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Sahil Shah

Sahil Shah

Managing Director at Cuponation
Cuponation

Short Description

The company is an online portal for discount coupons and deals of various e-commerce players. It was launched in September 2012. It also has sister companies in Poland, Italy and Brazil. The management team consists of Sahil Shah and Sharique Khan as the Managing Directors for the Indian chapter. Sharique and I work in cohesion as a team. We have a good rapport. Indeed, our ideas at times don’t match but we try and extract the best from our differentiated opinions. Rocket internet had an idea, when I was working at Fab furnish; the coupons idea seemed interesting. Coupon is a growing market and starting my own venture, actually gave me a kick to start this.

How I Lead

I am very much approachable. I like to interact to expand the horizon of work. I constantly look out for change and new opportunities to grow. The scope of improvement is always there and I believe in Innovating. You must improve and innovate with time. Innovation not just gives a new feel to your brand but also facilitates the team to expands the horizon of thoughts and new ideas.

Family and Childhood

My family lives in Bangalore
Father - Has pursued his engineering from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM - Calcutta. Currently working in GMR Group
Mother - M. Sc in Physics . Currently a house wife
Grandfather - Civil engineer by degree. He is a retired Civil Servant. He was the chairman of the Central Water commission for  2 years.
I visit my family once in four months. Family for me is everything.  My family has never been strict for my studies. I love Tennis and most of my childhood was occupied playing Tennis.

On Startup Ecosystem

It has grown tremendously over the last few years. Startups are finding it easier to raise funding. This is because more investment has come into this space. The space has a lot of scope and would grow in the years to come.

My Role and Our Mission
I am the co-founder and managing director of the firm. Our mission is to become the top player in the couponing market. From sourcing, marketing and business intelligence I do all for my venture. Getting best deals, tying up with new retailers, handling the CRM activities & social media, analyzing data and a lot of research work is done by both Sharique and me. Indeed we want it to be the leader in the category, but we also want people to use a lot of coupons in the coming years, it is one of the best way to save money and you can call it an intelligent buying technique online.
Dealing with Challenges and Risks
I try to get to the root of the problem and then devise a course of action. As an entrepreneur, there are always risks involved but I tend to address with a combination of analyzing data and gut feel. I believe apart from the research and analysis gut feeling is one precious thing at least I count upon.
My Inspirations
Starting a venture taught me how many difficulties and challenges are to be addressed by a company but when it comes to admiring I actually look up to Google, Apple, Tata. How these companies started, grew and conquered is what fascinates me.
How It All Began
I think starting Cuponation was one of the most important decisions of my life. I was approached by Rocket Internet, while I was their employee at Fab-Furnish and I was totally energized with the thought of starting my own venture.  While at IIT I had no idea what I wanted to do. Post IIT I joined a strategy consultancy firm to understand how businesses work. After that Fab Furnish happened and I thought it was a nice change. But Cuponation.in I would say is the most important and the best decision till date.
My Role Model
My grandfatherhas influenced me the most and is my role model. I have seen him working hard and finding ways out during the tough times to support the family. Thus none better than my grandfather would be a role model for me.
To Entrepreneurs and Innovators
As an entrepreneur has to constantly try out new things; it is important to acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them and move on.
While you can never be sure of whether an idea will succeed, it does help to do some due-dilligence. If you wish to be an entrepreneur, I suggest just chase your dreams, never give up and never say no. You would achieve if not today.. but tomorrow what you want.