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Here's How Aarti Vaishnav Built An Integrated Ed-Tech System

Exxat, founded in 2013 by Aarti Vaishnav, focuses on providing all in one education management software that streamlines handling data, documents, and relationships with students and clinical sites.

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Charvi Kathuria
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Aarti Vaishnav
Aarti Vaishnav worked for 15 years before starting Exxat. She is an Information Technology engineer with a Master’s degree in Computer Science and a Master’s in Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology. Using the latest, cutting-edge technology Aarti is on a journey to manage all aspects of education right from the admission of a student until their graduation and beyond.
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There have been a lot of people who contributed to her entrepreneurship journey. Her dad and her husband have played a huge role in her entrepreneurship journey.

Talking about how her network helped her, she says,"I had a good network from my USC (University of Southern California) MBA. My professors and classmates were all very resourceful and I leveraged their expertise. I had a friend who was an entrepreneurship professor at USC who initially helped me think through my sales and marketing. Another professor who taught us competitive Strategy is now on the board of Advisors for Exxat and has been a critical contributor to Exxat’s growth story"

The contribution of all these people helped her cross 1,000 clients and 10 million dollars in revenue. 

There are no certainties in a new venture so the more you are willing to experiment the earlier you will find a winning idea/ solution. -Aarti Vaishnav

YouTube, she feels, has been imperative in housing all their product tutorials and making Exxat successful besides her team of 340 people working out of  Bangalore, Pune, Baroda and US. 

Talking about skills needed to be an entrepreneur, she says that the most important skillset for an entrepreneur is the ability to try things out and pivot when necessary. "There are no certainties in a new venture so the more you are willing to experiment the earlier you will find a winning idea/ solution", she says.

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Talking about funding and revenue for Exxat, she said, "I did not take any institutional investor funds for Exxat. In the early days –my husband and I invested every penny. We cashed out our savings, our retirement accounts and took a second mortgage on the house. Eventually, I raised money through friends and family rounds. I firmly believe that PE/ Venture funds in the early stage of a company is not a great idea. If you have easy access to money- you may not use it prudently and may burn cash on untested ideas. Alternatively, you may be forced to make decisions to support growth for growth, and it would not give you the time to learn about your customers and understand their needs and adapt your product. All this takes time and early pressure to keep a certain growth rate may interfere with this goal. We have been able to scale Exxat without any institutional funds so far successfully. Our revenue is upwards of 1 Million dollars a month.

What's in the pipeline for Exxat? She says that their vision has evolved over the last decade. Now, they are focusing on creating a platform which would cater to all the administrative needs for the Health science programs in the US.

The interview is published in partnership with Google.

women entrepreneurs Digital Women Hub Aarti Vaishnav
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