When Your Hustle Becomes Your Validation

Startups - the term itself has many different connotations: hard work, struggle, team building, equity,?funding and what not. Putting aside these popular meanings, one thing that most people don't realise sitting on the fence is the 'hustle' that comes with starting up.?

Now, startup hustle has been described by founders in different ways. Some talk about managing funding, financial responsibilities, and some about product-market fit. But today, I want to talk about our hustle which is almost unheard of, and?delayed our launch giving us sleepless nights for a month or two!

Before I begin, here's some context: Flow & Mo?was started as a brand?to?revolutionise sports nutrition by blending Ayurveda with modern science, thus making supplements clean, safe and healthy for all ages. Our first product - an?Ayurvedic Energy Drink?is an attempt in this endeavour. We intend to be a natural and safe alternative to existing caffeine/sugar/salt loaded pre-workouts in the market.

While we thought we had everything in place to launch?by mid-January, one of the biggest online marketplaces in India had different plans. The?online marketplace unilaterally decided that our product does not 'deserve' to be in the 'Supplements' category which meant we could not be seen together with existing pre-workouts & energy drinks. Why so!??Because?as per them -?an energy drink meant for workout and sports cannot be Ayurvedic!? Essentially, the script said so, which meant that they do not have, amongst the hundreds of nutritional products – an Ayurvedic energy drink for workouts and sports. The most they offered was to accommodate our energy drink in the 'Grocery' category, which of course was unacceptable.

What followed was a long struggle of convincing that we did actually build an energy drink for pre-workout using Ayurveda and that we're also the first ones to do so. Perhaps, the novelty of the product was baffling both the staff and algorithms of the online marketplace. While this frustrated us to no end, it also helped us realise that we're on the right track for our mission - a first in the space of cleaner & natural sports supplements.?

Eventually, we reached out to the more saner voices and we were allowed to sell our drink on their platform in the right category alongside other sports supplements, which by the way rose to #1 rank in their 'Hot New Releases' for pre-workouts powders.

So while we have surprised ourselves with the traction, we still keep getting random?category requirements that we don’t fall into. Taking it in our stride, fighting tooth & nail to convince the world that sports nutrition can be Ayurvedic. Our validation lies in our hustle! ;)

P.S. - In case you'd like to try the drink, here's a welcome offer for you. Get 10% off on your first order by using the code "WELCOME10". Also get an extra 5% discount if you pay through UPI. Visit our website to order.