Startup Story #2: The Mesh

August 16, 2016

A humble abode for startups? That is The Mesh, a startup providing co-working space for any and every entrepreneurial venture. When it comes to launching a startup, there is no denying that it is a difficult process. There are some things which are a necessity in this process. Other things, such as having a startup lawyer working alongside you, aren’t a necessity but certainly make things easier. If you ever wanted to understand how a startup lawyer could help you, we recommend that you read these startup lawyer FAQs. However, a necessity that grips every budding entrepreneur is a space to put their Einsten-like ideas to work, and that’s where Deepti Kasbekar’s own startup comes in. With a background in copywriting, Kasbekar decided to rent out a workspace dedicated to writing. “When I moved in to an office I realised I needed to sort out numerous things, right from hiring an office boy to getting an internet connection. Also, I felt really lonely,” she says. That’s when the entrepreneurial spirit in her came alive, “I thought there must be so many people like me. You don’t get to concentrate on what you actually want to build but on paying bills, the rent, getting a carpenter, the internet guy, etc.” This is when typing the words co-working spaces in India on Google led to building a full-fledged business for Kasbekar. “There was a boom of co-working spaces in Bangalore and really successful ones, so I thought to myself why not start one in Pune too?!”

Started one rainy morning in August 2014, Kasbekar conceptualised the brand name ‘The Mesh’ from the main goal it stands for. “The Mesh is meant to be a protective covering for entrepreneurs and the community we build here interweaves and creates a protective shield just like a mesh,” she adds. The idea of a co-working space is leasing out infrastructure to individuals or groups, often on membership basis. Since The Mesh caters to nascent ventures, the membership prices are kept as low as possible depending on ones requirements. In order to benefit all, it even has special packages for people who need an office space or a conference room for only a few hours known as the Nomad package or for a mother who finds it hard to leave her child alone. She can avail of their virtual office services wherein The Mesh would collect her mail or send out couriers while she works from home. A Virtual Office In London With Be Offices is something many businesses are finding to be worth looking into. Having a registered address for your home business can help you to appear professional, increasing the possibilities of clients wanting to work with you. Even though you are working from home, you have that protection of a registered office service should you need to meet at an office space for any reason; helping you to continue to meet the pinpoint of success. Sometimes, it’s efficient to have a virtual office based in another country to find new business partners and be shown to have a business in a reputable and expensive city. You can learn more about virtual offices at https://www.fuer-gruender.de/blog/virtual-office-geschaeftsadresse/, and the choices you have regarding addresses in countries like Germany. The timings here are completely flexible, says Kasbekar- “We have a 24-hour space since you can’t restrict an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur’s life is anything but a nine-to-five. If someone has a Skype call with someone in the US, I don’t want them to be stranded.”

Kasbekar’s entrepreneurial adventure began with an apartment on Senapati Bapat Road with 20 people signing up within a matter of 15 days. “Seeing the kind of collaborations and relationships that started building here, I realised that there’s something different happening here and I need to nurture it, that’s when I started looking into it more deeply,” explains Kasbekar. By 2016, a simple space where people could hone their startup dreams has now expanded to a total of four centres over the city including Koregaon Park and Baner.

Co-working spaces essentially bring together likeminded people which fosters a creative-inspiring environment. Keeping this in mind, The Mesh is not a place for all work and no play. Facilitating a stress free zone along with and trying to break away from conventional norms of office buildings, being a part of this endeavour will see you participating in weekly mixers where you can interact with similar people and get motivated as well as become a dog lover. Kasbekar believes that the five dogs that will welcome you at the centres can relieve you from your worries of whether you made the right choice.

The fourth establishment and the most recent one which was officially launched on August 15 under the campaign called ‘the new sense of freedom’ is a reflection of Kasbekar’s ideology of providing a peaceful environment. The bungalow which is situated on Senapati Bapat Road in a quaint lane promises,”a space which is as warm as home but as corporate as an office. You can take a Skype call under a mango tree or conduct a meeting on a park bench.” The proof of its success is echoed in Karthik Sridhar’s words, one of the first to join The Mesh- “I started CV Ranker which is a recruitment software. Working from home would always result in lack of motivation and no constructive work. While looking for a co-working space which was economical yet congenial to startups that’s when we stumbled across The Mesh and the experience has been superb. We’ve been working here since 2014 and once in the middle we tried shifting into our own office only to come back here, the kind of networking you can do here is amazing.”

Seeing the startup scene in Pune improving by leaps and bounds, Kasbekar feels the striking element of change is the mindset, “We have a lot of people come in saying my parents are still apprehensive about my startup idea, but now we have those same parents back their children in these ventures.” Doing her own bit to change the startup sector she plans on tapping into the two-tier cities and rural areas, “There are a host of entrepreneurs in places like Nashik, Nagpur, Kolhapur but their startup ideas are still referred to as bijjness and not as a startup. I want to change this.” Already working on it there is the Shetkari market wherein they will host a fair bringing together rural entrepreneurs that include farmers who make their own paneer or utilise sugarcane for its various uses.