In a conversation with All Things Talent, Sumit Ghosh, CEO and co-founder of Chingari, a short video sharing start-up talks about Chingari’s startup journey and how having a celebrity brand ambassador has helped in adding value to the company’s employer brand and recruitment.
Q. Does having a celebrity investor add to employer branding? In the case of Chingari, how has having Salman Khan as an investor impacted the same?
We are fortunate to have Salman Khan as the brand ambassador and investor for Chingari. Having a celebrity investor gives an edge to employer branding. Here, the persona of Salman Khan resonates with the Chingari audience which includes internal employees as well.
Having Salman Khan on board has brought credibility and authenticity to the brand Chingari. It has given an edge to the company’s corporate identity, where we have seen a significant increase in the number of downloads and the user base. Along with this, we have witnessed good talent who want to associate with the brand. It has worked as an advocate.
Q. Does it have any impact on hiring better talent or talent in general? If yes, how?
Having a celebrity brand ambassador always adds value to the corporate identity of the brand. The popularity and reputation of the brand ambassador determine the company’s success in all aspects. It has further helped us in gaining positive momentum among a good pool of talent in the market.
With a brand ambassador, we see the referral playing an important role in increasing employee strength. Instead of searching for talent, people have started approaching us directly as well.
Q. What was the thinking behind having a celebrity investor for your brand? The core reasons.
We are a content creation and consumption platform that aims to reach out to every state of the country/human life. It was a conscious decision to have a celebrity investor who can give a human touch to the brand.
Salman, one of the country’s biggest superstars is adored by the people of India as “Bhai” will resonate better with the audience. Since we make digital stars, it only made sense for us to have someone from the industry with whom people can relate.
Having a celebrity brand ambassador always adds value to the corporate identity of the brand. The popularity and reputation of the brand ambassador determine the company’s success in all aspects. It has further helped us in gaining positive momentum among a good pool of talent in the market.
Q. In the case of Chingari, how has been the journey of evolving from a thought process to a company with a credible employee strength?
Our journey has been both exciting and challenging. Hiring and retaining the best from the vast talent pool has always been one of our priorities. Internal employees are not our only strength but the content curators are also our employees as they are the users of the app. Since inception, we have received much love from the people. It is a great feeling to see a set of people growing with us, believing in the idea and sharing the same passion as we do.
Q. What are the sources of talent Chingari sticks to for most of its hiring needs and why?
Chingari hires talents from various hiring platforms like LinkedIn, Naukri.com, Twitter, Corporate Website, and the internal employee’s referral as well. The hiring platform adds value to our process and makes it easy to find the right talent for the company very easily and quickly.
We have a robust human resource department that has developed a rigorous hiring process and does a deep dive into the talent pool. We rely more on the recommended candidates that stay in the organization for long due to the authenticity.
Q. Why are early hires crucial in a startup? Who were the first five employees at your company?
The first few employees are crucial as they can make or break the success of your venture. Making a new startup successful is a team effort hence it becomes important to onboard the right people. This depends on your startup’s specific needs, but any employee that you hire should have a few key qualities like a broad skill set, flexibility, and trustworthiness so that they can take on diverse responsibilities until you can expand further. Chingari’s first employees are Sumit Ghosh, Biswatma Nayak, Aditya Kothari, Deepak Salvi, and Kamal Sain. They are also the founding team members.
We have a robust human resource department which has developed a vigorous hiring process and does a deep dive into the talent pool. We rely more on the recommended candidates that stay in the organization for long due to the authenticity.
