Quizy's fundraising journey with 100X.VC. Mentorship, Memories, Fun & More...

“Giving users an opportunity to win”, YES, this is the hypothesis behind Quizy. We at Quizy believe that the knowledge and information which we have can be gamified and there is no dearth of knowledge/information in the world.

"Quiz" provides that medium to all of us and let’s see a quick use case of Quizy. You are a sports enthusiast and love to watch matches. One way to use that expertise or knowledge is to fantasize about it, before and during the match, and we have been doing it for a long. Post the match is over, you are definitely going to discuss it with your friends/family/peers the next day. What’s next???

You might be good at predicting/fantasizing about the match but then there are many among us who are a cricket/any game lover and not good at fantasizing. Also, once the match is over, there is nothing more you can do about it. But now, once you have watched the match last night, Quizy brings a quiz contest the next morning that is solely focused on the last night match. So you have consumed the knowledge (watched the match) and now we help you to gamify it and in the process also get you to earn some quick buck. Consider binge-watching movies/web series and imagine the excitement level while quizzing about the last night match/movie/web series with your own people in a closed group. :)

We launched in the month of Feb 2021 and witnessed good traction on our platform but since we were a very small team, we realised the need for the fund to scale and grow and hence started reaching out to investors at a very slow pace to understand the interest level of investors first and what they think about Quizy.

Right Mentorship at the right time can help you achieve Impossible

While we were in discussion with a few angels/VCs we also reached out to 100X VC checking on their interest level. One fine evening I got a call from Vatsal that the 100X team want to speak with the Quizy team. It was almost 7 in the evening and we were in our office. If you are a first-time entrepreneur who wouldn’t aspire for a 100X VC association. It was a moment of sheer joy for me & Sachin that at least we got a chance to speak and share the business details of Quizy.

First meeting (with full of nervousness) followed by a series of meetings later and then in the 4th meeting we were discussing numbers. While the 100X team were convinced with the idea and other parameters, Yagnesh was not convinced with our business model. They gave us a chance to come back again and we did things right this time. While the numbers were right but then it was not making decent revenue even at a scale and were asked to rework the business model itself. In a VC meeting, you get one chance and if it’s gone, it’s gone. But here, I got a call from Sanjay as to what is there we are lacking. Yagnesh during the meeting and Sanjay post the meeting, were actually pushing us hard to think of a new model. We requested a time of 24 hours and in less than that in fact, we pivoted and came up with a better business model, re-worked on numbers and here we are discussing with the team, again. It was our 6th meeting and 100X was convinced and approved the new B model.

Mentorship is not about to tell you whether you are right or wrong, but to tell you where you are wrong.

100X could have chosen to let us go but instead, they guided us, pushed us and helped to come up with a better and a sustainable B model. That’s the level of support you get and can expect from the 100X team.

100X & The Startup

The first cheque you get from 100X is definitely a deal and a social proof which you get, none will question your capability especially when you are a first-time entrepreneur, but that’s not where the real deal is, the real deal lies in the Masterclasses and a one-on-one session with Big shots (VCs). You get to interact with VCs and understand an investor perspective on your business, what do they think, what challenges you may face moving ahead according to them and for that matter, you ask anything related to your business. When you are not in the portfolio of a VC you can’t expect (and probably won’t get) their 30-40 minutes where they are just listening to & speaking about your business only.

Being a part of the ecosystem, have been following loads of people (Entrepreneurs, Investors) but getting time to speak to them is unparalleled. When Sanjay introduced me to Anil Joshi from Unicorn India Ventures, I just couldn’t believe that it’d be so easy for me.

Those 30 min sessions with VCs will be an eye-opener for you and will have a much better clarity right from your pitch deck to the depth of your business. Ensure that you speak less and listen to them more, you know what you know but you are here to listen and understand an investor’s perspective. Thank you, Anil, for your feedback on the deck (it looks much better now :) ) and those angles of our business which we didn’t have a focus on, working on that with full potential.

Another mind-blowing one-on-one session we had was with Ashish Dave from Mirae Asset Venture Investments. Man! What a clarity of thoughts and understanding he has for the business. When he started speaking about our business and throwing all ideas/strategies to ensure what it takes in real to be in the game and increase the higher chance of your success, I & Sachin were listening like a student. We further talked about numbers, industry standard, and what should we strive for moving ahead. Ashish, remember all your points from our discussion and took note of them. Thank you for those insights.

And then we also had an interesting set of people from other large VC firms (Like Kalaari, Blume, Beenext, India Quotient) too who made us aware of different aspects of business and gave a 360-degree view.

MasterClasses

Over a period of 3-4 weeks, you get to meet tens of people who have been widely successful in their life & career, sharing their lessons, nuggets on what got them there and how you can or should be doing. This entire class is a Mini MBA in itself. These people have spent a decade or two learning and experiencing those stuff and you get the crux of those decades-long experience in a 1-hour session. This is POWERFUL!

First Master class: It started with Ninad’s word and I loved his statement, “Life is a pitch”. Keep pitching, the more you do, the better you be. As you grow in life & business, words may change but the pitch is always there and pitch is not a presentation. :))

Life is a pitch. Keep pitching!

It was followed by Sanjay’s master class on raising funds. After this session, you will be prepared for the VC Pitch Day with all that you need to know. And then it’s completely up to you, prepare yourself well and REHEARSE, REHEARSE & REHEARSE.

While Ganesh Natrajan shared his tips on what should you consider while you are growing and mentioned 5F’s, FAST, FOCUS, FLEXIBLE, FRIENDLY & FUN, Giri Giridhar shared the importance and power of Listening and how to align with the team. Your culture should be Energising, Inspiring, Inclusive, Empowering & Liberating as culture drives mindset. Ganesh, Giri, gonna follow your principles in the business & as an individual.

In the amidst of all lessons, Amit Mookim touched a point that is not very often talked about. Being Fit, physically & mentally. His session was so intriguing as he shared the importance of gratitude and positive affirmations in life, a very exciting master class.

And Deepak Jain talked about what you should consider when you are building an early team. You show trust in your team first and they will trust you. Thank you, Deepak for the clarification on one of the most important aspects of business, team building and culture.

As an Entrepreneur, you understand your business well but then fundraising is something you need to learn and would excel in it over time. You need to think and understand how it really works. Pankaj Jain unveiled out more on it which gave us a better understanding of How VC’s actually work?

When Fundraising Journey Starts.

Now when you feel ready to go on the fundraising journey, the most important thing is your relationship with investors. Nobody is sitting ready for you and will write the cheque in the first or 2nd meeting. It’s a long process and Shashank shared in a much detailed way in his masterclass. What questions should be asked when you meet the investor for the first time and how to build that relationship and much more.

Investors relation is not just about communicating; it is about building & managing that relation well

MasterClasses & One-on-one session are absolutely transformational for your business, in-person and would help you get yourself ready for the VC pitch day and the journey ahead. You along with the 100X entire team will work to draft the storyline and the pitch. By the time you would get closer to the pitch day, you would realise how focused and crisp your pitch has become. It takes multiple iterations and a lot of rehearsals to make A sharp pitch!

It takes a village to raise a child

You started with a seed, nurtured and brought it to the level that it is now growing and being noticed. This can’t be the sole effort of a person or two. We thank 100X VC entire team, Vatsal, Yagnesh, Shashank, Ninad, Sanjay for shaping up Quizy to this stage. Thank you Hasti, Amanda, Lipi, Rahul for making the process of due diligence smooth for all of us.

Hersel, Brendan I can see the difference in myself when I pitched to you for the first time and then again before the pitch day. Thank you for all the feedbacks in refining the deck and the pitch. It was Transformational!

It is an absolute honour & privilege to be a part of the 100X family and the last 1 month working with you all in a high-energy environment has completely changed us as a Team, a Business and an Individual. You equipped us better with your resources, network, master classes and have set us for the high growth potential. THANK YOU!!!

For Class 05 aspirants:

If you are aspiring for the 100X VC class 05 cohorts, let me spill out some secrets for you to crack its long filtration process at multiple levels.

1.)   A coachable team to fund and work with – Especially when you are a first-time entrepreneur, it is highly recommended to listen to experts so keep your mind and eyes open, don’t think that you know it all.

100X will look for how well co-founders know each other, is there any story that brought them together? Are they really strong as a team? How much passionate the team is about this idea and why they want to do it? Justify “WHY You, as a team” for yourself first and then you can justify it to them. Trust me if you get this part right, you have crossed 50% already in their filtration process.

2.)   Market Opportunities – I don’t need to explain this. Just ensure it is large enough so you have the chance of taking a pie out of it.

3.)   Business Model – A scalable and high growth potential model

And then the 100X team has internal parameters which are still unknown to all :)) but if you get those 3 things right in the order of priority, you will just increase your chances of success with 100X VC, significantly. The application for class 05 is open, Apply now!