Jobaaj Stories
Every day we see dozens of Pages working on the performance of Social Media, building something new, or sharing their life with others on the Platform. In 2013, when Facebook was building its repo in India, Azhar who was studying at IIT started a Facebook page called News in Shorts along with his IIT classmates.
They were accepted a few months later into TLabs, a startup accelerator program backed by the Times Internet group, where they learned a lot about entrepreneurship and building a successful company.
Flipping through Childhood
Inshorts founder Azhar was born and brought up in India where his curiosity and passion for learning finally led him to convert a small thing into a big enterprise. Later, he enrolled at IIT Delhi to pursue a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science.
His hunger for learning and knowledge made him an entrepreneurial spirit when he entered college. After looking at the progress of the Facebook page for media, he and his friends dropped out of college and established a multi-million dollar business.
Foundation of Inshort’s - India’s Short Form News Application
Azhar reflected on his startup journey on Instagram after learning he would be a judge on Shark Tank India.
“Ten years ago, as I was stepping into my 20s, I took a leap of faith and dropped out of IIT Delhi to start Inshorts. The last decade has been a wild ride, full of excitement. Those tireless nights resulted in making a mark in the social media industry. A decade later, as I step into my 30s, we are today one of the largest players in our space with 1.2 crore Indians using our apps every day.“
“On Shark Tank India Season 3, I want to tell the youth of India that where you come from and whether you have a degree or not does not matter; what matters is whether you have hunger, discipline, and focus. And if you have it in you, I am here to support you in fulfilling your entrepreneurial dream,”
The trio had noticed that India's youth were becoming increasingly disconnected from the idea of reading the news every day. Because they were young, they could relate to and understand how the long-form nature of news items made it difficult for most young people to keep up with the latest national and global events.
Getting Started The trio created a minimum viable product (MVP) in the form of a Facebook page that offered news summaries in the "Shorts" format. Encouraged by the market response and validation, the three left college to pursue their business full-time.
In July 2016, the popular content discovery and distribution app Inshorts published its first ad on its platform and began monetizing with brands such as Airtel, Omega, and Audi.
The Delhi-based startup claims to have over 100 advertising partners on board in 2018 and to have been operationally profitable in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Behind The Scenes (Inshorts)
In a conversation with YourStory, Azhar said that the startup currently has a 160-member team, with 60 percent of that team responsible for content discovery and summarization. The rest of the team is responsible for sales, marketing, and technology.
InShorts, catering to a diverse age demographic, observes its most active users in the 20-30 age group, with a stronger engagement in the English format.
As of 2017, the startup reported a net revenue run rate of Rs 25 crore, achieving operational profitability in the last quarter of the same year. The platform, offering free content to end consumers, generates revenue through B2B channels, primarily advertising.
It is also known that InShorts collaborates with nearly 100 advertisers, adding approximately 10 new advertisers monthly. Noteworthy brands like Vodafone, OnePlus, Mercedes, and Myntra are part of their clientele.
Must Read, Shark Tank India Season 3: 12 Judges with 6 new sharks in the tank
Also, Read, Radhika Gupta: The Woman with a broken neck who Became CEO of the Edelweiss firm
