"A Mass Market Product Doesn't Solve The Problem" It is very easy to say that let's be a mass market product but a mass market product doesn't solve the problem.
By Nidhi Singh
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Social media has become an integral part of networking and has changed the way how we work and communicate. Despite so many benefits of social media, there have been a major security and privacy issues in the past. Marking your presence on online social networking sites leaves a trace of personal information that can make stealing your identity an easy process. The issue related to safe social networking can only be solved if users are given the option to decide what they can share and how much.
When Shubham Rai founded a professional networking platform Nodd in March 2016, the idea was to have effective networking, while maintaining privacy. The app was launched by Rai (Founder), along with Praleed Suvarna (Co-Founder-CTO), Arpit Bajpai (Co-founder and AVP), and Rohan Haval (Strategic Alliances and Marketing).
Nodd is a professional networking platform where like-minded people meet over interest areas & enjoy experiences using data analytics and algorithms.
To maintain the exclusivity of his app, Shubham decided to go forward with the "invite only feature' which allows one to download the app but he/she cannot use it unless the invite code is sent to them by the members already using the app.
Shubham explained, "Our ultimate objective is effective networking.We got the first version of the app last year which got bogged down. The second version of the app has consolidated everything from the first app and has the invite-only feature."
Exclusivity as a Marketing Strategy:
According to Shubham, Linkedin and Facebook have done a great job of aggregating mass data but every social networking platform is basically a culture.
" Facebook has built a culture of social recognition and all the tools are there to amplify social recognition. So for example, Facebook has more content than Quora but Quora is still publishing niche content, which clearly states that there is a need for curated content," he said.
Mumbai – based Nodd is targeting 150 million people so exclusivity is the most important thing for the app.
"Any aspirational brand is an amalgamation of exclusivity. And, everybody has their niche market. You can't be everybody for everything. It is very easy to say that let's be a mass market product but a mass market product doesn't solve the problem. The top 150 million people need their space, privacy because they have very little time and I am serving that market. And, it is a very enough market for me," he added.
The Real Networking is Done Using Technology:
Shubham believes the real networking is only done using technology to meet each other for a specific agenda.
"Facebook doesn't try to make people meet each other. Many people tried to build communities and failed because of lack of curation. These people were focused on base but we are focusing on depth," he added.
The networking app raised Rs.1 crore angel funding last year the former Just Dial Ltd Chief Technology Officer Sandipan Chattopadhyay, IKYA Global Associate Partner Jaison Jose and other investors.
