Shruti Challa is the CEO & Founder of Pinched.Pinchd is a free web-based service that answers the the question “who’s down” to go out. As a member you will be able to see who is down to hangout when you are, toss ideas around for what to do or where to go, and finally see what everyone is up to in one place. See who wants to hangout, figure out what you want to do, and actually make things happen.
Pinchd was designed and built by Amara, Chris, Eric, and Shruti.
YourStory spoke to Shruti about her venture.
1) What is your take on women entrepreneurs?
Women entrepreneurs and innovators are powerful. Statistically, companies started by women are more capitally effiencient and have a higher chance of monetary success. Specifically, in regards to social media or high-tech I believe that women leaders will help influence the direction of technology to acknowledge the needs of women more directly (i.e. privacy, value etc.). With said, women entrepners are rare. One of my ongoing goals is to inspire young women to truly believe in innovation as a career path.
2) What do you think are the emerging trends in social media
One of the emerging trends around social media that I think is interesting is in fact what we are aiming to capture which is future-time or intention driven data. We are familiar with the asyncronous web and real-time data, but no one has successful been able to capture intent. Basically, not what I am doing right now, but what I may do in the future. Capturing future data is a lot more “monetizable” than real-time data, because people decisions are malleable and can be influenced.
3) Challenges you faced as an entrepreneur
Luckily for me, my parents have always been great supporters of my career decisions, specifically in regards to entreprenuership. Generally when you are Asian descent there seems to be more pressure around pursuing something that is not risky or very systematic (i.e. a doctor or a corporate engineering). So I am very grateful. The major challenges I have faced are around being young and a women of color. With that said, Silicon Valley is an amazing place and to be honest people have been more helpful than anything. In general, my outlook on this is that all challenges can become opportunities.
4) Your strengths
I think my strengths lie in understanding and reading people. I am a firm believer that businesses are successful because of a team’s ability to understand the people they work with and serve (i.e. consumers, partners, investors etc.).
5) Funding , future plans , and growth strategy
We are looking to raise in a couple months and are very excited about the future of Pinchd. Our vision’s horizons are endless and we really believe that whether we are able to become the destination for intention data or it is a competitor, the value is undeniable.
Pinchd is the new name for the venture, before it was called Go Tribal.Read the blog posts about the name change here:
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