Interview with Appalla Saikiran, Founder & CEO of SCOPE

Interview with Appalla Saikiran, Founder & CEO of SCOPE

A teen Telangana-based entrepreneur,  Appalla Saikiran is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of SCOPE, a new-age holistic  platform bringing aspiring entrepreneurs, industry experts, venture capitalists and investors on a single platform.  

Appalla founded SCOPE at the age of just 17 and  completed his Junior CEO program certified by Brown University. Saikiran was also one of the top-100 students across India selected by Google to visit their office. 

Appalla Saikiran is accountable for bringing stakeholders together on a single table and developing the platform’s marketing strategies.  Saikiran is responsible for spearheading SCOPE’s  strategic and business segments, personifying its  development plans, and overseeing the core application.

In an exclusive interview with Appalla Saikiran, Founder & CEO of SCOPE explains How he start his entrepreneurial journey.

Please tell us a little about your entrepreneurial journey

Appalla Saikiran: At the age of just 17 ( Currently 19) , Appalla came up with the idea to build a platform where every budding entrepreneur can get an opportunity to connect with the right mentors, industry experts and investors.

His professional and academic journey is filled with several awards and accolades, including receiving the :

• Global Kids Achievers Award for developing the SCOPE APP
• Getting a seat at the Junior CEO program certified by Brown University
• Being one of the top-100 students across India selected by Google to visit their office.
• Selected as Top 100 most powerful Personalities in India by GlantorX Media (Nation’s Choice Awards)

Furthermore, Appalla has also recently been nominated as the International Partner for India at World Business Angel Investment Forum (WBAF). He will represent India at the next Grand Assembly and pave the way for it to join the world’s largest forum of the equity investment market.

Appalla has recently been elected as one of the 11 most successful teenage entrepreneurs in India by The Big Red Group, an edtech firm.

Some of the previous Live Interactions have been with :

• Kanika Tekriwal (Founder & CEO of JetSetGo)
• Libby Gill (Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, Bestselling Author, Keynote Speaker)
• Tom Taulli (Author, Investor, Speaker & Advisor)
• Hina Dixit (Lead Investor @SamsungNEXT | Ex-Apple SWE Leadership | Stanford University AI)
• Tony Xu ( Co-founder & CEO of DoorDash )  
• He did give a live talk @ Novartis India of “ How to develop Resilience & Enterprise Mindset “.
• Has been selected as one of the top 80 students from 30 countries & been invited by Tim Draper ( Prominent VC ) to Draper University (Palo Alto).
• have been Accepted by Microsoft for Startups Founder’s Hub in the Scaling of SCOPE App.

Is being backed by Prominent Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs with regard to his SCOPE APP.

What service(s) or product(s) do you offer?

Appalla Saikiran: SCOPE APP is a unified networking platform which enables every stakeholder (Investors, Business Mentors, Aspiring Entrepreneur or Professional Collaborator) to Connect, Collaborate & Create their ideas into full-fledged business.

Scope app is more than just a simple networking platform , It is a data platform as well which collects the data and analyzes the latest Economic & Technology start-up  trends and helps predict the best investment options which can increase the probability of a successful ROI.

This Networking platform can help in acting as a catalyst of economic opportunities for a lot of people from finding jobs to raising funds for your start-ups.

What is unique about your label brand?

Appalla Saikiran: We are a team who have been in the shoes of our Target Audience , we have faced the problems that they face & we as a team ensure that we add value in the service we provide .

As an having an experience Entrepreneur & working in start-ups , we know how time consuming can it be for start-ups to use the traditional ways to network, reach out to VC’s, Send cold emails with uncertainty, finding the right mentors to act as an advisor or to help you guide through the perilous waters of Start-ups .

But from our experiences that we bring to the table we have seen the pain points & we have experienced it & we know how to serve the target audience with Proven & Validated solutions.

We even understand the Value of money that the start-ups expect as , we understand the tight Budget & the resource crunch that the start-up functions during the initial stages, & as our Motto goes we ask our customers to “ PAY FOR PERFORMANCE “ so when they pay for any service on the platform we ensure that we deliver the promised results to them .

What made you choose this type of business?

Appalla Saikiran: Well with the growing entrepreneurship ecosystem we definitely need a centralized all stop shop for your necessities to help support entrepreneurs in their journey & that is why the requirement of SCOPE

What was your mission and vision at the outset?

Appalla Saikiran: Plan to re-imagine the power of networking & create an integrated one stop shop solution which would cater the needs of entrepreneurs in their journey. 

How many employees in your organization?

Appalla Saikiran: We are a team of 40+ people who are spread across the field of App Development , Finance , Customer relations , Media Relations & Digital marketing.

We are a team who have been in the shoes of our Target Audience , we have faced the problems that they face & we as a team ensure that we add value in the service we provide.

As an having an experience Entrepreneur & working in start-ups , we know how time consuming can it be for start-ups to use the traditional ways to network, reach out to VC’s , Send cold emails with uncertainty, finding the right mentors to act as an advisor or to help you guide through the perilous waters of Start-ups.

But from our experiences that we bring to the table we have seen the pain points & we have experienced it & we know how to serve the target audience with Proven & Validated solutions .

We even understand the Value of money that the start-ups expect as , we understand the tight Budget & the resource crunch that the start-up functions during the initial stages, & as our Motto goes we ask our customers to “ PAY FOR PERFORMANCE “ so when they pay for any service on the platform we ensure that we deliver the promised results to them .

What are your company’s goals?

Appalla Saikiran: We as an organization are looking to become the most dominant player in the Indian Market for professional networking.

We plan to cross 1.5 million downloads within the timeline next 4 to 5 months . We plan to create an integrated one stop shop solution which would cater the needs of startups in their journey.

What was the inspiration behind turning an entrepreneur

Appalla Saikiran: My Major Entrepreneurship Inspiration has been Elon Musk . Being your own boss. Like many business owners, I always dreamt of working for myself.

After noticing an opportunity to provide the entrepreneurs . I founded SCOPE to fill that gap and make my entrepreneurial dreams come true.

What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?

Appalla Saikiran: Failures are unavoidable and ridiculously costly for start-ups with little time and money. So often start-ups invest huge resources into big product or marketing initiatives.

Naturally, we want to believe that our hard work has paid off, yet the reality is that a very small number of those projects will actually produce large scale, lasting benefits – most will have no impact at all on your business, and some will even make things worse.

The key to success therefore is in trying to fail slightly less often by using more data rather than gut feel in the project planning phases, and not let projects that fail to meet their success criteria linger around for too long

Key things to consider before starting a startup

• Financial planning
• Never give up attitude
• Understanding the market
• Understanding your target audience
• Be ready to fail

What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?

Appalla Saikiran: My biggest mistake was trying to do it all myself. As a founder I felt like I knew everything I needed to know about media, content, even the technology involved to reach my audience.

And I did. I just didn’t know anything at all about making a viable business: finance, marketing, advertising, and human resources.

After a few months of rapid growth my company had stalled out, and I was spending more time to hiring more people who had the key expertise in those respective domains which can make the company money

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Appalla Saikiran: Entrepreneurship is a Roller coaster ride. You almost have to be a bit insane to believe in something that is only in your mind & converting it into a reality.

Failure is just part of the journey , it is not the end . And you are not a failure unless & until you have given up on your dreams . So Stop dreaming about your success & start working for it .

Your success tips for young and aspiring entrepreneurs

Appalla Saikiran: Have consistency in what you do , do not expect instant results .

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