Mixing Business with Pleasure
Can love really conquer all? Since centuries, love has triumphed family feuds, power struggles, political manipulations and all the other drama. But in the 21st century, can love survive its own trials? With this blog, we bring you the power couples of the Indian startup ecosystem. Let’s see how and why people in love decided to mix pleasure with business? What happens when you can no longer say that you are married to your work but married to the person you work with. Many of us shy away from working in the same office as our partner. Many of us do not want to mix our personal lives with the professional. But then, it works for some of us as well. And then there are those couples, who go a step further and decide to butt their heads by taking a decision to start a business together.
In the world of startups, married co-founding couples are the new demographic to watch out for. The thought of married couples or married with children wanting to start a business together might baffle us. Working together on business has its own pros and cons. While you get to share your passion with each other and also have an advantage of knowing the other person too well, working together might also bring disagreements, fights and disappointments. If one thing goes wrong — both your work and relationship are at stake. Why would two people in love want to enter that scary place of uncertainty?
In the startup world, there are many couples who have defied the odds and taken both their relationships and businesses to new heights. Here are a few of them.
1. Rashmi Sinha and Jon Boutelle, co-founders of SlideShare
Rashmi and Jon, both Brown University graduates, had the vision to start a YouTube for PowerPoint presentations. They, along with Rashmi’s brother — Amit, launched SlideShare in October 2006. In 2012, SlideShare was acquired by LinkedIn.
2. Brian Sugar and Lisa Sugar, co-founders of PopSugar
In 2006, Lisa, after a suggestion by blogger Om Malik turned her celebrity gossip hobby into a company. Her husband became the CEO, and with the help of venture capitalist Michael Moritz, they started their journey to make PopSugar a multi-million dollar lifestyle platform.
3. Pallavi Gupta and Gaurav Jain, co-founders of Mast Kalandar
Both Pallavi and Gaurav left their high paying IT jobs to pursue their collective dream of opening a restaurant serving vegetarian North Indian food. Today, Mast Kalandar has over 71 branches in across four cities.
4. Susan Gregg Koger and Eric Koger, co-founders ModCloth
High school sweethearts Susan Gregg Koger and Eric Koger, in 2002, decided to start a vintage/indie inspired fashion and décor website. In 2012, the company had $100 million in retail sales, making it one of the leaders in its field.
5. Swati Bhargava and Rohan Bhargava, co-founders of CashKaro
Swati and Rohan are both graduates from the London School of Economics. Started with around 150 merchants in February in 2013, CashKaro has over 500 sellers on-board and was able to raise $750,000 from London-based angel investors in July 2013. CashKaro is one of India’s biggest deal and coupon providing websites.
These couples have proved that love can bloom under any circumstances. It doesn’t really have to happen over a cup of coffee. Butting heads across a boardroom table is a good enough place to start.
