Kushank what's your backstory?

I was born in India and moved to Canada at 18 to pursue an engineering degree in Vancouver, driven by my passion for working at the intersection of business and technology. During my studies, I discovered a fascination with Arduinos and enjoyed transforming ideas into tangible products. I've always been drawn to big, impactful ideas.

In my first couple of years at university, I was pretty shy, but I pushed myself to get involved in extracurricular activities as much as I could. I participated in a few engineering competitions, and in my penultimate year, I started competing in business case competitions as well, which I really enjoyed.

After graduating, I worked in consulting for about a year before transitioning to a role as a Product Manager at a marketplace tech company.

What does your company do and how did you come up with the idea?

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I’ve always wanted to build products. Building hardware is harder and more capital-intensive, so software and internet-based businesses were the way to go. I started pursuing startups in 2019. The first one attracted a few visitors to the website, the second generated $1.70 in revenue, the third made $500, and the fourth and fifth started getting a couple of hundred weekly users. By the time I got to the sixth, it was finally covering some bills. Along the way, there was an overlap with the content side of the business.

In October 2020, I started posting on TikTok as a way to push myself out of my comfort zone—I used to really dislike social media. Long story short, creating TikToks became a habit, and eventually, the channel took off. It was never part of the plan. Now, with an audience in place, we’re able to build software products. We’re merging content creation and software development to create a startup venture studio, focused on building a portfolio of micro-SaaS products.

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The ideas are endless. I used to keep a daily journal via Google Forms, where one of the questions was, “What problems did I notice today?” This helped me start noticing problems around me, which made coming up with ideas much easier.

How did you get your first 10 customers for DigitalSamaritan?

We're lucky that we have a social media presence, so the first 10 customers came simply from sharing the product on my stories and creating a TikTok/reel about it.

How did you confirm your product met your customers' needs?

This is unconventional, since I've been creating content about various startups over the past 4 years, and can pick up the signals based on social media engagement on that topic and consumer appetite for it. (at least for my audience).So I video about solving similar problems that gave us the signal.

How did you reach and acquire your first 100 customers?

Our first 100 customers were acquired in the same way as our first 10. I created videos about the product on my channel, and luckily, they went viral. That helped us attract more customers.

What distribution channels did you try that didn't work?

Recently, we hired an email marketer, but the results didn’t meet our goals. It’s still early days for that channel, so there’s a lot to learn. We haven’t tried SEO or paid ads yet, but those are areas we plan to explore and hire for soon.

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So far, all our users have come through short-form content. Our plan is to amplify our reach by turning the best-performing videos into ads, targeting the right audience based on our onboarding data.

What specific tools, software, or resources have been most helpful in growing your business?

The team uses ChatGPT and Claude to help us with coding. We also use Zapier to automate a lot of our operations. For our first successful venture, we took a no-code approach and used Softr.

Personally, I’m a big fan of the My First Million podcast, and that’s been a huge help to me as well.

How did you make the transition from a side hustle to full-time entrepreneurship?

I made the transition by ensuring I had a six-month financial runway and worked part-time in a field that aligned with my goals.

‍Who are some recommended experts or entrepreneurs to follow for learning how to grow a business?

Shaan Puri & Sam Parr from the My First Million podcast.

What drives you to do what you do?

Being able to do whatever I want, whenever I want, and not because I have to.

Any quotes you live by?

"If you want something you don't have, you have to do things you haven't done."

Your links + socials

DigitalSamaritan Instagram

DigitalSamaritan TikTok

Kushank Aggarwal X‍‍