CHAPEL HILL — As a student entrepreneur, Ritwik Pavan knows how crucial it is to network with other founders.
Enter Slack, a proprietary business communication platform or as some like to call it, “a messaging app on steroids.”
In a bid to bring local entrepreneurs together, the 22-year-old has created a Slack community for founders, venture capitalists, advisors and allies on the East Coast.
Already, it has racked up 100 members.
“It’s been [two] days since I started it!” said UNC-Chapel senior, adding that this only confirms the overwhelming need for such a channel for communication.
“The reason I started this was because I’ve heard far too many entrepreneurs, specifically students, reach out to me not knowing where to start with their idea,” he explained. “They often stumble upon problems with trying to get legal advice, build a team, or raise money. My aim is for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs to be in a community where they can easily reach out to others for advice or help — financially, legally, or even if it’s just finding a co-founder.”
Pavan is no stranger to trials and tribulations of starting up a company from scratch.
In 2014, as a high school sophomore, he founded Linker Logic Technologies. It specializes in strategic consulting, prototyping, app development, and support for startups.
Today, the company has a team of 40 helping startups bring their ideas to life.
“We’ve been fortunate to work with some amazing startups and now also invest in ones that we may be interested in,” he said. “Several of these beginner founders reach out to us with the same worries and concerns. I wanted to take their experiences with launching a startup and the struggles and build a platform and community that will help anyone looking to start one.”
To join Linker Labs Slack community, go here.
