This entrepreneur is helping small brands grow through digital marketing
What's the story
Amit Duggal spent his early life in Dehradun - a hill town nestled in the foothills of the Shivalik ranges - before shifting base to New Delhi to pursue an MBA degree. From his first internship at Lowe Worldwide to working for some reputed companies and then co-founding two successful start-ups, his story is all about learning and growing.
Early experience
'Stint with Indiatimes.com helped me learn Internet marketing'
During his internship, Duggal realized he wanted to pursue advertising and marketing. After his MBA, he worked with a few creative agencies, honing new skills. However, things changed in early-2005 when he joined the marketing team at Indiatimes.com. "This stint really helped me learn something new - Internet marketing," said Duggal. He has worked with several start-ups as well as global brands.
New pathways
Duggal has founded two successful start-ups in two years
In 2019, Duggal co-founded two start-ups, namely Monkeyminds and Adorithm. The latter uses state-of-the-art AI and ML algorithms in media to bring measurement transparency for brands, networks, and agencies. It was acquired by SyncMedia for $1 million. Meanwhile, Monkeyminds was founded to "fill the void of working with brands/marketers who are in early stage or sitting in tier-2 towns of the country."
Driving force
'My knowledge can help small brands to grow'
"I feel the knowledge which I have gained over years of working can help early stage or tier-2 brands to grow. I want to be a partner for these brands rather than just a marketing agency," said Duggal. "Our business model is something where our skin is equally involved in terms of getting better returns for the advertisers," he added.
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Challenges are fun, says Duggal
"Challenges are many from getting the right team who has similar vision to making sure...you are growing month-on-month to create meaningful solutions for clients. But that is the fun of being in a start-up! Always evolving. Always pivoting. Always learning," Duggal asserted.
The vision
What is Duggal's goal with Monkeyminds?
"The goal of Monkeyminds is to become the strongest digital player in the regional space. We want to create solutions for clients who are at an early stage or working with mom and pop stores at regional level," said Duggal. "Vision is to be a one-stop for tier-2 markets and help them understand and leverage digital to maximum outcome with 100% benefits," he added.
Life lessons
What impact did the pandemic have on the business?
Monkeyminds kicked off with a vision of certain growth and trajectory. However, 2020 turned out to be a different learning experience. "Pandemic taught us a lot of new things: Collaboration, Connectivity, Consumer first, and Culture," said Duggal. "From a business perspective, we had to change our focus toward tier-2 cities, where clients wanted to use digital marketing for the best ROI possible," he added.
Wise words
What advice does Duggal have for budding entrepreneurs?
Duggal's advice for budding entrepreneurs or professionals is to follow these principles: 1) Be restless and persistent. 2) Always keep your learning mode on. 3) Being experimentative - not only toward your product but also the people. Sometimes people from diverse backgrounds help you more as they don't come with any baggage. 4) Use the power of networking.