I am a Civil Engineer by degree but a Product Manager by heart.
Yes, you can build a startup being a Mechanical, Electrical or Civil Engineering student.
I did not know coding so I took up a Product role which acts a bridge between developers, designers and the customers. I conceptualise and build features which customers would use and my developers and designers make this concept into a real product for me to show it customers and take feedback.
I am Mudda Prabhakar, 20 year old Civil Engineering student from AITAM, Srikakulam located 150 Kms further to Visakhapatnam. I am an Explorer at SV.CO and Co-founder at Curehouse.
Why I chose to build a Startup in college ?
Before doing a startup, I was looking for answers in my college life, I was not really sure what I wanted to do but I always knew I liked interacting with people and get involved in as many activities as possible. I participated in almost every major engineering fests across India. I was one of the active members of Student Activity Center of our college.
But I wasn’t happy with it.
Though I am from a CIVIL Engineering background I felt that everyone requires some or the other software for work. And with the boom in digital world I felt there is a huge scope for a Software startup. That’s the moment when I learnt about SV.CO and how it would help students built startups while in college.
Why I joined SV.CO ?
The platform and the community excited me the most. I felt belonged to see really ambitious students in the community and safe by seeing partners like Freshdesk, Facebook helping the teams out.
The folks who guided us were people who built real startups before. This helps us get a great exposure and skills sitting in college.
“SV.CO came to me at such stage when I was confused, lost and figuring out what to do in life. I was in my third year of engineering. That’s when most of the students need help. SV.CO helped me figure it out”
I learnt nothing comes easy in our lives. We have to pave our future the way we wish to live. I had to form a team to build a startup and that’s the first time I challenged myself.
“The difficulty for me initially was, I had to find a team which covered my weakness. I knew nothing about coding so I picked bunch of guys from Computer Science Engineering. Initially it was tough for me to convey my ideas and thoughts to them so that they could write the code for it, but as the time passed by I learned the proper way.”
What did we do at SV.CO ?
The same team went on to built a healthcare product together while in college.
During these 6 months at SV.CO we developed a website where patients can book doctor’s appointment and save themselves a lot of time in the queue. Here is how our product looks like
Being a Non -Techie, What is my role in the startup ?
My communication skills and passion for our product are the 2 reasons I feel I am the best fit for product manager in the team. I was the best person who could conceptualise the product as I was one of the many suffering from the problem. The other thing which helped me was the amount of contacts I had with doctors which made it easy for me to get their feedback every now and then.
Advantage of not being a programmer. I get to meet people :D
Recently, I got a chance to meet one of my idols Mr. VVS Laxman and shared our journey and he was very impressed.
“When you work hard and unlock new doors in life. You experience such happy moments which go on to be memories frozen for life. I have many such experiences during my college days because of SV.CO”
3 Takeaways from SV.CO
Everybody can start:
If you are not a developer its completely fine.Everybody can startup as the secrets of doing a business is not hidden. Have a mini work experience while in college which will be of use later.
Knowledge Sharing
People who have knowledge and experience are readily available to share it with you so that we learn things earlier in life than we ever could.
Be part of the Community
The community has many students like you across India and when you are in search of help, guidance, opportunities. Its just a chat away. I am proud to be part of Startup Village Collective.
Become an Explorer at SV.CO.
