We speak to Pushkar Gaikwad, CEO and leader of Aeroleads, an email finder software company that has accelerated its journey to success over the past few years.

Pushkar brings extensive experience in email search software and has managed to create innovative software that will help you reach your ideal customers in seconds.

Tell us about your background and how you got here?

“Like most people in Banglore, I have a background in software engineering. Again, nothing out of the ordinary, but back in college I was addicted to software marketing and it kind of worked.”

“AeroLeads isn’t my first startup. I’ve developed a few other products in the past. Some have been good, some have not. I guess I’m a random entrepreneur. I don’t have an entrepreneurial background. It was more about doing that, what I loved and enjoyed doing, and the rest just fell into place.”

“Aeroleads was born from the needs of the products I created, realizing that building is easy, but selling is not. So Aeroleads was built to sell the other products but became a hero product itself.”
After launching in 2016, Aeroleads got off to a slow start as it tried to figure out its market and target audience. However, Mr. Gaikwad recognized the importance of feedback, which has played a crucial role in the development of the product and has helped refine Aeroleads.

What is your target group and who are your customers?

“Aeroleads is fairly horizontal software. Absolutely anyone and everyone can use them. We have a few sole traders to small businesses using Aeroleads.”

“But if you were to ask me who our ideal customer is, I would say that they are small to medium-sized companies. They make regular contact and look for a solution that we offer.”

Considering the stiff competition out there (like Skrap, Snov.io, Lusha), what do you think is Aeroleads’ USP?

“It’s a very crowded market, every two weeks; I find another tool that does something like this. I even stopped keeping a list of competitors. There is a lot of overlap. It’s a very old industry and there are probably 30-40 tools that offer the same service on the market.”

“We are focused on developing our product and providing better service to our customers. Our USP would probably be the Chrome plugin with lots of custom features which I think we are the only ones out there.”

“It’s a paid plugin that only premium subscribers can use and it’s packed with features and benefits to help you add lots of data quickly.”

“We’re adding our own Gmail addon, which will be launched fairly soon. So this is an integration we look forward to.”

How has the pandemic affected your business and what has been the growth trajectory for Aeroleads?

“I think we’re lucky that we haven’t been badly affected by the pandemic. However, because we sell sales software and because our customers have been impacted by the pandemic, she has reduced her sales. Which in turn has impacted our business.”

“Our customers in the travel and tourism industry have suffered the most. There have been instances where we were close to signing a deal with a large company, but the pandemic forced us to postpone it.”

Working remotely is never easy. So how do you come up with new ideas?

“It was a learning curve and new experience for me too. I have worked remotely and with people from different parts of the world in the past.”

“I had some idea about the ins and outs of working remotely. It’s just that the pandemic has magnified the whole situation. However, I would say that the remote team is a bit more productive than the traditional team.”

disadvantage

“I think one issue we face when working remotely is communicating effectively. Second, there is a significant gap in the onboarding of new employees.

When you work from an office, you build chemistry with the employee, which is a lack of remote work. It’s also a challenge to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your employees.”

What is the Aeroleads growth strategy in 2022?

“We have some great plans for 2022. We have some big features that we will be rolling out soon. We have already introduced some of them; they were soft launches, so we didn’t talk much about them.”

“We want to add more features that will make it easier for our customers to reach their audience with the click of a button. We’ve never really invested in sales or marketing, so now we want to focus on marketing to accelerate our growth. “

What excites you about your job?

“I love software and technology. I don’t do it for the money. There was a time when I wasn’t making any money from my products. But I’ve always loved working on new technologies and that’s what excites me most about my job.”

“When you run a successful business, the dopamine hit you get when you see results is why I need to push myself and do more.”

“Goals, ambition, goals, growth is all that drives me to excel in my role. But on the other hand, if you don’t get results, it could go downhill very quickly.”

What is the biggest challenge you face in today’s world?

“I think challenges depend on the business stage you are in. We are in the growth phase of the company, so getting the right people on board is currently the biggest challenge.”

“People say you don’t want to be the smartest person in the room. So I like working with people who are smarter than me. But unfortunately, smart people have many options in the market. So hiring the right people becomes a challenge.”

“The next challenge would be to sustain growth throughout the year. Some, many unforeseen circumstances and challenges come throughout the year.”

“You realize that some goals may not have been practical. It is therefore a challenge to ensure that your team is always working to its full potential.”

What would be your message to all the startup entrepreneurs out there?

“Well, if you want to build a startup, do it. There is never a right time to start your business. It’s a learning experience. I started with my college days, so I think I’ve learned, and I’ve come a long way in my life.”

“I’ve matured a lot, learned a lot, but I think there’s a lot you can learn as a startup that you wouldn’t otherwise learn in a 9-5 job. The younger the better, you have to be more responsible you’re getting old.”

Well that was quite an interview with Pushkar. We appreciate this opportunity and wish Aeroleads the best in its future success.