Startup Story #74: The Daftar – Vandita And Sunanda On Warm Workspaces

Startup Story: Daftar

 

Vivacious and gifted, Vandita Purohit and Sunanda Verma are Co-Founders of The Daftar. They shared a desire of wanting to make a meaningful contribution towards the start-up ecosystem in Pune.

Founders Sunanda and Vandita

Thus began the saga of The Daftar, a lively workspace that hosts a close-knit community of co-workers. “We provide a great combination of mentors and advisors to ensure learning and sharing never ends,” smiles Vandita walking us through the beautifully designed premises as she takes us through a day in her life at the burgeoning startup.

“As Co-Founders, Sunanda and I begin by meeting our team to understand how everything is functioning.

We address their challenges if any, and discuss issues on our agenda. We take up new initiatives every week, implementing them from a community engagement perspective.

Startup Essentials
The Daftar is a co-working space designed and built for startups to work in a growth-ready environment.
It offers the opportunity to collaborate, create and grow together with like-minded co-workers.
The startup offers opportunities in terms of expansion, community building, events and more.

“However, we make sure that we are available in the premises as much as we can to interact with our co-workers,” quips the founder. “ Co-workers feel very comfortable sharing their needs and progress with us. This helps us create a strong relationship with them, which in turn builds a great community.

“Lunch with our co-workers and team is tradition when we’re at the office,” beams Vandita. “A tour of the premises is up next to ensure it is being maintained immaculately. Our evenings are less busy” she remarks, adding that they enjoy a game of Uno, Scrabble or Pictionary occasionally.

Team Daftar

Daftar’s core team includes the founders Vandita and Sunanda as well as Abhishekh Purohit and Amit Bhatta. “We’re responsible for The Daftar’s growth and expansion,” explains Vandita adding that their roles are outlined at the ground level. However, everyone is constantly taking care of a particular department critical to overall growth.

“Our core team has frequent meetings to plan strategies and chalk out future goals. We make sure we keep each other posted.

“That said, we are always taking up new tasks. This helps us work with a lot of clarity from a team perspective,” and they all come from different backgrounds with different skill sets which offers the great combination. “We are able to contribute in multiple ways to the company and to each other,” she clarifies.

Daftar After Hours
Reading, travelling and movie marathons are on the cards for their day off.
Vandita likes to shop till she drops
Meeting new people and exploring new opportunities takes precedence.
The founders take the weekends unwind and spend a lot of time with family.

The company culture is one of openness and transparency. “Everyone is expected to take up their roles with utmost sincerity. We make sure we are always available for each other when needed. We work out of passion and love what we do,” says the savvy young founder.

“As a team we often ideate and debate various facets to make sure everyone’s opinion is counted. Saturdays are for team meets and are more relaxed for better brainstorming sessions as compared to weekdays. Also, when it comes to our Members, we have a “Co-workers before Anything Else” policy,” Vandita completes signing off.

 

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#Pune365 Wishes Vandita, Sunanda and Team Daftar A Great Road Ahead ! 

Aditi Balsaver