Interviewer - Can you provide me with a description of your business?
Ashwin Kumar - BackBuckle.io is a Feature-as-a-Service (FaaS) platform which provides a suite of ready-to-use features and micro-services to instantly add to your App(Mobile / Web / IoT) or even build entire app’s backend in record time by eliminating the explicit need to design, develop and maintain services not related to your core business logic. Thereby making Go-To-Market time to the least and dollar savings to the max.
For example, backend services for any typical app include a few core services that pertain to business logic, and numerous other non-core services like User-Management-Engagement, Resource Management, Geo-location service, Review service, Rating service, Features Flags, Offer service, Search, etc and the list goes on. Developing these services in-house not only affects Go-To-Market time but also adds to maintenance and scaling overheads. A range of features offered by BackBuckle cloud can seamlessly integrate (via API) with the core business logic services.
BackBuckle.io is a blessing in disguise for all the enterprises and startups where all you need to do is just focus on your core business and simply integrate our features. Not only this, we have a wide range of 27+ features which you could select from, be it user management or follow or feature flagging etc. And there you are, ready with an amazing new product ready for a great launch in the market.
When it comes to building application, there are fun parts about it and not so fun parts about it. The not so fun part is coding everything from scratch, devoting hours and hours to code all the basic features. The fun part is creating great experiences, the ultimate app you give to your users with all your efforts. BackBuckle.io want you to focus just on those good things.
For existing enterprises too, we have a lot to offer. You do not need to change your existing features, but just add the new ones to make it better than ever. Even when you think of scaling up your business, BackBuckle.io comes to your help and easily processes your biggest requests. At the day end, BackBuckle.io ensures that you go home happy while we take care of all the features you need. We enable instant digital transformation.
Interviewer - How did you get started in this business?
Ashwin Kumar - The idea behind BackBuckle.io was the need to make app dev easier. We had initially started off with the development of an app for hyper-local food sharing. We nicknamed it as Spoon. We felt the need of such feature-as-a-service platform like BackBuckle, but nothing of such kind was available in the market back then. It took us months coding all the features from scratch. Had there been a similar service available, our app development time would have reduced by 70%+ and we could innovate more. Could you imagine the potential of such features and how much time and efforts they save of the developers? That was the moment I thought of the idea of a FaaS platform and thus the BackBuckle journey began.
Developers want to build a beautiful app that provides a terrific user experience, with robust functionality. But 80% of their time spent on developing their backend services which are non-core to their business logic. This problem is magnified by various integration requirements. Its the only FaaS (Feature-as-a-Service) solution that gives you the flexibility and freedom to make the app you want with the skills you already have by taking the complexity out of the functionality and reducing your time to market. One set of features to integrate in any app- Legacy or new.
Interviewer- Why do your customers select you over your competitors?
Ashwin Kumar - FaaS(Feature-as-a-Service) is the new trend and we are one among the early entries in this space. We have designed our product stepping ourselves into customer's shoes and that's the reason we got many differentiators. BackBuckle is a sector agnostic(e-commerce, finance, travel, food, game, etc) Omni channel FaaS platform which. BackBuckle.io is the only platform which supports multi-dimensional and multi-role applications. Every feature comes with in-depth analytics and data insights, which will help to visualize the data. Our services are powered by AI ML engine which gives advanced functionalities on top of each feature. BackBuckle.io pricing model suites from hobbyists, startups to big enterprises.
Interviewer- What are the biggest issues for running this business?
Ashwin Kumar - Hiring the right talent is what I see is the biggest challenge. Entrepreneurs set up a company, develop a fantastic product which the market is waiting for, raise funding, and yet, one out of four startups fail because the team was not suited for the tremendous challenges entrepreneurs and startups face. So even while the 3rd most common reason startups fail can be attributed to not having the right team in place, the first two reasons - having no market fit & running out of funds, can also be partially attributed to having the wrong people executing those tasks.
Interviewer- What suggestions would you like to give to the young budding entrepreneurs?
Ashwin Kumar - As an entrepreneur, one should look out for micro or even nano opportunities around. Don't neglect these and run behind the big ones. These micro opportunities will chain themselves and turn big. Like what the quote 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' says, keep a closer eye on the competitors & market. And remember, always keeping innovating your product.