Startup Story #63: WOW Parenting, Co-Founder Narendra Goidani’s Dream of Progressive Parenting

October 23, 2017

When Narendra Goidani and Paresh Shah founded WOW Parenting, they sought to offer children amazing, thoughtful and progressive parenting.

The digital parenting portal also has an application that presents exciting parenting insights, videos and practical parenting tips..

Narendra gets candid, as he tells us how it all began. “When my son Neeraj was born, we looked around for a ‘fantastic’ book or guide or DVD or video on parenting. I could find none that would excite me. I started observing, asking, discussing and practicing new parenting techniques. Some produced amazing results; others left us in splits. Some left us dumbfounded! We created ‘Wow Parenting’ with a desire to play a small role in assisting parents in their incredible journey of parenting,” he confesses.

Startup Essentials

As a parenting portal, WOW Parenting presents an engaging, entertaining and non-judgmental experience. It focuses on being informative and open-minded.
The website and application draw from a mix of personal experience, observation and extensive research after conducting discussions with parents, teachers and experts.
The portal offers numerous videos, blogs and tips on parenting for the age group of 5 to 16.

A morning person, the founder firmly believes that uttering a prayer is when you converse with God. He shares his belief that meditation is when God talks to you with equal conviction. Walking us through a usual Monday at the startup, he says, “I usually wake up at 4:30 in the morning. It is when I meditate for an hour and then go on to spend some time with my family members.”

Exceedingly punctual, Narendra sets off to work by 8:50 and reveals that his mornings are usually packed with meetings. “Touching base with the core members of the office holds priority. The second half of my day is focused on answering the questions posted on the WOW Parenting website. I also write new blogs and interact with various people.”

The founder passionately speaks of his startup saying, “Theoretically, in the lives of children, parents are the most consistent and caring people. In life, however, parenting does not always go right or well. We say, we love our children the most. Have we also ignored them and their needs the most? Do you really remember learning how to parent? It sounds like a cliche but it is the truth. Our parenting portal will help you in creating amazing impact on your children,” he explains.

Navigating the scary waters of pregnancy and parenting can be a lot for new mums and dads to take in, luckily there are resources such as this and other online help forums that can be there for parents when they need that extra assistance, or to discuss tips and tricks with other parents who have been through what they have or who are starting their journey at the same time too. We have become a more connected world, and in doing so, fewer and fewer parents feel alone in what they are doing, they are able to connect with those that can be a support.

Touching upon his daily responsibilities at work, he shares that they include responding to various queries posted on the WOW Parenting website as well as the application. “Looking for great talent is vital too and I have frequent meetings with my co-founder Paresh Shah. We discuss various techniques that would add more value to our parenting portal,” he smiles.

“I’m home by 7:30 most evenings only to have an early dinner. The rest of the evening calls for family time,” says Narendra declaring that he hits the sack by half past ten only to recharge for the next day.

“As an entrepreneur, I like to meet new people and network. One of my key roles involve identify various marketing strategies and look for solutions that will make the experience of WOW parenting more delightful for readers.”

He also admits to spending a sizeable amount of time researching various issues that parents face today.

CEO After Hours

Weekday evenings see Narendra dedicating an hour to working out.
But Sunday mornings begin with a Satsang and an hour of meditation.
He loves to spend his time reading and has authored a book titled ‘Essentials of Parenting.
He devotes the rest of the day to his family.

Speaking about the company, he reveals that the core team consists of nine people. Since WOW parenting work all day Saturday; Sunday is when the founder truly catches a break.

“Ultimately, Wow Parenting is NOT a manual to raise your child. However, it does give concrete examples of how other people and cultures raise calm, respectful, successful children,” he expounds signing off.