Stories: Your start-up, now personalized!
In this day and age of rapid industrialization, people no longer stop and look at the little details; the stories in life. Every start-up in India has a story behind it and if the public knew the story they would not only be more willing to subscribe to that startups’ products but also to invest in it. Stories are important to convey how serious startups are when it comes to business and making people’s lives better. Content creation, however, is a difficult but rather underpaid job. This is not the case with the importance of content creation however as content is required for all fields of business.
Noah is a start-up’s solution to creating stories, films that feature the start up which will make it more appealing to their consumer base. Noah is based in Mumbai but has a Pan India reach having created stories in the form of films for the likes of Ola and Mercedes. Simply put, Noah will capture your vision and portray it through his storytelling in a way that appeals to the masses. This should give a pretty good idea as to how serious the company takes its job.
From when it was established in 2014, Noah has been creating and filming stories for its customers, which range from mere start-ups to huge businesses.
A unique aspect Noah offers is they offer FREE services to their start-up clients. FREE is an acronym for Future Resource Equity Exchange which is a fledgling idea in the market which allows a company to bond with various aspects of its business from customers to service providers. Noah is popular as it accepts payments from future revenue. Creating such a unique company takes guts which is exactly what Rishi Kartik did. He has a masters in mass communication from Symbiosis and he willed to go further than anyone had gone before to give rise to his start up. Working out of his comfort zone has become the norm for him and it is actually how he employs people as well showing the level of dedication this man has towards his clients. In a way, stories make all the difference between buying things and wanting things.
1. What is the Name of Your Venture? Any specific reason for this name?
I chose the name Noah for our venture as we believe our purpose is to create a new wave in the content space. We want to revive and create a new reality which is promising of a better offering. We were founded in 2014.
2. Who is your target Audience/clients?
We specialise in creating target specific branded content. We love to work with start ups. In fact if you’re a start up which is 6 months old with a working product, we’d make your content for FREE*. At Noah we want to not just break barriers but also create new avenues for revenue sharing and creating a sustainable market position.
*FREE Stands for Future Resource Equity Exchange.
3. Where is your venture based (city, state, country) & what are your geographical target areas?
We’re based out of Bombay, but our reach and network is PAN INDIA and even in a few South Asian Countries.
4. What problems does your venture resolve? What are your products or services?
We create Stories. We live, breathe, eat, binge and repeat on watching great stories and creating some for the people we love and care for. We do it by creating films.
5. Share the idea or story behind the venture. How did it come to an existence? What motivated you to start your own venture?
I was working with Zee TV when I had struck upon the idea of creating a web-series about musicians. I was pitching the idea of Bombay Cab Sessions on Rodinhoods Platform where we connected with Ola. They were our first clients in a way. I created my company to do the work I love to do most. That’s creating stories. What you must also know that I tried starting the same venture almost a year and half back but couldn’t keep up with the increasing rent and bills so took up a job again and learned from my mistake. So when I saw the opportunity to grab that chance again I took a leap and jumped on my dreams.
6. Who are your biggest competitors and how do you differentiate yourself from them?
I am borrowing this line from a friend of mine who has his agency, that we replace your chief creative. And that’s a bold way to introduce themselves. I would love to come up with something better than that.
7. How did you identify your co-founder? Tell us something about your co-founder/s
Right now I do not have a co-founder. But I would really appreciate a mentor/guide who could help my team and me take it to the next level.
8. How did you hire your first team members? What skills do you want in your employees/team?
I found a unique way to hire employees. Our work when we’re producing content has crazy deadlines and needs people who can keep calm under such conditions, so the best way to get your perfect team mate is to get them on a live project. This way you get to know immediately during the course of the shoot you get to know if it works or not. Our ideal team member is the one who doesn’t need to be told about her/his work. You’ve been hired to do a particular job. So you do not need to be reminded by it. It’s like family but without being told what you need to do all the time.
9. What expansion plans are you looking for the next 2 years, next 5 years?
We’re currently in the middle of creating a content space over the web about music and video. The plan to get that off the ground by mid of 2018. Also we want to get in the business of producing feature films, So all storytellers who want to break-free from Bollywood and try and create some real cinema, lets connect !
10.Where do you want to see yourself in next 10 years?
I see myself collaborating on an international platform. Weaving bigger dreams.
11.What are your goals over the next 1, 3, 6 and 12 months?
Coming up with Cab Sessions Season 2. So looking for sponsors, producing it and distributing it is the plan for this year.
12.Have you raised any funding? Or have any plans for the funding?
No. We’re open to private funding for an equity in the company.
13.What were the problems you faced during the starting days and how did you resolve them?
After the initial breakthrough, it was difficult for a 24-year-old to be given responsibilities for big projects. It just got over with time.
14.What was the most challenging part of your journey till now? How did you overcome those challenges?
We had to shoot over Pamban Bridge in Rameswaram where I was shooting for Mercedes and we had permission to shoot for just 2 hours after the sunrise. The wind was blowing so heavily on the bridge that the drone couldn’t withstand it.
And our RC plane operator was not able to keep the plane steady. So now when you see the shot you don’t realize that they are two separate shots. We had the ambition to take that spectacular shot in one take, but then we had to let our egos have coconut water as we still got the same shot but by combining the two.
15.Are you married, single or in a relationship?
I am in a relationship for the last 6 years.
16.What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
I love to watch movies and I binge watch on TV series. Though I like to travel and explore, there are times when I just don’t want to do any of those.
17.Whats your favourite food & holiday destination?
Pizza. Goa
18.Whom do you consider your idol or biggest motivator?
I actually do not believe in idols but I believe jealousy is the biggest motivator.
I derive all my energy from the negative and turn it into a positive.
19.What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Accountability. There’s always a safety net while working for someone else. If you get into that comfort zone early in life then you would never want to get out of it. It’s exciting and scary but it’s your decision. So whatever the outcome will be you should be ready to live with that.
20.If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
I would rather start with change in how I got my education. Skip School Completely. Get Home schooled, Find out my passion early in life so that I am not clueless till I have spent 25 years of my life.
21.How has being an entrepreneur affected your family & social life?
You usually don’t remain social once you’re set out to be an entrepreneur. You have to wild and firm on your decisions which means skipping an odd cousin’s wedding or missing out on family get-togethers(That I am glad about) and It becomes a bit narcissistic and it’s not healthy. You need to keep yourself surrounded by people who’re better than you to keep you grounded.
22.Anything, you would like to say to our readers or upcoming entrepreneurs?
People say just start with it and get going. Don’t. Never do that. You want to do something in your life, Right? Then why not give a proper thought and work out how it’s going to happen. If you’re staying away from home then figure out how you take care of the basics, rent, INTERNET, cheap and best food options.
Make a plan on how you want to go about it. Talk to people who’re smarter than you. It’ll feed our ego and you’ll get some knowledge that you can apply to your work or even in life.
23.Tell us something about your education & family background.
I am a Masters In Mass Communications From Symbiosis Institute of Media And Communications. My parents live in Baroda and I have a younger brother who is a drummer by passion and a pharmacist by profession.
24.What is your USP which makes it unique & different from other start-ups in similar domains?
We’re confident that our worldview is shared by many but just under-represented. We want to be that medium.
25. What do you think is the biggest threat to the success of small businesses; Start-ups today?
Bureaucracy in Corporates and Government Agencies.
26. Do you consider yourself successful and by what means do you measure success?
I don’t have to think about my rent for the next month and that’s a small start, I guess.
27.Please share complete name, address, phone number, email id & website of Your Business & Contact Person along with the pictures of your founder, co-founder, team(if any) as well as your logos.
Rishi Kartik
204,Mann Niketan Apartments,
Near K G Mittal College,
Malad West
Mumbai
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.noahproductions.in
