based on user feedback.34:30 Ajit’s advice for founders: Focus on culture from the beginning to drive success.Ajith’s Links LDN– https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajith-govindWebsite – https://cravd.comMy Links Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunesYouTube:  youtube.com/lifeselfmasteryTwitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal5-day email course: www.enterprisesalesexpertise.comNewsletter:  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit partnergrow.substack.com