INTERVIEW OF CO-FOUNDERS OF LOOP !!!

Hello everyone I’m Saloni from India. I’m going to interview you today. Welcome to your interview. I hope it all goes well for you all. Now, could you introduce yourselves to both of you.

Luodi: Sure , we are two of the co-founders of loop. I’m the CEO and Anushk is the chief marketing officer. loop is a tech software startup. This is a platform that’s meant for students to immerse themselves in their individual passion and we are a non profit community. We help them in finding new opportunities that really fit with who they are and opportunities that fit their interests. It's something like specifically making students enjoy outside their class schedule, to really find a substantial community outside of their everyday lives. It's not just something as simple as a non profit extracurricular activity , but it's also a journey that you undergo. It's something very related to us and Anushk will tell a lot more about his experiences and for me is going through high school, I think , it's a lot more about the people you meet and the interest you find with one another, interactive connections you make. And I think what prompted us to do it is we saw the need to do this , there is no specific online community that can substitute it. It's something that priorities the needs of the students rather than a mass marketing and overall in general a generic demographic, massive social media usually spoils the students.

That’s great. I really like, I really appreciate the way you found the need . And it’s really cool to have the guts to start something that’s not done before. Now, would you like to tell us more about yourselves? Who are you, as a person?

Luodi: Well, so we are an international team. I myself live in the United States. I'm currently attending college in the United States. For me it's always this international experience. And I was in digital and technologically startups previously , this is something I really got to do. I’m particularly interested in building stuff with different technologies and going into how a specific market looks and understanding deep into it. It's made for some people but it's able to be used for everybody. That’s special about technology. And developing projects like this and yeah that’s pretty much it.

Thank you so much, Luodi. Anushk, go ahead.

Anushk: I’m a junior in high school from India and I have previous experience in a lot of activities like blogging, tutoring and many more. I have done research and kind of internships and the motive behind this whole loop was, I was kind of looking for more opportunities like I would be wishing to work in blogging or a tutoring organization , so an organization that would take a high schooler to make blogs or tutor. So that was the main motive of loop and luodi and the other two co-founders share the same problem . We all faced the same trouble, that’s finding the correct organization . So that’s why we actually created loop.

That’s amazing. That’s so inspiring. Like you, you found a problem that’s happening and you decided that you can solve it . That’s really commendable. Awesome So, now, your team is so diverse , like you all so different and from different countries . So how did you manage to come together and to communicate effectively? So the organist can go smoothly.

Anushk: so, all four of us were just, we had no intention in starting a company like loop , a loophole community and a platform . So once all four of us were chatting on a group forum . I guess that was a roundpier forum and we met through there. We were just discussing random topics , then we kind of like, could relate to each other and yeah that was basically the whole way we were, we just brainstormed the ideas and we found common observations and that’s how loops formed. And yeah it was a public forum . Really an unexpected way to meet the co-founders and like how can you expect someone who finds the cofounders from a public forum. And yeah that's the best part of our team and as you mentioned, the diversity we have is really amazing . Luodi comes from china and has an experience in living in the United States and one of the co-founders who’s from South Africa and like the other one from Bangalore. So, it's really really diverse and we just learn so many new things.

That's really amazing and it's just how perfect everything comes together. really good. luodi, you wish to add something more.

Luodi: yes, sure. Yeah, so for me I think, you bring up the great point that how we manage diversity and you know how we come together. You know I think similarities and differences are necessary but I think differences are what make you unique and it makes you go through a journey that you would remember for the rest of your life and it's going to make you learn a lot of stuff and it's one of the greatest journeys ever. So diversity is great but there's a little bit of downsides when time comes. Besides that everything is great, fine.

Yeah, totally agree with that. Time differences and all. But, you all are managing it really well. That just matters at the end of the day. Now, so what were the hindrances you faced while starting the loop and how did you tackle them ?

Luodio : I guess one of the greatest hindrances was risk, then building a tech platform . You know the thing about the tech platform is you have to build the great technology that works, and not just in terms of technology, you can figure it about, easily from your expertise and so many other resources, I think it's easier to build the platform than ever before and also, the think about tech is that you have to fit it to specific market need to find the people who love using it. You have to consider things that’s outside of just the technology itself. So it's kind of incorporating marketing , ui, and kind of making user experience to become very customised, applicable and possible for these people. So you know technology is definitely difficult but I think even part is marketing like thousands of people and convincing them. and by improving yourself. Not being perfect is not a mistake. just improve gradually and eventually. We found a large number of interested like 1500 made a user sign in. Don’t panic over how perfect you are. You know how the market works . Just go forward with it, that's what I would say.

That’s a great message. That’s really what you need, than the guts to go for it. Its really nice. All of you are probably studying right now. either in university or school. How do you balance it like academics and your startup?

Anushk: That's definitely a problem we have faced and we all have exams at different times of our lives. One has exam in June, other one in July, and the other one in august. Managing studies, internship works and a lot of work , it has definitely been difficult for each of us. But, maybe we used to tackle it as we just try to meet thrice a week and discuss the progress of loop and stay organised.

That’s really cool. I totally understand what’s your point and it's great how you managed to stick to a schedule despite being so busy with your life. That’s really commendable . So, you all are pretty young obviously , I think , you just started college and in school . So how did you equip yourself with so many skills at such a young age? Coding and so much go into a tech platform . So how did you learn ?

Anushk: I think, I can go on with this. So our team had really diverse people. For example, one of the cofounder was from South Africa, he had his connections with a lot of non profit organisations. So that helped a lot with marketing and stuff. I have been coding from 9 th grade and that has definitely helped me in building the technology. And has it's a startup, the finance is really a important part, that’s issued after funding and where the money going and capital. I and one of the other co founder have experience of working as a financial analyst. So we had a knowledge about that. Definitely google was a very good friend of ours. Loudi: that’s it, I guess pretty much you have covered how we manage these things. And I think if you have passion to it and then if you find time for it, so you naturally do these things. Its how like you do a lot of tasks and naturally these things go on. Its very hard to explain how exactly we do it. i will say focus on one thing and go till the sky with it.

That's really great. Just do what you're interested in. What are some of your goals for the future? Like some things like, you have already prayed that you want happening in the future? Anushk: I think luodi would be a good person to ask. Luodi: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think the future is hopeful and it's always about expanding and scaling the current service we have and you know, increasing the ways that we can gain new users other than, you know, promoting ourselves on Tik tok and social media . And, you know, contributing more to the community. And I think this is a positive thing for everyone involved and we hope to have, interns and social media, as well as tech allows us to, you know, have more people upkeep our ever growing service and operations, but also payments, maintaining, you know, kind of our, the goal of this sort of as a way to democratize opportunities and chances for every student in the world.

That's really a great thing to have like to have as a goal and I understand like the struggles of promoting venture like it's really hard to gain that exposure in starting but yeah, we hope that you get where you want to be.

So what are some other projects that you're working on besides something that you're currently working on?

Luodi: we try to kind of bring people into finance and understand about the future of the financial markets bringing younger people into, you know, kind of building generational, you know, building, self wealth and, eliminate the kind of generational wealth gap, etc. And, you know, we've been partnering with the financial service app called bloom that's backed by Y Combinator and you know, to encourage young people to be more involved and active in the world. Because you know, identity is never you know, a prevention to contribute to the society in neither should age be a factor that prevents shifting more into society. So it's always about encouraging and fostering the younger generation in our generation.

That's really nice. What about you Anushk?

Anushk: Okay, like, just to kind of put it in a nutshell, that either of us have been working on something else, because like, Loop hasn't something but like, we all have our own lives. And we have a lot of other stuff that we, that we usually do ,so like Luodi is working on a podcast other co founders are working on some other internships. I'm doing a course from IBM on quantum computing. And like a lot of stuff just keeps happening but can definitely Loop has been like something that we all have been really focusing upon.

That's really great. So it's no lie that the pandemic has been like, so harsh and all of us like, and like you're starting a venture like you're starting a venture together despite like, there is such demotivating times like how did you find the drive and still stack loop and like, be motivated to keep it going.

Anushk: So I think the pandemic is the reason that I and luodi and the other founders really met . So for us, it wasn't really that bad. Because of the pandemic. A lot of people have started doing virtual internships have started joining virtual organizations and stuff. So that has actually been really beneficial to like our whole motive. There's a lot of online communities, platforms, organization startups. So yeah, that has actually been really beneficial for us. And I don't think being a pandemic or not being a pandemic wouldn't have made any change. Because like each of us are like, while we are like so far away from each other, that the only way we could communicate was from online video conferencing. We don't really see it as a hindrance on us.

That's great. luodi do you want to add something to that?

Luodi: Yeah, I mean, I think part of the great inspiration behind loops, you know, we've been in the startup thing for now, maybe four months, and, it was 2020 that the pandemic happened. So a lot of this virtual community being immersive, in on the internet is relatively, you know, soon was, every other online service that we see skyrocketing in the past two years. So I think you know, part of the idea of Loop also comes from, you know, the increasing number of people who are doing things online and virtual scenarios. So, you know, that definitely, we are positively affected by that. I would say, I think , there are good things to it, and, you know, get us off to innovation, like we have, and we're obviously you know, looking forward to what new things that people are creating and the projects that we are endeavoring on now and in the future.

That's really, like, it's good to know that this pandemic even had a positive effect on someone. So that's really great to know. So like, you've already been through, like, as you said, like a month or something of this venture. So like, what was something valuable that you learned through your journey? Like yet?

Luodi: Okay. Yeah. So I think from my perspective, you know, overseeing pretty much a lot of this stuff and, outside of a newish role is, you know, the chief marketing , as his role in building the tech and reaching out to people, which has been absolutely transformative. But, you know, I think we learn, , one thing inside of you, , you grow up, you always hear about inspirational things, and advice, from people around you. But when you're going through the startup world it is completely different, you know, it's experiencing and doing it, it's a lot different from hearing from others. So, you know, you learn stuff about , the business world about worship, about assembling and managing a team, communicating with others, how you flow in and out of partnerships and business deals. And, you know, it's basically, you know, seeing all facets of life, and it's wildly exciting, but it's also a journey that you have to go on. And now there's a lot of challenges and obstacles that you face, and a lot of things that you feel like, it's very hard sometimes, a lot of times, but you know, you just have to understand that it's part of the journey and enjoy as you go along.

I definitely agree. That's really hard. But that's great that you have, like, coped with it. Like, that's really commendable. Okay, so now, what advice would you give to someone who's starting a startup? Like you did?

Anushk: So my advice to anyone would be just go ahead with it. I mean, just don't look back and you'll see what else is going to happen, if it's not good. The worst it's going to happen is you're going to fail and even though even if you feel the amount of learning experience that you get out of it, it's just so amazing. For example, okay, you Let's assume , if this loop has to just terminate at this instant, but it would be really sad for us but the amount of the new skills that we develop the communication skills, like how we learned about different cultures and how we learn to collaborate with people across different time zones and with different people that's just so amazing and I mean, just do it, what else is going to happen? It's gonna happen .

That's great advice. Luodi, do you want to add to that?

Luodi: Yeah .you know, one thing is I think social media could also be used in a good way you know, on Twitter follow loop on Twitter and you know, we constantly build in public and give advice to people you know, say about so -so check us out.

We definitely will. Thank you so much for that. Now, with that we are coming to the end of the interview. Thank you so much for giving us the time and for being here. We really appreciate it.

Thank you, it was great .