WhatsApp newsletter curated by two Kolkata entrepreneurs helps start-ups find early users

Kolkata-based entrepreneur Vedika Tibrewal and her friend Armaan Agrawal have designed a newsletter that leapfrogs other marketing tools owing to its efficient curation. Their WhatsApp newsletter, Dine With Data, has a simple goal — to feed high-signal information to emerging or aspiring start-up founders, allowing them to sift through the clutter of marketing promises and gimmicks. The newsletter that currently has 6,000 subscribers can also help new start-ups get noticed, get early-stage funding or their first batch of users.

“I would say it’s a need-based community. The idea is to be a very good hype machine for the Indian start-up ecosystem. I have worked with PR companies, I know how they work and how much they charge. I don’t want budding start-up founders to feel that they can’t get early users because they don’t have money for PR or marketing. What we bring to the table is insight and reach. Vedika and I both have a wide network, so we can offer a concierge-style service where we can help people connect. Every day, our subscribers get crucial and concise information about start-ups that we distil down for their benefit and also a host of other possibilities, be it investment or hiring. ” Agrawal shares.

‘What [Vedika and I] bring to the table is insight and reach,’ says Agrawal

Since June 2020, Dine with Data has helped many start-ups find their first 100 users. The free WhatsApp newsletter (the premium membership has a yearly fee and offers early access and other benefits) sends out one blast every day and works as a portal for insight on start-ups and business trends, hiring news etc.

“Quite a few times, we’ve heard back from subscribers who found a start-up on Dine with Data and went on to invest in them. Sometimes, subscribers tell us that ‘we were looking for just this product.’ For instance, a few days ago we featured a learning tech start-up and someone in the network was looking for something exactly like that for a research project. We also featured a B2C service that focuses on caregiving for the elderly and a lot of our users went on to procure this service for their parents and grandparents. Since it’s free marketing and we usually prioritise start-ups that haven’t been funded and haven’t been covered extensively, in the last seven months, around 80-90 start-ups have been able to land their first 100 users with Dine with Data,” Agrawal says.

The free WhatsApp newsletter sends out just one blast a day

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The project began as a simple accountability exercise during the pandemic when Tibrewal and Agrawal — both St. Xavier’s alumni — decided to research one start-up every day and share the information with each other. “Once we started doing it, we figured why not share this with everyone? We decided every day, we’ll pick one start-up and send out one WhatsApp message with information about them. Surprisingly, people started liking it. Since it was really shareable, people started sharing it and that’s how our subscribers grew,” Agrawal tells us.

‘It’s about making the right connections via a trusted source,’ says Tibrewal

Tibrewala points out that unlike most WhatsApp newsletters, Dine With Data doesn't rely on a group-based set-up, but works more efficiently. “I feel like people experience a FOMO whenever there’s a WhatsApp group, people feel the need to engage with others even if it’s not necessary. Dine With Data works like a daily broadcast and people can directly get in touch with us or ask to be connected to someone. But they can’t see the numbers of other subscribers. This helps us maintain the anonymity of our users and filter out certain offers, since everyone may not want to connect with everyone. At the end of the day, it’s about making the right connections via a trusted source,” Tibrewal shares.

Find more details about Dine with Data here.