[Raised $12 million] Ep.149 - The First 100 with Vidit Agrawal | Event Marketing | Associations | Social Media Marketing | Customer Interviews
May 6, 2024
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Vidit Agrawal, founder of GajiGesa, discusses event marketing, associations, social media marketing, and customer interviews. Topics include customer acquisition, challenges faced by employers in salary advances, early customer acquisition strategies using referrals and HR networks, non-scalable strategies, navigating co-founder spouse dynamics, and focusing on growth and stability in 2024.
GajiGesa addresses financial struggles of blue-collar workers in Indonesia by offering early access to salary, easing burden on employers.
GajiGesa prioritizes product research and refinement to enhance platform based on user feedback, ensuring business growth.
Deep dives
The Idea Behind Gaji Kessau Financial Wellness Platform
Fidded Agrawal and his wife co-founded Gaji Kessau in the middle of COVID after feeling unsatisfied in their corporate careers. Inspired by the on-page access model from the UK and US, they decided to address financial struggles of blue-collar workers in Indonesia earning low wages. Their personal experiences encountering workers stuck in debt cycles motivated them to create a solution, leading them to move to Indonesia and launch Gaji Kessau.
Employer Pain Points and Gaji Kessau's Solution
In their product research, Gaji Kessau identified the common pain point of employers facing salary advance requests from workers. Through offering early access to salary, Gaji Kessau alleviates the financial burden on employers and streamlines the process, especially for companies hiring blue-collar workers. By understanding the challenges employers face in managing such requests and payments, Gaji Kessau tailored their platform to address this specific need.
Acquiring Early Customers and Marketing Strategies
Utilizing their extensive network in Indonesia, Gaji Kessau secured initial customers through angel investors and friends for testing. As they expanded beyond personal connections, they focused on building relationships with HR teams who held influence within companies. By engaging with HR communities and offering targeted offline marketing, Gaji Kessau effectively reached and onboarded more customers. Despite initial social media investment, they found offline marketing to be more successful in reaching their B2B target audience.
Focus on Product Development and Future Plans
Gaji Kessau prioritized product research and refinement, even with manual onboarding processes to gather direct user feedback and insights. This approach, though not scalable, provided valuable input for enhancing the platform based on user preferences and needs. Looking ahead, the company aims to maintain focus on their established product-market fit and business growth, emphasizing continued success in their core operations rather than extensive experimentation or pivoting.
Vidit Agrawal is the Founder of GajiGesa, financial wellness partner for employers in Indonesia. GajiGesa's powerful fintech platform is built to help millions of hardworking Indonesians take control of their financial lives with dignity. The GajiGesa app provides member employees with Earned Wage Access (EWA), financial education, and other financial management tools to improve their long-term financial health responsibly. It also empowers employer partners with an enterprise-grade HR analytics platform to improve employee productivity, engagement, and retention by reducing financial stress for their workforce.
GajiGesa was founded in 2020 by Martyna Malinowska (formerly Product Lead at Standard Chartered Bank, Product Director at LenddoEFL) and Vidit Agarwal (formerly Head of Business Development APAC at Stripe, COO at CARRO, and first employee at Uber in Asia). GajiGesa has raised $12 million. The round was co-led by Defy.vc and Quest Ventures. Other participants included GK Plug and Play, Next Billion Ventures, Alto Partners Multi-Family Office, Kanmo Group and strategic angel investors.
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