1345 – Understanding the Next Generation with Go Knit’s Aneesh Dhawan

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder and CEO of Knit, Aneesh Dhawan.

Knit is a Gen Z insights platform that helps brands tap into the audience of Gen Z to develop feedback on their products. Companies use their platform by uploading questions and within a few hours, Gen Z consumers will answer them. Brands can target specific audiences down to a city level or demographic. The technology of Knit allows for the answers to be compiled and analyzed for easy access for the company to then use to revise its marketing strategies. Aneesh and his co-founder found through their past work experience, that the way marketers are talking towards Gen Z is not working. They came up with the idea to get marketers involved with their younger consumer base at the speed of the internet. Knit obtained a majority of their panelists of Gen Z by going out and recruiting themselves. They also have third-party partnerships that help them amplify their reach. Aneesh explains that they work primarily with consumer brands on concept testing their marketing and understanding Gen Z.

Key Points from the Episode:

• What Knit does
• Engagement between Knit and its partners
• How Knit came about
• Recruitment of Gen Z
• Use cases

About Aneesh Dhawan:

Aneesh Dhawan is the CEO and co-founder of Knit, the Gen Z insights platform. Aneesh launched his first company, a Gen Z agency called Feed A Friend, at the age of 16. A few years later, he started Knit the platform helping brands like JBL, the WNBA, and NASCAR understand the next generation of consumers. Aneesh is an avid traveler, triathlete, and loves golden doodles.

Aneesh was born a problem solver. In 9th grade, he worked with an NGO and a team at MIT to install a desalination device in a village in Haiti. In 10th grade, he launched his first company - Feed A Friend, a cause marketing agency. In 11th grade, he spearheaded a project bringing solar-powered lights to the local school and 100+ residents of a rural Haitian village. By the time Aneesh was a senior in high school, he had founded and launched PurPics, which later became Knit.

When not working for the company, Aneesh is an avid traveler and endurance sports competitor. He has traveled to 20+ countries, is an Ironman 70.3 finisher, and loves to swim and wrestle. His personal dream is to travel and compete in an IronMan on every continent, but his larger passions include solving the world's most challenging problems through technology and partnerships.

Tweetable Moments:

04:16 - "The way people are talking to their customers today just doesn't work."

04:26 - "When it comes to this next generation, our behaviors, our attitudes, our preferences are literally changing at the speed of the internet."

06:38 - "The other big use case is if you're a consumer brand and you just need to understand how is Gen Z shopping, how are they making different decisions?"

Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur:

https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Want to learn more? Check out the Knit website at https://goknit.com/

Check out Knit on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/goknit/

Check out Aneesh Dhawan on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/aneesh-dhawan-140212141

Check out Aneesh Dhawan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/aneeshdaone?lang=en

Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!

More from UpMyInfluence:

We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE.

Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here.

What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.