Ten years ago when Kaiesh Vohra, an AI & CS graduate from the University of Edinburgh, called up his childhood friend Zal Dastur, a Monash University & University of Melbourne graduate, to quit his job and join him to start a business in Bangalore, he knew there was no turning back. The business failed in 2 years, but the entrepreneurial bud was planted in, ready to flourish, and sprout its leaves.
Meet Kaiesh and Zal, the co-founders of Lucep, a lead distribution & management system that connects front-end channels directly to an agent within 5 minutes vs. 30 minutes. Visit their website here.
Kaiesh Vohra & Zal Dastur: Co-Founders at Lucep
Kaiesh Vohra, originally hailing from an Indian background, was born in the UK but grew up in Singapore for most of his years. He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh and has worked with top companies like Accenture, Shell, Nokia, and Credit Suisse before beginning his journey as an entrepreneur.
Zal Dastur, also hailing from an Indian background, grew up in Singapore after being born in the Philippines. He studied Bachelors in Political Science from the University of Melbourne and went ahead to pursue Masters in Internation Business and Marketing from Monash University, Australia. He also worked for a sports marketing company for massive brands like Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Formula 1, PGA, LPGA prior to beginning his entrepreneurial journey.
Zal and Kaiesh have been friends since the age of 10 and even attended United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) in Singapore together.
Lucep – Capture, Call, Convert
The entrepreneurial-duo realized that many small businesses had a disconnect between their digital marketing and sales teams. If leads were responded quicker, companies might have a higher lead to customer conversion rate. Today, Lucep’s smart lead distributions connect businesses directly with prospective customers.
“When we provided this theory correctly within the company we were working for, we decided that more businesses would have this problem and that we could help to solve it for them,”
Dastur stated.
Lucep’s effort to help tackle COVID-19 in India
As we know, Lucep is a lead distribution and management platform that connects front-end channels directly to an agent, and in the case of COVID-19, with an approved doctor. Lucep teamed up with several other startups to create hotline numbers and processes that could assist the ones in need of that information, especially in India, a large country where everyone does not have access to doctors on a call.
The hotline number allows individuals to call and find out how serious their case is by going through a series of options. When a case is deemed severe enough for a doctor’s consultation, the Lucep systems notify the doctors from the same state or speaking the same tongue. The first available doctor accepts the requests and starts a video call with the patient to offer the appropriate advice.
The co-founders told TimesNext,
“This system has proved crucial as false information can be spread quickly, but having a direct link to a doctor means that people get quality information and advice even if they live in a rural village. The solution has dealt with hundreds of thousands of calls across the country, helping many many people.”
The importance of feedback
Lucep, being a bootstrapped startup, went through a very different experience than that a funded startup would face. The duo was focussed on revenue generation and cash flow since day one, which seemed to be quite unique amongst startups. As a customer-focused company, Lucep analyzed the customer feedback carefully and worked on building the features that mattered the most for them. For the co-founders, this also helped them gain a good understanding of how to manger the bottom line of a business and ensure that you are neither overspending nor being inefficient.
On Goals
The duo wishes to see their company, Lucep, continue to grow and develop by serving a global client base from around the world. Despite facing hurdles due to the COVID-19 situation, they are still focussed on building their empire by adapting to the changes in the market & surroundings.
“Goals change and adapt as your particular situation changes as well. Personally, my goals are to always make sure I enjoy what I’m doing and the life I am leading. If I wake up too many days in a row not wanting to do something, then I feel I have to look at it closer and understand my feelings toward this,”
says Dastur, an inspiration for many more aspiring entrepreneurs.
