edtech platform would shut down, just months after starting operations. Maheshwari tells ET’s Aashish Aryan in an exclusive interview about his learnings, and whether the company could have done better. Edited Excerpts:
You now have the benefit of a 20/20 hindsight. What have you learned?
We made significant progress in pushing the frontiers on several dimensions with respect to the product, technology, curriculum, and user experience. However, making an idea deliver delight for a customer involves many more things and is hard. Getting it right in all aspects on the first try is even harder. One needs to be humble enough to recognise that, learn and iterate.
What’s next in the process? Where do you see the company headed?
We are now standing at crossroads exploring several possibilities. One of them is to cut the burn rate and pivot to another idea. We are also exploring the option of letting one of the founders take full charge of the company and drive it from there.
Another option under consideration is to return the unspent capital to investors, which will set an example of how to execute, learn fast but not commit to building an undifferentiated product just because one has capital. We will take a final decision very soon. As for the fees, it was refunded in full to the students along with interest and our unqualified apology.
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Having led two companies, what do you think are the key elements to look for in a co-founder?
It is critical that co-founders complement each other in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and that you choose someone who shares the same vision as well as the approach to execute on that vision. Running a startup is a challenging task, no matter how dedicated and passionate you are. You will face ups and downs along the way.
Would you now say that the idea of a university in Metaverse was ahead of its time?
Yes, I agree. We were on the lookout for something that was ahead of its time. As we started testing the early versions of the Metaversity platform with real students, it became apparent to us that the immersive classroom and community experience was not being delivered at the level we had envisaged. We also ran into technology and ecosystem challenges as we solved accessibility on devices used by the students. That impeded us from delivering the differentiated learning experience we wanted our students to have now.
Our teams have worked relentlessly over the past few months, and we have made significant progress in pushing the frontiers on several dimensions with respect to the product, technology and consumer experience…responsible innovation does not happen over a flash or spark, it requires sustainable effort, time and creativity. I continue to remain passionate about the intersection of education and metaverse and will try to pursue it in other ways.
How many students had you managed to enrol?
About 60 students had signed up for the first cohort of our 16-week Invact Business
