Darpan is the Founder of Squadhelp.com, a crowdsourcing platform helping entrepreneurs engage experts for their branding projects. Previously, he co-founded a VC-backed business that was a leader in Fortune 500 companies.

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Resources Mentioned:

• Your Big Idea: Successful Entrepreneurs have One Big Idea. Follow JLD’s FREE training & you’ll discover Your Big Idea in less than an hour!
• Audible – Get a FREE Audiobook & 30 day trial if you’re not currently a member!
• Google Optimizely – Darpan’s small business resource
• 10% Happier – Darpan’s Top Business Book
• Darpan’s website
• How to Finally Win – Create your dream life one step at a time

3 Key Points:

1. You can’t solve all the problems in the world, but there’s definitely one problem that you can solve remarkably.
2. Pivoting can be hard at times; don’t hesitate when you know it’s the right thing to do.
3. Innovate in your own industry.

Sponsors

• Incapsula: Protects and accelerates over 4 million websites every day. Get a free enterprise trial of Incapsula’s services when you visit LP.Incapsula.com/2017Podcasts!
• Health IQ – A life insurance agency that uses science and data to secure lower rates on life insurance for health-conscious people. To see if you qualify, get your free quote today at HealthIQ.com/fire!

Time Stamped Show Notes

(click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.)

• [01:08] – Darpan was born in India and moved to Chicago 20 years ago
• [01:43] – He currently resides in Chicago with his family and their dog
• [02:45] – JLD himself has used Squadhelp and still uses it every now and then
• [03:28] – Darpan shares how he came up with Squadhelp through a contest on a marketing focused site
• [03:54] – “There needs to be a resource for companies to use”
• [05:03] – His expertise is in building large scale Internet applications
• [05:35] – There are some known myths about branding that most companies focus on; don’t forget to:
  • [05:52] – Pick a brand name that is productive, intriguing and connects with customers
  • [06:13] – Pay attention with the validation of your brand name
  • 06:27 – Trademarking is important — Go to uspto.gov for a free trademark check
  • [06:50] – Do a sample audience check on your brand and get feedback
  • [07:10] – Check with Google Translate to make sure that your brand name won’t become complicated in other languages
• [08:30] – Darpan thinks JLD’s brand ‘Cities by Sound’ evokes positive emotions
• [10:31] – Worst Entrepreneurial Moment: Darpan co-founded an ecommerce business in fashion products for the Indian market. They raised a couple rounds of capital and built a great team, but they found themselves caught in a price war between two major players—Amazon and a different Indian company. There was no other way to become profitable so they shut the business down
• [12:10] – That experience gave Darpan a lot of wisdom for his current venture
• [12:29] – “You should not wait a second longer to pivot your business”
• [12:56] – Part of being an entrepreneur means making tough decisions at the right time
• [13:32] – Entrepreneurial AH-HA Moment: Darpan ran contests on his own platform to get ideas on how they could improve engagement. They added gamification, quality squading, leaderboards, a point system, and badges. Now their audience not only continues to engage on their platform, but they also give feedback
• [15:13] – It’s powerful when the feedback you’re getting is from the people inside your community
• [16:13] – What is the one thing you are most FIRED up about today? “I think we have built a very credible alternative to a branding agency, and that is the most exciting part”
• [17:30]– The Lightning Round
  • What was holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur? – The comfort of working in a stable paying job
  • What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – “Focus on the core of the business”
  • What’s a personal habit that contributes to your success? – “My passion around innovation and technology”
  • Share an internet resource, like Evernote, with Fire Nation – Google Optimizely
  • If you could recommend one book to our listeners, what would it be and why? – 10% Happier – “it’s about a journey that shows how mindfulness helps us to be more focused and happier”
• [22:06] – Spend time picking a powerful business name
• 22:28 – Connect with Darpan on Squadhelp and download his FREE eBook!

Killer Resources!

1) Free Podcast Course: Learn from JLD how to create and launch your podcast!

2) Your Big Idea: Follow JLD’s FREE training & you’ll discover Your Big Idea in less than an hour!

3) Funnel On Fire: Learn how to create a funnel that converts!

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